To the editor:
I need to respond to the letter written to the editor last week about the death of Joanne Olson. I not only personally knew Joanne all her life but was her friend. I met Daryl in 1992. Both of them were and are good people, but both needed help.

I understand why the writer may have jumped to the defense of Joanne, but if there is one thing I have learned from this heartbreaking tragedy, it is that there are two sides to everything and from the outside no one knows the inside story.

I think every day about how we, as a society, failed them. It is too late to help my friend, but I am determined to help Daryl and people like him who are good people and get caught in a situation where they feel driven from their homes and have nowhere to go. Oftentimes when men call 911 for help they are ridiculed, and yet they need support just as women need it. And let us not forget many times verbal abuse is as harmful as physical.

Carol Godfrey Lundholm
Plymouth

By Sara Quam
Harvey's Trading Post, Luverne's gun and sporting goods dealership, underwent a change in ownership Monday.

Kevin and Vickie Kramer are new partners with Glen Gust, replacing Kirk Hagberg. Gust and Hagberg operated the business since 1988, and Hagberg will stay on as gunsmith.

The name won't change to keep continuity for customers. The only difference customers will notice is expanded merchandise.

Vickie said, "We'll diversify what Harvey's has." They plan to relocate their current pawn shop west of M-M to Harvey's.

"It's an ideal location," Kevin said. "The gun shop is already established, we'll have the pawn shop and I'm a Cell One dealer."

The pawn aspect of the business will include smaller items like jewelry, VCRs and TVs - no major purchases like vehicles.

The sporting goods retail will also be expanded as much as the building can hold. "We'll continue as normal," Kevin said. "We'll just be adding a few more things."

Kevin is a native of Magnolia and Vickie is originally from Luverne. They now live in Worthington but plan to move to Luverne.

By Sara Quam
Luverne city officials urged the state legislators not to cut Local Government Aid last week and persuaded representatives to support border city legislation.

LGA, state aid to Minnesota cities, is a particular sore spot for Luverne officials, so they attended a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 10, as a part of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is revealing his budget proposal later in the month, and it's expected he'll propose cuts to LGA and Homestead and Agricultural Credit Aid, which are vital funding to the city's budget.

"Nobody really knows what the plan is," said Luverne Mayor Glen Gust of Ventura's upcoming proposal.

LGA is a state system that supplements cities that don't have property tax bases sufficient enough to meet the needs of their citizens for basic services. Without the aid, cities must rely on local property taxes to provide those services.

The Coalition estimates that without LGA, Luverne's property taxes on a $100,000 home will increase from $1,308 to $2,031 in order to sustain city services.

Gust said he doesn't expect drastic changes in the government aid system quite yet, but Ventura's ideas may take hold more in future legislative sessions.

The CGMC has taken the stand that removing or reducing state aid to cities would severely hurt greater Minnesota. However it won't issue a formal opinion on Ventura's budget proposal until it is released.

Border city legislation
In a more proactive measure, Gust, City Administrator Matt Hylen and Councilmen Tom Martius and Keith Erickson also visited with area representatives to gather support for border city legislation.

"I left there feeling good," Gust said. "I think we had a better chance last year; however, I think with persistence, we can do it. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up, but we want to keep it on the front burner."

Gust said the biggest concern for the legislation is that key committee chairs are from the metro area and may not understand problems facing a city like Luverne.

Hylen said the legislation will be introduced soon and has the support of Rep. Richard Mulder and Sen. Arlene Lesewski. The biggest pitch Luverne can offer is the study that showed it's suffering from the competition across the border in South Dakota.

Dilworth, Moorhead, Breckenridge, Moorhead and East Grand Forks are all Minnesota cities that have benefited from similar legislation. Luverne would ask for sales tax breaks for new and expanding businesses.

Luverne is unique because unlike the other border cities, more than a river separates it from its major competition. Luverne is nearly 30 miles from Sioux Falls and still feels the damage.

The call comes in
Don was actually prepared for surgery twice.

The first call came at 7:10 p.m. on Dec. 26, 1999.

The Sioux Valley on-call medical flight team was waiting for them at the Sioux Falls airport, and they were in the air by 8.

It was snowing in Minneapolis and only one runway was available, so all other flights were kept circling while Don and the flight team landed.

When they arrived at Fairview University Hospital, Don was scrubbed for surgery only to find out the donor lung was infected.

After the mad scramble to meet the six-hour time limit for the lung transplant, Don was sent home.

"It was a relief, really, because I didn't have to go through with it," Don said, when asked if he was disappointed.

He and Linda were well aware what the procedure entailed, and they knew it wouldn't be easy.

The second call came at 12:43 a.m. Jan. 17, 2000. This time it was for real.

They followed the same procedure as during the first call, only this time the weather was better. "We prayed a lot for good weather," Linda said.

