By Sara Quam

The Rock County Developmental Achievement Center could finish an expansion this fall, as the county awarded it a no-interest loan Tuesday.

The Rock County Board of Commissioners agreed to help finance the expansion project with a loan of up to half the project expenses, but not to exceed $120,000. The debt will be repaid in eight years.

Commissioner Ron Boyenga, who is also a member of the DAC board, said he expects the county will loan closer to $80,000.

DAC Director Dorothy Cronin said with expansion comes improved services to the clients, and the county in general benefits. She would like to eventually expand what the DAC does with its in-house work programs to include larger assembly contracts.

"The more expediently we get this done, the more competitive we can be," Cronin said.

"I consider it economic development," Bob Jarchow, chairman of the board, said.

Commissioner Ken Hoime said, "It's a good mission for the county."

The expansion is something the DAC has needed for some time.

Code violations include: handicapped accessibility inside and out of the building, sanitary violations (including mop sinks and washer and dryer in main areas), inadequate conference room, no special medication room (medication is currently in a locked kitchen cabinet), no second legal exit and a bathroom that's too small.

The DAC had previously intended to ask for a one-time grant of $15,000, but Cronin reasoned that the county will get its money back with the loan and the DAC can get a faster start on the project, while saving money it would have paid in interest.

New meeting times

The board switched its October meeting days to Oct. 10 and Oct. 24. They will begin at the regular meeting time of 9 a.m.

It affected everything she did every day on the most basic level. Getting dressed was a chore - she learned to buy clothes without complicated zippers or buttons. Her work as a school teacher - especially writing by hand - was hindered by the shaking.

Until three years ago, the only hope for people with essential tremors was medication, and many, including Baustian, were not helped by the drugs.

Baustian had resigned herself to living with the disability, and she was considering retirement, because the shaking was interfering more and more with her work.

That was until a year and a half ago when she met Dr. Vittorio Morreale, who suggested she try a surgical procedure recently approved by the FDA.

"This surgery is reserved for people with severe tremors who have tried medications unsuccessfully," Baustian said. "They told me it had all these possible complications and side effects. - It's a drastic step to take."

Understanding the possible risks - especially that it could affect her speech - she decided not to have the surgery.

But one day in March, about a year later, Baustian was trying to turn the page of a hymnal in church and kept dropping the book.

"I decided that day I was going to have the surgery, and I have never wavered in my decision since then," she said. "I guess I started thinking if I was going to continue working, I should try the surgery. I'm 63 years old and I'm in really good health otherwise."

Dr. Morreale had told her the surgery has a better-than 80-percent success rate. "I told him, at those odds, I'd go to the casino," Baustian said.

For Baustian, the gamble paid off in a big way. She survived surgery with all the benefits and none of the side effects.

"It's really wonderful, and I feel very grateful it worked and it worked so well," she said. "There were lots of prayers for me from all over the world - by my family, my friends and by all my sisters."

She said the prayers, combined with her doctor's bedside manner, put her at ease during the procedure.

"The day I went into surgery I was totally at peace with my decision - partly because of all the prayers, but partly because I was comfortable with Dr. Morreale," she said.

"He actually shaved my head himself. He didn't have someone else do it. I guess it was his way of bonding with the patient."

On April 26 Dr. Morreale bored a dime-sized hole in the top of Baustian's skull to implant a "Deep Brain Stimulator" behind her forehead.

The implant, connected to a computer chip in her chest, sends stimuli to her brain interfering with the signals to shake.

Except for boring the hole in her skull, Baustian was conscious for much of the surgery so she could help Dr. Morreale with his direction.

"He'd say, -Raise your arm,' and I'd raise my arm. And then he'd say, -Let me try something else here.' And he'd do something on his computer," Baustian said.

Suddenly, after one of the electrical voltage adjustments, Baustian's right hand stopped shaking.

"It was really great," she said. "That's why it's such a dramatic surgery, because it has instant results right there in the operating room."

In church two weeks later, she enjoyed a long-denied luxury of bringing a communion chalice to her lips.

