News stories from Hutchinson, Minnesota

The first year of the SowBridge Breeding Herd Education Series just finished, and registrations are now being taken for the next year of the program, which will begin Nov. 5.

“The SowBridge program provides valuable information on the daily care and management of the sow herd from breeding through lactation, as well as piglet care,” states Mark Whitney, swine specialist with University of Minnesota Extension. “We have brought together national industry experts to discuss options for key issues affecting this segment of the pork industry.”

By Kim Asche
University of Minnesota Extension

Working and living around teens one learns to adapt to the tired state teens sometimes appear to be in. Note that teen sleep cycles may not match family and school schedules, but we can help them synchronize.

From LaVonne Hansen
Hutchinson

Mayor Cook definitely did bring in improvements to Hutchinson’s 2009 budget process, such as using business consultants in the process, but it is hard to budget if you don’t have some basics. The good budget process is part of the closed loop strategic planning/budgeting system. Our city’s budgeting process has gaps that make effective cost cutting harder. There are many, many opportunities in this area. I had to pick just a few.

From Shirley Wurdell
Hutchinson

As vice president of Historic Hutchinson and the coordinator of the Living History Tour, I’d like to thank the community for the overwhelming response to our sixth annual event at Oakland Cemetery on Sunday, Sept. 21. We had guests come from as far away as Grand Forks, N.D., new local visitors and many that have been at all of our tours. It was a wonderful day.

From Paul Boor
Hutchinson

McCain offers an attractive proposal. Lower taxes. Deregulate business. Unfettered by regulations, capitalism will produce the solutions to our problems. McCain promises a litany of things: worker retraining, wage subsidies, reasonably priced health care for all, clean coal, nuclear power and “drill, baby, drill” for domestic oil. It is implied that none of this will need any impetus from government. After all, we need less government.

From Brad Engelmann
Helen Township

I demand fiscal responsibility from my elected representatives. I’m not getting it. I don’t want to vote for an incumbent who has voted for a deficit budget every year he’s been in office. I would like to see responsible tax policy.

I can’t prove global warming exists and I can’t prove climate change exists. But I sure would like to see us weaned off of foreign oil. I would like to see us encourage environmental policies that may lead to alternative sources of energy.

From Arlette Anderson
Dassel

On Oct. 1, the Star Tribune listed the New York Times “Bestseller Book List.” Among the list was “The Obama Nation,” written by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. This book is a must read.

EDITORIAL By Publisher Matt McMillan and Editor Doug Hanneman

Local cities and counties could see a drop in property taxes
— the main source of most operating budgets —
during the next year. We think planning for some dip is prudent.

Reader Gary Rusch recently wrote a letter to this newspaper about the government bailout of the Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage giants. He also lamented the doubling of his home’s value during the past six years. Why? Because property taxes go up each time the county increases his home’s value.

One of Hutchinson’s newest auto parts retailers, Checker, closed its store along Highway 15 South on Sept. 24, following the purchase of its parent company, Phoenix-based CSK Auto, by Springfield, Mo.-based O’Reilly Auto Parts.

Justin Miller, manager of the 9,600-square-foot O’Reilly store that opened in February at the intersection of Highway 15 South and Edmonton Avenue, said five members of Checker’s staff have transferred to the O’Reilly store. O’Reilly had moved from a store next to Godfather’s Pizza on Baltimore Avenue.

One strategy for being successful in retail is finding a niche not being served and then filling it. Janice Heintz thinks her new Cities Collections shop in downtown Hutchinson succeeds in doing that.

“Everyone coming in says Hutchinson needed this,” she said.

Whether it is raspberry pan chicken or grilled French double-pork chops, Zella’s Restaurant, the newest dining establishment in downtown Hutchinson, has a goal of creating a memorable experience for diners.

Doing business under the general philosophy of “specializing in chef-driven eclectic comfort food in a warm and elegant bistro atmosphere,” Zella’s owners Tiffany Haag and Blake Barnard believe Hutchinson area diners will like what they offer.

Jennifer Magallon graduated from the Minnesota School of Business’ massage therapy program just two years ago, but she puts continuing education high on her list of priorities.

Magallon is an independent massage therapist working out of a room in the basement of Julie Elder’s Urban Hair Salon, 18 Main St. S. There she offers hot stone massage, body wraps, prenatal massage and Swedish deep tissue massage.

Mildred E. Piepenburg, 94, of Litchfield, died Sunday, Oct. 5, at Meeker Memorial Hospital.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Litchfield.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home in Litchfield, and will continue one hour prior to the services Wednesday at the church.

Interment will be in the Lake Ripley Cemetery in Litchfield.

Arrangements are by Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home. An on-line guestbook is available at www.johnsonhagglund.com.

Donald Hamrin, 80, of LaPorte, Ind., died Friday, Oct. 3, at the LaPorte Hospital in LaPorte.

Visitation will be from 1 to 2:45 p.m. today (Tuesday, Oct. 7), at Dobratz-Hantge Chapel with a 3 p.m. graveside service at Oakland Cemetery in Hutchinson.

Military honors will be by the Hutchinson Memorial Rifle Squad.

Arrangements are with the Dobratz-Hantge Chapel in Hutchinson. Online condolences may be directed to www.hantge.com.

Mabel Grunewaldt, 98, of Waconia and formerly Hutchinson, died Sunday, Oct. 5, at Waconia Good Samaritan Center in Waconia.

A funeral service is at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, Peace Lutheran Church in Hutchinson. Interment will be in Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery in Acoma Township.

