By Lori Ehde
A threatening call to the a local crisis hotline had local banks reviewing their security procedures Tuesday afternoon.

At 6:45 a.m. a Luverne man called the crisis hotline through Southwestern Mental Health Center threatening ill will to an unspecified banking institution.

As a precaution, crisis line operators passed the threat along to the Rock County Sheriff's Department, which in turn alerted local banks.

Individual bank responses varied from locking doors and letting customers in one by one to merely putting employees on alert.

According to Mike Engesser of First Farmers & Merchants Bank, his staff used the threat as a good reason to run a security drill.

At Minnwest Bank, Greg Burger said employees were told if the individual entered the bank, they were to be on alert for threatening behavior.

Burger said he didn't feel he or his employees were in real danger, because law enforcement who had spoken with the man appeared to have the situation in hand.

"They nipped it right out of the chute," Burger said.

Security issues
The board reviewed a Safety and Security Evaluation. The board knew of past security issues and has since moved Corrections Agent Cathy Rockman to the Human Services building to provide her with a secure entrance.

Other security issues revealed in the report require slight changes in operations of the courthouse.
The security consultant advised installing security cameras in hallways, moving waiting areas, altering dropped ceilings that could be used for weapon hiding, security locks on more office doors, jury room monitoring, installing bulletproof material in benches used by employees in courtroom, adding more side desks in the courthouse, installing cameras in the courtroom, locking doors during court recesses and installing security locks on judgesÕ chambers to avoid walk-ins.

Rural address signs
County Engineer Mark Sehr came to the board meeting with an update on rural signing progress.

Sehr, Sheriff's Office representatives and postal employees attended a meeting to consider all aspects of rural addresses for 911 purposes.

Sehr said, "I think we learned about some things we weren't aware of."

The county will number streets and avenues, giving rural residents more identifiable addresses. These addresses will be mapped for 911 emergency use, but mail carriers are also affected.

Postal workers suggested numbering avenues and streets exclusively with either odd or even numbers. They said many people leave the "street" or "avenue" off addresses, and making numbers correspond to either direction would eliminate confusion.

Wildung suggested incorporating an "R" for Rock County into the addresses so delivery people know which county a mailing goes to in cases where addresses border other counties.

The addresses will likely be designated and mapped for 911 before the signs are installed. Residents will be notified of their new addresses and the Post Office will allow a grace period for subscription and other correspondence change of address notification.

Community daycare
The Luverne Community Economic Development Corporation notified the county, city and school that it is turning the community daycare issue back to the three entities.

The LCEDC has reached an impasse with Dan Dunham on the community daycare issue. The tax abatement for providing a daycare space is approaching the December 2001 due date, so the LCEDC is backing out.

The issue is whether Dunham is meeting his end of the bargain by simply providing a vacant area for daycare use within his City Center apartment complex.

The LCEDC maintains that he is supposed to make the space ready for daycare, a cost of about $180,000 to Dunham. But he says that by providing the space, he is meeting his end of the bargain.

A meeting with the city, county and school boards will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, in the school library to discuss community daycare.

Mercedes Fletcher marches Thursday to patriotic songs in the Luverne kindergarten production of "Music All Over Me." Other kindergarten students are pictured above singing the soothing "Sway" as they waved colorful scarves. The song and dance production involved all students in the kindergarten classes and was directed by Seana Graber, Patti Nelson and Beth Capistran.

Photos by Sara Quam

By Lori Ehde
A missing person case in Sioux Falls ended sadly Monday morning when Luverne native Brett Roemeling was found dead in his car north of Corson, S.D.

Roemeling, 36, had been reported missing since Friday night when he had been with friends in Garretson, S.D.

According to the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Department, a gravel truck driver spotted Roemeling's car Monday upside down in Splitrock Creek.

"The car was completely hidden from traffic on Highway 11, but the gravel pit was more or less at the same level as the creek," said Assistant Sheriff Bruce Swan.

"Had nobody been working there, he could have been missing for days or weeks."

