Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Off The Streets



Have you ever wondered who lives in your area? I have, like who they are and what there history is. Maybe you want to know the criminal records of your neighbors or if they have one. Basically you just want safety for yourself and your children. I’m talking about sex offenders living in our neighborhoods and nothing we can do about it.

I went to Google.com and I typed in “Sex Offender Search.” Many sites popped up, where you could search states, cities, and streets for register sex offenders. You could even search names on most sites. It all looked very helpful indeed.

My real question is, “Why are there big time sex offenders living in our neighborhoods?” These people molest or rape people and then they go to jail for a few years. After there very short sentence they are released into our towns. This is very unsafe for our children because you never know when they are going to strike again. Released rapists are more than 10 times more likely than other ex-cons to be rearrested for the same crime. Also the suspect is known to the victim in OVER 90% of sex crimes. In other words, the suspect is a parent, relative, caretaker, neighbor, co-worker or significant other. It is estimated that less than 10 percent of all sex crimes result in a criminal conviction.

I read an article on the Internet describing how a man was being released from prison after just 4 years. He kidnapped two young girls and molested one of them. It said the police was warning our community that he was freed and at very HIGH-RISK. What is this going to do, we can protect our children but not nearly enough to know that we are completely 100% safe. After these people serve there sentence, I think they should have to go get some help at an institute of some sort. Also they are more likely to be rearrested again for the same crime so why let them back into our community’s so quickly. What is the rush? I asked classmate Brett Waston what he thought on this important topic and he replied, "I just hope they are not living by me when I have children, hopefully they have a little stricter rules by that time in our lives."

Alaska is number one in the nation for rapes and sexual abuse per year. They have over 4,300 registered sex offenders in the state. So the governor decided to do something about it. He introduced a Senate Bill 218 to protect Alaskans. This bill would increase the sentences for the most horrific sexual felonies to a minimum sentence of 25 years. It will increase the sentences for all sex crimes. The bill keeps sex offenders in prison longer and protects the public better once they are released. They will have zero tolerance for sex offenders. I think this is one very good idea and other states should follow this lead to protect our citizens from sex offenders. These people are very dangerous and could affect your life forever. I hope to see troubling states making an effort to protect the public in the future because I think everyone will appreciate it.

By: Sean Thomforde

FFA Fruit Sale


Every year the Goodhue FFA holds the annual fruit sale. Every FFA member can sell fruit. “A lot of members haven’t turned in their dues yet so they won’t be able to sell fruit until they do,” said Mr. Thompson. So this means you better get your dues in! The whole idea of selling fruit is to make money for the chapter. Five percent of your sales go straight to your pocket and 20 percent goes into your account. You can use this money throughout the year to pay for expenses and so on. First through fifth place sellers receive a plaque, so all FFA members try to sell as much fruit as possible! Also, there will be a fruit order form in the November School Newsletter. This year the fruit sale fundraiser starts on October 29. The last day to turn in orders is November 16. The fruit will be delivered sometime between December 10th and 14th.

There are four different 30-35 pound mixed fruit boxes that can include grapefruit from Texas, naval seedless oranges from California, apples and pears from Washington. There is a variety of different apples to choose from. There are also holiday fruit boxes that are 18 pounds. You can also purchase all the fruit separate if you don’t want a mixed boxes.
There is a lot more items to buy than just fruit from the fruit sale fundraiser. You can also purchase beef sausage, beef sticks, string cheese, cheese spread, and a variety of mixed nuts. There is also a variety of popcorn to choose from. It comes in one gallon containers in caramel, french vanilla, cheddar cheese and cranberry twist flavors. The best thing by far we sell is Butter Braid frozen pastry dough. It comes in seven delicious flavors including cinnamon, blueberry cream cheese, cherry, apple, cream cheese, and raspberry. There are also caramel rolls. It bakes in just 20-25 minutes and tastes delicious. Last but not least you can buy a three pound tub of herring.

WHY PUT A LIFT IN YOUR TRUCK

WHY PUT A LIFT KIT IN A TRUCK

Mitch Mandelkow

I think that it is a good idea to lift a truck because if you do any off-roading you will not get hung up on things under your truck and break something. You could tear your tranny out if you hit something hard enough on it or you could tear out your transfer case.

They have two different kinds of lifts. One is a body lift witch just lifts the body of your truck, which is pretty much just for looks because it does not lift anything up under your truck. The other kind is a suspension lift this is the one that I would recommend if you are going to be doing off roading. If you are trying to go through deep mud with you truck and it does not have much ground clearance you are most likely going to get caught up on something and bottom out. So when you have a lift you have more ground clearance witch means you can go through more mud. Also you are going to want to get some nice big tires to make your truck look good and that will also help you off roading. You can get a lift anywhere from 2 inches of lift to 15” of lift.

