By Lori Ehde
There will be a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Luverne after all this year.

When First Farmer’s and Merchants Bank President Don Cashin retired two years ago, he also stepped down as long-time organizer of the local event.

The Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce put it together last year but announced it would not include the parade on its list of Chamber events this year.

Up until last weekend, it appeared the tradition would die in Luverne, until local Irishwoman (one-quarter anyway) Katie Connell Baustian stepped up to the plate.

Except for her years in college, Baustian said she doesn’t know of a Luverne St. Patty’s Day Parade that she didn’t attend — or participate in for that matter.

In 1985 she was crowned Queen of St. Patrick’s Day, an honor that doesn’t say that much about a person’s Irish heritage. "You just have to be little Irish," Baustian said Monday.

While the details are still coming together, she said parade grand marshals will be Bill and Mary Lou Mulligan, and St. Patrick’s Day Queen will be Tera Boomgaarden.

Junior royalty will be Makayla and Morgan Hohn, and Jacob, Luke and 8-week-old Ben Jarchow. Parents of the children are Craig and Patrice Hohn and Tim and Kayla Jarchow, all of Luverne.

Molly Golla and Cole Irish will be queen and king of the leprechauns.

Baustian said she’d call Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center and Minnesota Veterans Home to see if their residents of Irish heritage could serve as senior royalty in the parade.

As a newcomer to running the show, Baustian found out there’s more to running the parade than lining up entries.

She learned she needed to apply for a parade license and pay a $10 fee at City Hall.

She also learned that in order to paint the giant green shamrock on Main Street, she would have had to request permission at a council meeting, and it was too late to be included on Tuesday’s council agenda.

Other than that, Baustian said the parade will go on as usual, complete with the services of Cashin’s convertible and his official Irish flag.

The parade will start at 4 p.m. Monday, March 17, in the Sears-Furniture House lot on East Main Street.

Those interested in participating in the parade should meet there at 3:30 to get in line. Baustian can be reached at 283-4180 or at pbaustian@dtgnet.com.

The Jubilee Foods store is only 2 1/2 years old, but Glen Gust is remodeling the deli to add a bakery. Jubilee Foods prepared its baked goods off site. Gust is also bringing in his own checkout counters, which don't require customers to unload their own ca rts. Story inside.

Photo by Lori Ehde

Minneapolis actor-educators Sarah Rinner (left) and Adia Morris with CLIMB Theatre work with Luverne Middle School students Tuesday in the high school theatre to provide young people with substance abuse prevention information and drug refusal skills. CLIMB stands for Creative Learning Ideas for Mind and Body, and the group visited five southwest Minnesota schools this week with funding support from a Youth Risk Behavior Grant through Public Health. "They teach students that they have the right to a healthy life; that they can say ‘no,’" said Public Health Educator Paula Anderson, Luverne. "And, not only do they teach them how to say ‘no,’ they allow them to practice saying ‘no’ and voice their fears and concerns about saying ‘no.’" She said projects like this and many others will not be available if Gov. Pawlenty reallocates the entire Tobacco Endowment to other funds, as is in his proposal.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By Sara Strong
The Luverne Planning Commission jump-started this year by drafting a few changes for the code books.

Commission members had a final reading of their drafts Tuesday and will host a meeting April 1 to give residents the opportunity to discuss some of the proposed changes.

Junk vehicles and parking have been specific hassles for the city in the past. In its past few meetings, the Commission has tried to tailor parts of the code to keep the city attractive and safe while protecting property owners’ rights.

One proposed change bans all parking on front lawns, during all seasons. For parking in the back yard, the Commission said that three vehicles (which also includes trailers, snowmobiles, boats, campers and others) is the maximum allowed.

Junk vehicles
The Commission is using definitions outlined in state statutes.

An "abandoned vehicle" is one that has been parked: for more than 48 hours on any property owned or controlled by a unit of government, or for more than four hours where it is properly posted; or on private property without the consent of the person in control of the property.

Abandoned vehicles are also those that lack vital component parts and are inoperable such that it has no potential for further use. If that is the case, it must be kept in an enclosed garage or storage building.
Classics or pioneer cars will not be considered junk.

A "junk vehicle" is one that is extensively damaged; is apparently inoperable; does not have a valid, current registration plate and has an approximate fair market value equal only to the approximate value of the scrap in it.

Simply keeping current registration tabs on a junk vehicle’s license plate won’t prevent citations.

The Commission concluded Tuesday that vehicle repairs may be done in the open, but for no longer than 30 days. No tools or parts can be left outside, by the car, and must be stored in a structure when someone isn’t actively working on a vehicle.

Within those 30 days of allowable repair time, a cover specifically designed for cars can be used, but blue plastic tarps tied down with bricks, for example, are not allowed.

Covering the vehicles with a tarp, as had been done in the past to avoid zoning officials, will no longer be considered an effective means of containing junk vehicles or ones being repaired.

The 30-day repair clause doesn’t apply to people who are storing junk vehicles, claiming to be restoring them. Repairs can be done in the open only on licensed and operable vehicles.

