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Updated 5-8-08

Law enforcement costs are rising
Maintaining law and order comes at a price. City officials were told to expect that price tag to increase at a special meeting in Underwood on April 30. McLean County Commissioners Steve Lee, Julie Hudson-Schenfisch and Ron Krebsbach, along with Sheriff Don Charging,Auditor/Treasurer Les Korgel, States Attorney Ladd Erickson and several deputies laid out the costs to those in attendance. Before addressing the law enforcement budget, Korgel reported on progress of the law enforcement center, saying they are hoping for an early November completion date. The new facility, Korgel said, will prompt a need to fill about six more positions. Eventually it could mean as many as 12 additional jobs. The people hired must be certified as a dispatcher/jailer, and training will be provided by the county if they don’t have certification. Currently there are five females and one mail in those positions. Concern over finding additional employees was discussed and the question asked, would deputies be pulled in to help if they are short jailers? Korgel said no, before that would happen they would probably take prisoners elsewhere or turn away housing prisoners from other counties.

Mother’s Day magic
Although they are mother and daughter, Mona Grayson and Tanya Stebbins have only spent one Mother’s Day in each other’s company. It was eight years ago and came after more than three decades of being apart. Their separation came just days after Tanya’s birth in 1963. Having made a decision to release her second child for adoption, Mona and her own mother left the hospital together. Within a short time, Tanya was adopted by DuWayne (Dukes) and Joan Pochant of rural Coleharbor. Once again, she was the second child; Kurth, her older brother, was a teenager. A year and a half later, the Pochant family was complete when Shannon, another daughter, was adopted. “We had a very wonderful family – very close,” Tanya said. “My mom believed that we (Tanya and Shannon) should know we were adopted.” Joan made her daughters feel special because they were “chosen” and told them that their birth parents were also special people.

Cougars sluggers split
The Cougars split this past week, losing to Velva-Drake on Tuesday afternoon 2-1. On Thursday afternoon, the Cougars defeated the Max-Garrison team 4-3. Tuesday against Aggies, Sam Hultberg started on the hill for the Cougars and pitched for four innings before being replaced by Tony Cullum in the fifth inning. Hultberg gave up two runs; both came in the forth inning, one on a single by Austyn Kittelson with Ty Ystaas scoring as he got on by a walk. The other score came when Ty Brunner hit the ball to center field and was thrown out in a run down between first and second. Meanwhile, Kittelson who was on first, got in under the tag at home and a scramble at home plate for the second score. The Aggies left the bases loaded in the second and third innings and left nine runners stranded for the game. Hultberg had four strikeouts and Tony Cullum pitched the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, getting six strikeouts.

Area Deaths: Clarence Edinger, 88; Walter Richard, 82; Bernice Fransen, 91; Dennis Jensen, 70