If you just want to make your truck nice and want to go through a little mud but you are not a hard core mudding person I would recommend getting a 4” suspension lift. You can get all different brand names some are, Tuff Country Ruff Country Sky Jacker and so on…. The lift can range from 250$ to 2000$. If you are getting a lift for a gas truck it is going to be a little cheaper than getting one for a diesel, because a diesel is a lot more heavy.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Teen Drinking

Teen drinking is very bad if the teens haven’t been informed how to drink. For ages people have been told that a teen drinking is a terrible thing but what is so different from a nineteen year old and a twenty-one year old two years isn’t much, especially if teens are taught how to drink by their parents or guardians.
There are so many statistics and things happening that make people say teen drinking is bad, it makes them alcoholics, they do stupid things, and they get into car crashes and kill people. If adults give kids an environment where drinking is ok most kids would probably not even do it because it is accepted.
In foreign countries drinking is ok you never hear about drunk driving and killing people in Germany or Amsterdam. That is because kids have been taught how to drink and they can choose not too, they will not get in trouble either way there are a lot less kids that will do it because some kids do it to just to feel cool and disobey the law and or there parents.
I believe that if parents teach their kids how to drink they are more likely not to drive because they know their parents taught them not to and if they needed a ride they know they can get one from their parents and they would be more unlikely to drink tremendous amounts off alcohol and get alcohol poisoning and die or drive and kill someone else. In conclusion I think if that underage drinking is not an entirely bad thing it is bad if it isn’t a controlled environment

DIESEL VS GAS

What should you choose a diesel or a gas?
Mitch Mandelkow

Often times, people decide to purchase a large truck to haul very heavy loads. If that is not your intention, and you'd like to purchase a truck to drive more like a car (with quick, quiet acceleration), you may want a gasoline engine

There are 3 main reasons to buy a gas engine

1) Gas engines run a little smoother
2) Fuel is easier to find
3) Gas engines start easier in the winter

I think that if I was an older guy and I just hauled a few things once in a while I would get gas pickup. Because you do not have to deal with the clod blooded diesel in the winter, you can just jump in and go.


If you want a truck that you can pull a big gooseneck trailer or any big trailer. You should be looking into getting a diesel truck.


Three reasons why you should get a diesel.

1) Good fuel economy2) High mileage3) Better for towing

Buying a diesel is going to run you a little more $$$$$ but my opion is that in the end you come out ahead. Because you can pull very heavy things while still getting good mileage when pulling, while a gas truck would get very bad. The truck will well over 300, 00 miles; I have seen a diesel run to 10,000. Also just while you are driving down the road you get good mileage.


So my opion is that if you are going to haul all kinds of heavy things and want a long lasting truck stick with the diesel. If you just want a smaller truck that you can haul a lawn mower or what ever in and do not want to deal with the cold blooded diesel stick with the gas.

Monday, October 29, 2007

GAS TAXES

The State of Minnesota does not need to their gas tax to improve bridges and roads. Instead, they need to look into the money they have saved and how they are spending it. I read an article by Nick Coleman titled “A Penny-wise, Pound-Foolish Government”. The overall message Nick Coleman sent was the government should increase their gas tax by 30-40 cents to help pay for improvements on roads and bridges. He is angry with Governor Pawlenty for not increasing the gas taxes to fix the roads and bridges. He is also mad because the person that he hired to fix the I-35 bridge was the most expensive. Nick Coleman’s biggest point is that a gas tax be the best way and fairest to fix roads and bridges. I disagree with Nick Coleman!

Nick Coleman said the government should increase their gas tax by 30-40 cents to help pay for improvements on roads and bridges. I disagree with his opinion, because they have money and they are spending it on other stuff that we don’t need. I read an article that responded to Nick Coleman that said the government is spending the money from gas taxes on the light rail and bike trails. The government needs to fix the stuff we use more.

Nick Coleman is angry with Governor Pawlenty for not increasing the gas taxes to fix the roads and bridges. I agree with Governor Pawlenty for not increasing the gas taxes, because we already have the money to spend on the roads and bridges, not light rails and bike trails as I said in my first paragraph. I feel that really need to look at how the money is spent and how we can use it better.

Nick Coleman also said a gas tax may be the best and fairest way to fix roads and bridges. I agree with that, but they don’t need to raise it 30 to 40 cents and they just need to use it properly. I think a fair increase would be 5-15 cents per gallon of gas.

To improve bridges and roads, Minnesota should not increase their gas taxes. Instead, they need to look into the money they have saved and how they are spending I think the tax should be raised 5-15 cents per gallon.