The autopsy report hasn't yet been released, but Swan said it appears Roemeling fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the creek.

"There were no skid marks, and it appears he veered off the road and ended up on his top in the water," Swan said.

Roemeling attended school for some time in Luverne but graduated from Jasper High School. He most recently lived in Sioux Falls, where he worked at the Airport Days Inn.

Funeral services were today in Sioux Falls.

By Lori Ehde
In the wake of Sunday's murder investigation at the Blue Mounds State Park, the area lost another young life in a car accident early Wednesday morning.

Adrian High School senior Casey Egan died from injuries sustained in the accident, which was reported at 4:53 a.m. Wednesday.

Reports were sketchy as of press time, but Egan, son of Bob and Susan Egan, Adrian, was headed eastbound on Interstate 90 when the accident occurred in Nobles County.

He was reportedly on his way home from Luverne, where he had spent time with friends and family of murder victim Carrie Nelson.

Egan would have graduated Friday, June 1, from Adrian High School. He had planned to attend technical school for computer networking.

The Minnesota Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.

Totzke Funeral Home, Slayton, is in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth baseball team went 1-2 during three outings since last Thursday.

The Patriots played road games against Red Rock Conference teams Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin losing both tilts by the 10-run rule.

H-BC-E hosted Bethany Christian Monday, producing a 12-0 win over the Bears.

RRC-W-WG overpowered the Patriots 19-0 in a game played in Westbrook Thursday.

RRC-W-WG scored six runs in the first and third innings and added seven in the third to open a 19-0 advantage.

H-BC-E, which was limited to two hits, didn't produce a run in a game that ended by the 10-run rule after four and one-half innings of play.

The Patriots blanked the Bethany Christian Bears 12-0 in Hills Monday. No information was available from that game.

H-BC-E's three-game stretch ended with a 10-0 loss to ML-B-O in Butterfield Tuesday.

The Wolverines sported a 1-0 lead through three and one-half innings of play before plating three runs in the fourth inning and six in the fifth to win by the 10-run rule at that point.

H-BC-E, 3-7-1 overall, is scheduled to host Edgerton today and play in Pipestone Tuesday.

Tuff Home residents, guests and staff wore hats for the Mother's Day Tea Monday at Tuff Memorial Home. Tuff Home resident Franceis Kuhl wore her top hat for the festivities.

By Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
A portion of the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track program competed in the West Lyon Relays near Inwood, Iowa, Friday.

With all of H-BC-E's younger athletes attending the Camden Conference Junior High meet the same day, the Patriot varsity squads were shorthanded for the WL Relays.

H-BC-E, however, earned meet titles in both the boys' and girls' divisions of competition while racking up a combined 16 top five finishes overall in what was a solid effort by the Patriots.

Brad Haak came up with the meet championship for H-BC-E's boys. Haak won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.1.

Chris Reid placed second in a pair of individual events, covering 20-0 3/4 in the long jump and running 100 meters in 11.27.

Chris Fransman cleared 6-2 to place second in the high jump, Chris Willers ran 400 meters in 52.26 to place second, and Lee Jackson was second in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:16.

Erin Boeve was a meet champion for the Patriot girls. Boeve had the winning effort of 15-6 in the long jump.

Boeve also was a member of H-BC-EÕs sprint medley relay team that placed second with a time of 2:01.04. LaDonna Sandstede, Shanna Tilstra and Janelle Jenniges are the other members of the team.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-EÕs top five finishers from the WL Relays.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: 800 relay (Reid, Fransman, Willers and Haak), 1:35.86.
Fourth place: Nathan Fick, 3,200, 11:53; distance medley relay (Ryan Ranschau, Jesse Leuthold, Lee Walraven and Jackson), 4:12.01.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: distance medley relay (Sandstede, Brittney Olson, Tilstra and Jenniges), 4:43.84; 400 relay (Jenniges, Connie Lewis, Tilstra and Boeve), 54.85.

Fourth place: Tilstra, high jump, 4-10.

