By Sara QuamCity Administrator Greg LaFond said he’s gotten more calls on the possible animal impound closing than anything else except closing the tree dump.Because of that, the Luverne City Council tabled action on closing the animal pound.The city pays about $6,000 annually in impound costs for dogs and cats. LaFond said the city was just looking for a way to save money since it’s not required to have a pound."It’s a county-wide responsibility because it’s used on a county-wide basis," LaFond said. "We can work out a lease arrangement with the county to operate the pound."During Tuesday’s Rock County Commissioners meeting, County Attorney Don Klosterbuer said that if the city closes the pound, it wouldn’t mean the county is obligated to provide a pound.He said the city can’t expect its animal ordinances to be enforced without telling the Sheriff’s Office where the city’s pound is. If calls come in to pick up animals, deputies won’t have a place to take them, he said, and it’s not the county’s obligation to provide it.Rural areas of the county do not have animal licensing requirements like the city does.Last year, 17 cats and 17 dogs were impounded in Luverne. About half of the animals in the pound are euthanized, or put to sleep. Some of that could be avoided if the impound could notify the proper owner. Licensed pets can be traced to their owners, however, there are roughly 60 licensed dogs in the city and an estimated 400 that are not licensed.Plus, some people abandon animals in town with the intention of the pound being forced to have them euthanized.All found animals that are turned into the pound are posted, and City Hall is the contact place for that. The pound holds animals for five business days before euthanizing them.

By Sara QuamBail was set at $30,000 Monday for Terry Jon Hoffman, who was charged with 12 counts of possession of stolen property in Rock County.The 36-year-old Luverne man was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 8, for allegedly having stolen property — from snowmobiles to construction equipment to his personal pickup.Assistant County Attorney (prosecutor) Terry Vajgrt said, "It’s quite possible that more people will come forward with evidence of more theft."Bail was posted locally for Hoffman, but he remained behind bars because of an arrest warrant for three counts of theft in Minnehaha County, S.D.Bail has been set there at $100,000.Vajgrt said, "I think the difference in bail amount has to do with him living here in our court’s jurisdiction. He wasn’t determined to be a flight risk."Hoffman is accused of stealing vehicles and recreational and construction equipment and either using it or selling it.Personnel from the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, Brandon (S.D.) Police Department, Minnesota State Patrol and National Insurance Crime Bureau were involved in three search warrants Dec. 8.Rock County Sheriff Mike Winkels said he was proud of the cooperation and efficiency of the search and arrest.Hoffman is accused of stealing and reselling or reusing vehicles. He allegedly swapped titles and license plates from wrecked vehicles to cover the tracks. Also, some vehicle identification numbers were altered.Hoffman operated a legitimate business, Foxy’s Restoration, out of his shop in Luverne. He restored vehicles and worked on snowmobiles, for example. He also ran the Vintage Snowmobile Club of America and its quarterly magazine.Hoffman appeared in court again Wednesday in an extradition hearing. He declined to waive extradition to the state of South Dakota. He will now remain in custody until South Dakota formally extradites him. A bond for $100,000 is posted. The charges from South Dakota may involve stiffer penalties because his two sons (ages 7 and 11) may have been present at one of the alleged thefts.The Minnesota charges are called "possession of stolen property," which by definition can include theft, use or possession of stolen property. The investigation overturned property worth $240,000 from Sioux Falls, Brandon, S.D., Luverne, Fairmont, Worthington, Marshall, Minn., and Omaha. If convicted, Hoffman may end up serving