By: Troy Simmons

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Goodhue vs. ZM Varsity Football

The final season game for the Wildcats was against Zumbrota- Mazeppa. Since the demolished the cougars, the Wildcats got home field advantage for the playoffs game.

The Wildcats scored on five of six possessions in the first half, including three in the first quarter and powered past the Cougars 40-0 to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Section 1A Tournament, which starts Tuesday.

Eric Ryan paced Goodhue's ground attempt with 210 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. He scored from 13 yards out in the first, added a 6-yard scamper in the second and capped the scoring with a 31-yard run late in the third. Micah Huneke added 71 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while Kelby Buck rushed six times for 39 yards. Goodhue had a total of 409 yards on the ground.

Buck also finished 7 of 10 passing for 114 yards, 45 of which came on a touchdown strike to Brett Watson in the first. The Goodhue offense racked up 523 yards on 73 plays, averaging just over seven yards a play.

"We've been doing the same thing all season. The line's been making holes and we just have to run right through them," said Huneke, who also intercepted a pass, giving him a team-high six on the season, one ahead of Watson.

For the Cougars, it was an uphill battle in muddy conditions. Z-M tallied only 21 yards and one first down in a first half as they trailed 33-0.

Colby Mehrkens intercepted a Buck pass to open the second half and, following a 37-yard run by Phil Putratz, Z-M had some momentum. However three plays later including sacks by Goodhue's Bryce Dankers and Chad Meyer forced the Cougars to punt.

After the Wildcats reserved the punt . The Cougars defense forced Goodhue into a fourth-and-nine situation from the 16-yard line. Wildcat coach Clair Austin never hesitated before going for it with Z-M's punt-return team on the field. Buck hit Sean Thomforde on an out for 13 yards to keep the drive alive. Ryan later in a touchdown in from 31 yards out, capping a 15-play, 97-yard drive that ate up nearly six minutes of the clock.

Putratz's lone highlight on the ground was his 37-yard run, while Keane McWaters finished with 39 yards on eight carries. Drew Paukert was 2-for-5 for 16 yards and two interceptions.
Goodhue, who improves to 7-1 overall and to 5-1 in the Hiawatha Valley League, now eyes home field advantage throughout the Section 1A Tournament. The Wildcats have qualified for state four years in a row and look to make it five with a team that sports nine senior starters on each side of the ball.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Make or Break-Section 1A Playoffs

Football Playoffs is one of the best times of the year for some teams in the state. For other teams it can be the worst time of the year because there dreams can end in an instant.

This year Minnesota has already started its first round of the playoffs and so far is so good for the Goodhue Wildcats football team. On Tuesday night the #1 seeded Goodhue team stomped #8 seed Wabasha Kellogg 54-0. Goodhue pretty much dominated the entire game and pulled out an easy win. In the first half Goodhue scored 6 toucdowns, 3 in each quarter. Four of the touchdowns came on Eric Ryan runs , another touchdown came from a Micah Huneke run, and a 6th score came on a 40 yard pass from Kelby buck to Brett Watson to make the score 41-0 at the half. "The line was doing a really nice job of opening up holes for us," said Huneke.

Goodhue took the starting backfield out of the game in the 2nd half as Coach Austin decided to put in the Junior backfield. Chad Meyer scored his 2nd TD of the year on a nice run midway through the 3rd quarter. Then Ethan Tutewohl scored the final touchdown in the 4th quarter after he caught a pass on 4th and 7 for a 40 yard gain. On the next play tutewohl scampered in from 6 yards out for the final score of the game to make it 54-0. Everybody got to play in the game for Goodhue as the 10th graders also got some playing time near the end of the game. Goodhue's defense played pretty good and didnt give up any points while holding WK speedster Kyle Sill to 68 yards on 24 carries. "Our defense had a really good game," said Coach Austin. "We could pretty much do whatever we wanted in the game and scored when we wanted too."

Goodhue will now take on the #5 seed Lewiston-Altura who beat Bethlehem Academy 42-14.

On the other side of the bracket #2 seed and ranked #2 in the state Blooming Prairie beat Medford/El Shaddai only 14-0. The Awesome Blosssoms of Blooming Prairie will now take on Rushford-Peterson who beat #6 seed Randolph 21-8.

School Luches Are too SMALL!

