Storm Hockey

Review: Benson boys turn hockey season around, beat league champion Luverne. 1B

Region Youth
Youth wrestling tourney in Benson shows strength of area youth. 1B

Monitor-News
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013 Volume 127 No. 39

Swift County

More than two warnings issued for every ticket written by city police
If you are pulled over by a Benson police ofcer for what could be a violation of trafc laws while driving around the community, you are more than twice as likely to get a warning as a ticket. Last year, ofcers issued a warning 68 percent of the time they pulled a person over while only issuing citations 32 percent of the time. Those percentages are consistent with the two previous years when ofcers issued warnings in 71 percent of stops in 2011 and 69 percent of the time in 2010. There is one trafc violation for which you wont get a warning. If you
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Warnings versus Tickets

Year 2012 2011 2010 Warnings 692 578 527 % 68% 71% 69% Citations 322 238 236 % 32% 29% 31% Total 1,014 816 763
The McNellis Clan braves the 10-degree temperatures to celebrate St. Patricks Day in Saturdays parade in Benson.

March 2012 and 2013 see very different temps

During the St. Patricks Day Parade, Saturday, March 17, 2012, people lining the parade route were wearing t-shirts and shorts. The temperature was nearing 80 degrees. Just the day before the high had hit 79 degrees setting an all-time record high for the month. As it reached mid-afternoon and the parade began winding its way down 13th Street, the temperature again hit 79 degrees in Benson. A good-sized crowd lined both sides of the street with parents bringing their young children out to gather the candy that would be thrown from the oats. What a contrast to the 2013 St. Patricks Day parade! With the temperature at 10 degrees 69 degrees colder than the previous year the parade route had far fewer people willing to brave the cold, made even more frigid by a 15 mph wind out of the north. The days high of 27 degrees was shortly after midnight, after which it steadily declined. Those standing along the parade route, as well as those participating in the parade, were bundled up against
See page 9 Kids were bundled up to keep warm in Saturdays parade.

Celebrating St. Patricks Day

St Patricks Parade Temperature 2012 79 degrees 2013 10 degrees

Federal government sequester could cost county about $250,000

If all the cuts required by the federal governments sequester impasse are eventually implemented, it could mean the loss of as much as $250,000 in grants and funding for Swift County. That is a rough estimate given to the board of commissioners at their meeting March 5 by Administrator Michel Pogge-Weaver though he admits that it is very early to be projecting the impact. Pogge-Weaver asked the county department heads to let him know what the sequesters impact would be on their departments. He expects the impacts to be very small in the next 60 to 90 days. Human Services would be the department to see the quickest impact with its client services programs affected. Some funding for child support services in the county attorneys ofce would see cuts. The highway department shouldnt see an impact in 2013 since those funds are already encumbered. But in 2014 there would be an impact, he said. The Veterans Services area should not see cuts. The sequesters cuts became effective March 1 when President Obama formally enacted the reductions. After days of dire warnings by administration ofcials leading up to the sequesters implementation, the president told reporters the effects of the cuts would be felt only gradually.
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Snow days are piling up

School now extended to June 6

When that rst snow day of the school year comes, students are generally happy they can sleep in, then spend the day idling away the unexpected freedom however they please. But now that spring is approaching, and the end of school, missed days are getting to be exasperating rather than fun. For each missed day means one more day into June that students will be sitting in the classroom. For parents with small children, the missed days mean another day making arrangements for babysitting so they dont have to miss work. In some cases, it does mean staying home from work and losing that days paycheck or a days vacation. So far this winter, students have lost seven days to blizzards, extreme cold, and ice. Those missed days mean going to school until Thursday, June 6. The two most recent lost days came Friday and Monday. Friday the area saw roads turn extremely slick as a freezing rain fell throughout the area, making travel hazardous. Monday, though only 3.5 inches of snow fell over night, winds howling out of the north 30 to 40 mph made travel on country roads difcult. Two years ago we had a bad winter and we had a lot of snow days, Superintendent Lee Westrum said Monday.

Making Up Lost Days

No school Dec. 10 Jan. 31 Feb. 11 Feb. 18 Feb. 19 March 15 March 18 Reason Make-up day Blizzard Monday, Feb. 18 Extreme Cold Monday, April 1 Blizzard Friday, May 31 Blizzard Monday, June 3 Blizzard Tuesday, June 4 Ice Wednesday, June 5 Blizzard Thursday, June 6

But this has ended up being more. Two years ago the Benson area saw its second snowiest winter on record with 71.6 inches recorded. But the area was fortunate in that the saw fewer days of strong winds of 30 to 40 mph following the snowfalls. So far this winter, the area has seen 41.1 inches of snow, which is about average for a winter in western Minnesota. This year there have been a few other factors in losing school days, the superintendent said. We had the severe
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Blizzards, ice storms and dangerously cold wind chills have all contributed to lost days at Benson schools this winter season.

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