time in three states, including Nebraska. People can actually be convicted of stealing something from one state and be convicted of possession of the same item in another state.Long on the booksThe searches uncovered stolen items starting as early as 2001, including: a 32-foot flatbed gooseneck trailer from Dressen Custom Trailers in Brandon; a 2005 Arctic Cat all terrain vehicle from Sioux International in Sioux Falls; a 1987 backhoe tractor from Barney’s Auto Salvage in Sioux Falls; a 2002 Cheverolet Silverado taken from Papik Motors in Luverne; two 2002 Arctic Cat Mountain Cat snowmobiles from Worthington Sports Center; 2002 Arctic Cat ZR120 snowmobile from Leo’s Snow Sports in Fairmont; a 5.3 liter Chevy engine from a Silverado pickup from Lithia Motors in Sioux Falls; Larson Boat from Action Sports in Marshall; a 2003 Chevy Avalanche from Lithia in Sioux Falls and a 2002 Chevy Tahoe from Lithia. Under questioning, Hoffman admitted to possessing this list of stolen items and knowing they were stolen.He was also questioned about a camper but didn’t want to comment on it.Last Wednesday’s arrest came after an Oct. 22 tip from Brandon about a suspicious vehicle. Three properties in Rock County were searched: Hoffman’s shop, 410 West Edgehill, Luverne; his parents’ home, where he was living, 1110 North Lindale; and the home of former girlfriend Lori Ehde, Vienna Township.The person giving the initial tip provided police with a vehicle identification number from the black 2002 Chevy Tahoe, which was researched and found to be stolen.The license plate on the Tahoe was actually from a white 1994 Chevrolet Camero registered to an insurance company in Woodbury, Minn.The Tahoe had been stored at the home of Hoffman’s brother Randy and his wife, Joni, in Brandon. They said Terry requested that the couple store the vehicle for the winter.A former girlfriend, Shelby Williams, of Sioux Falls, purchased a maroon Chevy Tahoe last year from Hoffman. That vehicle was destroyed in a fire Nov. 17, 2003, which was determined to be of suspicious nature by investigators from the Sioux Falls Fire Rescue and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Williams said she didn’t know the vehicle was stolen and declined purchasing another vehicle from Hoffman that he offered her.Hoffman’s own vehicle, a Chevy Avalanche, was titled as a vehicle that was considered a total loss by an insurance company in 2002.Hoffman’s father, Melvin, purchased from him a Chevrolet Silverado which had the license of a GMC Sierra and a VIN of a salvage vehicle.Hoffman also sold a 2002 Chevy Silverado with a replaced engine to his sister and brother-in-law, Paula and William Plant. The original engine was recovered from Hoffman’s shop.Assistant County Attorney Vajgrt said it’s too early to estimate possible jail time."We haven’t gotten to that point yet," he said.He encouraged people who had business dealings with Hoffman to come forward with any suspicions. Vajgrt said, "If people have concerns, I would encourage them to contact law enforcement. They will make every effort to avoid the need to seize the vehicle."He said people shouldn’t be afraid of losing vehicles to an investigation because officers can photograph and document evidence without keeping it.For now, investigators are not ruling out that more people may have been involved in the crimes, and are still reviewing evidence.

Minnegasco name going away for goodWe knew it as Minnegasco for a very long time. Then in Oct. 2002 it became CenterPoint Energy Minnegasco.Starting this month, Minnegasco will be removed from the name to become just CenterPoint Energy.The purpose of their plan, according to President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Cerny, is to create a single, national identity and eventually discontinue using individual business unit names such as Minnegasco.Customers can expect a few changes, including design of the bill envelope, Web site and other company materials.Company phone numbers, payment addresses, billing services and service programs will remain the same.CenterPoint Energy is Minnesota’s largest natural gas distributor, serving