Steve Semmens' and Patsy Amborn's fifth-grade class is the featured Luverne Elementary classroom of the week. Pictured are (front row, from left) John Fletcher, Taylor Mongold, Brad Hood, Mark VanAartsen, Andrew Swenson, C.J. Xaisongkham, Desiree Bourne, (middle row) Mackenzie Harms, Andrea Moeller, Sydney Bosshart, Ashley Vandehoef, Andrew Hemme, Phillip Altman, Shane Hubbling, Nicole Boelman, Christianna Solis, Phillip Paquette, Zackary Clark, (back row) Katie Swenson, Samantha Auch, Matthew Gardner, Jacob O'Donnell, Raya Lane, Jason Schomacker, Evan Meinerts. Not pictured is Derek VanSanten.

A unique thing about this class is that it shares teachers. Semmens has homeroom and teaches most subjects. Amborn has the class for two hours a day and teaches them reading. The rest of her day is spent on the Future Images program and as a shared first-grade teacher. These fifth-graders enjoy the last Friday of each month because they get to bring snacks to reading class and have free reading for an hour called "Read and Munch." In math this year, they have been working with factors and multiples up to 10,000. In social studies they are learning about history by decades starting with the 1950s. For a special treat, the class went to Carousel Skate for its Halloween party.

Photo by Sara Quam

A fire crept across the Josh and April Bruhns property Monday afternoon south of Magnolia. The Magnolia Fire Depart was the first to respond and Luverne and Adrian were dispatched soon after. The cause of fire is unknown, but it claimed two buildings and about 2,000 hay bales before spreading to surrounding fields. The nearby home wasn't damaged during the fire and all livestock were safe. Due to dry conditions, the Sheriff's Department has issued a burning ban in Rock County until the next rainfall.

Photo by Sara Quam

By Jolene Farley
Six candidates vied for four open seats on the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board Tuesday.

Incumbents Alan Harnack and Lois Leuthold held their seats, while newcomers Tim Baker and Matt Larson will fill the seats to be vacated by Rolland Crawford and Dave Roozenboom.

Final ballot totals were Alan Harnack, 274, Lois Leuthold, 247, Matt Larson, 216, Tim Baker, 202, Annette Mahone, 104 and Robert Wassenaar, 104.

The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board immediately ratified the election results at their meeting later Tuesday night.

Of the nearly 1,587 registered voters in the Hills-Beaver Creek District, Hills/Martin Township voters cast 188 ballots, Steen/Clinton Township voters cast 52 ballots and Beaver Creek city/Beaver Creek Township and Springwater Township cast an estimated 85 ballots in the School Board election.

The total number of registered voters includes 686 registered voters in the Hills/Martin Township precinct, 287 registered voters in the Steen/Clinton Township precinct and 614 in the Beaver Creek city/Beaver Creek Township and Springwater Township precinct.

Above, Hills-Beaver Creek High School Peer Helpers and the H-BC Elementary Peer Mediators are involved in many events throughout the school year. Members of the Peer Helpers group are (front row, left) Tonya Leenderts, Brittney Olson, Matt Buck, Becky Broesder, LaDonna Sandstede, Jody DeNoble, Cassi Tilstra, Brittney Rozeboom, (second row) Melinda Feucht, Angie Bush, Sarah Rozeboom, Alissa Hoyme, Melinda Sandstede, Kelly Mulder, (third row) Ashley Bosch, Kristin Harsma, Brittany Knobloch, Tamara Groves, Deidre Vanden Bussche, (fourth row) Anita Gehrke, Amanda Olson, Jessica Arp, Jessi Branett, Ashley Buck, (fifth row) Jody Rentschler, Jessica Martens, Melissa Fagerness, Heather Albers, Kelley Fransman, (sixth row) Jackie Esselink, Angie Sjaarda, Erin Boeve, Justin Hinks, Kelsey Hansel, (back row) Darin DeBoer, Nathan Fick, Chris Reid, Patrick Nelson and Kevin Van Batavia.

By Lori Ehde
Upholding a long tradition of supporting its school system, Luverne District residents stepped up to bat Tuesday and approved a $400-per-pupil operating levy.

Only three years after supporting a new $12.5-million elementary school, Luverne residents agreed to support a $234,000 referendum that will provide more than $635,000 per year in new funding.