Fifth place: Olson, 1,500, 5:43; Sarah Rozeboom, 400 hurdles, 1:22.44.

By Lori Ehde
In the ongoing saga of the school budget, Luverne School Board members are facing issues of tenure with regard to recent cuts.

During their Thursday, May 10, meeting, board members rescinded two resolutions and amended another with regard to personnel.

At the April 26 meeting, board members voted to place Luverne Elementary Art Specialist Cloyce Smith on unrequested leave of absence after cutting the elementary art program.

Classroom teachers will still offer art to students, but they will not have the specialized services Smith provided.

The board rescinded that action Thursday after learning that Smith is planning to exercise her rights as a tenured teacher.

Smith's program of specialized art was cut, but she is a licensed elementary teacher and will stay on as a classroom teacher.

That means another non-tenured elementary teacher will be "bumped" in the process.

Board members took no action Thursday on placing another teacher on unrequested leave, because they have until July 1 to notify non-tenured staff of such cuts.

In similar action Thursday, the board rescinded an April 26 resolution to place Michelle Johnson on unrequested leave of absence.

Her half-time duties as elementary technology specialist were cut, but she, too, is tenured and is opting to "bump" into another teaching arena.

The board also amended an April 26 resolution placing music teacher Patty Nelson and life sciences teacher Deb Vogt on unrequested leave of absence. The amendment states the action was due to discontinuation of the position and lack of pupil participation.

Other areas to cut
During their Thursday meeting, School Board members also approved another $23,919 in cuts to the athletic program.

oThe biggest cost savings will be seen in increasing activity fees from $15 to $30 for grades 9-12 and from $15 to $20 for grades 7-8.

Schaefer said when he researched what other districts were charging for activities fees, he learned Luverne's fees are among the lowest in the region.

Many schools, for example, charge $40 for football and $30 for all other activities. Waseca has an $82 activity fee, and New Ulm charges $70.

The increased fees in Luverne will bring an additional $10,985 in revenue to the district.

oLuverne's adult ticket prices will increase from $4 to $5, representing new revenue of $5,780. Student ticket prices will remain at $2.

The board discussed the fact that this will make family activity passes more beneficial. The 10-punch card can be purchased for $40, representing a $10 savings.

oThe board decided to eliminate towel service for a savings of $2,750, and intramural basketball (which had low participation) was cut for a savings of $177.

oAbout $1,000 can be saved in transportation by having the marching band use one less bus and one less small vehicle (instructor Dale Nelson had advised the board this would be workable).

oAs much as $3,227 could be saved by paying coaches after the season, once participation numbers are confirmed.

Other policy changes in activities could represent additional savings, but those figures wouldn't be available until after the fact.

For example, if cheerleaders attended state tournaments only if a team were competing (as opposed to one or two wrestlers), that would represent a savings.

Administrative cuts
The board also examined the duties of the elementary, middle school and high school principals, in addition to their support staff, for additional areas to trim.

After presenting the information, Schaefer said it didn't appear there was much fat to trim.

"Some days I think the superintendent would be the best to reduce, because I think you can live without some parts of the superintendent, but you can't live without some of these positions," Schaefer said.

No administrative cuts were presented to the board, and no action was taken.

Writing test results
Luverne's writing skills continue to improve, according to results of the Minnesota Basic Standards Test released last week.

In Luverne, 109 10th-graders took the written composition test, and 98 percent of them passed.

Of those who passed, 72 percent passed at the "basic" level, 19 percent passed at the "competent" level, 6 percent were considered "skillful" and 2 percent were "exceptionally skillful."

According to Curriculum Coordinator Jan Olson, two 10th-graders achieved perfect scores, as did one 11th-grader who moved into the district and hadn't taken the test.

This is the third year that Minnesota 10th-graders have taken the test. This year, seniors need to pass the test along with the basic standard tests in reading and math to graduate.

Last year, 93 percent of Luverne's 10th-graders passed the written test, and the year before that 88 percent passed.