By Lori EhdeThree Luverne sophomores have been expelled for the remainder of the school year after violating the district’s weapons policy.According to Superintendent Gary Fisher, three 10th grade boys were involved in a situation involving a pellet gun that shot plastic BBs."It was one of these semi-automatic pellet guns that fired these plastic pellets rapidly," Fisher said. He described the appearance of the gun as similar to an oozie.He said the students weren’t using the gun maliciously or threatening fellow students, but the gun was fired on campus."It wasn’t a life-threatening situation, but it falls under the realm of the district’s weapons policy violation, and we have a zero-tolerance policy," Fisher said. "From what I understand, they were just screwing around, but in this day and age, you can’t do those things anymore."This week marks the seventh anniversary of the Columbine school shootings, and since that time, state and federal governments have enacted legislation to make schools safer."Several years ago, we adopted the Minnesota School Boards Association weapons policy that outlines five steps to take when there’s a weapons violation," Fisher said.oThe weapon was confiscatedoPolice were contactedoParents were contactedoThe students were immediately suspendedoThe board, administration and parents met to address the violation.Luverne School Board members and school administration met in closed session Thursday, April 20, to decide the length of the suspension."It’s recommended the school expel the students for up to a year, but it’s up to the School Board to have that leeway in deciding the time period," Fisher said.In this case, the board decided the remaining month and a half would be sufficient."It’s a tough situation," Fisher said. "These kids really haven’t been in any trouble before. But when you look at what schools are facing, you just don’t know. It’s hard to know where to draw the line."Fisher said the district has made arrangements for the boys to keep on with their schoolwork in order to finish the year in pace with their classmates.

By Lori EhdeNational Guard members from the Luverne and Pipestone unit have been gone since September and deployed last month to Iraq.But that doesn’t mean they’re completely without the comforts of home.Family Readiness Coordinator Gina Newman and several families of deployed soldiers have been arranging to send monthly care packages overseas.The Hardwick American Legion agreed to pay for $200 worth of postage per month for the next 12 months.Newman said the plan is to divide the list of troops and send packages to one-third of them each month so the postage will be covered.Now, she said families are deciding what to put in the U.S. Postal Service flat-rate boxes, which cost $8.10 each to send.Some items to send might include Power Bars or granola bars, cans of Pringles or Lays Stax, beef jerky, hard candies, etc."Of course, we can do fun things, too," Newman writes in an e-mail to families. "I’ve heard that Nerf-type basketball sets are really popular, small games are great, cards, small funnels to pour powdered drink mixes into their canteens and water bottles, etc."She asks the families if they know who might be willing to donate a few items. The Family Readiness Group has some money available to purchase items as needed.Tollefson Publishing will donate six copies of each edition of the Star Herald to include in the care packages over the next year.The first boxes will be packaged at the next Family Readiness Group meeting in May."Many, many thanks to the Hardwick Legion for all their support," Newman said. "They have been a big help to us. Also, thank you to the Star Herald."Contact Newman at ginanewman@myclearwave.net with items to donate or with ideas.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne softball team was three outs away from recording its third consecutive win when the Cardinals hosted Edgerton for a non-conference game Saturday.Unfortunately for the Cards, the three outs didn’t come soon enoughThe Flying Dutchmen put together a six-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to erase a 5-2 deficit and set the stage for an 8-6 victory.Luverne, which never trailed in the game until the seventh inning, sported a pair of three-run advantages (4-1 and 5-2) before succumbing to Edgerton’s late rally.The Cards did counter with one run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to threaten EHS."Walks and errors hurt us," said LHS coach Steve Semmens.Kelsey Theesfeld, who received the pitching loss after tossing three innings of relief, led the Cards offensively by slapping three hits and scoring three runs. Raganee Phommaracksa drove in three runs with two hits.Alison Brands pitched the first four innings, notching four strikeouts, walking four batters and surrendering two runs.Theesfeld walked six batters and fanned four during a three-inning relief stint. She blanked Edgerton in the fifth and sixth innings before the Flying Dutchmen scored six times in the seventh.The 3-5 Cardinals, who had a contest in Slayton canceled Monday due to a scheduling conflict, host Adrian Area and Jackson County Central for double-headers today and Tuesday respectively.