By 9 that morning, Don was already in the recovery room with his new lung. By the next afternoon, he was moved from intensive care into his own room.

"Everything clicked along so smoothly," Linda said. "They're so expert at what they do, you don't have time to worry."

Just when they were beginning to feel like the worst was over, acute rejection set in a few days later and infections raged through his body.

For two days, doctors debated placing him back on the respirator. History has shown that lung transplant patients placed on a respirator often must remain on the respirator for months afterward.

Eventually, high doses of antibiotics and prednisone began working, and the respirator wasn't needed.

Those early days in recovery were difficult, but what Don and Linda weren't prepared for was life after a transplant.

"Everyone prepared us for the transplant, but we didn't have any idea about living with a transplant," Linda said.

Rocky first year
It's been more than a year since he received a donor lung, but he's still getting used to the post-operative routine.

Lung transplant surgery is very taxing on even a healthy body. The chest cavity is opened up through an incision under the left breast that follows under the arm and cuts all the way up to the spine.

"I'm finally starting to get over it," Don said Friday.

In addition, the body's entire immune system is disabled so it won’t reject the new lung.

Twice last year, he had close calls with illness- once he was hospitalized with pneumonia.

That's why he needs to take 52 pills a day. Some are anti-rejection medications and some help the body fight infections in the absence of its immune system.

The first two hours of his day are consumed by the pill regime and checking his lung capacity.

He blows into a home spirometer, similar to a laptop computer, which records lung capacity readings for doctors in Minneapolis.

He makes frequent contact with doctors in Luverne who are familiar with Don's medical history. In addition, he travels to Minneapolis every two months for doctors to check his lungs for rejection and infection.

Aside from the medical demands, Don’s condition is still guarded, and catching a cold or flu could mean hospitalization.

"Our lives still revolve around Don," Linda said.

Visitors to the Hubbling home must be healthy, and he may go to church on Sunday only if he's feeling healthy and strong.

God is in control
Don won't deny that he longs for the days before he was sick, and he admits he craves a cigarette occasionally.

"I know I'll always be sick, and I was never sick before. I drove bus for 17 years and never missed a day for being sick," he said. "It's hard to watch the buses go by every day."

Linda said they’ve both had to accept the fact that they’'e not in control. "We don't dwell on it," she said. "You have to accept you're not in control; God is."

Every day that Don is alive, they're reminded of the donor who isn't.

"We don't know the donor; we just know he was a healthy young man [24] who died of head trauma," Linda said.

"This Christmas we really remembered that family and prayed for them because it had to be tough. It had to be hard enough for them to lose him, but they cared enough to do this for us."

* * *

The Hubbling family will offer a special thank-you brunch at the American Reformed Church Sunday to recognize church and community members who helped them during Don's transplant.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne's Don Hubbling gave up a two-pack-a-day smoking habit for a 52-pill-a-day survival routine.

Following a lung transplant a year ago, he's operating on only 50 percent of his original lung capacity, he'll never be able to hold a full-time job again and it seems he's always low on energy.

But he's alive.

"This is as good as it's going to get, but it's living," Don said from his home Friday.

Considering how far he's come, his current limitations are never the focus. Rather, he's grateful for every day he's alive.

"We're learning the difference between a need and a want," his wife, Linda, said. "We're learning that every day is a gift, and we find a way to enjoy each day."

Life-changing diagnosis
Don was diagnosed with emphysema and chronic obstructive lung disease on March 7, 1997.

Prior to that, he operated his own business, Don's Repair, and he drove school bus twice a day for the Luverne district.

When he wasn't busy in the shop, he and Linda were attending their daughters' school events, or they'd enjoy long motorcycle rides on their Honda Goldwing.

But early in 1997, Don began to notice his health deteriorating.

"I was always tired. When I'd come home from the bus route, if I didnt have anything to do in the shop, I'd sleep," he said.

"I knew there was something wrong, but I had no idea what. I just knew I was tired."

A few days prior to his diagnosis, Don's health took a nosedive.

He came home from his bus route completely spent. He couldn't work in the shop, and he couldn't return to his bus route that afternoon.

A March 7 doctor appointment brought news they weren't prepared for: a transplant was his only hope for survival.

"We knew he was developing breathing problems, but there was no clue of this severity whatsoever," Linda said.

The waiting game
In the months and years following his diagnosis, Don's health steadily declined as prayers from his church and community increased.

His lung capacity decreased to the point where he was forced to quit bus driving and quit accepting work at his shop, where chemicals also contributed to lung problems.

Lack of oxygen in the blood eventually affects all major organs - including the brain.

Toward the end, Don said he was so forgetful, if he didn't write a telephone message down as the caller was speaking, he'd forget 30 seconds later what the message was.