Baustian won't say she's a different person since the surgery, but the absence of the constant tremors and the stress they caused her has made a noticeable difference in her demeanor and her approach to life.

"It used to be such a vicious cycle. Stress made my shaking worse, and shaking caused me stress," she said. "If I was really stressed, my legs would shake, my head would shake. - The surgery was supposed to correct the tremors in my right hand, but I don't shake anywhere else anymore because I'm so much more relaxed."

Baustian still has some tremors in her left hand, but she said her life has drastically improved since the surgery.

"I can drink a cup of coffee with one hand," she smiled. "Before I was drinking everything with a straw."

Better yet, she's able to continue her work helping at-risk inner-city youth.

Baustian is a teacher at Covenant House, which provides temporary housing for 16- to 22-year-old high school dropouts. She prepares them for their GED, and in many cases, helps illiterate young people to read.

Her work also centers around a community garden she started several years ago with the Covenant House and area neighbors.

"God's little acre," as she calls it, has become an oasis in the poverty-stricken neighborhood where children use milk cartons for basketball hoops and drug dealing is commonplace.

For her sake and the sake of the families she's helping, Baustian said she has no regrets about the surgery.

"I felt it was important to do this, so I could continue to do my work and to do it better," she said.

Baustian said the tremor control therapy is similar to a heart pacemaker. "A pacemaker sends wires to the heart; this one has wires to my brain," she said.

The pacemaker-like generator implanted near the collarbone supplies electrical current through a wire connected to an electrode implanted deep in the brain.

The current interferes with overactive nerve cells that cause tremors.

According to the International Tremor Foundation, an estimated 4 to 6 million people suffer from essential tremor in the United States.

The condition is often confused with Parkinson's disease. The difference is that essential tremor does not affect limbs at rest - they shake only when they're used. Parkinson's is a progressive neurological disorder caused by loss of nerve cells and causes impaired movement and often dementia, in addition to shaking.

Prior to three years ago, some patients have found relief by thalomotomy - destroying the part of the brain that causes the shaking.

Both essential tremor and Parkinson's patients have been helped by the deep-brain stimulation procedure, and it's becoming the preferred treatment because it's reversible and adjustable.

According to Medtronic, the Minnesota-based company that makes the Activa Tremor Control Therapy devices, about 4,000 have been implanted since the procedure was FDA-approved three years ago.

In June, Baustian allowed a reporter and photographer from the Detroit News to follow her before and during the surgery. The result was a detailed, front-page spread illustrating the benefits of the procedure.

"There are a lot of people in need of tremor surgery and don't even know it's available," Baustian said. "Yet they go through a tremendous amount of stress because of their inability to do things. We wanted people to know about this."

Baustian's surgeon trained under
Rock County Hall of Fame's David Piepgras

By Lori Ehde

Sister Joan Baustian grew up on a farm near Luverne and graduated from Luverne High School in 1953.

She is the daughter of the late Walter and Frances Baustian, who were longtime farmers in the Luverne area.

She is the sister of Neva Clausen, Luverne, who spent time with her in Detroit after the surgery. Other siblings include Lester, Norbert and Walter Baustian Jr., all of Luverne; Virgil Baustian, Jasper, and Elaine Slaughter, Harlingen, Tex.

Another Luverne twist on the story is that Baustian's surgeon, Dr. Vittorio Morreale, trained under recent Rock County Hall of Fame inductee David Piepgras.

Dr. Piepgras, 1958 LHS graduate, is Chair of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Medical School. He said Morreale was a resident in the surgical training program in Rochester.

Piepgras said he has encouraged the implant surgery for qualified patients. "It's very useful for treatment of patients with disabling tremors," he told the Star Herald Friday.

Getting food from her plate to her mouth without spilling used to be a monumental challenge for Luverne native Joan Baustian. Drinking a cup of coffee was out of the question.

For more than 20 years, the 63-year-old Detroit, Mich., nun suffered from severe "essential tremors," a neurological condition that causes shaking similar to Parkinson's disease.

By Sara Quam

The Luverne City Council primary recount netted the same results as the initial tabulation, but with slightly altered figures.