By John RittenhouseA slumping Luverne baseball team dropped three straight games as its record dipped to 1-5 for the season.The Cardinals lost an 11-run decision to Buffalo during their annual game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis Friday. Four- and 11-run home losses to Marshall and Pipestone followed Monday and Tuesday respectively.Luverne plays road games against Windom today, Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove Friday and Worthington Monday.Pipestone 11, Luverne 0Nine late runs for the Arrows turned what was a close game into a lopsided contest Tuesday in Luverne.Pipestone led 2-0 after four innings of play before putting together six- and three-run rallies in the fifth and sixth innings to win handily.The Cardinals were limited to two hits in the game. Kelsey Petersen singled in the second inning and Tyler Reisch singled in the sixth.Andrew DeBoer worked the first four innings on the mound and took the loss after yielding four runs. Nathan Boler surrendered four runs and Caleb Bruynes three counters as relief pitchers.Box score AB R H BIClark 2 0 0 0Johnson 1 0 0 0Fitzer 2 0 0 0Richters 0 0 0 0Boelman 3 0 0 0Reisch 2 0 1 0Nath 2 0 0 0Elbers 1 0 0 0Boomgaarden 2 0 0 0Petersen 2 0 1 0Lundgren 2 0 0 0Oeding 2 0 0 0Marshall 5, Luverne 1The Cardinals nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the spring season when they challenged the Tigers in Luverne Monday.Luverne battled Marshall, a team unbeaten in SWC play, to a draw at one through seven innings.The Tigers, however, scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning and blanked LHS in the bottom of the frame to win by four.Marshall scored one unearned run in the top of the third and it looked like that would be the only counter the Tigers would need to win the game until Luverne tied the score in the bottom of the seventh.Two-out singles by Ben Nath and Derek Elbers started the rally. Petersen looped a single to left field that scored Nath to tie the game, but Elbers was thrown out trying to advance to third base to end the inning.The Tigers scored four runs in the eighth to settle the issue.Marc Boelman tossed six innings of five-strikeout, three-hit, one-run (the run was unearned) ball as Luverne’s starting pitcher.Bruynes pitched one inning of scoreless relief. Chris Fitzer took the loss after pitching the eighth inning.Box score AB R H BIClark 3 0 0 0Lundgren 1 0 0 0Fitzer 4 0 0 0Boelman 4 0 1 0Reisch 3 0 1 0Nath 3 1 1 0Elbers 3 0 1 0Petersen 3 0 1 1DeBoer 2 0 1 0Johnson 1 0 1 0Boomgaarden 2 0 1 0Buffalo 19, Luverne 8Luverne’s annual game in the Metrodome turned into a one-sided contest as Buffalo coasted to an 11-run win Friday.Plagued by inconsistent pitching and defensive play, the Cardinals fell behind 16-0 after two and one-half innings of play.Luverne outscored the Bison 8-3 the rest of the game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a poor start that included Buffalo scoring 12 runs in the third inning."It was ugly," said Cardinal coach Mike Wenninger."We could have gotten out of a lot of the big innings they had, but we made it easy for them with walks and errors. It’s hard to say a team that beat us 19-8 isn’t that much better than us, but I really don’t think they were that much better than we are."The highlight of the game for LHS proved to be four-run rallies it produced in the third and fourth innings.Nath singled home a pair of runs, Jake Clark slapped a run-scoring triple and Boelman picked up an RBI with a ground out in the third inning.Fitzer doubled home two runs and Devin Richters and Boelman chipped in run-scoring singles in the fourth.Boler worked the first four innings on the mound and took the loss. Brett Lundgren, Petersen, Nath, DeBoer and Bruynes worked in relief.Box score AB R H BIElbers 2 0 0 0Richters 1 1 1 1Clark 2 1 1 1Bruynes 2 0 0 0Boelman 3 0 1 2Reisch 3 2 2 0Fitzer 4 1 2 2Nath 3 0 1 2Petersen 2 0 1 0Lundgren 1 0 0 0Goembel 1 1 0 0Boomgaarden 2 2 1 0