more than 745,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in over 240 communities.Headquartered in Houston Texas, CenterPoint is involved in electric transmission and distribution, natural gas distribution and sales, interstate pipeline and gathering operations, and more than 14,000 megawatts of power generation.The company serves nearly five million metered customers in six states and has assets of over $19 billion.The company has been in business for 130 years and has 11,000 employees.Credit Card debt up more than 14 percent since last yearThe amount of debt Americans are carrying on their credit cards is up again.From 2003 to 2004 the average Americans credit card debt went up 14.5 percent from $2,294 in ’03 to $2,626 in ’04.According to Myvesta, a nonprofit consumer education organization, individuals are also carrying more credit cards around in their wallets.They now carry 2.9 credit cards, compared to 2.3 a year ago.Other notes from the survey include the following:Males have an average of $2,742 of credit spread out over 2.5 cards; females average $2.522 of credit card debt on 3.3 cards.Married individuals have an average of $3,288 of credit card debt; non-married individuals have an average of $1,785.Average debt by geography:South, $2,988Midwest, $2,682West, $2,538Northeast, $1,918In too many cases, according to Myvesta, Americans are turning to the equity in their homes to cover their credit card debt, a funding source that can quickly run out.WCCO radio recently reported that for the first time Americans are paying more of their debt electronically than with a personal check.‘Let’s Bring ’Em Home’ Web site We recently received an e-mail from Joshua Arndt requesting our help in spreading the word about a Web site that buys tickets for junior enlisted military members to come home for the holidays.According to Joshua, the people who run the Web site operate 100 percent on donations.People have donated as little at $5 or as much as $2,000, and 100 percent of the money goes toward buying tickets for soldiers.Joshua said because he is a junior enlisted who doesn’t "get very much money" and lives 700 miles from Luverne, flying was not an option.So he applied for the program. Not less than a week later he received word that the program had bought a ticket for him.So Joshua will be coming home this Christmas holiday to spend time with his family. Joshua is the son of Red and Lisa Arndt of Luverne.If you would like to know more about the "Let’s Bring ’Em Home" program, you can go to their Web site at www.ibeh.com.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

By Mark HaugenAdrian Area continued its roll through opposing wrestling teams last week.The Blue Dragons ran away with the team title Saturday at the Jackson County Central Invitational in Jackson. Adrian/Ellsworth tallied 259 points, with second place going to Stewartville with 190.5.The Dragons returned home with four individual championships and three runners-up. Brandon Bullerman won at 140 pounds, as did Dusty Bullerman at 145, Levi Bullerman at 189 and Will Lutmer in overtime at 215. Joey Bullerman was second at 119, Tony Sauer second at 152 and Cody Reverts at 171."It was one of the best lineups we’ve put out there all year," Coach Gregg Nelson said. "It showed in the tournament. I thought we might have a little more trouble because I didn’t know what some of the other teams had. But we kind of took care of the tournament pretty well."He said getting Reverts down to 171 makes the team stronger. "It was his first time down there this year and he looked good."Thursday night the Blue Dragons dumped Minneota 56-9 in a dual meet in Adrian. Four pins (by Tony Their at 112, Brandon Croat at 125, Brandon Bullerman at 140 and Nate Engelkes at 171) and a couple of forfeits boosted Adrian. The only upset of the night was Adrian’s Joey Bullerman getting edged in a 5-4 decision to Tanner Skillings at 119 pounds. The Dragons wrestle at Fulda-Murray County Central on Friday and at Sioux Falls Washington on Tuesday before the Christmas break.Adrian 56, Minneota 9103 – Stephen Loosbrock won 3-1112 – Tony Their WBF 2:59119 – Joey Bullerman lost 4-5125 – Brandon Croat WBF 1:11130 – Zach Reker won 11-2135 – Jordan Reker won 11-2140 – Brandon Bullerman WBF 1:36145 – Dusty Bullerman won 5-1152 – Tyler Vaske LBF 5:39160 – Tony Sauer won 5-1171 – Nate Engelkes WBF 5:03189 – Levi Bullerman by forfeit215 – Will Lutmer won 12-1HWT – Cody Lutmer by forfeit