Parking
The Planning Commission said in a draft that "parking … on unpaved areas destroys landscaping and the general aesthetics of a neighborhood. Toxic wastes can enter the water table if vehicles leak oil or other fluids. Far from being merely an annoyance, lawn parking affects neighborhood pride and signals the beginning of economic decline."

If the proposed changes go through, there will be no parking in front lawns, and there can be only three vehicles in the back yard.

The Commission doesn’t have specifics outlined yet, but in the future, it plans to include a requirement that back yard parking be on a paved or graveled surface. That means simply driving onto grass will not be acceptable.

The Commission said that junk vehicles and the damage they cause to property values, city pride and the environment are its main concern now.

Selling vehicles
Residents are also prohibited from displaying a vehicle for sale without a license from the state to operate as a car dealer. That really means that vacant lots can’t be used to display "For Sale By Owner" vehicles.

People can still sell their own cars, but the Planning Commission doesn’t want stray vehicles in random locations around town. People selling their own vehicles have commonly parked them in high visibility areas.

If the proposed changes go through, vehicles for sale by owner can be labeled as such and parked in driveways or on public streets. Car dealerships will typically sell vehicles for people on consignment as well.

All vehicles in dealership lots must be parked on paved areas.

Fences
The city doesn’t want to involve itself in disputes regarding fences at property lines. The Planning Commission proposes that the code make clear that property owners are responsible for getting their own property lines drawn by a surveyor.

The city asks that residents work with neighbors on fencing issues. Maintenance of both sides of the fence is the responsibility of the fence owner, including mowing and painting.

The city of Luverne won’t determine which side of the fence or in what manner the fence should be "finished" either. It only requires that the fence be of solid material and in compliance with height restrictions.

Room to breathe
The city passes a couple hundred variance requests a year for side setback requirements.

The Board of Appeals and Adjustments has yet to turn down a request to allow a 5-foot setback, so the Planning Commission wants to set the standard to 5 feet.

Now, it is supposed to be 10 percent of the lot frontage, but when the city was planned, people didn’t have double-car garages and it’s been a problem for home owners making additions.

Subdivisions of town, Evergreen for example, can create their own covenants and specify setbacks.

By Sara Strong
Proposed state budget cuts are all about the bottom line, getting the numbers to make sense.

Now the people behind the numbers are scrambling to defend their jobs and programs from joining the list of cuts.

Raevette Loonan, director of the Southwest Crisis Center in Luverne, is one of them — facing up to a 57 percent cut.

Loonan is stationed out of a small office on McKenzie Street. She serves in many capacities to help victims of domestic and sexual abuse — as a medical and legal advocate, general reference source, finder of safe housing and sometimes even as a taxi service.

Besides helping 61 people who were victims of some sort of abuse last year, Loonan conducts educational programs that she hopes prevent violence in the future.

She presented the programs to 978 people last year, including high school and community or church groups.

"We work to understand how to help victims," Loonan said.

She said it takes an average of seven times before a victim leaves an abusive partner for good.

Leaving for good takes courage, not just because of fear of the aggressor, Loonan said. Financial or family ties can be strong reasons to stay in a place that isn’t safe.

That’s why her referral service is necessary. People sometimes feel comfortable going to Loonan before seeking help from law enforcement. She can make them comfortable within a system that can be intimidating.

"If you don’t know that Family Services has an emergency fund or if you don’t know that you can file a protective order, it’s more difficult," Loonan said.

Law enforcement helps Loonan make initial contacts. When they’re called to domestic situations, officers give victims a card with local contacts for help. Loonan is one of them.

"Law enforcement and I can be a real complement to each other," Loonan said.

One of the ways Loonan might be able to save some of her office expenses, is to move to a vacant room in the Family Services building. Her current location costs less than $200 rent, plus utilities.

She sees her work as having long-term effects in the community: protecting victims before their aggressors end up in the court system; protecting children in homes where abuse occurs, and ensuring that victims stay productive members of society, not missing work or avoiding social connections.

In Minnesota last year, 16 people were killed as the result of domestic violence. Loonan asks that the state consider what that number could grow to if Crisis Center services were cut.

By Jolene Farley
Curt and Melissa Bly, Hills, hit the $100,000 jackpot in a Saturday, Feb. 22, Powerball lottery drawing.

Curt was unaware he held a winning ticket until he stopped to purchase a soda after work at Food n’ Fuel on Russell Street and Kiwanis Avenue in Sioux Falls, and asked the clerk to check his Powerball ticket.

"I asked them to run my ticket through and he (the clerk) said, ‘I think you won.’ It was a shocker," Bly said. "I just said, you’ve got to be kidding me…"

Curt said his wife didn’t believe him when he called and told her he would be late because officials had to verify his ticket.

"She thought I got in an accident," he said. She was relieved when she found out it was a lottery ticket, not a traffic ticket her husband was verifying.

Bly said he purchases about three Powerball tickets a month, usually at the Food n’ Fuel.

Unaware that he had a winner, Bly left his ticket in his car all weekend long and never checked the news or newspapers for the winning numbers.

