NRHEG School Board

By REED WALLER

Staff Writer

On Thursday, April 18, the NRHEG School Board will pick two finalists for the position of NRHEG Superintendent of Schools, from four semifinalists selected from 10 applicants by the consultants from South Central Services Committee.

Candidates

The candidates are:

Dr. Dennis Goodwin, Superintendent of Schools at Platte-Geddes district, South Dakota. Dr. Goodwin has one year of experience as superintendent, 10 years teaching, and 20 years business experience.

Tami Martin, Charter School Director at Cross Lake Community School. Ms. Martin has five years experience as Director, 20 years elementary teaching at Chisago Lakes, MN and Raymondville, TX, and was Gifted Cluster teacher and remedial math teacher at Chisago Lakes.

Dr. Kathleen Mortenson, District Administrator at Brooklyn Center schools. Dr. Mortenson has three years administrative experience at Brooklyn Center and 10 years at Paladin Academy at Blaine and Minnesota Department of Corrections, St. Paul. She was also Assistant Principal for K-8 at Cambridge-Isanti, and has nine years experience as special education teacher/coordinator.

Hartland City Council

By CARRIE GILBERTSON

Contributing Writer

Democracy: government that is for, by and of the people. For the people means that the government’s purpose is to benefit the common citizen; by the people, that our government is given its power by the election of our population; of the people that regular citizens run for and are elected to office. But what happens when they don’t run? This is precisely the situation that the City of Hartland found itself in this past November. Not just once, but three times.

Three seats on the city council were up for election in 2012: the mayoral seat, and two councilperson positions. These positions were previously held by Kelly Routh, Kyle Reed and Linda Pederson, respectively. All three decided prior to the elections that due to each of their personal situations, they would give other townspeople an opportunity to contribute to the city government, giving up their positions on the council.

As in most small towns, love for this city runs deep. 

Ellendale City Council

By SCOTT GROTH

Contributing Writer

The Ellendale City Council met Thursday, April 11 with Mayor Swearingen and all Council members present. Also attending the meeting were Phil Kohl, City Attorney; Steve Louks, City Clerk; Josh Otto, Maintenance; Pete Paulson, Municipal Liquor Store; and Jeremy Reese, Fire Department.

Reese informed the Council he would like to step down as chief of the Fire Department. Reese said he may be moving in the near future and does not want to wait “until the last second” to turn in his resignation. Reese has served the department for 16 years, the last four as chief. Reese went on to say the chief position does take up a lot of free time and the council should consider a monetary increase for the position. Currently the chief gets $400 a year.

Public meeting May 9 at Geneva Community Building

By KATHY PAULSEN

Staff Writer

Changes will be coming to the Geneva Postal service, but residents have an opportunity to vote on the results.

A meeting will be held Thursday, May 9 at the Geneva Community Building regarding the post office. All Geneva residents are invited to express their thoughts, concerns and feelings.

It is time for thought. Yes, we know the post office is in financial trouble and though it is a government service, it is not government subsidized, and must make it on its own.

Computers and other technical communication have threatened the economic viability of the post office, so there are cuts being contemplated. The U.S. Postal Service is conducting a discontinuance study for the Geneva Post Office and once the results have been reviewed and the meeting has been conducted, they will decide which is the best option.

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Ashley Misgen is safe and sound.

That's what people in the NRHEG area were concerned about after explosions rocked the Boston Marathon Monday afternoon. Misgen, a 2005 NRHEG High School graduate living in Minneapolis, ran in Monday's race, finishing within minutes of bombs that killed at least two people and injured several dozen others.

"We were just a couple blocks away," said Misgen, reached by cell phone late Monday afternoon. "My mom and my sister were about a block away. When you watch some of the footage on TV, they're by the candy store you can see. They had just walked about a block down the street. We were pretty darn close. The whole area, within a minute, was just mayhem. A couple minutes after the first one went off, you could smell the smoke from the explosion."

Funeral services for Doris E. Christensen, age 92, of Hartland will be held on Wednesday, April  17, 2013 at 11 a.m. at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church, Hartland, MN. Pastor Dennis Frank will officiate. Burial will be at the Hartland Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday from 5–7 p.m. at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home and one hour prior to the services at the church. Online condolences are welcome at www.bayviewfuneral.com

Doris died on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the Good Samaritan Center.

Allan Nesbitt Hite, age 80, of New Richland, died April 12, 2013.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Ann Juengling; son, Allan Charles; parents, Elizabeth Cameron and George Hite; brother, George; grandparents, Ora and Helen Nesbitt Hite and Allan and Martha Jane Cameron; son-in-laws Dale Peterson and Ken Neumann; and grandson Brian Renstrom.

Funeral Services for Christopher Robert Gary Besser, of New Richland, will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 15, 2013 at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, New Richland. The Reverend Scott Williams and the Reverend Paul Andree will officiate. Interment will be in St. Peter’s Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, at Friedrich Funeral Home, and one hour before the service at the church.

Christopher died at his home on Thursday, April 11, 2013 after a short valiant battle with cancer. He was 40.

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

The accolades keep piling up for the state champion NRHEG girls’ basketball team.

A week after Carlie Wagner was featured on the pages of Sports Illustrated, Panthers head coach John Schultz learned he was voted Minnesota Class AA Coach of the Year.

In humble fashion, Schultz defelected much of the credit for the award.

“It's a great honor being voted in by my peers,” he said. “Of course most of the credit goes to my assistant coaches and players. If they don't buy into my crazy ideas, nothing works!”

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

The NRHEG girls’ track and field team opened its outdoor season last Thursday at the Waseca Invitational.

The Panthers gave it a good run for first place but came up just short, with 135 points to the Bluejays’ 148. WEM had 100, LCWM 60, New Ulm 46 and JWP 34.

The Panthers captured five first places, two by defending state high jump champion Carlie Wagner, who cleared 5-4 to win her signature event and was first in the 200 in 27.85 seconds. The junior was second in the 100 in 13.14.

Kayla Lindell was also a double winner, sweeping the throwing events, tossing the discus 104-8 and heaving the shot 34-5.