By Mark HaugenThe Cardinals notched their first win of the season Monday night and now look to build on the performance.Luverne beat Edgerton 60-53 Monday in Luverne but lost to Marshall 69-38 Thursday night as the Cardinals move to 1-6 on the year.The Cardinals are home Friday night against Redwood Area and then host JCC on Tuesday before getting a nine-day holiday break.Marshall 69, Luverne 38The Cardinals fell behind 19-9 after the first quarter and couldn’t recover as they lost to their second state-ranked opponent in a row.Luverne’s Samantha Gacke, a 6-1 sophomore, recorded her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Mindy Nieuwboer, a 5-9 sophomore, led with 15 points and four steals."We got a great effort from both Mindy and Samantha," coach Jason Phelps said. "We started a little stronger than Tuesday versus Worthington, but couldn’t withstand their consistent offensive attack. We had too many possessions where we didn’t get quality shots and missed too many open jumpers."The Cardinals shot only 26 percent from 2-point range and 20 percent (2-10) from 3-point land.Luverne lost the B-game 52-23, with Hilary Hanson scoring eight points.Luverne Box ScoreHeitkamp 0 0-0 0, Hanson 0 0-0 0, Nieuwboer 2 2 5-9 15, Snyder 1 0-1 2, Petersen 0 1-2 1, Kuhlman 2 2-4 6, Hoiland 0 0-0 0, Vogt 0 0-0 0, Gacke 5 3-5 13, Evans 0 0-0 0, Schneekloth 0 1-4 1.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: L 10-38. 3-pt shooting: L 2-10. Rebounds: L 23 (Gacke 12). Assists: L 9 (Kuhlman 3, Snyder 3). Steals: 12 (Nieuwboer 4). Turnovers: L 11. Blocks: L 5.Luverne 60, Edgerton 53The Red and White saw their 17-11 first-quarter lead evaporate and trailed 31-22 at halftime before bouncing back.Mindy Nieuwboer drained a 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the game that put the Cardinals ahead for good and then Luverne hit free throws down the stretch.Gacke led the Cardinals on offense with 21 points, while pulling down 15 rebounds and blocking four shots. Junior guard Maggie Kuhlman netted 14 points and handed out nine assists with five steals. Nieuwboer finished with 11 points."We got off to a good start, but had a stretch where we really struggled in the second quarter," Phelps said. "We showed a lot of resiliency and made a nice run to start the second half."Samantha had a great offensive night. Maggie also played a good floor game. It was an all-around good team effort and good to come out with a win."Luverne won the B-game 46-17 to raise its record to 4-2 as Erin Hoiland scored 12 points.Luverne Box ScoreHeitkamp 1 0-0 2, Nieuwboer 3 1 2-5 11, Snyder 3 2-5 8, Kuhlman 2 1 7-8 14, Gacke 7 7-15 21, Evans 2 0-0 4.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: L 18-49 for 36.7 percent. 3-pt shooting: 2-13 for 15 percent. Rebounds: L 22 (Gacke 5, Evans 5). Assists: L 16 (Kuhlman 9, Evans 4). Steals: L 13 (Kuhlman 5, Snyder 4). Turnovers: L 6. Blocks: L 5 (Gacke 4).

By Mark HaugenCombine the scoring of seniors Sadie Dietrich and Natalie Domagala with the stellar goaltending of Sarah Schneekloth and the wins start coming.The Luverne girls added two more last week, beating Sioux Falls Blue 7-4 Thursday night and Southwest Conference foe Windom 8-1 on Tuesday night. Dietrich and Domagala each had a five-goal night.The Cardinals are now 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference. They play at Mankato West on Saturday and at Marshall on Tuesday.Luverne 8, Windom 1Coach Dave Siebenahler wasn’t too pleased with his team’s performance in the first two periods as Luverne managed a 2-1 lead, but the third period was a different story.Domagala knocked home a short-handed goal, with an assist by Dietrich, to open Luverne’s scoring at 5:32 of the first. Dietrich then scored the first of what would be five goals at the 6:14 mark of the second. Windom