Independent DODGE COUNTY
LOST FACULTIES: Area band rocks the house. A3
AREA TEACHERS: Thanking our local educators. A6 & B6
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
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Kasson, Minnesota
Shopko Hometown to close Kasson pharmacy
On her own!
Customer accounts headed to Weber & Judd
BY RICHARD JOHNSON DCI MANAGING EDITOR
Shopko Hometown will permanently close its Kasson pharmacy at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16. Customers’ prescriptions will be sent to Weber & Judd in Kasson, Shopko Hometown store manager Kerry Krueger said Monday. They were to be notified by mail, said Michelle Hansen, public relations director
for Green Bay, Wis.-based Shopko. “In reviewing the future growth potential, we didn’t see this pharmacy reaching the necessary (prescription) and profit levels,” she said. “It was not meeting our expectations.” Hansen said the Kasson store will operate as usual. Shopko Hometown opened in November, 2014 at 301 S. Mantorville Ave. Krueger said the pharmacy closure will affect two full-time pharmacists and one technician. He said they have been given options as far as available store openings. Weber & Judd will start up accounts on Friday, Nov. 17 for former Shopko Hometown customers, company president
Chris McDonough said. He said Shopko approached Weber & Judd a few weeks ago. He would not say how many accounts were to be transferred. “We’re really happy to bring things back full-circle for us, in serving the entire community of Kasson,” McDonough said. “We’re just very excited by the opportunity. It’s been a great privilege to serve the citizens of Kasson for all these years.” Shopko operates 134 retail stores, 176 Shopko Hometown locations, 18 Shopko Pharmacy locations, and five Shopko Express stores, according to shopko.com.
STAFF PHOTO: RICHARD JOHNSON
Chrysanthemum Oberhold, 5, of West Concord, rides her bike without training wheels under the guidance of her mother, Susan Oberholt, on Sunday in West Concord. Chrysanthemum said she has been riding without training wheels for a couple days.
First-grader donates to Triton cause BY RICHARD JOHNSON DCI MANAGING EDITOR
Triton schools officials say the district may have to make difficult cuts since voters denied an increase in the 2018 operational levy. Rory Ginder is having none of that. The Dodge Center resident decided to chip in funds from her own savings account to try and help the district.
“I don’t care about myself. I care about other people,” she said. “When something bad happens, I’ll donate it.” Rory is a Triton Elementary School first-grader. The $40-odd dollars came from her two piggy banks. The 6-year-old insisted on making the donation, Triton Elementary principal Nick Jurrens said. “It’s pretty insightful for a first-grader to donate all the money that she has to her school,” he said. “She wants to keep things the way they are. I’m just very, very proud to have her as a Triton student and as a part of our elementary school.”
Triton levy request denied Measure fails by 24 votes
BY RICHARD JOHNSON DCI MANAGING EDITOR
STAFF PHOTO: RICHARD JOHNSON
3241 – Rory Ginder is pictured with money she plans to donate to the Triton schools. The 6-year-old decided to help the schools after an operational levy measure failed Nov. 7.
Voters turned down an increase in the Triton school district’s operational levy on Nov. 7. A total of 455 voters said “We’ve cut just about no to the increase, while 479 said yes. everything we can, Passage would have without cutting staff increased the levy by $750 per student and raised and programs. We’re nearly $1 million in revenue the school district. going to have to look for“Obviously, we’re at what’s left.” disappointed,” Triton superintendent Brett Joyce Triton School Board said. “We’re not going to wait around. We’re going President Jim Jensen to bring it back in a year. We’ve got to retool and reflect and get better at what we do to share the information, to get people to realize what happens if they don’t support. And what is a community without a strong school? “We’ve got to do a better job of telling the story,” he said. Voters turned down the same levy request in 2016. The district cut a little more than $370,000 from its budget this past spring – close to its goal of $400,000 –
and cut extracurricular activities tied to staff. Joyce said passage of the levy would have allowed the district to reach solid financial footing by 2021, and funds would benefit programs, staff and activities, and keep class sizes low. “Obviously, 24 votes is not a big difference,” he said. “The (school) board will have some tough decisions to make as to what we have to cut. No doubt it’s going to cut some programs.” Triton school board president Jim Jensen said the district has had to make Joyce cuts, while state funding has not kept up with inflation. “We’ve cut just about everything we can, without cutting staff and programs. We’re going to have to look at what’s left,” he said. “We did what we could to get the information out to show the need, but apparently we didn’t do enough. And I know times are tough and taxes are going up, but the school district has to go to taxpayers. School taxes are an investment in our future. “We have to move on” Jensen said. Jensen “Our job as a school board is to run the school with what we’re given. We have to figure out how to do that.”
Kasson seeking MnDOT grant for 16th Street project BY RICHARD JOHNSON DCI MANAGING EDITOR
The City of Kasson has submitted a grant application to the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Local Road Improvement Program, for improvements on Sixteenth Street Northeast, east to County State Aid Highway 15. The project would upgrade Sixteenth Street from an aggregate roadway to a bituminous paved roadway, and include an acceleration lane on southbound CSAH 15. It is estimated to cost $1.6 million, with $1 million to come from MnDOT. The rest could be paid for with city funds. $1.00 | Volume 151, No. 48
Phone: 507-634-7503 | email: dci@kmtel.com
The city also receives Municipal State Aid Street funds, and thus could use additional state funds to pay its portion. City Administrator Theresa Coleman said it’s hoped the project can be completed in 2019, before MnDOT’s planned street reconstruction project along Highway 57 (Mantorville Avenue) in 2021. Coleman She said MnDOT should make its decision in February. Construction would run from May through August in 2019. “It’s an exciting conversation to
have, because that really showed up on the community feedback in the initial comp plan survey,” Coleman said, referring to recent public meetings regarding the city’s future. “People were like, ‘We need to do something out here.’ So at least we’re making a go at it.” Kasson Police Chief Kent Berghuis sent the city council a letter of support for the project. Theobald He said the current level of traffic has made the gravel roadway impassable at times, and motorists have been stuck due to severe rutting.
INSIDE Church........................D4 Classifieds.................. D5 Community................ D2 Football Contest....... C4
Berghuis also said the limited sight distance at the crest of hills has caused several accidents and some near head-on collisions. The project “has been on the city’s radar,” said city engineer Brandon Theobald of WHKS and Company, Rochester-based engineering consultants. “If we can get a million dollars from MnDOT, we’re interested in going forward,” he said. In other business: - Theobald said the city has suspended street reconstruction work for the season on Third, Fourth and Fifth avenues Northwest, to Eighth Street Northwest. The $6.3 million project will be
AREA DEATHS History....................... D3 Hometown Scene.......B1 Land of Dodge............D1 Obituaries.................. D2
Opinion...................... A4 Public Notices............ C5 Public Safety.............. A2 Sports..........................C1
Florence Belverud, 79
completed in 2018. • South Mantorville Avenue, south of Highway 14, has been paved and will open soon. “It opens up the south area of Kasson for development,” Coleman said, “and we’ll be really excited to see what happens down there.” • Coleman said she requested a trail easement and additional street access from Shopko Hometown on property near the former Lions Park site. The city owns property in front of the store. The company is taking the request under advisement, and indicated it will contact Coleman after Jan. 1. SEE MNDOT, A3
SUBSCRIBERS OF THE WEEK Recognizing Marlene Aakre of Kasson Gene Hyland of Hayfield Readers of the DCI for years