Of the roughly 3.900 eligible voters in the Luverne District, 1,366 cast their ballots, 767 in support of the proposal and 598 against it. There was one spoiled ballot.

"It was a great day … perfect weather," said Superintendent Vince Schaefer when asked if he was surprised by voter turnout.

District residents with a $50,000 home will pay $64 toward the new levy. Those with a $100,000 home will pay $128, and $200,000 homeowners will pay $256.

But many of these taxpayers, particularly those with farms and businesses, won't see these increases on their property tax statements, due to a state shift of school funding from property taxes to sales and income tax.

By Lori Ehde
Employees at Luverne's Tri-State insurance are bracing for another round of layoffs following a corporate announcement last week.

W.R. Berkley Corporation, which owns Tri-State and Berkley Information Services in Luverne, announced it will discontinue personal insurance services in all of its property casualty insurance companies nationwide.

The decision is based on decreasing business written in personal lines and the need to focus on expanding commercial lines, according to attorney John Thelen.

"Unfortunately, the business is very competitive, and we don't have the scale to be able to operate in personal lines successfully," Thelen said.

Thelen serves as general counsel for Continental Western, the Midwestern group of Berkley companies that includes Luverne's Tri-State.

He said personal lines (individual home and auto insurance, for example) account for less than 20 percent of Continental Western Group's total business.

Employees were told they will likely all know by mid-November how their jobs are affected by the decision, which becomes effective at the end of the year.

In Luverne, 18 underwriting positions are dedicated to personal lines insurance, but that's not to say those specific employees will lose their jobs.

Some were clearly told they would no longer be employed in the company after Dec. 31, and some whose positions are eliminated may be offered other positions in the company.

Tri-State Regional Manager Curt Bloemendaal, Luverne, said the corporate announcement was not anticipated locally.

"We're trying to be as understanding as possible of their situation and how this decision affects them," Bloemendaal said Monday.

BIS President Joel Christensen said his workforce in Luverne will also be affected by Berkley's elimination of personal lines.

"We won't be unscathed by any means," he said Wednesday. "There's a lot of work that some people here do that's related to that business É We've got a lot of projects that support that business."

Christensen said he's still not sure how many of the 114 people at BIS will be affected. "We're assessing our projects and staffing needs, and by mid-November we'll have some decisions made," he said.

Thursday's news reached Tri-State employees already uncertain about the possibility of their jobs moving to Sioux Falls.

The last announcement from corporate headquarters in Greenwich, Conn., came exactly two years ago that regional operations would move from Luverne to Sioux Falls by summer 2001.

When asked about the future of Tri-State in Luverne, he said, "We have determined we would not be relocating in 2002, but it is still in the plan."

Tri-State currently lists 147 employees on its payroll, including 20 in the Sioux Falls office and more than 20 traveling representatives.

Bloemendaal said underwriting employees in the Sioux Falls office don't handle personal lines and likely won't be affected by layoffs.

While the news is hard on affected employees, the community as a whole pays close attention to Berkley announcements.

With an annual payroll of $4.8 million (including Sioux Falls employees and field reps) Luverne's economic health would be affected by Tri-State's absence.

Tri-State, now known as "Continental Western Group, Tri-State Region," owns the 33,000-square-foot building in Luverne and paid nearly $47,000 in property taxes this year.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek earned a berth in the semifinal round of the South Section 3A Volleyball Tournament by besting Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 3-1 in a quarterfinal-round tilt played in the Luverne Elementary School Friday.

The fourth-seeded Patriots were under the gun after dropping the first game to No. 5 SV-RL-B, but H-BC regrouped to outscore the Raiders 45-25 the rest of the way to win 3-1.

The victory upped H-BC’s season record to 12-13 heading into Tuesday's semifinal-round match against No. 1 Southwest Christian. Look for that match story elsewhere in the sports section.

SV-RL-B ends the year with an 8-11 mark.

Tournament jitters appeared to hamper the Patriots in Game 1, but they overcame their bout with nerves to best SV-RL-B in four games.

"The girls were not focused at all in Game 1," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "We passed much better, we communicated much better and were much more focused as a team in the last three games."

The Raiders took advantage of H-BC's lack of focus in the opener to gain a 1-0 lead with a 15-9 win.

