Pipestone County Star

LUVERNE — The Pipestone Area Schools’ baseball team will open the Section 3AA South subsection tournament on Tuesday, May 26. The Arrows will square off with longtime Big South Conference and section rival Luverne, with the first pitch set for 5 p.m. at Redbird Field. PAS (7-10 record) drew the No. 7 seed when pairings and seedings were announced on Wednesday, May 20. Luverne earned the second see...

The Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council (SMOC) plans to build a Head Start facility on property it owns at the corner of North Hiawatha and 11th Street Northeast. SMOC purchased the property from the county in 2022. The property is zoned multi-family residential (R-3) and the city of Pipestone’s zoning ordinance requires a conditional use permit for schools in R-3 districts. The Pipestone Plan...

Several Memorial Day programs are planned in Pipestone County on Monday, May 25. Below is an overview of when and where the programs will be and what they will include. Pipestone The Memorial Day program will begin at 10 a.m. at New Woodlawn Cemetery. Lieutenant Colonel Myron Koets, of Pipestone, will be the keynote speaker. Koets was drafted into the U.S. Army in the fall of 1965 at the age of 19...

Rich and Theresa Stangle, of Pipestone, have purchased the Hot Spot property at 223 West Main Street in Pipestone and plan to create business spaces and add murals to the building. Theresa Stangle presented their plans to the city of Pipestone’s Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) during its May 12 meeting. Stangle said they plan to put in a new door and window and create a new entrance for an...

About 74 members of the Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) graduating class of 2026 will receive diplomas on Sunday, May 24 in the high school gymnasium. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. Each year the senior class committee helps plan certain elements of the graduation ceremony and other events leading up to graduation. This year’s senior class committee includes Vivian Brockberg, Trevor Doppenberg, Samant...

For too long, a common-sense solution to lower gas prices and support American energy independence has been tied up in red tape. Families and farmers in Western Minnesota and across the country have been subjected to frustrating, outdated, and unnecessary regulations. The House of Representatives has taken a major step toward cutting that tape by passing H.R. 1346, the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel...

The Jasper City Council during its May 12 meeting voted 3-2 to take a neutral position on a conditional use permit Wm. D. Scepaniak Inc. is requesting from Pipestone County that would allow the company to operate a rock quarry northeast of Jasper. Pipestone County’s zoning ordinance requires a conditional use permit for all open pits and excavations. The zoning ordinance indicates that “In the eve...

Desire expressed for curbside collection Maureen Bell asked the Jasper City Council during its May 12 meeting to bring back curbside collection during the city-wide clean up days. The City Council plans to consider the request later this year when the fall clean up day is scheduled. Typically, the city requires items to be brought to the public works shop as it did during this year’s spring cleanu...

A routing open house is planned for Tuesday, June 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Leo Catholic Church. Representatives of Xcel Energy presented preliminary route options for the PowerOn Midwest transmission line project to the Pipestone County Commissioners during their May 12 meeting. The proposed 750 kilovolt (kV) transmission line would run from the South Dakota border across southern Minnesota....

The first filing period for candidates in the Nov. 3 election opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 19 and ends Tuesday, June 2 at 5 p.m. This filing period is for federal, state, county and city of Pipestone offices. There is a second candidate filing period for all other cities, townships that hold elections in November and school districts in the county. That filing period begins July 14 and ends July 2...

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton standout athlete Jonah Uilk will keep a certain directional component this coming fall. That’s because Uilk has signed with Southwest Minnesota State University, set to compete for the Mustangs in both track and field and cross country. “SMSU was in a list of colleges that I had heard of,” Uilk said in an email to the Pipestone County Star, “and wa...

LUVERNE — Pipestone Area Schools competed at the Big South Conference small school championships on Thursday, May 7. Cardinal Field was an electric place to be as track and field athletes attempted to earn all-conference honors (which went to the top-three in individual events and top-two relays. What’s more, the St. James-Madelia boys and Luverne girls earned championship bars. While the Arrows f...

BENSON — The Pipestone Area Schools’ boys tennis team wrapped up the regular season with a match against Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. “Benson has a good team, up and down the line-up,” PAS head coach James Skyberg said. Skyberg reported the Arrows will only play in the singles draw at the upcoming Section 3A individual tournament scheduled for Redwood Valley High School. That means expect to...

