Residents encouraged to leave lights on
by Sara Koch
In a brief meeting of the Lake Benton City Council, Todd Draper gave one of the final updates referring to the street project. “We have received our last pay request and the final quantities should be presented to us by the engineer Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said.
There is also a payment of interest due on Jan. 1, 2009 that has built up from the beginning of the project until now that needs to be paid, according to Mayor Mike Carpenter. “We will need to finalize some loan papers as well and our first payment on them will be Jan. 1, 2010,” he said.
“The punch list items are finished now and the project is coming to a close,” said Draper.
A couple of alleys in town have had a little makeover of their own in the last couple of weeks. Intermingling with the street project, some left over asphalt has been used to fix up the alley running down from the Donna Krick home. Another alley running from Garfield to Fremont Street has been milled and will be receiving a layer of asphalt sometime in the near future.
Draper also gave the recent public works update and informed council members that there have been six new picnic tables put in the park through money received by the EDA. There have also been six ash trees planted in the park.
Next on the agenda, Police Chief Guy Harding gave his report for the month of October. He explained that although it was a steady month of work, the patrol has spent the last couple of weeks doing overnight shifts.
“There has been a spate of burglaries in the area concentrating mainly on bars and convenience stores,” Harding explained.
Among the many break-ins that have occurred in surrounding communities were the Knotty Pine, the old fertilizer plant north of Lake Benton and one in Tyler. Harding said that even though they believe the suspects are from somewhere north of here, residents should take special precautions. He encourages anyone who owns a business in the area to leave a light on at night as many burglars are more skeptical to break into a building that appears to be occupied.
“Also be aware of anyone scoping the place out, not asking any questions or purchasing anything—anything out of the ordinary,” he added.
Council members then approved a continuation of the meeting until Wednesday morning at 10 AM to canvas votes for the 2008 election. The next regular scheduled city council meeting will be held November 17 at 5:30 PM.
Outdoor TV host visits the area
by Tonia Goertz
On Oct. 30, outdoor enthusiast Adam Johnson made a stop in Lake Benton for lunch at the American Legion after a two day pheasant hunting excursion through Lincoln, Lyon, and Murray Counties.
Johnson explained, “I got into outdoor television because I idolized Tony Dean and others like him. I found the work interesting, and it has become a perfect fit.”
With regard to why he was in the area, he explained, “This is not an area I get to enjoy very often, and it is kind of special for me. The area is different than the rest of the state, and it features hunting like South Dakota, but the cost to hunt here is a lot less overall.”
Johnson went on, “The area is kind of taken for granted by the rest of the state, and it is often skipped over in favor of hunting in South Dakota, but I absolutely recommend that people visit the area and see for themselves what the area has to offer. There is good deer hunting, plenty of pheasants, and good fishing in the area lakes. It is perfect for the serious outdoorsman, particularly if you like the small town atmosphere.”
Johnson was here with his camera man, and he noted, “We were fortunate to hunt with the locals, and to meet new people. We enjoyed the area, and I hope to come back soon.”
Linda Erb, the executive director of the Marshall Convention and Visitors Bureau coordinated the trip, and explained, “We met Adam in August at the Anoka Game Fair, and with our purpose being to promote the area to hunters, and it was a good fit. He was here to shoot footage that will run on his show closer to pheasant opener next year, and eventually, we will have some of that footage available on our website which will help us promote the four-county area.”
For more information on Adam Johnson, show programming, podcasts, etc. check out his website at http://www.adamjohnsonoutdoors.com/.
Pictured here are members of the hunting party including Jeff Christensen, Adam Johnson, John Christensen, Dylan Christensen, and Albert Jaspersen of Tyler. — Lake Benton News photo by Tonia Goertz
Where are the students going?
by Tonia Goertz
After waiting for the final tallies to be sent to the state in the form of MAARS reports due annually the middle of October, the districts have all come through with the numbers of students enrolled in their districts.
It is worth note that area school districts have a variety of configurations when it comes to grades included in their schools, as well as a variety in the type of students in attendance.
For the most part, everyone is familiar with the idea of a resident student, meaning a student that resides within the border of the school district. Other types of students include those acquired under a tuition agreement, or an inter-district agreement, or those from another district who open enroll into a given district from somewhere else. Each of these kinds of students affects the funding the schools receive from state and federal sources.
According to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) website, “Minnesota’s open enrollment law allows all Minnesota public school students the opportunity to apply to attend school outside of the school district where they live”; and according to Christine Dufour of the communications office at the MDE, “In the case of an open enrolled student – a student who open enrolls to another district in Minnesota, the MDE sends the student funding to the district serving the student. However, if the resident district has a local levy, the resident district gets to keep the local property tax part of their referendum levy.”
Dufour continued explaining, “In the case of a tuition student – a student enrolls in another district under a tuition agreement. The student funding is paid to the resident district. Then the resident district pays the district that serves the student under the terms agreed to as part of a tuition agreement.”
This is worth note because Lake Benton has a tuition agreement with the Elkton, SD school district with regard to the Lake Benton District high school students, though not all of the students attend Elkton.
Also, the Lincoln Hi (Hendricks/ Ivanhoe districts) have an inter-district agreement, as well as having students open enrolled out of their district, as well as into their district from other areas. The situation with the RTR district is similar, although not exactly the same.
