By Lori EhdeLuverne students with impaired hearing have access to special equipment that makes teachers’ voices more audible.Clearer lines of communication make both learning and teaching more effective, and local educators are seeing value in new technology for the whole classroom — not just for the hearing impaired.At their Thursday, May 13, meeting, School Board members heard about a grant application Luverne teachers are submitting for a Sound Field Speaker System.The technology, which costs about $760 per classroom setup, includes a wireless microphone worn by the teacher and four small speakers, one for each corner of the room.The result, Angela Ahrendt told the board, is that all students get the same speaker/listener ratio. Without it, students nearest the teacher hear best, and those in the back of the room are disadvantaged.Luverne teachers said they didn’t understand the significance of sound until one Luverne student with hearing problems began using the speaker system in his classrooms.Teachers noticed improved behavior and longer attention spans among all students in classrooms where the equipment was in use."Unless you experience it, you don’t realize how powerful it is," said kindergarten teacher Shirley Harrison, who sometimes suffers voice fatigue.In applying for their grant, teachers are including information from studies showing how important good hearing is to successful learning.oConsidering noise from ventilation systems, overhead projectors and other voices in the room, most children in the classroom have trouble hearing every day, at some point in the day.oPoor hearing leads to students becoming distracted and becoming a distraction for other students.oStudies have shown that 40 percent of special needs students have varying degrees of hearing impairments. Considering 16 percent of Luverne’s students are considered to have special needs, the grant is worth pursuing.Five Luverne teachers presented information on the grant application Thursday: Ahrendt, Harrison, Lucinda Rofshus, Beth Capistran and Sandy Klosterbuer.Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff praised their efforts at the meeting. "I’m really proud of them for taking on this project," she said.The grant will be written to large corporations with histories of supporting projects like this one. The district won’t be asked to pay for the Sound Field Speaker System.Final school days …School Board members reviewed final days on the school calendar:oStudents will be released at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 3, because of a regional track meet in Luverne. oThe last day of school for students will be Friday, June 4, with a regular dismissal time.oGraduation is at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, in the Cardinal Gym.oMonday, June 7, will be a staff inservice day.oThe first day of school this fall will be Wednesday, Sept. 1.oThe next School Board meetings are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, May 27, June 10 and June 24.In personnel action, the board:oApproved maternity leave request for Sheleen Bauer, English teacher, from Sept. 1 through Nov. 5.oAccepted the resignation of Dan Carlson, paraprofessional, effective at the end of the school year.oApproved an administrative agreement for elementary librarian Lorna Schoeneman and accepted her retirement at the end of the school year. oPlaced part-time music teacher Patti Nelson on unrequested leave of absence that will reduce her position from .65 time to .40 time for the 2004-05 school year. The move reflects a reduction in the number of music classes offered in the middle school and one less section in the elementary school.

By Sara StrongRock County joined the city of Luverne this week by declaring recreational areas tobacco free.The Rock County Board of Commissioners passed the tobacco-free policy Tuesday for all county work sites, including the courthouse, Law Enforcement Center, Highway Department, Family Services Agency, Extension Office, Land Management Office, the little league fields, Schoneman Park and Kanaranzi Park.The county reserved the right to set aside smoking areas, provided the areas are sufficiently isolated and removed from the public. QUOTE FROM PAULA??In other county business Tuesday, commissioners:oApproved the conditional use permit for Duininck Bros. hot mix plant. The permit was approved in a special Planning and Zoning meeting before going to the commissioners. The company mistakenly overlooked the permitting timeline, so the special meeting had to be called. Because of that, the county will bill Duininck costs for the meeting, approximately $1,000.The hot mix asphalt operation will be in Section 21 of Battle Plain Township.oReceived updates from Luverne High School interns, who participated in the program under the direction of Jim Sanden.Abigail Kooiker helped the Assessor’s Office do house layouts and mapping on a computer program. She completed the city of Steen, and county employees will finish the rest of the project. The information will eventually be online.Brad Herman worked with Nobles Rock Public Health educating youth about dangers of tobacco use. He also worked with developing informational handouts for the office.Chelsie Van DeBerg and Taylor Graphenteen worked with the Rock County Collaborative. The Collaborative will publish a guide on youth programs for ages ranging from birth to teen based on their work.