By John RittenhousePoor weather conditions kept the Luverne Cardinal tennis team from completing two of its three scheduled events this week.The Cardinals did attend the St. James Tournament on Saturday.A home match with Martin County West was canceled Thursday, and Monday’s road test in Brandon, S.D., was washed out after the event started.Luverne, 3-3 overall, hosts Redwood Valley today before playing in Worthington Tuesday.SJ tourneyThe Cardinals dropped a pair of matches during Saturday’s tournament in St. James.Holy Family Academy handed the Cardinals a 6-1 loss in the first round. The host school upended LHS 6-1 in the second round."We played some very good tennis, but we also played some very bad tennis. I’m encouraged to see the good tennis. We just need to work a little more to become more consistent and make fewer mental errors out on the court," said LHS coach Greg Antoine.David Nelson picked up Luverne’s lone win during the opener against HFA. Nelson posted 6-2 and 6-3 victories over Thomas Whaling at No. 1 singles.Zach Sanderson prevailed at third in singles and the No. 1 doubles team of Nick Heronimus and Weston Sawtelle notched wins during the match against SJ.Sanderson nailed down 6-2 and 6-4 victories over Andrew Reyes. Heronimus and Sawtelle handed Kory Grey and Nate Jungens a pair of 6-2 setbacks.Derek Boeve and Matt Kreuch went 0-2 at No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Erik Stegemann and Jeremy Hoff went 0-2 at second doubles, as did Grant Oldre and Jamie Vickery at No. 3.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne golf teams were unable to record a victory when they traveled to Marshall for Southwest Conference contests Tuesday.Both LHS teams won two straight conference matches entering the showdown with MHS, but the Tigers played well on their home course to win both matches handily.The Marshall boys prevailed by a 153-175 margin. The Tiger girls bested the Cards by a 184-207 tally."It was not a good day for us," said LHS coach Chris Nowatzki."The greens were really fast and that’s what got to us. Their course has a little more water than we’re used to as well."Tony Krogen led the Tiger boys to a 22-shot win by firing a one-under-par 35.Andy Haakenson set the pace for LHS with a 38, while Kirk Oldre, Skyler Hoiland and David Nelson contributed 44-, 45- and 48-stroke rounds to the team tally.Adam Kindt and Chris Engesser shot respective 54- and 55-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.Laura Strautz and Abby Lacy both carded 45s to lead the Tiger girls during their 23-shot win over LHS.Nikki Van Dyk turned in a team-low 47 for the Cards, while Kaia Nowatzki, Brittany Boeve and Krista Van Dyk contributed 51-, 54- and 55-stroke rounds to the team effort.Alyssa Klein and Em Juhl carded 59s during the match.The highlight of the day for Luverne came during the boys’ B match, when freshman Tony Krogen aced the par-3 ninth hole at the Marshall Country Club.The 2-2 Luverne varsity squads host Redwood Valley today and Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tuesday.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian Area softball team celebrated its first victory in the history of the program Monday in Ellsworth.After dropping a four-run game to Southwest United Thursday in Brewster and falling by seven runs in Tracy Friday, the Dragons snapped a 17-game losing skid by besting Edgerton by three runs Monday in Ellsworth.The win was followed by another strong showing against Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin Tuesday in Ellsworth, a game the Dragons lost by one run.AA, 1-7 overall, plays a double-header in Luverne today before hosting Worthington Tuesday.ML-B-O 3, AA 2A late rally by the Dragons fell one run short when they played the Wolverines in Ellsworth Tuesday.Trailing 3-0 after four and one-half innings of play, AA received run-scoring singles from Briana Niebuhr and Melissa Weidert in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 3-2 game.The Dragons staged a threat in the bottom of the seventh when they placed runners on second and third base with no outs.ML-B-O, however, recorded three consecutive outs to preserve the win.Amy Tiesler, who led AA with three hits, fanned