Public HearingThe Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging public hearing to review the 2005 Area Plan and budget is at 9:30 a.m. on Wed., Oct. 20 at the Wabasso Community Center, 1429 Front Street, Wabasso. Information is available by calling 507-389-8879.(10-7)

Notice of ApplicationFor Livestock Feedlot PermitNotice is hereby given per Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 215, that Binford Farms has made application to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Rock County for a permit to expand an existing feedlot with a capacity of 500 animal units or more. The existing feedlot is located in the NW 1/4 of section 4, Magnolia Township, T102N, R44W, Rock County.The existing facility consists of a 125’ x 165’ open lot with runoff controls housing 280 head of feeder cattle (196 animal units), a 140’ x 135’ open lot with runoff controls housing 280 head of feeder cattle (196 animal units), a 100’ x 240’ total confinement building housing 560 head of finishing cattle (560 animal units), and a 28’ x 76’ total confinement building with a 10’ x 80’ x 8’ poured concrete pit to house 500 head of nursery pigs (25 animal units), for a total of 977 animal units. The proposed expansion shall consist of a 100’ x 630’ total confinement barn to house 1140 head of finishing cattle (1140 animal units). The two open lots will be closed and all cattle will be in total confinement. After expansion the feedlot will have a total capacity of 2100 head of finishing cattle (2100 animal units) housed in a 100’ x 240’ and a 100’ x 630’ total confinement building, 500 head of nursery pigs (25 animal units) housed in a 28’ x 76’ total confinement building with a 10’ x 80’ x 8’ poured concrete pit. The total animal units will be 2125. This publication shall constitute as notice to each resident and each owner of real property within 5,000 feet of the perimeter of the proposed feedlot as required by Minnesota State Law.(10-7)

The following article appeared in the Rock County Herald on Feb. 9, 1934:Rabbit Hunt results in slaying of 345 "Jacks"Fifty hunters join in affair sponsored Sunday by Rock County Game Protective AssociationFifty hunters joined in the rabbit hunt conducted Sunday by the Rock County Game Protective Association, and when the smoke of the day’s bombardment had cleared away the casualties numbered 345 jackrabbits. Confined to four sections of land about three miles northwest of Luverne, the hunt started at 10 o’clock in the morning and lasted until about 4 in the afternoon. In the forenoon a total of 121 rabbits were bagged on just one section, and 35 more were shot on the same section in the afternoon, which gives some idea of the surprising abundance of these animals. A truck was used for gathering up the carcasses, which were sold to a Sioux Falls firm to be used in the preparation of pelts for commercial purposes. The association received $20 for the rabbits, this amount being turned into the treasury to be later used for a feed and entertainment. A meeting will be held this Friday evening at the city hall to make plans for the luncheon, and also for another hunt in the near future. All members of the hunting party left from this city at the same time. In covering a section, the party divided into four groups, all approaching the center of the section from the four sides. Pastures, cornfields and creek beds were thoroughly covered. Most of the hunters were from the rural districts. Only shotguns were used. No contest was held in connection with the hunt, but as a sociable "get together" it was a highly enjoyable occasion for all who joined in it. Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

October is time to start Christmas shopping and get wise about candidatesToday is Oct. 7, and that means a few things:
Only 11 more weeks until Christmas
There’s still a decent selection of Halloween costumes in local stores
A couple more hard freezes and all the bugs will be dead.
There’s still time to buy me chocolate for my Oct. 23 birthday.… and, while these might all have potential as column topics, Oct 7 also means …
We’re less than a month away from the general election.It’s time to stop watching campaign ads and time to start asking tough questions.Jonathan, 8, told me he’s learning about the elections in school and he asked me which presidential candidate I was going to vote for.I paused.I knew if I told him, he’d want to know why, and I really didn’t have a good answer.I clearly hadn’t been paying attention, and time is running out to get answers. But getting truthful answers to the tough questions isn’t always easy.The easy thing would be to vote ignorantly, or even not vote at all. That way, when the elected officials screw up, we can say we didn’t vote for them.For some who vote ignorantly, or don’t vote at all, it’s because they don’t know where to turn for factual, unbiased information on candidates.For starters, turn off the television and radio and fire up the computer, if you have access to one. Go to a public library to get online if you have to.The Minnesota League of Women Voters each year puts out a voters guide that offers a Q&A-style information on candidates in all the races. Their site is www.lwvmn.org. From their home page, click on "voting and election information," and then on "2004 election information" which offers candidate information specific to each voter’s address.The Minnesota Secretary of State Web site offers candidate information, plus links to their web sites. So, even though the sites are pedaling the candidates, a voter can get a feel for what the candidates are passionate about.That site is www.sos.state.mn.us.Other good, non-biased sources for voter guides can be found at the Minnesota Newspaper Association site, www.mnnewspapernet.org.Click on the red, white and blue "vote" button toward the bottom of the page to link to the Q&A style information on Minnesota candidates.The St. Paul Pioneer Press, www.twincities.com, and Minneapolis Star Tribune, www.startribune.com, also publish voters guides worth reading. Watch those sites for that information soon to be released.We at the Star Herald will, for the most part, leave state and national politics to our colleagues in the daily news business.Our readers can count on us instead to offer thorough coverage of our local county, city and school races.We’re putting together interview questions and questionnaires, and we’ll publish that information in coming weeks.… Meanwhile, there’s still time to shop for my birthday present.

