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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
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Monday, January 1, 2018
Devil’s Advocate… Rushford approves Challenges of us final levy; talks savings page
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Volume 33 Issue 15
What is your New Gallery shows in 2020 Year’s resolution? at Lanesboro Arts page
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Canton • Chatfield • Fountain • Harmony • Houston • Lanesboro • Mabel • Ostrander • Peterson • Preston • Rushford • Rushford Village • Spring Valley • Whalan • Wykoff
Shipwreckt Books gains authors and notoriety
Houston School Board hears good news from continuous math program By Eric Leitzen eric@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The Houston School Board met for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 21, 2017, in the library of Houston Public High School. In attendance were Superintendent Abraham and Board Members Bonner, Wilson, Stillin, Evenson, Lundak, and Carlson. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the board unanimously approved the meeting’s agenda and passed a resolution to move into a closed meeting for negotiation strategy. The board then opened the meeting to public comment, of which there was none. Next, the board looked at the meeting’s consent agenda, which included one hiring Tom Driscoll, Managing Editor & CEO of Shipwreckt Books Publishing Company, LLC, stands in his Rushford, Minn., office with some of the over 200 books and magazines his company has published on display behind him. Photo by Barb Jeffers By Barb Jeffers barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com
wife, Beth Stanford, while serving with the Peace Corps. The two then began working for USAID in Africa and eventually in Washington, D.C., while living in Arlington, Va. Throughout his life, Driscoll has always been a writer, writing for many publications including the Chicago Tribune, Wisconsin Architect Magazine, a weekly newspaper in Madison, Wis., and the Fillmore County Journal, among others. Driscoll and his wife moved to Rushford in 2000 and after finishing a novel he had been writing, a friend suggested that See shipwreckt Page 2
See MATH PROGRAM Page 7
Lanesboro school’s Truth in Taxation meeting shows reductions in expenditures By H annah Wingert hannah@fillmorecountyjournal.com
The proposed 2018 budget showed a total of $4,975,022.00 in revenue and $5,143,412.00 in expenditures. The school board reduced the budget by $60,000 in general supplies, $13,500 in equipment purchases, and $95,000 in pupil transportation as they will not need to purchase a new bus in the coming year as originally thought. The $168,500 in reductions will help to balance the budget. A comparison of Lanesboro and other local towns showed that the school taxes paid on a home with a value of $160,000
The December 21 Lanesboro School Board meeting was opened with the annual Truth in Taxation meeting. The total revenues for the year of 2017 came to $4,360,124.00 and expenditures equaled $5,029,047.00. The expenditures included the purchase of a school bus, van, new playground equipment, new roof for the gymnasium, a copier, and new servers. The school has a five million dollar fund balance and has been purposefully spending it down by slowly updating See TAXATION MEETING Page 5 various aspects of the school.
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By assisting writers to become published authors, Tom Driscoll, Managing Editor and CEO of Shipwreckt Books Publishing Company, LLC, of Rushford, Minn., is not only helping the authors’ dreams come true, but he is also living a dream he never really knew he had. After graduating high school, Driscoll began a student newspaper in Davenport, Iowa. He was then drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War but was never sent to Vietnam. Instead he was sent to Alaska, specializ-
ing in biological, chemical and radiological warfare. Following his discharge from the Army, Driscoll got involved in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and felt he was “in the right place with the right people,” where he could express his artistic side and absorb the rich talents of the other artists attending the workshop. Driscoll worked in carpentry for a period of time and helped to construct a pavilion for the Dalai Lama’s first Kalachakra initiation in the United States in 1979. He was fortunate to meet the Dalai Lama as well. Driscoll soon joined the Peace Corps and married his
memo and three leave requests, all for Minnesota Virtual Academy. Board member Bonner requested some clarification and organization regarding the listing of names district seniority list, which was also included as part of the consent agenda. Board member Lundak noted that those on the list with a different listing were those employees still on a probationary status, and the consent agenda was passed unanimously. The board then moved on to discussion items, looking at a presentation from Houston High School Prinicpal Todd Lundberg regarding a continuous math program. Lundberg presented materials for the sev-