eight batters during a six-inning stint on the mound. Niebuhr slapped two hits for the Dragons, who seem to be making progress with each outing."It seems like we’re improving with every game. We seem to be coming around," said AA coach Markus Okeson.AA 11, Edgerton 8The Dragons recorded the first win when they nipped the Flying Dutchmen by three runs in Ellsworth Monday.The situation didn’t look good for AA when Edgerton scored a total of six runs in the third and fourth innings to open a 7-1 cushion.AA, however, responded to the challenge in style.The Dragons scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth innings to make it a 7-5 game before Edgerton countered with a single run in the top of the sixth to make it 8-5.AA erased a three-run deficit by scoring six runs in the bottom of the sixth before blanking EHS in the top of the seventh."The girls were pretty excited," said AA coach Okeson, who was proud of the way his team rallied to snap what was a 17-game losing skid dating back to last season."The way our season has gone, we’ve been giving up big innings and haven’t been able to come back. We finally had the big inning in this game."Three Dragons slapped two hits in the game, including Sam Lynn’s two-double performance.Weidert doubled once and drove in two runs during a two-hit effort, while Kelsey Tjepkes singled twice and recorded one RBI. Abby Henning doubled and singled for AA.Tiesler went the distance on the mound, fanning five batters in seven innings.T-M-B 13, AA 6The Dragons dropped their sixth straight game when they traveled to Tracy Friday.After taking a 3-2 lead with a three-run rally in the top of the second inning, AA fell behind 7-3 in the bottom of the frame and never recovered the rest of the game.The Dragons did trim the difference to two runs (7-5) after plating single runs in the third and fourth innings, but T-M-B outscored AA 6-1 the rest of the way to win by seven.Amalia Klingenberg led the Dragons at the plate with two singles. Natalie Lynn, Tiesler and Sam Lynn slapped one hit each.Tiesler went the distance on the mound, fanning four batters in six innings.SWU 15, Adrian 11The Dragons turned in their top offensive performance of the season during a four-run loss Thursday in Brewster.AA recorded season-highs in runs scored (11) and hits (12) during the game, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Dragons from dropping their fifth straight game.After the Dragons took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Southwest United plated seven runs in the first and second innings to open a commanding 14-3 advantage. AA outscored the Wildcats 8-1 the rest of the way, plating four runs in the third and sixth innings.Sam Lynn pitched the first inning and one-third and took the loss for AA. Tiesler limited SWU to one run the rest of the game.Weidert and Briana Niebuhr led the Dragons offensive by slapping three hits each. Lynn and Kelsey Wiertsema chipped in two safeties each.

10 years ago (1996)
Hills-Beaver Creek Junior Matt Ebert for the second year in a row carried top state speech honors. He competed in the Great Speeches category and chose one originally delivered by Shimon Peres, prime minister of Israel, in December 1995. Ebert heard the speech while he was serving as a page in Washington, D.C.
The Luverne City Council Monday approved construction of two segments of new sidewalks to go along Highway 75, Kniss Avenue. 25 years ago (1981)
Luverne sophomore Mary Haakenson set a school record at 16’ 5 1/2" in the long jump.
Rock County Jail continues to meet state requirements as a 24-hour processing facility. Rock County Jail cannot qualify as a 72-hour holding facility because of a number of major problems, such as shortage of space for separation of classes of prisoners, improper lighting, booking and visiting areas located together, security issues and non-functioning cell doors.50 years ago (1956)
Dr. C.L. Sherman, who has been a doctor for 56 years, marked the first time that he has delivered triplets. The triplets were two boys and a girl, born to Mrs. Cornie Vant Hof, Edgerton.