Read the following the next time you lose your temper with your child, decide to drive over-aggressively, or get discouraged about your life. Read it as if it were a cold, tart lemonade on a sultry, summer afternoon.The responsive giggle of a happy child to the tickle of your finger.The first bite on a hot, dry day into a sweet and succulent oversized Georgia peach.The cat's coarse, wet tongue on your smooth cheek.The ballet of a wide receiver catching a sideline pass with his toes paired to the ground behind him. The long-delayed first full hug from a father or mother for a child who had never been cuddled.The sight of the lofted flight of a white golf ball against a backdrop of cumulus-clouded blue sky and fertile, green landing area. A Frederic Chopin composition skillfully interpreted on a finely-tuned grand piano.The first time your newborn closes his miniature hand around your finger.Standing with closed eyes in a gentle spring rain. Awakening on a fall morning to the sweet, transforming smell of freshly baked bread.The exhilarating animal instinct of pure pleasure when your parched mouth first tastes a stream of earth-born cold artesian well water.With eyes closed in your church pew absorbing an affective, angelic full choir singing with deepest heart the "Hallelujah Chorus". The first flower of spring. The soothing rhythm of the ocean's eternal heartbeat on a sand-swept beach. The perfectly-written and styled business letter.A child's art interpretation of the family in which mommy and daddy are both smiling.A sensual foot massage after a long day.The sight of a teenager pausing to help a senior citizen to cross the street.To hear "I love you" from the one you are deeply in love with.The everlasting wonder of the external structure of a flower.The incomprehensible notion that space has no boundary and the wonderment of its orchestration of stars.Slipping on a new pair of winter gloves that fit perfectly.A cold drink after a day of baling hay.The Vikings up by 40 points with two seconds to play in the Super Bowl.Your fingers melting into the smooth belly of your new baby.A fresh blanket of pure snow from here to the horizon.Your frigid hands hugging a hot cup of chocolate.The earthy smell of a freshly cut piece of wood.The sight and sound of tall prairie grass dancing in the wind.The concentric circles from a stone dropped in a placid lake.The intricacy of a spider's web.The Blue Mounds.A maple leaf.Sunrise.Sunset.The sense, if only momentarily, that all is right with the world. And guess what? The more you pause to identify the beauty all around, the more all will be right with the world.

The outsourcing of American jobs isn’t a laughing matter, and the latest news about this growing trend is literally hitting us below our belts. Yes, we’re talking about fast food. It’s one thing to try to communicate with a stranger in Mexico about questionable charges on your credit card or with someone else in New Delhi, India, about your computer problems. The situation is much more serious now that fast food restaurants, icons of our culture and symbols of all that is good and right about our country, are outsourcing their drive-through orders. According to the International Herald Tribune-New York Times, three McDonald’s restaurants in Missouri, Minnesota and Massachusetts recently began outsourcing their drive-through orders to a call center in Colorado Springs, Colo. With the new system, a Big Mac order shouted into a microphone is typed into a computer in Colorado and a digital photo of the customer’s car is taken in order to reduce errors. The order is then clicked back to the originating restaurant’s kitchen, which has the order ready in less time (30 seconds on the average) and with fewer mistakes. Really! Of course, it’s only a matter of time before other fast food restaurants jump on the bandwagon and decide to outsource their customers’ orders to remote third world countries, where a burger and fries would cost approximately a month’s wages. The following situations will indicate if such a change has taken place at your favorite drive-through window: To begin with, you order a Big Mac and french fries but land up with an order of sushi or a bowl of wonton soup. The voice taking your order yawns, "Good morning!" and it’s 7 p.m. where you live. You order a milkshake and the mechanized voice asks, "Would you like chopsticks with that?" Your order for several all-beef burgers is met with an audible gasp in New Delhi. In an ironic twist of your mother’s advice, "Eat everything on your plate because there are starving people in India," your fast food order is taken by someone very possibly starving in India. After you have placed your order, the voice on the other end of the intercom advises, "Please pull ahead to the first window. The total for your order is 10,040 pesos." Ordering fast food with outsourcing may save time, but it now requires three people — you, the order taker and a translator. The winter wind chill temperature outside your car at the drive-through window is 80 degrees below zero and your car is dwarfed by towering snow banks. When you roll down your car window to place an order, your eyelids begin to freeze shut. However, the voice from South America on the intercom greets you with, "Good afternoon! How are you enjoying this beautiful summer day?" Finally, you can’t understand what the order-taker is saying. All you can hear are garbled sounds. Wait a minute, that’s already happening!