Twins settle broadcast issue Mediacom will also broadcast games Starting next Saturday, both Luverne cable companies will again broadcast Minnesota Twins games.The Twins had hoped to broadcast their games on their own Victory Sports Channel, but had not been able to convince any of the major cable companies in the metro area to agree to carry the channel.The major metro cable providers cited the much higher cost Victory wanted compared to what they had been paying Fox Sports Network (FSN) in previous years.Two weeks ago PrairieWave announced they had signed an agreement with Victory, as had many of the smaller outstate cable companies.Last week the Pohlad family, owners of the Minnesota Twins, announced an agreement to again broadcast their games over FSN and shut down the fledgling Victory Sports channel.With the Victory Channel going out of business, both Luverne cable companies, Mediacom and PrairieWave, will again broadcast the Twins season on FSN.For Mediacom subscribers FSN is on channel 26 and PrairieWave shows FSN on channel 67.Dollars for Scholars awardsmillionth dollarLuverne’s Dollars for Scholars program hit a new milestone this year when it went over the $1 million mark in scholarships awarded.Since the program’s inception, 895 Luverne High School students have been awarded $1,093,525.The program was started 21 years ago with the class of 1984 receiving the first scholarships.In past years, scholarships were awarded during Luverne High School’s annual awards night.To celebrate the milestone, scholarships were presented to this year’s recipients at a ceremony Friday evening at the Blue Mound Banquet Center with former recipients and donors invited to attend.Former scholarship recipients Bart Thielbar, class of ’86, and Erica Smith, class of ’99, were speakers at the event.This year the program awarded 74 LHS seniors more than $94,250 in scholarship money.The Luverne Dollars for Scholars program currently has 99 perpetual scholarships and has more than $2.4 million in endowment funds.Pawlenty signs bill for vets memorial Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has signed a bill allowing veterans organizations with gambling licenses to spend up to $1,500 per person in gambling profits to send two World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., for the dedication of the National World War II Memorial.According to a Web site dedicated to the memorial, the National World War II Memorial will be the first national memorial dedicated to all who served during World War II. The memorial will honor all military veterans of the war, the citizens on the home front, the nation at large, and the high moral purpose and idealism that motivated the nation's call to arms. It will be located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. at the Rainbow Pool site at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. This prominent location is commensurate with the historical importance and lasting significance of World War II to America and the world.The memorial has been open to the public since April 29, and the dedication ceremony will be May 29.The Second World War is the only 20th century event commemorated on the Mall’s central axis.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

By Sara StrongThe Luverne Economic Development Authority is taking steps to control weeds in open lots in newer subdivisions.People living in the Evergreen and Sybesma additions have complained to the city about dandelion and other weed infestations in the unsold residential lots. The LEDA decided to spray for broadleaf weeds and alfalfa and mow the lots as soon as possible. Then in the fall, it will seed rye grass to cover the lots. The ground should have enough cover left to hold down dirt through the summer.Nate Golla, on behalf of the Luverne Farm Store, made the recommendation to seed rye grass in the fall because it might not grow if planted now. The Sybesma Addition has more open lots and has been planted with alfalfa to be harvested. The city has a year left on that contract, but will also try the weed control after the current crop is cut.For the 13.6 acres in Evergreen, it will cost $1,940 for spraying, $5,811 for grass seed and $1,800 for inner seeding. The Luverne Farm Store will contract with the city for these services.In other business, the LEDA:oAgain extended the loan repayment for Blue Mound Soy, which owes $40,000 plus interest to the LEDA. The money was borrowed to explore constructing and operating a soy processing plant in Luverne. David Kolsrud, representing Corn-er Stone Farmers Cooperative, said the group is still looking into the viability of the project. oPlans to host a public meeting (that is yet to be scheduled) on the Small Cities Grant it received from the state. The grants and local matches amount to $1.27 million that will be invested in owner-occupied homes, rental units and commercial buildings downtown.