Alex Frick, who received the least votes initially, requested the recount. He still got the low number but lost one more vote due to a "defective ballot."

A defective ballot is one that has distinguishing markings that make it invalid for anonymity reasons.

This particular ballot looked like it carried a scribble that could be interpreted as initials. Even if the mark is just a scribble, it's still disqualified from the count. The particular ballot was included during the automated count the evening of the primaries because the machine doesn't detect marks outside the designated ovals.

The final primary results from Tuesday's recount are: David Hauge, 116, David Cook, 114, and Alex Frick, 112. Hauge and Cook are the choices for south ward alderman in the November election, with Frick eliminated by the primary vote.

Eight ballots were left blank and 11 weren't counted because they carried votes for two candidates. County Auditor Margaret Cook said ballots are often disqualified from the count as a result of voters not following instructions.

Improper voting impacted totals for state offices more than the city. By voting in two or more political parties, many voters disqualified their choices from the partisan ballot - their votes were counted on the city, non-partisan ballot, however. Although the state (partisan) and city ballots are on the same piece of paper, they are considered separate.

The primaries drew about 16 percent of registered voters, which is typical for the county and the rest of the state in general. A general election usually gets 60 percent of Rock County voters to the polls, which is higher than the state average.

School board elections coincide
with general elections Nov. 7

By Lori Ehde

Six candidates have filed for three open seats on Luverne's School Board.

Incumbents Steve Tofteland and Don Bryan have refiled, and after serving on the board for 14 years Bob Kaczrowski will retire his seat when his term expires at the end of the year.

In addition, several newcomers have tossed their hats in the ring. They include Gold'n Plump plant manager Greg Aubert, Luverne Economic Development director Tony Chladek, Nobles-Rock Public Health nurse Colleen Deutsch and Luverne day-care provider Deanna Stanley.

All six names will appear on the general election ballot on Nov. 7 along with local, state and national candidates. The elected board members will serve four-year terms starting in January.

Luverne School District used to elect board members every spring for three-year terms on staggered terms, but new legislation requires districts to schedule elections for four-year terms every other year in the fall. It also changed the start of the term to January, rather than in July when the new school year starts.

The idea was to save administrative time and costs of preparing ballots specifically for school board elections and administering elections every year. Further, pooling resources with other local governments during general elections makes more polling places and longer polling times available to voters.

Other states, however, that have implemented similar legislation for school board elections, are reverting back to the old schedule, not seeing anticipated cost savings and efficiencies.

Opponents of the new election schedule also argue that without the staggered elections every year, school boards could suffer from lack of longevity.

For example, three new people could replace incumbents this year. In two years, four other board seats are due to expire, and if all new people fill those seats, Luverne School Board could see a total turnover of members in a two-year span.

"I'd like to see us support a resolution switching us back to spring elections," Board member Steve Tofteland said during a Sept. 11 workshop of Luverne School Board.

He added that school board candidates may get lost on the general election ballots with so many other candidates to decide on.

"Now, if there's a school issue, it may be shadowed by other state and national issues," Tofteland said. "We may get more voters, but will they have the issues?"

He said other districts represented at the Minnesota School Board Association fall legislative meeting echoed those sentiments.

"A number of school boards feel the same way," he said Tuesday. "They didn't understand what was wrong with the old system, and they'd like to see it go back to the old way. Things they thought would help, it didn't."

This will be the first time the Luverne School Board election coincides with the November general election.

With the new legislation, districts can choose to stage elections during even or odd years. Hills-Beaver Creek, has opted to have its election on odd years, so its election will be next fall in November.

The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team came up with a great pair of performances on the road Thursday and Saturday.

H-BC won its second straight league match of the season with a 3-0 win over Faith Christian in Bigelow Thursday, and it went 3-1 while finishing second during the Central Lyon Tournament in Rock Rapids, Iowa, Thursday.

The Patriots completed the stretch with a 5-2 record.

CL tourney

The Patriot girls turned in a strong showing while finishing second during Saturday's five-team tournament in Rock Rapids.

The event was played under a round-robin format, and H-BC went 3-1 during the day to secure second place.