came back two minutes later and pulled within 2-1 with a powerplay goal.After the second period break, Luverne came out firing and notched six goals, including a streak of three within seven minutes. Domagala added two more and Dietrich closed out the barrage with an unassisted goal with 38 seconds left.Dietrich, with her five goals, also had two assists. Schneekloth stopped 40 shots on goal. Luverne 7, SF Blue 4In a rematch of a 5-3 mid-November loss, the Cardinals showed the Sioux Falls Flyers an improved version of themselves and skated to the win.Luverne’s Natalie Domagala turned a hat trick in the first period on her way to five goals on the night, along with two assists. Sioux Falls had an answer for each of Domagala’s first two goals, but she broke the tie on an assist from Amanda Niessink with 13 seconds left in the first. Then with one tick left on the clock, Sadie Dietrich gave the Cardinals a boost with her unassisted goal and a 4-2 lead.Domagala added two more goals in the second period, with an assist each from Dietrich on a powerplay and from Natalie Morgan.Stephanie Steensma capped Luverne’s scoring with a powerplay assist from Domagala at the 11:54 mark in the third. Sioux Falls managed two third period games to make the score respectable. Sarah Schneekloth stopped 17 shots in net for Luverne."The girls really picked it up. They really wanted to get back at Sioux Falls and show them that we were a better team than they showed them before," Siebenahler said. "The girls came out ready to play and seemed like they really wanted to win."Benson/Morris 3, Luverne 2 OTThe Cardinals’ five-game win streak was snapped as B/M hit a shot with 3:25 remaining in overtime on Saturday.Schneekloth was tough in the net all night long as the Luverne eighth-grader stopped 48 shots. She had a shutout through the first two periods.Domagala, smothered on defense all night, managed a goal in the first and a goal in the third."We just came out flat and didn’t play very well the whole game, butt Sarah Schneekloth played awesome," Siebenahler said. "They put a lot of pressure on Natalie and she couldn’t get into the flow of the game and that set the tone."

By Mark HaugenLuverne lost its first game of the season last week after starting out the year 6-0.Luverne beat Murray County Central 62-56 on Saturday night but shot poorly and lost 49-43 to Edgerton on Monday.The boys host Redwood Valley on Friday and JCC on Tuesday.Luverne 62, MCC 56The Cardinals netted their sixth straight win behind Brandon Deragisch’s 16 points and six steals.Luverne fell behind 15-12 after the first quarter but bounced back with a 17-8 second quarter run that left them leading by six at halftime.Junior guard Jake Hendricks finished with 14 points for Luverne and John Tofteland added 10."It was a fairly close game throughout and we didn’t put them away like I wanted to," Coach Tom Rops said. "They are a very scrappy team, especially on their home court."The game was won at the free-throw line where the Cardinals were 18-25 and MCC only 3-4.The Luverne "B" team won 60-36 as Mark Boelman scored 21.Luverne Box ScorePick 4 4-6 12, Herman 1 3-5 5, Deragisch 2 2 7-8 16, Hendricks 1 3 3-4 14, Tofteland 3 1 1-2 10, Heronimus 2 1-2 5.Team Totals:Rebounds: L 20 (Herman 5). Steals: Pick 5.Edgerton 49, Luverne 43Luverne’s Brandon Deragisch and Jake Hendricks hit 3-pointers in the final two minutes to pull the Cardinals to within three, but they could get no closer.Deragisch scored 20 on the night, as Luverne hung around within single digits most of the game but couldn’t overcome 17-22 free throw shooting by the Flying Dutchmen."Unfortunately we shot the ball extremely poorly (15-48) and we didn’t create as many turnovers as we normally do," Rops said. "We haven’t been shooting the ball all that well the whole year and again that hurt us. They made a few more plays than we did."The Cardinal "B" team won 48-36 behind Derek Boeve’s 16. Their record is 6-1.Luverne Box ScorePick 2 2-4 6, Herman 1 2-2 4, Deragisch 3 3 5-6 20, Tofteland 1 4-4 6, Heronimus 1 0-1 2, Hendricks 0 2 0-2 6..Team Totals:Rebounds: L 20, E 20. Turnovers: L 15, E 15.