By Lori EhdeBy Monday, more than 20 brand new employees will report to work for training at Total Card Inc. in Luverne.Meanwhile, contractors are working feverishly on the former Tri-State Insurance building to prepare it for the Sioux Falls credit card company expanding operations into Luverne.Workers are repairing the roof, laying carpet, replacing lighting, installing security glass near the entry and transforming file and mailroom space into offices and conference rooms.To top it off, one of the four company owners, Scott Swain, is expecting a new baby in his family any day.But for Swain and the other three TCI owners, Dave Andera, Greg Johnson and Greg Ticknor, it’s just the sort of chaos they’ve grown accustomed to — and seem to thrive on.The four Sioux Falls men teamed up in 2000 to start their own credit card issuing and servicing company after they saw opportunities at the companies they were working for.Swain and Andera helped build Specialized Card Services in Sioux Falls from five employees to 1,500 in only five years. "We made a lot of money for other people," Andera said.So, when the company was on the verge of being sold to Household Credit Services, they decided to venture out on their own.Teaming upThey teamed up with Johnson, who was also looking to invest in such a businesses.Drawing on each other’s individual skills, they successfully broke into a banking and finance industry not typically kind to newcomers.Swain, chief financial officer, handles financing; Andera, chief operating officer, handles operations; Johnson, chief marketing officer, does human resources and marketing; and Ticknor, president, handles marketing and general corporate business."It’s not easy to start a credit card company," Ticknor said. "But because we do everything — from marketing, to collections to finance — it works."Johnson said, "If we’d all been finance guys, it wouldn’t have worked out."The four men weren’t necessarily best friends when they started out, but they say they are now, considering what they’ve been through together.And … staying together as a team has been good for business. "We always have at least four sets of eyes whenever there’s a major decision to make," Ticknor said.Swain said, "That’s kind of the beauty of having four owners on site. You don’t have to contact corporate headquarters every time a decision needs to be made."What is TCI?By definition, TCI is a credit card processer and servicer.It has a contract with Plains Commerce Bank in South Dakota to issue VISA credit cards in the bank’s name.As credit card companies go, Swain said TCI’s relationship with Plains Commerce Bank is unique because of TCI’s proven history with the bank."Other banks might limit our growth, but they know how we operate," Swain said. "We’re ultra-conservative in terms of our finances."As a result, TCI has grown steadily.Two years after launching TCI, in January 2003, the company doubled in size from 55 employees to 110 when TCI took over accounts and services from The Credit Store, Sioux Falls."A lot of their employees became our employees and we took over 60,000 accounts," Swain said.Now the company is expanding again, this time in Luverne, with an additional 100 new hires anticipated over the next 18 months.That kind of growth has some people wondering if TCI will burn out too soon, like some major credit card companies are currently experiencing."Those are public companies," Swain said, explaining that TCI is protected from market influences — such as nervous shareholders — being a privately held company.In fact, it’s one of very few privately held credit card companies in existence.Plus, Swain said TCI is a solid company in that it doesn’t borrow money or understate its reserves — factors that have also presented problems for other companies."It is a volatile industry … and there’s always risk. If there weren’t, everybody would be doing it," Swain said. "But since we’ve been in this business as long as we have, we’ve already met a lot of hurdles that trip up other companies."Luverne is just rightWhen considering a location for their expansion, TCI owners also looked at sites in Rapid City, Watertown, Huron and Sioux Falls. But when they came to Luverne, the decision was easy, Ticknor said. "The building is just what we were looking for," he said. "That and it’s proximity to Sioux Falls, and the JOBZ program were deciding factors."The quality labor market in southwest Minnesota has been an added bonus. Ticknor said TCI has accepted 400 job applications so far. In addition to those starting Monday, the company intends to hire 10 to 20 per month until the building is filled. The capacity is roughly 300 employees."If business goes the way it has been, we’re hoping to fill that building in two to three years," Ticknor said.Jeff Strauss, manager of customer service and collections for TCI in Sioux Falls, will head up operations in Luverne.He’s moving to Luverne with his wife, Barbra, who is leaving her accounting job at TCI in Sioux Falls, and their six-month-old son, Winston.They’re building a home on a lot in the Evergreen II Addition."We’re excited to be in Luverne," he said.

