Pipestone County Star

MARSHALL — Southwest Minnesota State University pitcher Cody Wichmann just wrapped up his junior season playing baseball. Wichmann, during the 2026 season, was named National College Baseball Writers Association Central Region pitcher of the week, and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference pitcher of the week once (Feb. 25). A former Russell-Tyler-Ruthton student-athlete, Wichmann pitched in 13 games with 10 starts. He finished with a 3-4 record and 5.52 earned-run average. On April 20 versus Jamestown (N.D.), Wichmann struck out a season-high nine batters. He also tossed a nine-inning complete game with six strikeouts versus Minot State (N.D.) on Feb. 23. Overall...

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The Pipestone County Board of Appeals during its April 27 meeting approved a variance allowing Allan Hachmann to build a new house less than 150 feet from the center line of U.S. Highway 75, as required by the county’s zoning ordinance. The approval included the condition that the structure be no closer than 125 feet from the center line of the highway. Hachmann said he plans to remove an existing house and garage at his property in the southeast quarter of Section 20 of Elmer Township and build a new house and garage on the same site. He said the...

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Howard Wood Dakota Relays are a showcase event for the activity of track and field. In the 101st installment of this event, both the Elkton-Lake Benton and Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton programs showed they belong on the grand stage at Howard Wood Field. The relays featured dozens of schools from across the five-state area, including Minot High School in North Dakota, a 7-hour, 25-minute one-way trip to the field according to Google Maps. ELB senior throwing specialist Taiton Boersma found himself on the medals stand after posting a new personal-best mark of 164-feet, 11-inches in the...

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Pipestone Area Schools’ sophomore Americ Suvandy defended his home track at the 50th Annual Bob Nangle Relays. Suvandy claimed gold in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes during the event. Americ posted a time of 11.41 in the 100 and 23.35 in the 200. With those performances, Suvandy scored 20 of the 24 points the Arrow boys accrued. The 4x400-meter relay group featuring freshmen John Goelz and Austin Jorgenson (who ran the anchor leg) clocked in with a time of 4:12.81 for seventh. Emir Alvarado Herrera, Alex Suvandy and anchor Jakob Dion joined Goelz in the 4x200 relay, with the...

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A Pipestone Area Schools graduate performed critical engine analyses on the rocket engine that took four astronauts around the moon in a record-breaking lunar fly-by earlier this month. Seth Lingen, PAS Class of 2021, is an intern with L3Harris Technologies near Los Angeles, Calif. As a NASA defense contractor, L3Harris developed the space launch system that propelled the four-member Artemis II crew into a 10-day flight around the moon. Crew members safely returned to Earth April 10, much to Lingen’s excitement and relief. “My enthusiasm during the mission, and even now after the conclusion, is still running high,” Lingen said....

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On Wednesday, April 15, Tax Day, Senate Republicans held a press conference to spotlight how DFL tax increases and unchecked spending have driven up costs and made life less affordable for Minnesota families. “From rising property taxes to climbing license tab fees, Minnesotans continue to tell me they want our state to be more affordable,” Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne), Republican lead on the Senate Taxes Committee, said. “We are unfortunately seeing what happens when our state leaders treat taxpayers as an unlimited cash machine.” Under DFL control, the state budget has ballooned, devouring an billion surplus while imposing ...

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Pipestone County Commissioners during their April 14 meeting voted to fill the county coroner position by appointment rather than election as has historically been the case. The change will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Long-time Pipestone County Coroner Dr. Larry Christensen submitted a letter to Pipestone County Administrator Steve Ewing in February indicating that he didn’t plan to seek reelection this fall and recommending that the county make the position appointed. Christensen wrote that he’s served as Pipestone County Coroner for more than 40 years and sees it as an important public service. “If the county moves to an appointed...

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Recently, there have been a number of conversations about the Pipestone Alternative Learning Center at the school board table and within the community. The Alternative Learning Centers, also known as ALCs are part of Minnesota’s broader system of State-Approved Alternative Programs. These programs were created with the intent to serve students who struggled in the traditional school settings. Students eligible for ALC services often include those who are significantly behind in graduation credits, chronically truant, English Language Learners, pregnant or parenting, or students experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, or other significant life disruptions. The first legislated alternative education programs in...

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TO THE EDITOR: THANK YOU Pipestone Star for doing a great job of writing the ALC article. If the school board votes to eliminate the ALC kids from their graduation ceremony it’s out of SPITE, not because of the facts presented by the SWWC President and the ALC President. Also note, the school board will be asking the taxpayers for more money this coming November. Let them know how you feel. I want my tax dollars paying for ALC students to walk at the PAS graduation ceremony, not just traditional setting students, which costs the school district ZERO dollars to...

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The Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) prom is scheduled for Saturday, April 25 at the high school. Each year the PAS Junior Class Committee helps plan the prom. This year’s Committee includes Abbi Haack, Valencia Murphy, Iva Witte, JaNasia Larkins, Kaysa Douty, Brooke Einck, Matthew Swenson and Kailyn Burmeister. The students started planning for the prom in October. They’ve selected an enchanted garden theme this year. The decorations include waterfalls, ponds, plants, trees, greenery, mushrooms and rocks. The prominent colors will be navy, greens, lavender and white. Music will be provided by Greg Spaethe. The meal in the commons area will...

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