While these numbers are accurate with regard to the numbers that the districts have at this time, some of the numbers may not be 100 percent accurate due to the fact that each district must wait on the other districts to provide the open enrollment forms for students. Meaning that if student A is lets say a Hendricks high school student, and he is open enrolled to say RTR, he will show in the RTR data as an open enrolled from student, but may not be reflected in the Hendricks data as an open enrolled to student unless the paperwork has been processed creating numbers that may not wholly match up at this time.
For the purpose of this article, the Lake Benton, Pipestone, RTR, Hendricks, Ivanhoe, and Elkton, SD districts were asked about their current total enrollment for grades K-6, and 7-12 regardless of how the individual districts actually break down their students. They were asked about the total enrollment in those grades for last year, and they were asked about open enrolled students from other districts.
All of that being defined and said, the enrollment numbers for the districts are as follows:
Elkton:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 103; Grades 7-12: 188; 21 colony students; total: 312.
Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6:124; Grades 7-12: 133; 20 colony students; total 277.
Students enrolled INTO your district from: Lake Benton: 73; Ivanhoe: 1; Hendricks: 7; RTR: 4; Brookings 3. Students open enrolled OUT of your district to Brookings 8.
Lake Benton:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 110; Grades 7-12:---* Lake Benton students are not “Open Enrolled” to Elkton, they are all considered “Tuition Students.” They have 70 “tuition” students going to Elkton.
Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6: 110; Grades 7-12: 64 total: 174. Students enrolled INTO your district from Ivanhoe: 3; RTR: 18; Pipestone: 2. Students open enrolled OUT of your district to Ivanhoe: 3; Hendricks: 1; RTR: 36; Pipestone: 13; other: 4.
RTR:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 272; Grades 7-12: 289; total 561. Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6: 285; Grades 7-12: 271; total 556.
Students enrolled INTO your district from: Lake Benton: 35; Balaton: 4; Lynd: 4; Ivanhoe: 2; Marshall: 8; Pipestone: 9. Students open enrolled OUT of your district to: Lake Benton: 13; Marshall: 18; Ivanhoe: 3; Lynd: 9; MCC: 1; Hendricks: 3: Pipestone: 16; Elkton, SD: 5.
Ivanhoe:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 69; Grades 7-12: 90; total: 159. Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6: 86; Grades 7-12: 93; total: 179. Students enrolled INTO your district from Lake Benton: 4; Hendricks: 50; RTR: 4; Elkton, SD: 4.
Hendricks:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 79; Grades 7-12: 47; total: 126. Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6: 78; Grades 7-12: 59; total: 137. Students enrolled INTO your district from: Lake Benton: 1; RTR: 3; Deubrook, SD: 12; Canby: 2. Students open enrolled OUT of your district to: Canby: Grades K – 6: 2/ Grades 7 – 12: 2; Elkton, SD: Grades 7 – 12: 8; Brookings, SD: Grades K – 6: 2/ Grades 7 – 12: 2; Deubrook, SD: Grades K – 6: 1/ Grades 7 – 12: 14.
Pipestone:
Total enrollment for your district THIS year: Grades K-6: 595; Grades 7-12: 546; total: 1141. Total enrollment for your district LAST year: Grades K-6: 593; Grades 7-12: 551; total: 1144. Students enrolled INTO your district from Lake Benton: 13; RTR: 8; Elkton, SD: Haven’t received the report yet. Students open enrolled OUT of your district to: Lake Benton: 5; RTR: 12; Elkton, SD: Haven’t gotten the report yet.
Combined meeting honors team
by Tonia Goertz
On Tuesday, Oct. 28, the Buffalo Ridge Pheasants Forever Chapter and the Lincoln County 4-H Shooting Sports Team held a joint meeting at the Lake Benton American Legion to award the shooting team their medals from the state meet in September which included third place for the five-member intermediate trap team, and an individual award of sixth place to Nick Baatz.
Approximately 50 members and parents were present for the presentations which included the presentation of gift certificates sponsored by the Pheasants Forever group as an incentive for the shooting sports team to improve their skills.
The shooting sports team will be entering their fifth year in existence, and Mark Stage said, “It is a lot of work to find the funding to get the kids to the range, pay for the shot, and make sure that the kids can get to the meets. We really appreciate the sponsorship and help that Pheasants Forever has provided.”
Jeff Davis of Pheasants Forever explained, “Our goal as an organization is building habitat and conditions that keep the ring neck pheasant in Minnesota. We see the sponsorship of this team as a way to get kids involved in that mission and to promote safe gun handling.”
Davis also noted that the annual Pheasants Forever Banquet, the largest fundraiser of the year for the group has traditionally been held the first Saturday after Labor Day, but “We are looking at changing that to the second Saturday to accommodate the shooting team, and allow for their participation in the banquet which currently conflicts with their state meet.”
Top: Winners of the drawing for gift certificates were Luke Wiering, $75; Nick Baatz, $100; Derrick Stage, $50, and they were presented by Pheasants Forever member Mike Baatz. Middle: Pictured here are members of the Buffalo Ridge Pheasants Forever chapter and the young men who won the gift certificates. In the front row are Jon Bloom, Luke Wiering, Nick Baatz, Derrick Stage, and Mike Baatz. In the back are Chris Bressler, Jeff Davis, Nichelle Buffington, and Chuck Nygaard. Bottom: The team that took third at state included Luke Wiering, Jarred Hillard, Nick Baatz (who also won a 6th place individual award), Dan Hansen, and Brady Hauswedell. — Lake Benton News photos by Tonia Goertz