By Sara StrongThe city of Luverne will begin citing people for ordinance violations, outside of what the Sheriff's Department does.That means the city will keep the fine revenues from violations to municipal codes such as building regulations, streets and sidewalks, parking regulations, unlawful deposit of garbage, animals and fowl, shade tree disease and prevention and open burning of leaves.The new ordinance approved Tuesday lists the standard fine for violations as $75 per offense per day plus $50 assessment costs. The City Council will review the schedule of fines annually.Although the ordinance will collect money for the city through fines, City Administrator Greg LaFond calls the revenue "inconsequential."Just being able to enforce ordinances, such as junk vehicles in yards, is a quality of life issue that the city has been unable to control until now.Current Zoning Administrator Dan Delgehausen has spent more than a year, in some cases, warning people and sending letters to try to get them to comply with city codes. Often the work produces no results, or just short-term compliance.That’s why the fines are so important, LaFond said. "If there’s not stick behind the carrot, you continue to chew on the carrot," he said.Delgehausen has worked on the administrative citation ordinance for a year and one-half. Residents call City Hall, complaining of junk vehicles; city workers have difficulty with parking violations when plowing streets in the winter. All that will be under more control with this new ordinance in place.LaFond said, "Residents will know that if there’s a problem, they have a mechanism through the city to get results."The city will have a Code Compliance Officer (Delgehausen) who will issue citations to violators.People may receive the citation in person, by certified mail, or in the case of parking, by a ticket on their vehicle.People who violate a code, such as building regulation, will be allowed time to correct the offense in most cases.If a fine is issued, people have 15 days to pay. Violators may participate in an administrative citation hearing and continue through the circuit court system if they want to appeal the fine.LaFond said, "It’s clear from my perspective, in terms of impact on the community that [the ordinance] ranks right up there as one of the most important things we’ve done since I’ve been here."Coffee with the administratorLaFond is taking his June 7 "coffee with the administrator" on the road. He will be at Glen’s Deli from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m.; at McDonald’s from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., and at the Coffey Haus from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

By Lori EhdeThe tornado that hit eastern Rock County Sunday was assigned an F1 rating — the weakest on a scale of F1 to F5 — by the National Weather Service.But what it lacked in strength it made up for in character, according to Greg Harmon, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls."This was, from our view, a pretty unusual event," said Harmon, who hasn’t seen a tornado like this one in 30 years with the National Weather Service.He said conditions involved in producing Sunday’s tornado are more typical of what is seen in the western high plains, like eastern Colorado."For high-based thunderstorms to produce this tornado like they did for our area is pretty unusual," Harmon said. "The bottom of the thunderclouds were much higher than usual — about 8,000 feet. It’s usually at 3,000 or 4,000 feet where we get our tornado weather."As a result, he said, the tornado was much taller and more visible to so many people from such a great distance.Photogenic twisterFreshly tilled fields and dry conditions provided plenty of loose material that also gave the twister remarkable visibility.A typical tornado in the Midwest occurs with thunderstorms that produce rain, but with no moisture, Sunday’s otherwise weak system was able to sustain itself longer in an already arid environment."It had free access to all the ingredients it needed to keep going," said Todd Heitkamp, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service.Several residents near the storm supplied local media with quality digital images of the funnel cloud.Leah Van Meeteren, for example, watched