REDWOOD FALLS — For the second consecutive year, Pipestone Area Schools’ golfer Vivian Brockberg is an all-Big South Conference performer. Brockberg finished sixth overall in the season standings, moving up from ninth spot during the 2025 campaign. “All-conference, obviously, was a goal for her,” PAS head coach Grant Everson said. “She was rewarded.” On Monday, the conference slate had its climax...

Punk and heavy metal bands have nothing on the Pipestone Area Schools’ baseball team. See, the Arrows endured a “mosh pit” schedule last week versus Big South Conference contenders Windom Area and Fairmont (which was a doubleheader) and a home date versus Murray County Central Thursday, May 7. The Rebels are unbeaten, rolling through their schedule like a hot knife buttering sweet summer corn. MCC...

The Pipestone Athletics would have savored a win over the Milroy Irish in the Gopher League opener on Sunday, May 9 at City Field. That didn’t materialize, however, as the Irish scored at least one run in every single inning for a 14-5 victory. “Our goal is to compete to win,” Athletics manager Avery Ploeger said. “I thought we put out the best lineup for a chance to do that.” Still, Ploeger has t...

JACKSON — The Pipestone Area Schools’ softball team earned second place at the Jackson County Central Tournament on Saturday, May 9. During the event, Arrows’ Kaysa Douty and Amyra Mahik both homered and PAS showed on-field improvement after a period of struggles. PAS has won four of its past six games, and now stand at 9-10 on the season. “We played a lot better defensively,” PAS head coach Rober...

The Minnesota State High School League has conducted draws for the upcoming softball and boys tennis playoffs. Pipestone Area Schools’ softball team has been seeded second, facing No. 7 Worthington at 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, in a Section 3AA South subsection opening- round game at Paulsen Athletic Complex. No. 3 Windom Area will play No. 6 Luverne following the Arrows-Trojans game. The winners wil...

The Elk Nation Hall of Fame conducted its Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday, April 25 at the Elkton Community Center. The 2026 inductees are (from left), Steve Brown, Nikki (Kinner) Holmen, Michelle Gilbertson, Mary Jo Culhane, Annette Stein and Joyce Kramer. Inductee Jayne Duin is not photographed. This photo was contributed to the Pipestone County Star.  Article Link

WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock Community Club will have summer recreation offerings. Club officials have reported O’Hearn Field will be available for use — from practices to games. There will be a men’s slowpitch softball league, which will travel on Tuesday nights. Youth T-ball will be offered for children in second grade and younger. This program will run for five straight Monday nights from June 8-J...

Three local high school wrestlers were named academic all-state selections. The Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association and The Guillotine publication announced the team in a press release dated Thursday, May 7. Pipestone Area Schools’ Mason Fruechte and Marshall’s Brayden Chandler (a student at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton) and Lincoln Christenson were chosen. Fruechte was 34-9 during the 2025-26 season...

Thursday, May 14 Amateur Baseball 7:30 p.m., Elkton Snappers at Flandreau Blue Teal High School Baseball 4:30 p.m., Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey at Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian 4:30 p.m., Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (Ruthton) 5:30 p.m., Worthington at Pipestone Area (A’s/City Field) Softball 4:30 p.m., Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian at Mountain...

For Pipestone Area Schools senior golfer Vivian Brockberg, the weather keeps changing. Especially during her home meets. “The day started okay,” PAS head girls coach Grant Everson said, “It was sunny, and not too bad. But, by her fifth or sixth hole, the winds picked up and it was cloudy and cold.” Still, Brockberg managed a third-place finish at the second girls Big South division event at Pipest...

The Class AA fourth-ranked Jackson County Central softball team is as advertised. With quality pitching and mashers up and down the batting order, the Huskies took care of Pipestone Area Schools in a Big South Conference doubleheader at the Paulsen Athletic Complex on Thursday, April 30. “They have pitching depth,” PAS head coach Robert Petersen said, “and from No. 1 to No. 9, there’s not a hole i...

BLUE EARTH — The Pipestone Area Schools baseball team enjoyed its long bus ride home on Thursday, April 30. That’s because the Arrows swept Blue Earth Area by scores of 9-1 (Game One) and 11-1 (Game Two, reduced to five innings by the mercy rule). “Well, in baseball, you can’t take anything for granted,” PAS head coach Rick Zollner said. The Arrows are now creeping back toward the .500 mark, with...