Meanwhile, he was on the regional transplant list to receive a donor lung.

Don had two things going for him: he was otherwise strong and healthy (his heart was in good shape) and his blood type, O, was relatively common.

While waiting for a transplant, Don came to depend on oxygen 24 hours a day.

He didn't leave home without carrying with him portable oxygen tanks.

Travel became difficult, but that was just as well, because living on a transplant list restricted his travel to no farther than Sioux Falls or Marshall.

They had to always be ready at a moment's notice to go into surgery, in case a donor lung became available for transplant.

Of all organ transplants, a lung transplant is reportedly the hardest on a body. In fact, surgeons won't perform lung transplants on patients who aren't healthy.

Even a slight cold would be enough to cost Don an available lung if he were sick when the call came in.

"They won't give a lung unless they know your body’s going to accept it," Linda said. "They don't waste it."

Amazingly, neither she nor Don became ill while he was on the waiting list.

"It was like God put a protective cloud around us," Linda said. "Don never got sick; I never got sick, and there was so much flu going around. But then, we had a whole church praying for us."

By Jolene Farley
The agenda of the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board meeting Monday evening included the purchase of new textbooks.

H-BC uses a schedule called a curriculum review table that indicates when subjects are due to receive new teaching materials.

Last year the teachers for foreign language and math were unaware they were at the top of the schedule to receive new textbooks.

A curriculum review table has now been passed out to all teachers so they know when subjects are up for review.

Elementary principal Kim Grengs presented examples of current textbooks and new textbooks. Some of the current books are very worn with tape holding the binding together.

Purchasing used books is substantially less expensive than purchasing new books, according to Grengs. The problem is locating enough of the same edition of used texts for a full class of students.

Superintendent Knoll said he supports purchasing used texts because staff has all spring and summer to try to locate enough texts.

The board approved purchase of textbooks for seventh- and eighth-grade math, advanced math, Spanish and Minnesota history.
"With the world changing as fast as it is, we
have to keep these up," said Board President Rollie Crawford. "That is what we are here for, to educate children."

In other board business:
-Newly elected School Board officers for the year are Rollie Crawford, chairman; Alan Harnack, vice-chair; Dave Roozenboom, clerk, and Gary Esselink, treasurer.

-The 2000 surveys were mailed out to residents of the district. The data from these surveys will help determine whether or not board members proceed with building plans for new locker rooms and a community fitness center. Board members are also planning a community meeting in February to discuss the plans.

-Board members discussed fuel purchases for the district. Purchases were not equally distributed among area vendors, and Superintendent Knoll said he had asked bus drivers last month to split purchases equitably. The board passed a motion to divide all business equally. If drivers do not follow policy they will pay for fuel out of their own pockets.

-At this time the Hills-Beaver Creek school district has no outstanding special education violations, according to Superintendent Knoll.

-Technology instructor Roger Jackson was present to update the board on the Technology Plan submitted to Children, Families and Learning for the district. CFL requires a plan be submitted before the district can receive $5 per student in e-rate funds.

The plan had to follow the guidelines presented in 60 pages of instructions. "We don't want to be left out of tech funding," said Jackson. "We never know when they will change their ways and give more money."

Jackson also prepared a Self-Evaluation for Staff Use of Technology for the district. The teachers can answer questions to find out how proficient they are in technology and on which areas they need to work.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball team kicked off the 2000-01 campaign by dropping a close game to Graettinger during the first round of the Harris-Lake Park Tournament in Lake Park, Iowa, Friday.

The game was tight from beginning to end, but the Patriots experienced a rough third quarter that proved to the difference in what turned into a 71-66 setback.

Things looked good for the Patriots when Matt Buck pumped in nine of his team-high 15 points to help give the Patriots a 15-10 lead in the first quarter, but Graettinger battled back in the second quarter to gain a 36-34 lead after hitting a shot at the buzzer to end the second quarter.

Graettinger increased its lead to eight points (52-44) by outscoring the Patriots 16-10 in the decisive third quarter.

H-BC did pull to within three points in the fourth quarter but didn't get any closer as Graettinger canned 10 free throws in the final eight minutes of play to hang onto a five-point win.

"Our kids battled hard," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "We just didn't have a very good third quarter. We just didn't get it done in the third quarter.

The game was decided at the charity stripe, where Graettinger outscored the Patriots by a 24-14 margin. H-BC also turned the ball over nine more times (19-10) than Graettinger did.

Buck had four assists and recorded a double-double by nabbing 11 rebounds to go along with his 15 points.

Lance Crawford netted 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and David Top chipped in 13 points. Brad Haak snared seven rebounds for the Patriots.