Luverne’s new city aldermen, Frank McClure and A.P. Fitzer, were officially sworn in Wednesday. One of their first official acts was to join with Aldermen Magnus Christensen and C.E. Spease in awarding the contracts for the new municipal hospital. The bid went to H.S. Holtze Company, of Sioux City, in the amount of $148,950. Other contracts were awarded for plumbing and heating, air conditioning, ventilating, electrical work and kitchen equipment.75 years ago (1931)
Among the contracts awarded last week was the bridge over the Rock River on East Main Street. The 40-foot span structure will cost $32,789.
From the number of "John Rabbits" that were strewn along most highways the fore part of this week, a casual observer might be justified in jumping to the conclusion that a great many members of the rabbit family showed extremely poor judgment.
Luverne’s new remote control electrically operated fire siren is being sounded each evening at 6 o’clock instead of at 9 o’clock. 100 years ago (1906)
In keeping with the progressive spirit which has marked the development of Hardwick, the people of that place have decided to build a substantial new school house during the coming summer and for that purpose a special school meeting has been called. It is proposed to erect a brick building to cost about $8,000, of which $7,000 will be borrowed from the state school fund. The need of a new school building is imperative to keep pace with the growth of the village and all seem to agree that a good, substantial building should be erected.

City-wide rummage sale this SaturdayThe Luverne Chamber of Commerce is preparing for another of its annual spring rummage sales, a tradition which was started in 1988.According to Lorna Bryan, the Chamber is on pace to once again have more than 90 rummage sale participants in this year’s event.The city-wide sale will be from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, April 29.Maps of the various locations are available at the Luverne Chamber office, the Brandenburg Gallery, Glen’s Food Center as well as all of Luverne’s convenience stores.The Chamber also sponsors a fall rummage sale on the second weekend in September.Goodwill here for one day onlyAnd then for the stuff you don’t get rid of at the rummage sale, the Goodwill truck is always an option.Goodwill Industries has scheduled an "Ambassador Visit" for one day only on Tuesday, May 2.That will put the Goodwill truck in Luverne three days after the city-wide rummage sale, so you will have time to get all the clothes and whatever else you didn’t get sold boxed up and hauled to the donation location.The truck will again be located on the parking lot south of Glen’s Food Center.Goodwill requests that all items are placed as far to the front of the truck as possible.Preferred items include salable clothing, usable working small appliances, and household goods, sporting goods and toys.Furniture and large appliances cannot be accepted.Firewall at the PalaceThe Palace Theatre continues its series of spring movies with Harrison Ford’s release of "Firewall."Ford plays Jack Stanfield, a bank security chief who has designed a computer system and firewall to protect the bank’s records and finances.When the bad guys kidnap his family, they force Ford to break through his own security system to save his family.After he hacks his own system, it becomes clear the bandits have every intention of killing Harrison and his family regardless, and Harrison must now figure out how to save his family.The movie plays at the Palace this Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and again on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.Area communities get MPCA awardsThree area communities have received recognition for outstanding performance by operators of wastewater treatment plants during 2005.Hardwick, Hills and Jasper were among 135 cities awarded certificates of commendation for meeting the agency’s criteria for excellence in operations.The requirements included submitting all monitoring reports to the MPCA correctly and on time, demonstrating compliance through monitoring or in surveys and employing MPCA-certified operators.There are approximately 1,300 wastewater treatment plants in Minnesota.Deadline approaching for A.R. Wood ScholarshipThe scholarship committee of the A.R. Wood Educational Trust is now accepting applications for initial or renewal scholarships from seniors and previous grads of Luverne High School.To be eligible for a scholarship candidates must:
be graduates of Luverne High School
rank in the upper 15 percent of their graduating class
have maintained a 3.0 or better grade point average.All requests for applications must be received by Wells Fargo Bank N.A. by May 15, 2006, and returned no later than June 1, 2006.Requests for applications should be directed to A.R. Wood Educational Trust, Wells Fargo Bank N.A., Attn: Nancy Eichacker, PO Box 5953, Sioux Falls, S.D. 57117-5953.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com