Oct. 3-9 is National 4-H week. 4-H has been around Minnesota for 102 years and it is still going strong. Many of you do not know what 4-H is all about. 4-H is a program that gets children involved through youth leadership. It also helps build confidence through many activities.When most people think about 4-H, the first thing that comes to mind is "cows and cooking." 4-H is about so much more than just "cows and cooking."4-H has programs for every type of kid. Some examples of projects are photography, arts and crafts and clothing. If there isn’t an area that you are interested in, the self-determined project is for you. The self-determined project is when you make a project that adapts to your interests.District retreats and YELLO are opportunities to meet new kids from the area and across the state. In Rock County 4-H there are eight clubs. Fun Adventures is an afterschool program that gets kids familiar with different project areas. These are conducted in Luverne Elementary School. Day camps and project days also get kids involved. If you have animals and pets, you can also become involved with livestock. You can become as involved as you want. 4-H helps you grow. Conference judging helps you for job interviews later on in life. For more information about 4-H call the Rock County Extension office at 283-1302.Jerome WillersLHS SeniorMinnesota State 4-H Ambassador

Richard Christian Arp, 83, Luverne, died Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004, at Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne. Memorial services were Monday, Oct. 4, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Rev. Paul Fries officiated. Richard Arp was born to Otto and Martha (Kohlscheen) Arp on March 3, 1921, on a farm near Hardwick. He was raised and received his education in Hardwick. Upon his completion of country school he worked construction in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. He married Ruth Ann Kadinger on Oct. 7, 1950, in Sioux Falls, S.D. Following their marriage they made their home in Luverne. He worked at various jobs until 1952 when he and a partner bought Adrian Concrete Products in Adrian. He operated the business until he sold it in the fall of 1976. He then began selling farm pole barns until his retirement in 1981. He and his wife enjoyed their retirement years living for more than 20 years in the Harlingen, Texas, area during the winter months. Mrs. Arp died on Feb. 9, 2004. He moved to Palisade Manor in Garretson, S.D. In August he moved to Minnesota Veterans Home.Mr. Arp was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. He was a long-time member of Luverne Country Club where he was an avid golfer. He also enjoyed fishing. Survivors include four children, Sandy Smith and Becky (Doug) Eeten, Luverne, Randy (Deb) Arp, Lakewood, Colo., and Ron (Betty) Arp, Hills; eight grandchildren, Andy and Nick Smith, Ryan and Ricky Arp, Jamie and Jessica Arp and Austin and Katelyn Eeten; and three sisters, Ella Vonderharr, Madison, Minn., Emma Stammen, Cabot, Pa., and Marjorie Gundvaldson, Brookings, S.D. Mr. Arp was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Ruth Arp, one brother, Herbert Arp, and two sisters, Dora Erickson and Minnie Carstensen.In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Alzheimer’s Association.Hartquist Funeral Home, Engebretson Chapel, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Oct. 3-9 is National 4-H week. 4-H has been around Minnesota for 102 years and it is still going strong. Many of you do not know what 4-H is all about. 4-H is a program that gets children involved through youth leadership. It also helps build confidence through many activities.When most people think about 4-H, the first thing that comes to mind is "cows and cooking." 4-H is about so much more than just "cows and cooking."4-H has programs for every type of kid. Some examples of projects are photography, arts and crafts and clothing. If there isn’t an area that you are interested in, the self-determined project is for you. The self-determined project is when you make a project that adapts to your interests. District retreats and YELLO are opportunities to meet new kids from the area and across the state. In Rock County 4-H there are eight clubs. Fun Adventures is an after school program that gets kids familiar with different project areas. These are conducted in Luverne Elementary School. Day camps and project days also get kids involved. If you have animals and pets, you can also become involved with livestock. You can become as involved as you want. 4-H helps you grow. Conference judging helps you for job interviews later on in life. For more information about 4-H call the Rock County Extension office at 283-1302.Jerome WillersLHS SeniorMinnesota State 4-H Ambassador