Box score
D.DeBoer 0 1 1-3 4, Van Batavia 0 0 0-0 0, Van Maanen 1 1 0-0 5, Fransman 1 1 2-3 7, Haak 1 0 1-1 3, Van Wyhe 1 0 3-4 5, Top 3 2 1-4 13, Crawford 6 0 2-2 14, Buck 4 1 4-7 15.

Team statistics
H-BC: 23 of 50 field goals (46 percent), 14 of 24 free throws (58 percent), 30 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
Graettinger: 22 of 57 field goals (39 percent), 24 of 36 free throws (67 percent), 30 rebounds, 10 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball team broke into the win column in a big a way Friday in Okabena when it coasted to a 77-22 victory over Southwest Star Concept.

A solid defensive performance consisting of a mixture of man-to-man and zone resistance was the story of the game for H-BC.

Patriot defenders limited SSC to nine field goals and 21-percent shooting from the floor in the game. The Quasars never scored more than 10 points in a quarter, and H-BC blanked SSC in the third period.

A good share of H-BC's defensive success came after the first quarter, when both teams struggled before the Patriots opened a 14-9 cushion at period's end.

"We got off to a pretty slow start," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "Once we got going, we played pretty hard."

The Patriots were at their best in the second and third quarters, when they outscored the Quasars 41-3 to take a 55-12 advantage.

A 25-3 scoring cushion in the second quarter increased H-BCÕs lead to 27 points (39-12), and a 16-0 advantage in the third quarter made the difference 43 points.

The Patriots capped the 55-point win by outscoring SSC 22-10 in the final eight minutes of play.

Chris Fransman scored 11 points in the first half and finished with a team-high 22 counters for the winners.

Matt Buck netted eight first-half-points and finished with 18 counters and eight rebounds. Lance Crawford, who had seven rebounds, netted all eight of his points in the first half.

David Top scored 10 points, Lyle DeBoer recorded six steals and Brad Haak charted five assists and five steals for the Patriots.

Wiertzema said unselfish play on the part of H-BC helped the Patriots snap a three-game losing skid.

"One thing I was really happy with was we had 20 assists in the game. We were sharing the ball and setting people up to score," he said.

Box score
Jess 0 0 0-0 0, D.DeBoer 1 0 0-0 2, Van Batavia 1 0 0-0 2, Van Maanen 3 0 1-2 7, Fransman 10 0 2-2 22, Haak 0 0 5-6 5, L.DeBoer 0 0 1-2 1, Van Wyhe 1 0 0-0 2, Top 1 0 8-12 10, Crawford 4 0 0-0 8, Krull 0 0 0-0 0, Buck 7 0 4-8 18.

Team statistics
H-BC: 28 of 54 field goals (52 percent), 21 of 32 free throws (66 percent), 29 rebounds, 14 turnovers.
SSC: nine of 43 field goals (21 percent), three of eight free throws (38 percent), 27 rebounds, 35 turnovers.

The Hills-Beaver Creek girls picked up their first basketball victory in 2001 when they upended Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Round Lake Tuesday.

What was a tight game through three quarters of play turned into a nine-point win for the Patriots as they used a late surge to post a 56-47 advantage.

The game was decided in the fourth quarter, when the Patriots used an 18-5 scoring run to erase a 42-38 deficit entering the stanza.

According to Patriot coach Tom Goehle, his team didn't do anything different in the final eight minutes of play. The key was that H-BC's offensive strategy finally took a toll on the Raiders.

"We continued to attack the basket in the fourth quarter, and it paid off for us as we made all of our free throws when they fouled us. We were 10 for 10 as a team at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter," he said.

The Patriots led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter before SV-RL-B came storming back to knot the score at 25 with a 16-13 scoring edge in the second quarter.

The Raiders moved in front 42-38 during the fourth quarter, but H-BC's sharp shooting from the charity stripe spurred its fourth-quarter rally.

This game was decided at the line, where H-BC outscored the Raiders 22-7.

Erin Boeve produced a double-double for the Patriots by scoring 15 points and snaring 11 rebounds. She also led H-BC with four blocked shots.

Shanna Tilstra netted 14 points and came up with four steals for the victors.

H-BC, 5-3 overall, plays in Ellsworth tonight before hosting Fulda and Adrian Monday and Tuesday respectively.

Box score
C.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Olson 1 0 0-2 2, Sandbulte 1 0 0-0 2, Brandt 0 0 0-0 0, Rentschler 2 0 3-4 7, S.Tilstra 4 0 6-7 14, DeNoble 1 0 4-4 6, Boeve 5 0 5-5 15, DeHaan 1 0 0-0 2, Arp 1 0 4-9 6.

Team statistics
H-BC: 17 of 42 field goals (40 percent), 22 of 31 free throws (71 percent), 29 rebounds, 26 turnovers.
SV-RL-B: 20 of 54 field goals (37 percent), seven of 18 free throws (39 percent), 34 rebounds, 23 turnovers.