Thursday, January 10, 2013

Volume 97; Number 28

www.bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Todd Board votes to move ahead with HHS buildings renovation

By Rin Porter At the last county board meeting of 2012, held Dec. 28, the Todd County Commissioners decided to move ahead with the building renovation of Annex I and Annex II, where the countys Health and Human Services Division is housed. The division includes both the former Public Health Department and the former Social Services Department. During the last few board meetings, commissioners and the public have questioned the need for some of the proposed renovations, the budget for the project, and the methods of paying for the work. On Dec. 28, the decision was made to proceed, although three categories of bids were withdrawn from the project bid list, and will be readvertised later. The rest of the bids, included as categories 3 to 12, and 14 through 21, were accepted and approved as part of the board motion. The project was bid at $1,451,672, which was $266,000 above the estimate. The renovations will be paid for from the following county sources: (1) remainder of Courthouse Bonds: $141,371; (2) 2012 County Program Aid: $100,000; (3) Social Services Fund: $510,301; (4) Solid Waste Enterprise Fund: $300,000 (a loan which will be repaid during 10 years); and (5) General Fund: $400,000. Board Chair Ruda and Commissioner Dave Kircher emphasized that the money is on hand. No new bonds will be issued, and no taxes will be raised to pay for the project. Solid Waste Director Mike Hanan told the board he was displeased that part of the Solid Waste Fund was being used for this purpose. He was told that the fund will be repaid. County Auditor/ Treasurer Karen Busch told Hanan and commissioners that previous amounts borrowed from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund have been repaid. The project will begin this

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Deputy Tyler Theil is the Liaison Officer for the Browerville Public School. Theil is on the school grounds to deal with any criminal matter, to investigate, to be a visible law enforcement presence, and to interact with staff and students.

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Local law enforcement works with schools to keep kids safe

By Rin Porter Following the recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, many parents are wondering how safe their local schools are from such an incident, and what schools are doing about bullying, fights, drugs, and other situations that are much more common than school shootings. According to Jason Matlock, manager of the Minneapolis Public School's Department of Emergency Management and Safety & Security, speaking on Minnesota Public Radio on Dec. 17, 2012, Minnesota schools are required to carry out five safety drills each year. Safety drills are important for events such as fires, chemical spills, power outages, weather emergencies, and other situations that are much more likely to occur than a shooting. In addition to safety drills, schools have taken other steps to provide a safe environment for students and staff. We asked about those other steps, seeking information from Todd County Sheriff Pete Mikkelson and Browerville School Superintendent Bob Schaefer. Here is what we learned: Sheriff Mikkelson said that each school in Todd County has a safety and security program. Access to the school is limited by locking all or all but one door. Usually there is only one entrance to a school building, and it is near the school office. Most schools have security cameras that are monitored by school staff to assure that no strangers enter the school and halls and classrooms are safe. Schools are weapons-free zones, and drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are not allowed on school grounds. In addition, each school gets funding for an on-site officer. Almost every school in Todd County has either a city police officer or a sheriffs deputy working at the school a certain number of hours each week. The officer is assigned to the school as part of his regular duty hours, and the school pays the city or county for the officers time. The officers work as a school liaison officer is in addition to the DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) that takes place at each school. The DARE program is provided free of charge to the schools. It is presented for nine weeks per year. The on-site school liaison officer is on the school grounds to deal with any criminal matter, to investigate, to be a visible law enforcement presence, and to interact with staff and students. He deals with fights, bullying, harassment, tobacco and alcohol violations, and incidents that occur on school buses. Typical criminal charges that may result from such matters include charges of harassing communication (for bullying text messages, online bullying, or voicemail messages), making terroristic threats, assault with attempt to inflict bodily harm, drug possession, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, etc. In addition to the regular school liaison officer and DARE officer, there are sometimes unannounced searches carried out in schools looking for drugs, tobacco, alcohol, weapons, and other items that dont belong in schools. These searches are done with the assistance of a K-9 officer. Not all schools have them, and the schools that do have the searches might not have them every year. Sheriff Mikkelson spent several years as the school liaison officer for Browerville Public Schools

Heid joins Tigers 1000 Point Club

Mitchell Heid hit his 1000th career point on January 3rd when the Tiger boys faced St. Johns. He joins Tom Connor, Travis Burns, Ryan Hoelscher, and Seth Christensen in the 1000 point club.

Continued on page 16

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Tue. Jan. 8 Snow Showers 31/21 Wed. Jan. 9 Sunny 28/23 Thur. Jan. 10 Mostly Cloudy 33/29 Fri. Jan. 11 Cloudy 30/8 Sat. Jan. 12 Snow Showers 10/-2 Sun. Jan. 13 Partly Cloudy 11/2