While getting my feet wet here, one of the first things that pops out to me is not just the talent of the kids at the various schools we cover but the quality of the coaching.I’m not just kissing up when I say that. There are some places where the coaches just roll out the balls for practice, let the kids go at it and cash their checks at the end of the month. Here, even with some of the teams with poorer records, the coaches seem really into it.If you wanted to see some kids who were really into it, you should’ve seen the Hills-Beaver Creek vs. Ellsworth game on Saturday night. H-BC racked up 27 points in the first quarter.Those guys were going 100 miles per hour. That’s usually a good thing, unless you’re the opposing team or the guy with a manual-focus camera who is often challenged just to get good pictures at a tortoise race.It was one of those games I stumble into sometimes where I find myself watching and enjoying, forgetting I’m holding the camera. Then some kid goes flying through the air, leaps up for a dunk or dives at a ball and I finally remember: "Wow, that would’ve been a good picture if I’d been taking one!"RESCHEDULED:We haven’t had a snowflake yet, but the athletic schedule is already getting adjusted. Note these date changes:Luverne gymnastics, scheduled for Dec. 14, has been rescheduled to Dec. 21.Luverne boys hockey, scheduled for Dec. 27-29 at Worthington Tournament, has been rescheduled to Dec. 29-31.Luverne boys basketball, scheduled for Feb. 12 at Marshall, has been moved up to Feb. 8.MAKING HIS MARK:Freshman Curt Schilling of Adrian leads the Northwestern College men’s basketball team of Orange City with 15.1 points per game. The Red Raiders are ranked No. 4 in the most recent NAIA Division II poll.CROOKED REF:I saw something I hadn’t seen before at the H-BC vs. Central Lyon game last week. The referee needed three attempts to toss the opening jump ball. He had trouble getting it straight, but finally succeeded.FROM THE E-MAIL BAG:"I had to laugh at your article this week about the Vikings, but I was also a bit offended. I know a lot of people in the area love the Vikings and I know some of them don’t blame Tice for their downfall. I personally blame the players; as you said, they are getting paid big money to do their job. Just think how great our sermons on Sunday morning would be if our pastors got paid millions to work there one day a week … the whole world would be saved! Just my thoughts, keep up the good work."Not a problem, I offend myself sometimes.Feel free to email me at markh@star-herald.com. I won’t include your name, as long as you’re nice like this lady was.But if you get on my case too bad, I’m going to start naming names! Just kidding.

By Mark HaugenHills-Beaver Creek shot to a 22-9 first quarter lead over Edgerton and didn’t let up in recording a 54-43 Red Rock Conference girls basketball victory Friday night in Edgerton."We got out to a real quick start," Coach Tom Goehle said. "Any time you are able to score 22 points in a quarter you are doing well. Then we were able to dictate the tempo of the game."Senior Cassi Tilstra led the Patriots with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brittney Rozeboom and Kerri Fransman tossed in a dozen points apiece, and Fransman had four assists with her pair of 3-pointers.Edgerton edged to within 42-36 after holding H-BC to six points in the third quarter but could get no closer."They did a good job of getting the ball in to their big girl in the second and third quarters and we got a little cold shooting," Goehle said. "Then we did a good job of turning the pressure back up in the fourth and attacking the basket." H-BC, 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Red Rock Conference, plays at Fulda tonight and then hosts Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster on Tuesday.H-BC Box ScoreRozeboom 4 4-6 12, Fransman 3 2 0-0 12, A. Tilstra 0 0-0 0, Feucht 3 0-0 6, Fink 1 1 0-0 5, Helgeson 0 0-0 0, C. Tilstra 5 5-6 15, Roozenboom 1 0-0 2, Mulder 1 0-0 2.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: H-BC 18-43 for 42 percent, E 20-41 for 49 percent. 3-pt shooting: H-BC 3-0, E 0-1. Rebounds: H-BC 28 (C. Tilstra 10, Rozeboom 5), E 27. Blocks: H-BC 1, E 9. Steals: H-BC 15 (Feucht 4, C. Tilstra 4). Assists: H-BC 14. Turnovers: H-BC 12, E 22.