Guilty plea entered in vehicular homicide case
Twenty-three-year-old Jayson Delfs, Hardwick, entered a guilty plea Monday morning in Rock County District Court to the charge of criminal vehicular homicide.
Murder case proceedings on hold
Legal proceedings for Luverne murder suspect Melvin Frazier are suspended following a Rule 20 motion that was granted in Rock County District Court Monday.
Administrator announces retirement
After 33 years on the job, Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre officially submitted his notice of retirement during the Aug. 18 county board meeting.
Oldre’s final day of service will be Feb. 28, 2027.
Charter amendment measure advances
Luverne voters will be asked in the Nov. 3 general election if they support an amendment to change their city’s government charter.
Peterson wins election for county commissioner
Rick Peterson won the special election for Rock County’s District 3 and is set to join the county board of commissioners early next week.
PowerOn Midwest narrows routes
PowerOn Midwest has narrowed its preferred route for a proposed high-voltage transmission project, and one of its choices would cut through Rock County within one mile of the Blue Mounds State
News
By Lori SorensonSeptember 10, 2025The wheels on the bus are going ’round and ’round more frequently for Rock County Opportunities since the organization started driving preschoolers to class last week. According to Adria Benson, RCO administrative director, she and her staff had learned about a shortage of drivers at the local community transit —particularly for preschool passengers. So, they offered their RCO bus and their…
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 10, 2025Three years after their first meeting, community leaders came together again to continue economic development efforts. Representatives from Luverne, Hardwick, Steen, Hills, Kenneth and Beaver Creek met Aug. 20 at the Hardwick Community Center as part of the Revive 2030 initiative through Sioux Valley Energy. Paula Jensen with Dakota Resources from Renner, South Dakota, led the community…- By Lori SorensonSeptember 10, 2025The Luverne School Board is considering several facilities improvements in the coming year with price tags that could total over $1 million. Replacing the elevator in the high school-middle school building is estimated to cost $125,000. The visitors’ bleachers (on the south side) at Cardinal Field need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $100,000. The surface of the all-weather track is…
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 10, 2025When Luverne Public Schools opened for the 2025-26 school year last week, bus transportation duties were handled differently. Instead of a full-time transportation director, School Board members at their Aug. 28 meeting approved dividing the transportation duties. Transportation coordinator is Jim Ouverson, who has driven school buses for Luverne the past 55 years, and Cory Schmuck, the…
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 10, 2025Students at Luverne Middle-High School received an inspirational message Friday to end the first week of the 2025-26 school year. Caitlyn Miller, a 2010 LHS graduate, spoke to 623 seventh- through 12th-grade students in the performing arts center. She last spoke to students in 2016 after she participated in a two-person row across the Atlantic Ocean. She finished that row in 58 days, 5 hours…
By Lori SorensonSeptember 10, 2025Luverne High School students will soon begin construction on a fourth house through the city-school partnership, Today and Tomorrow’s Tradesmen (TnT). The lot at 716 N. Spring Street was cleared last week when the Luverne Fire Department burned down the property in a house fire training. The dilapidated rental house had been vacant for several years and was donated to the city earlier this…
September 10, 2025Derek Werner is sworn in by Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge Sept. 2 as commissioners watch. Werner was originally from Martin County and moved to Kentucky when he was in his early 20s. For more than a decade he worked in emergency medical services and later in corrections. An avid outdoorsman, Werner, who is single, has six children. He is now on patrol, having finished training after being…
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 10, 2025Homecoming at Luverne High School kicks off Monday, Sept. 15, for five days of activities that culminate in the football game against LeSueur-Henderson beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19. Various activities have been organized by the LHS Student Council including dress-up days and the coronation scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, in the performing arts center. Powder puff and dodge ball…
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 10, 2025Hills-Beaver Creek Secondary School celebrates homecoming with a week full of activities next week, Sept. 15-19. Under the theme of “Once Upon a Homecoming,” dress-up days are scheduled for each of the five days that culminate in the homecoming football game at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19. The Patriots take on Westbrook-Walnut Grove. Coronation of a homecoming king and queen takes place at 7 p.m.…
September 05, 2025Deb Lusty celebrates 13 years at the Star Herald office on September 5. She answered a few questions about her time at the Star Herald. 1. How did your journey with the Star Herald start? I was told I should apply here for the Office Manager job by an employee that was working here. 2. Can you make a comparison between then and now? What was your role in the beginning, and where are you at …
By Mavis FodnessSeptember 03, 2025LHS senior class president Tyler Hodge encouraged his fellow high school students Tuesday morning to seize opportunities as they begin the 2025-26 school year. “If I could go back and change one thing, what I would do is put myself out there more and I would go after more things,” he said during the assembly in the school’s alumni garden “At Luverne there are so many different opportunities —…- By Mavis FodnessSeptember 03, 2025A 10-minute reduction in recess time at Luverne Elementary prompted almost a dozen parents to question the change during the community input session prior to the Aug. 28 school board meeting. The parents were represented by Jody Richters, whose oldest of three sons is entering kindergarten. “It’s been brought to some parents’ attention that, first of all, teachers feel that their students have…
By Lori SorensonSeptember 03, 2025Minnesota Department of Transportation personnel were in Luverne Thursday, Aug. 28, to share information about the 2026 Highway 75 construction project. They hosted a gathering at the Trailhead building on East Main Street as part of the Luverne Area Chamber’s regular “Love the Business” meeting. The $9.3 million project will improve the road surface and pedestrian safety from Main Street to…
By Lori SorensonSeptember 03, 2025Construction barriers were removed last week on Blue Mound Trail between Luverne and the Blue Mounds State Park. The 4.2 miles of trail had been closed to users since June for a mill-off and overlay project to repair surface cracking. It was the first resurfacing of the trail since it was built in 2003. Contractors removed 2 ½ inches of bituminous pavement and 2 ½ inches of aggregate beneath…
By Lori SorensonSeptember 03, 2025Dozens of colleagues, friends and family members gathered Thursday afternoon at a celebration for Doug Bos, who is retiring from the Rock County Land Management Office. “I have very much enjoyed serving 29-plus years in the capacity of helping out our county residents protect their natural resources,” Bos wrote in his retirement letter to the County Board. At his party and in his retirement…
September 03, 2025Luverne Mayor and Lewis and Clark Board Director Pat Baustian and Luverne City Council member Mert Kracht toured Lewis and Clark’s water treatment plant near Vermillion, South Dakota, on Aug. 18. They also toured the wellfield and the construction underway on the third and final phase of the plant. Baustian and Kracht were joined by officials from Tea, Sheldon, Lennox and Madison. “It was an…
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