The couple collected their winnings, $73,000 after taxes, on Tuesday, Feb. 25
"We’re just going to invest it," Curt said.

The Blys hope the money will grow into a nice education fund for their two children, Houston, 4, and Regan, 1.

Melissa (Bush) works as a bookkeeper at the Tuff Memorial Home, Hills, and Curt works as a sorter at UPS, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Hills-Beaver Creek Superintendent Dave Deragisch leads a public forum in Hills Monday night in which roughly 30 showed up to learn more about the proposed high school locker room project.

By Jolene Farley
About 30 people attended a public forum and open house Monday for the locker room project at Hills-Beaver Creek High School. Some stayed for the forum, others left after touring the facility.

Voters will visit the polls Tuesday, March 11, to decide on the proposed $400,000 levy needed for the project.

At the forum, Superintendent Dave Deragisch presented the information to the crowd. He started with a history of the construction project, including the results of a 2000 survey in which 87 percent of respondents said the current locker rooms are inadequate.

"One of the things that had the most glaring deficiency in our school was our locker rooms," he said.

He talked of handicap accessibility problems with the current locker rooms including the stairs to the locker room, the shower stalls and the restrooms.

Deragisch also said the Minnesota Health and Safety Department requires air to be circulated throughout the locker rooms.

It would be difficult to meet these requirements without spending a sizable amount of money on a new HVAC system.

Another survey, sent out in December 2002, came back with 65 percent of respondents interested in the locker room project at a cost of $400,000.

Deragisch reiterated the proposed addition meets minimal Minnesota Department of Education requirements for new construction.

Minimum requirements include 1,500 square feet for each locker room with a 200-square-foot coach’s room available for each locker room and a 6-foot-wide hallway.

Location and materials
The addition would be located southeast of the high school gymnasium. The addition would be five feet from the fence line on the east side of the property and five feet from the sidewalk on the south side of the property.

The tennis court, the fencing around the tennis court, and some of the perimeter trees would have to be removed.

The building committee is leaning toward pre-cast concrete walls with sealed concrete floors. Interior walls would be constructed of cement block.

History of property taxes
Since 2001, the school portion of property taxes has been reduced. A $50,000 house in 2001 had an actual tax of $206. This same $50,000 market value home has a $112 tax for 2003.

A $600,000 market value homestead farm had an actual tax of $1,987 in 2001, while the same farm has an estimated tax of $651 for 2003.

Non-homestead land had a school property tax of $11.02 for an acre of land worth $2,000. This same parcel of land has an estimated tax of $3.65 an acre for 2003.

Deragisch also reiterated the fact that the board thinks it is wise to meet the minimum Department of Education requirements now instead of spending money in the near future to bring the locker rooms up to code when a new high school is built.

Question and
answer session
Deragisch opened up the meeting for questions from the audience.

Board member Ann Boeve told of an unofficial survey taken by Coach Tom Goehle of visiting girls’ basketball coaches. Goehle discovered only two teams in two years used the locker rooms.

"They go down and they put their sweats on and they go home," Boeve said.

The audience was curious when construction would start and end if the bond issue passed. Deragisch told them it would likely start in June and be completed six months after the start date. He said he would encourage an earlier start date if possible.

A resident asked about the length of the bond, which is 17 years. Deragisch said he wanted to keep costs under control for the district since residents are still paying on the elementary school.

Deragisch said if the project comes in under budget, the extra funds could be used for new bleachers or lighting in the high school gym.

Former Hills City Council member Wendell Bengtson asked if the school was still looking for some funding from the city for the weight room portion of the project.

Deragisch said he hopes the Hills City Council, school groups and some private businesses can contribute toward the equipment needed for the fitness center.

"I’m hoping to get it done without any use of school money," he said.

When asked if the fitness center would be open to the public, he said he hoped the school board would agree to that.

School Board Chairman Alan Harnack thanked everyone for attending the forum. "Don’t ever question … whatever we do it’s for what’s best for the kids," he said.

By Jolene Farley
Hills-Beaver Creek seventh-grader Aleesa Arends, daughter of Don and Michele Arends, Hills, has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership forum.

Arends will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., from March 31 through April 6 to earn school credit while exploring some of the nation’s most prominent monuments and institutions.

The students will delve into American leadership during times of national challenge and prosperity.
Delegates will participate in small-group discussions and exercises to determine how successful leaders develop strategies, make decisions, build consensus and foster change.

Arends was nominated for the program based on outstanding scholastic merit, civic involvement and leadership potential.

People to People Ambassador Programs, founded in 1956 by Dwight D. Eisenhower, are intended to foster world citizenship.

Six Hills-Beaver Creek students, out of 23 who entered, received purple ribbons for their science fair projects at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair Saturday, Feb. 22, at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Alex Kirchner (left), Kilee Baker, Stacy Bush, Kerri Fransman, Jessica Penning and (not pictured) Justin Hinks advance to the State Science Fair in Duluth April 11-13.

Photo by Jolene Farley