Visitation will be two hours prior to services Thursday at Peace Lutheran Church.

Arrangements are with the Dobratz-Hantge Chapel in Hutchinson. Online condolences may be directed to www.hantge.com.

By Nathan Winter
University of Minnesota Extension

Trees are often enjoyed more by people that come after those who planted the tree. Trees help define how a yard in the city will look and the type of landscaping that can be done by determining shade or full-sun types of plants. Businesses and city municipalities also use trees to help make areas more aesthetically pleasing to those who are working within, as well as those who are using those areas for recreation. In rural country settings, trees serve many purposes.

Elizabeth J. Horrocks, 90, of Hutchinson, died Saturday, Oct. 4, at Hutchinson Area Health Care.

Private family services are planned at a later date.

Memorials are preferred to Hutchinson Public Library.

Arrangements are with Dobratz-Hantge Chapel in Hutchinson. Online condolences may be directed to www.hantge.com.

Minnesota manufactured exports increased to $4.4 billion in the second quarter of 2008, 13 percent higher than the same period a year ago.

The increase was led by sales of transportation equipment, machinery and processed foods, according to quarterly export figures released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Harry Lawrence Ernst Werner, 82, of Darwin, died Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Meeker Memorial Hospital in Litchfield.

A funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Litchfield with the Rev. Donald Main officiating. The interment of the urn will be at a later date at the Ellsworth Cemetery in Darwin.

A visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at Johnson Funeral Home in Dassel.There will be a one hour visitation prior to the service Saturday at the church.

Arrangements are with Johnson Funeral Home in Dassel.

From Bill Corby
President, Hutchinson Area Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau

If you are going to shop and spend, spend your money in the Hutchinson area with the businesses that help support your community.

By LaVonne Hansen
Hutchinson

I don’t tend to operate by writing letters. I like to understand a situation and work with the people to find a better solution. But the Hutchinson mosquito spraying proposal didn’t make sense so I spent 30 minutes reviewing the city budget process and I went from being confused to being utterly “frustrated.” (That is being really tactful about how I actually felt.)
I am going to write two letters on this. The first specifically addresses the mosquito program. The second will be about things to improve the planning and budgeting process as a whole.

From Cal Wendlandt
Dassel

What a financial mess in Washington. And the same people who relaxed regulations on these big corporations want everyone to believe they will fix it. Ya sure, you betcha!

Seeing that people keep wanting to do extreme measures, which is this or that in the name of “national security,” we don’t need to concern ourselves with outside terrorists near as much as a demise coming from within.

Cheers to all the people who helped me jump start my car after the football game Friday night at Holy Angels. Your kindness was greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Jason Rusch, West St. Paul

From Thomas Higgins
Anchorage, Alaska, and 1982 graduate of Hutchinson High School

Sarah Palin isn’t a “nominee” she was picked by one man! I didn’t trust governor candidate Sarah Palin and haven’t agreed with her operation of the state.

She bragged she would favor her hometown of Wasilla and has earmarked a high percentage of funds for it. She made a snap and very poor decision about our Mat-Maid creamery. She has lied and changed her reason many times about the firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

From Paul Otte, Hutchinson

Take a drive to Northwoods Park and see how wealthy our community is. The massive project of building a lake (holding pond) and a fancy paved parking lot cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, I’m sure. The parking lot will be used 20 to 30 evenings a year for baseball games. A community that can afford such a huge project and yet can’t decide to spend $44,000 for mosquito control is truly bizarre!

From Joanne Jacques, Treasurer, board of directors McLeod Emergency Food Shelf

It was with pleasure that I read about the 25th anniversary of the McLeod Emergency Food Shelf, especially since most food shelf news is about another food shelf closing. Our local food shelf is not about to close, at least not in the near future. Our goal would be to close only because we are no longer needed (I dream big!).

EDITORIAL By Publisher Matt McMillan and Editor Doug Hanneman

Attacks on books and other forms of intellectual freedom are not
only found in Nazi Germany and other dictatorships. Libraries
in Hutchinson and across America also must be on the watch.

Visit the Hutchinson Public Library this week and you’ll be able to view a display of books that have been challenged by library patrons across the nation.

Utilities hosting open house Oct. 9
Hutchinson residents benefit in many ways by having their own publicly owned gas and electric company. That’s a message Jon Guthmiller is working to get out.

He is Hutchinson Utilities’ energy conservation administrator who is helping to plan an Oct. 9 open house to give residents an opportunity to learn more about their company.

The increasing popularity of wind power in Minnesota and elsewhere means the line of oversized trucks with wind turbine parts rolling through Hutchinson and other area cities isn’t likely to end anytime soon.

The trucks, some as long as 215 feet and as wide as 15 feet, have to be specially routed. Until construction of the roundabout on Hutchinson’s north side, State Highway 15 was the preferred route between St. Cloud and New Ulm, according to Dave Johnston, a District 8 region engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Hutchinson office.

H.E. Antonio Patriota, the Brazilian ambassador to the United States, will be the keynote speaker during lunch at the Governor’s International Trade Conference on Thursday, Oct. 2, in Minneapolis.

Minnesota First Lady Mary Pawlenty will present the Governor’s International Trade Awards to nine Minnesota companies that have excelled in the international marketplace. Last year’s winners were Satellite Industries Inc. of Plymouth, Capital City USA of Red Wing, Digital River Inc. of Eden Prairie , and Excalibur Sires of Rochester.