H-BC then turned the corner to topple SV-RL-B by 15-8, 15-6 and 15-11 counts.

Brittney Olson, Erin Boeve and Tonya Leenderts had 20, 15 and 13 digs respectively for the winners. Boeve notched a match-high 34 kills.

LaDonna Sandstede had 25 set assists and Jody Rentschler served 16 points for the winning cause.

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth defensive end Brant Deutsch pressures Nicollet quarterback Andy Truebenbach during Saturday's section football game in Hills. H-BC-E beat the Raiders 26-19 to earn the right to host Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster for the section championship game tomorrow night in Hills. Game time is 7 p.m.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek High School senior Brad Haak may have some glorious days in front of him, but it will be hard to top what the standout athlete experienced in a 24-hour span on Friday and Saturday.

One day after winning the Section 3A Individual Cross Country race in Tracy, Haak scored a defensive touchdown which provided the game-winning points in a 26-19 win over Nicollet in a Section 2 Nine-Man Football Playoff game played in Hills Friday.

Haak, a starting receiver-defensive back for the H-BC-Ellsworth football team, and the rest of the No. 1 seeded Patriots watched Nicollet erase an 18-6 deficit by scoring 13 consecutive points in the second and third quarters to take a 19-18 lead.

The fourth-seeded Raiders were threatening to pad their lead with a drive entering H-BC-E territory late in the third quarter.

During a fourth-and-six situation, Nicollet ran an option play to the right side of the field that turned ugly when a pitch by the quarterback was bobbled and dropped by the running back.

Being in the right place at the right time, Haak scooped up the loose ball and raced 65 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 24-19 advantage.

After having one two-point conversion pass from quarterback David Top to Lyle DeBoer negated by a holding penalty, the same combination clicked for what was a 13-yard conversion pass and catch that gave the Patriots their margin of victory at 26-19.

The conversion ended up being overshadowed by Haak's big defensive play as the Raiders were unable to score in the fourth quarter.

"He really is having a great senior year," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson, referring to Haak.

To emphasize Haak's importance to H-BC-EÕs football team, the section championship game will be played around his schedule.

The event was scheduled to be played Saturday afternoon but has been moved up to tomorrow night so Haak can run at the state cross country meet in Northfield Saturday morning.

The 9-0 Patriots will host 8-2 Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster, a 12-6 double-overtime winner over Westbrook-Walnut Grove, at 7 p.m. in Hills.

Although no more points were scored after the conversion following HaakÕs defensive touchdown, the game wasn't decided until the final minute.

Patriot Kevin Van Batavia produced what proved to be the game-clinching play when he picked off a pass with 1:03 remaining in the fourth quarter, but H-BC-E fumbled the ball on the next play from scrimmage and the Raiders recovered on the Patriot 45-yard line.

Facing a fourth-and-six from the 41, Nicollet tried a long pass that was knocked down at the last second by H-BC-E defender Chris Reid on the 15-yard line.

The Patriots were able to run the rest of the time off the clock after Reid's big play.

H-BC-E dominated the game's early stages while opening a 12-0 lead.

The Patriots received the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards with Reid scoring on a five-yard run to end the drive. A missed extra-point attempt followed the touchdown.

H-BC-E was driving again with its second possession, but a Nicollet defender intercepted a pass and returned 30 yards before being stripped of the ball from behind by a hustling Haak. DeBoer recovered the fumble on the H-BC-E 35, and Reid made Nicollet pay for the mistake when he dashed for a 65-yard touchdown run on the next play.

A failed two-point conversion attempt followed the touchdown.

Just when H-BC-E appeared to be on the verge of blowing out the Raiders, Nicollet made a statement. On the second play of its next possession, Nicollet back Tony Hulke ran for a 65-yard touchdown. A missed two-point conversion left the Patriots sporting a 12-6 lead.

The Patriots regained a 12-point cushion with their next offensive possession when a 45-yard run by Reid set up a one-yard touchdown plunge by DeBoer in the second quarter. The run for a conversion failed.

Nicollet countered H-BC-E's score when Raider quarterback Andy Truebenbach dashed 30 yards for a touchdown during a fourth-and-five play. A failed conversion run left the Patriots sporting an 18-12 halftime cushion.

Ellingson said scoring early against the physical Raiders was one of the keys to victory.