the twister form near her farm eight miles northeast of Luverne."I was looking up into the clouds, and I could see a hole in the middle that looked like it was right above our place," she said. "As it moved to the northeast, it started picking up dirt. … It was really cool to watch."Started east of Luverne, ended near LismoreHeitkamp and Harmon spent Tuesday morning tracking the path of the twister with Rock County Emergency Management Coordinator Kyle Oldre.Based on reports, the funnel cloud formed just northeast of the Blue Mounds State Park shortly after 8 p.m. and traveled about 10 miles per hour to the east. It was last sighted near Lismore where it dissipated about 8:25 p.m.The F1 rating was determined by the amount and extent of damage it caused. In this case, wind speeds likely reached about 100 miles per hour.The only report of structural damage Sunday came from the Brad Scott farm southwest of Kenneth. His home received minor damage, with some shingles removed and some windows and gutters broken. But a less sturdy storage shed and silos were destroyed.Steel from the silos was scattered for about a mile off of Scott’s homestead. Inside the large storage barn, a grain truck lifted up and landed on lumber stored inside. "I saw that some debris was blowing around and it was an accelerating wind," he said. Once downstairs, though, he said he didn’t hear much commotion, and wasn’t concerned about finding damage. When he left the basement, however, he saw the tornado leaving his property to the east. "It wasn’t the usual funnel; it just looked like a big swirling circle of dirt. It didn’t even sound like much was happening."Because the twister was so weak, it didn’t cut a clear path on the ground, so its direction was established based on reports by residents and weather spotters.Little warningThe unusual start to Sunday’s funnel cloud caught weather forecasters off guard."This tornado didn’t form in the typical way tornados are formed," Heitkamp said. "Did they issue the warning after the fact? Yes. But that was only because we were gathering reports and trying to determine where it was going."Oldre said residents should have been aware of stormy weather and alert to the possibility of a tornado, since TV and radio broadcasts had issued thunderstorm watches and warnings three hours prior.As emergency management coordinator, Oldre said he witnessed troubling behavior among residents when the Luverne sirens sounded."Everyone was out in the streets looking around," he said. "When the sirens go off, it means seek shelter immediately. … Stay inside when you are inside. The reason is, you don’t know what’s going on behind you when you’re looking off to the east."Worse yet, Oldre said he heard reports of residents driving to get close to the storm for photos or driving from their homes to outrun the tornado.He said the worst possible place to be during a tornado is in a vehicle.On the other hand, he said some residents in their homes were concerned that they didn’t hear the sirens over the usual indoor sounds of televisions and appliances."They’re outdoor sirens. … It is not intended to be heard by people inside," Oldre clarified. "They were intended to be outdoor warning signals to residents who may not have heard weather warnings on TV or radio."Heitkamp and Harmon encouraged residents to brush up on their tornado drills, because there may be more systems like Sunday’s this summer."As long as it stays dry like it is, we’re likely to see these weak, brief tornados with other squalls of thunderstorms," Harmon said.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian track teams attended the five-squad Tri-State Relays in Luverne Saturday.The Dragons competed without some of their top athletes, who had prior commitments for the weekend, but AHS co-coach Doug Petersen thought his younger athletes fared well at the event."We had Prom the night before, and some other kids had college registration on Saturday," he said. "It was nice to give the younger kids a chance to see what they can do."The Adrian girls scored 47 points to place fifth in a five-team field. The boys recorded 36 counters to place fifth out of six teams.McCall Heitkamp notched the lone meet title for Adrian by winning the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:48.7.Heitkamp