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Straight River Youth Singers
By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
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By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
NRHEG’s “Truth in Taxation” meeting was held just prior to the regularly scheduled Dec. 19 school board meeting. No members of the public were in attendance. District Business Manager Karla Christopherson observed that residential property values, and thus tax evaluations for homes across the district had risen by about 20%.
Christopherson proceeded to present a detailed, 30-minute report summarizing the distribution of local tax levies used to support the district. While significant portions of the district’s $11 million annual budget are covered by state aid and, especially during the time of Covid, federal money, roughly $2,500,000 is collected as local tax revenue.
Of that amount, slightly more than half comes from taxing residential property. The next largest contributors, about 30%, are commercial and industrial properties. Although farmland comprises more than 17% of the property value in the school district, farm owners pay less than 7% of the taxes because of a “school to ag” credit under which the state protects farmers by paying much more than half of their “share.”
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Larry Otto of Ellendale died unexpectedly at his home Saturday night. He was 73.
Otto was elected in July as chaplain of the Minnesota American Legion. He
said at the time that although he does get emotional, he doesn’t cry, his eyeballs just sweat profusely.
He said his one main goal in life was to, through whatever means, help the world understand that “there’s a heavenly Father up there who loves them.”
Otto was a member of the Ellendale American Legion, Post 296 for 51 years. He also served as chaplain for District 1, which serves 10 counties in southeastern Minnesota. Also, in Ellendale he was a member of the Community Foundation of Ellendale group.
Otto regularly dedicated and donated his time and energy to improving the lives around him in addition to the community. Over the years Otto has been mentioned in numerous Star Eagle articles, photos and snip-its. Most recently, he led the Ellendale Memorial Day program.
Otto is survived by his wife Emily, two children and seven grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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By TRISTAN JENSEN
Staff Writer
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MAKING IT LOOK EASY - Senior wrestler Makota Misgen had no issues pinning Medford’s Kamilo Gonzales for the win this past Thursday.
Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak
The NRHEG High School wrestling team placed a solid fifth in the 2022 Stewartville Darrell Jaeger Invitational Saturday, Jan. 15.
The Panthers totaled 119 points, putting them firmly in the upper half of the 13-team field. Rochester Mayo won with 201 points, followed by Byron with 162.5, Cannon Falls 140, Medford 136, NRHEG 119, Grand Meadow-LeRoy-Ostrander 116, Stewartville 105, Austin 63, St. Clair 72.5, Rochester Century 54, Crosby-Ironton 42, Triton 15 and Rochester John Marshall nine.
The Panthers brought back two individual championships, Ralph Roesler at 195 pounds and Makota Misgen at 285. Roesler scored three falls and a bye en route to his title. improving his record to 23-3. Misgen got three falls and a bye to improve to 20-3.
Nikolas Petsinger was second at 132, receiving a bye and getting two falls before falling 5-3 in the finals. He ran his record to 20-5. George Roesler finished third at 170, registering two falls.