Pipestone County Star

WORTHINGTON — Russell-Tyler-Ruthton senior Teigyn O’Leary qualified for the Minnesota State High School League Class A state tournament a fourth time. That was by virtue of her finish at the Section 3A tournament on Wednesday, May 27, at GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness Club. O’Leary carded a 30-over par 172 in this 36-hole tournament spread over two days, with the earlier round on May 20. She tied Ca...

MARSHALL — Bird Island-Olivia-Lake Lillian pitcher Kaitlyn Flann threw a complete-game four-hitter to eliminate Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian during a Section 3A elimination game on Tuesday, May 26. Flann struck out 10 and allowed just one walk in 93 pitches, 69 of them for strikes (74.2 percent efficiency). Cara Ruiter went 2-of-2, Cali Wagner doubled, Kaya Voge singled and Liana Bloemen...

The Pipestone City Council during its June 1 meeting tabled the lone bid of 8,000 to repair the east wall of the former Carnegie Library building in order to obtain more information about another potential funding option. The bid included an alternate involving the use of salvaged stone from the city’s stock pile that would deduct ,000 and another alternate involving the use of a manufactured ston...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Five Elkton-Lake Benton athletes earned podium finishes at the South Dakota High School Activities Association Class A state meet. The drama unfolded at Howard Wood Field, with recent ELB graduate Taiton Boersma grabbing silver in the discus with a mark of 167-feet even. Boersma also was sixth in the shot put, marking at 50-4.75. ELB head coach Mark Harming said Boersma is cons...

Pipestone Area Schools’ senior track and field athlete Aurora Winsel has enjoyed a storybook career. Winsel will add one final chapter this week at the Minnesota State High School League Class A state meet. That’s because Winsel earned gold in the 400-meter run, her signature event, with a time of 1:00.10, which also happens to be a season-best performance. “I’m extremely happy and grateful to be...

Several years ago, the Pipestone A’s approached Pepsi Bottling Company President/General Manager Tim Haubrich about sponsoring a local amateur baseball tournament. A partnership was formed. The Sixth Annual Pepsi Invitational is set for Friday, June 5, and the A’s will play the opening game versus the Volga (S.D.) Cormorants at Westview Park. “We’re big on sports and everything Pipestone,” Haubric...

When it came to the “Windy Cities,” Chicago sound of the ‘60s, no single group quite defined the sound as well as Chi-Town’s New Colony Six. This sextet, along with the Buckinghams, Cryan’ Shames, Shadows of Knight, American Breed, Chase and the Ides of March jointly defined Chicago ‘60s rock and roll. The New Colony Six were a recording and hit making machine. In total they recorded for such labe...

The long-awaited sunshine and summer months are here. Kids are at home with new routines, or you could argue no routine at all. If you have followed my column long enough you know that we like routines in my house. With four kids in the house, and a 10-year age difference between the oldest and the youngest, the activities that fill the calendar vary greatly. Weightlifting, softball games in the J...

The Pipestone Economic Development Authority (EDA) during its June 1 meeting approved a childcare incubator application from Rhonda Van De Brake, allowing her to use the former Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church as a daycare for 0 a month for the first six months. EDA members also approved a childcare development forgivable loan for Van De Brake that she plans to use for daycare equipment,...

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...