also ran a leg with the 3,200-meter relay team, which placed second with a time of 10:22.15. Erica Thier, Leslie Stover and Morgan Lynn round out the squad.Lynn finished second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:29.63.Casey Knips turned in the top performance for the AHS boys during the meet.Knips, who placed fifth in the shot put with a toss of 43-7, finished second in the discus with a 129-0 effort.Here is a look at the team standings and the rest of Adrian’s top six finishers during the Tri-State Relays.Girls’ standings: Luverne 182, Pipestone 142, Canton 113, Redwood Valley 64, Adrian 47.Boys’ standings: RWV 171, Luverne 166, Canton 112, Pipestone 63, Adrian 36, Southwest United 2.Adrian girlsThird place: Stover, 800, 2:38.6; 1,600 relay (Jolene Reisdorfer, Lynn, Sarah Jensen and Thier), 4:27.15.Fifth place: Jensen, 300 hurdles, 55.23; Thier, 400, 1:06.23; 800 relay (Reisdorfer, Katy Slater, Jensen and Emily Thier), 1:58.62.Sixth place: Reisdorfer, 200, 28.3.Adrian boysThird place: Lee Stover, 800, 2:12; 3,200 relay (Stover, Jesse Brake, Brad Brake and Pete Jensen), 9:19.28.Fourth place: 800 relay (Billy Anderson, Jensen, Jory Haken and Jordan Brake), 1:44.12; 1,600 relay (Stover, Preston Engelkes, Jensen and Jr.Brake), 3:55.15.Fifth place: Anderson, 100, 12.05; Js.Brake, 1,600, 5:10; 400 relay (Jr.Brake, Trent Lutmer, Haken and Anderson), 51.68.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ golf team compiled an 8-2 record when it played in three events since last Thursday.The Cardinals notched a six-stroke win over Pipestone and won a tiebreaker in a match with Jackson County Central during matches played at the Luverne Country Club Thursday and Tuesday.Luverne placed third at a nine-team tournament in Worthington Saturday.The 21-5 Cardinals play in Tracy today and at the Fairmont Tournament Saturday.Luverne 181, JCC 181A tiebreaker gave the Cardinals a home win when they entertained the Huskies Tuesday.Strong winds made the course challenging for both teams, but the Cardinals survived the conditions and finished Southwest Conference play with a 4-2 record.The four low scorers for both teams compiled 181-stroke team tallies. The match was decided by the fifth lowest score for each team, where Luverne’s Colby Anderson carded a 50 compared with a 51 turned in by JCC’s fifth playerDavid Nelson shot a seven-over-par 43 to lead the Cardinals during the meet.Jesson Vogt, Kirk Oldre and Andy Haakenson contributed 45-, 46- and 47-stroke efforts to the winning effort.Steven Berghorst shot a 51 without contributing to the victory.JCC’s Brett Benson shot a six-over-par 42 to capture medalist honors for the meet.Sklyer Hoiland shot a 49 to lead Luverne’s B squad during a loss to JCC.Worthington inviteThe Cardinal boys placed third in a nine-team field at the Worthington Invitational Saturday.Luverne compiled a team total of 328 strokes during the 18-hole event, placing three strokes behind team champion Mankato West (325) and two shots behind runner up New Ulm (326).Worthington Black (337), Windom (340), Fairmont (362), Pipestone (363), Worthington Red (387) and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster (404) capped the field.Vogt turned in a standout performance for the Cardinals by placing fourth in the individual standings. Vogt shot a 79.Anderson, Haakenson and Berghorst contributed 81-, 83- and 85-stroke rounds to Luverne’s team performance.Nelson and Oldre shot 88- and 102-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.New Ulm’s Jim Fromm led all players with a 75.Luverne 170,Pipestone 176The Cardinals avenged an early-season loss when they toppled the Arrows by six strokes at the Luverne Country Club Thursday.Luverne, which dropped a six-stroke decision when it played the Arrows in a conference match April 15 in Pipestone, evened the season series with a non-conference win Thursday.Luverne’s Anderson and Pipestone’s Paul Bardusan shared medalist honors for the meet by shooting three-over-par 39s.Vogt, Haakenson and Nelson contributed respective 42-, 44- and 45-stroke efforts to the winning team tally.Oldre and Berghorst shot 49- and 56-stroke rounds without padding the scoring.Greg Helle shot a 47 to lead the Luverne B squad to a 203-241 victory over the Arrows.