"The girls played pretty well," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "Playing four matches makes for a long day, but our girls did well overall."

H-BC lost a 15-13 decision to Ellsworth during the first game of the opening match before bouncing back to post 15-9 and 15-5 victories to win the battle.

Becky Broesder led the Patriots at the net with five and four kills respectively against the Panthers, and Shanna Tilstra was 11 of 11 serving with eight points. LaDonna Sandstede completed all 50 of her set attempts and registered 16 set assists. Tonya Leenderts was 12 of 14 digging.

H-BC met host Central Lyon in the second round and posted another 2-1 win. The Lions took the opener by a 15-8 count, but the Patriots notched 15-9 and 15-7 wins to claim the match.

Boeve, who was 12 of 12 digging against the Lions, completed all 12 of her spikes and registered nine kills. Becky Broesder was 11 of 12 serving with two aces, and Sandstede was 33 of 33 setting with 15 assists.

Eventual tournament champion Rock Valley handed the Patriots their lone match setback in the third round. The Rockets topped H-BC by 15-9 and 15-3 tallies.

Broesder was seven of seven serving and nine of 10 digging against Rock Valley. Boeve was seven of seven spiking with three kills, and Sandstede pitched in four set assists.

The Patriots regrouped to best West Lyon 15-13 and 16-14 in the final round.

Tilstra, who tied Boeve with a team-high five kills in the match, was 11 of 13 serving. Sandstede had 12 assists, while Leenderts was 10 of 11 digging.

H-BC 3, FC 0

The Patriot girls ran their Tri-County Conference record to 2-0 with a three-game sweep of Faith Christian in Bigelow.

H-BC had to battle to pull out a 16-14 victory in Game 1 of the opener before taking control of the match and securing 15-10 and 15-6 wins in Games 2 and 3.

Although Fey was pleased with the way things turned out for H-BC, one aspect of the game bothered the Patriot coach.

"We had trouble with our serve receive, and that helped FC come back on us in the first game. We came back and played strong volleyball in the other two games. We are at about 65 percent in receiving. That usually is one of our strengths, but we had trouble with it in this match," she said.

Becky Broesder led the Patriots at the service line by completing all 17 of her attempts and recording six aces. Tonya Leenderts was 11 of 11 with five aces. Shanna Tilstra was 11 of 13 with one ace.

Rachael DeHaan completed eight of 10 spikes and shared the team lead with Erin Boeve in kills with three. Boeve was five of seven spiking, and Tilstra was five of eight with one kill.

LaDonna Sandstede was 26 of 27 setting. Brittney Olson was eight of nine.

To the Editor:

I was extremely disappointed to read Lori Ehde's column about my At Home Child Care Program in the Thursday, Sept. 7, Star Herald issue. Not only was her research sketchy, but she chose to write about a topic that she apparently does not understand. I'm not sure which is more unfortunate.

I created the At Home Child Care Program, which pays mothers to stay at home with their newborn babies for the first year of the child's life, for one key purpose: to provide families with a better environment in which babies' brains can develop during that crucial first year. Allowing a parent to nurture and monitor that progress can make a substantial impact on the rest of that child's life. Thirty-two years as a family physician have given me ample proof of that.

If Lori Ehde's column is based on her dislike for my personal political stance as a Republican I would like to point out to her that this legislation received overwhelming support from Democrats as well, However, we passed this bill while Democrats were the majority in the House, which is why I was unable to pass a bill setting the limits at a $5,000-per-year reimbursement for the first three years of a child's life as I had originally intended.

But no one can rightfully claim that people aren't taking advantage of this first-of-its-kind program because they won't be guaranteed a job after taking a year off. Unemployment is virtually nonexistent in my legislative district; those parents who are committed to devoting a year of their time to their newborn child's life should have no trouble returning to the workforce.

Yes, my program won an award for being innovative. But every innovative idea requires some tinkering, and my program is no different. How anyone could say that providing parents with the means to better care for their newborn children is an impractical idea is completely beyond me.

Rep. Richard D. Mulder
State Representative