"They are a good team. They are big and strong. It was important for us to get out to an early lead because it gave us confidence. It wasn't a big lead that they couldnÕt overcome, but it gave us a little bit of an edge. Another key was the outstanding individual plays turned in by some of our kids. We made a lot of them," he concluded.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 290 rushing yards, 16 passing yards, 306 total yards, 11 first downs, five penalties for 45 yards, three turnovers.

Nicollet: 350 rushing yards, 36 passing yards, 386 total yards, 11 first downs, six penalties for 54 yards, three turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 21-204, DeBoer 19-70, Jesse Leuthold 1-1, Chris Tiesler 1-9, Van Batavia 1-5, David Top 1-1.

Passing: Top 3-5 for 16 yards.

Receiving: Darin DeBoer 1-13, Haak 1-9, L.DeBoer 1-minus six.

Defense: Schilling 12 tackles and one interception, Reid 12 tackles, Leuthold 10 tackles, L.DeBoer five tackles and one fumble recovery, Van Batavia one interception, Haak six tackles and one fumble recovery, Kyle Braun seven tackles and one sack, Lee Walraven one sack.

Tim Baker
Residence: Farms between Hills and Beaver Creek.

Spouse and children: Wife, Michele; and Peyton, 2-year-old daughter.

Occupation: Farmer.

Education: Graduate of H-BC.

Community activities and involvement: Member of Steen Reformed Church and Cattleman's Association Board.

Qualifications for service: Active community member.

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as a school board member? In other words, what issues will be important to you as a board member, if elected? Each student in the Hills-Beaver Creek School District is an important individual. I feel that we must have a school system that helps each child reach their potential. I think that we must maintain a high quality group of people who work with our students and maintain our good economic status.

Annette Mahone
Residence: Hills.

Spouse and children: Husband, Robert; three sons, Eugene, 30, Alex, 22, Nathan, 13.

Occupation: Guest service supervisor at Holiday Inn City Centre in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Education: Associate's degree in business from Kilian Community College; cosmetology license from StewartÕs School of Hairstyling.

Community activities and involvement: Active in my church. Involved in plays and musical events. I like to involve myself in the many events in the area.

Qualifications for service: I believe I have strong people skills and effective management skills. Working with as many people as I do I believe I can relate to many personalities.

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as a school board member? In other words, what issues will be important to you as a board member, if elected? Most important, I believe parent involvement is key, and I would strongly encourage and support that. Of course, budget is an issue we probably all keep our eye on and also another important topic: making sure our kids get the best education possible.

Matt Larson
Residence: Beaver Creek.

Spouse and children: Wife, Cindy, who teaches physical education and Title One in Beaver Creek; Haley, 8, third grade; and Luke, 6, first grade.

Occupation: I sell real estate with Coldwell Banker. I sell in southwest Minnesota as well as the Sioux Falls area. One of my latest and more fun projects is selling the lots on the new Beaver Creek golf course.

If elected, what should voters expect you to accomplish during your term as a School Board member? In other words, what issues will be important to you as a board member, if elected? I have been extremely impressed with the school system at H-BC. I believe that the quality of education is second to none. In selling homes in the H-BC district one of the points that I stress the most is the school system. One thing in particular that I am touched by is the community and parental involvement. I donÕt think that there is any one thing that encourages a child to learn more than knowing his or her parent, other family members, and the community are taking an interest in and caring about their education. I applaud the teachers in the district, also. We have had our children in the school system for the last four years, and I donÕt think we could have picked any better teachers.

I think that for a smaller district, the facilities, the elementary school, in particular, are fantastic. I also realize that the high school is older and will have some issues that need to be addressed in the future, but overall I think the school district and School Board have done an excellent job of improving and maintaining the facilities.

As far as I can tell the budget has been handled very well for a district this size. For a school our size it is impressive that we have been able to succeed at all, yet alone thrive, and as far as I am concerned this school system is thriving.

I think the leadership in the past has been good, but I think it will only get better under the new superintendent, Dave Deragisch. I am anxious to see the changes that this administration change will bring. I am sure we have great things in store for us.

As you can probably tell I am quite impressed with H-BC and don't propose any great changes. I would like the opportunity to be involved with and donate my time, ideas, and energy to such a great school district and group of people.