Is your stomach still growling after lunch? How old are you? In the last 5 years the USDA has establishes new nutrition standards for school meals as part of the healthy Meals for Healthy Americans act of 1994. I disagree with this. Cutting down on the amount of food a student gets just because some kids don’t take care of themselves is just wrong.
One of the reasons USDA thinks we need small lunches is to keep kids from becoming obese. Many kids at Goodhue School are in sports or some type of athletic activity, without a substantial amount of food this could hurt our health more than help it. People who burn a lot of calories by being active need food to burn. If we are not getting a good amount of food to eat this may cause I loss of energy, which will be worse than eating a few extra bites. If they are trying to make it healthier for obese kids, the obese kids should have to take there own initiative to get healthy. Not punish us by starving the healthy students.
If they are not going to allow larger servings for the regular meal they should at least give the option of getting seconds, or thirds. By not allowing us seconds of the main course they are forcing us to buy junk food like fruit roll ups, rice crispy bars, and expired peanut bars that are unhealthier than another BBQ on a bun. “I feel like all I eat at lunch is expired peanut bars and I never get full,” said Brittney Lodermeier
As of right now seniors and kindergartners get the same amount of food on a regular basis. This is not right. The kindergartners throw away half the lunch they get anyway. Why don’t we give them less food and the older students, who will eat the food, more to eat. When asked “why do we get so little food,” a cook replied “we have to follow the rules.”
Some suggestions to those who are still hungry I guess you will have to pack a second lunch or continue living off of junk food and expired peanut bars.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Rushford Flood affects all of us in some way

Rushford Minnesota flood last August 22, 2007. Four days after the flood residents were still coping with extreme conditions following the flood no water, no sewer, no phones, no power. The water is undrinkable they are not sure if it's entirely free flood contaminates. The state Health Department says people shouldn't even use it to wash. FEMA teams were sent out to examine the need for individual assistance such as for homeowners, renters, and small business owners as well as public assistance such as for roads, government properties and overtime pay for emergency workers. "A preliminary windshield survey by the American Red Cross identified about 4,200 homes affected by the flood, including 256 complete losses,338 with major damage and 475 that are still inaccessible," said Kris Eide to KTTC , the state's director of homeland security and emergency management. The problem is, no one knows when the disaster declaration will be made and when the federal help will arrive.
The crisp chill in the air has some people anticipating the next season to come. But for some residents in Rushford, it's only a reminder of what needs to be done after the floods not only took away their foundations but their utilities as well. In the race against winter, construction crews in Rushford appear to be taking the lead. Construction worker says, "could be going on 24/7 if I had enough strength." Homes are being patched up at a steady rate, but just just by looking at the never ending pieces of paper where residents have signed up to get their heat back you know the race against winter and heat has just started. Kaye Bernard with Tri-County Electric, "We encourage people to call us and ask about those programs and we'll direct them to either SEMCAC or the local energy assistance agencies through the country". The residents say local businesses have been great about getting out in the neighborhoods to rebuild and restore utilities. One resident says his rebuilding process is going smoothly. Joe O'Hara says "No hassle what so ever," Joe O'Hara and his wife Kathy live in a FEMA mobile home while their house is being re-built, but they still pay utilities. The payments haven't hurt their pocket books, but know some people are less fortunate. O'Hara says, "I'm a lot better off than most people." Joe says it's starting to feel like Minnesota weather, so make sure you find a way to get the heat before the race between winter crosses the finish line.

I asked my dad how he felt when he herd about the flood in Rushford and he said he was scared for his sister Cindy and her two kids and he was also scared for Joe and Kathy O'Hara because dad and Kathy are cousins but he said the worst part was not knowing if they were OK and not hearing from them until a week later. I persinaly was scared because my aunt lives only one block away from the river.

The Duck Hunter


It was a cool evevning after a Goodhue Wildcat football victory over Zumbrota. Ryan Kassen and I were headed up to our cabin in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. It is a two hour drive. We arrived to the cabin at about eleven thirty p.m. and went to bed. The next morning at about five in the morning the alarm but we shut it off right away and got back at about nine thirty. When we got up my dad had my breakfast ready, after breakfast we headed out to hunt we ended up getting out in the swamp about ten thirty. We all got set up and ther were ducks flying everywhere but they seemed to want to land on the opposite side of the swamp. Then after about two hours Ryan and I decided to head over in that area. "The walked sucked," Said Kassen. When we first sat down after we set out the decoys the birds want to land every where around us but didn't seem to want to come to us, so I decided to head over about two hundred yards away from ryan to see if I do any better over there. After about an hour and a half Ryan had shot more than I had so I headed back to him I sat down and a flock flew right in the decoys. At the end of the day we ended up with two mallards and three teal, and we only were out hunting for about four and a half hours we arrived just in time for brats at the cabin. After we ate I took the five ducks and cleaned them while Ryan cleaned the guns. Then we all went inside and watched tv for an hour and webt to bed.


The next couple of days we woke up late ate breakfast like normal and we were out hunting by ten to eleven thirty. The second day of the trip was our best day we got out there it was about fifty degrees and was misty and rainy we sat down in our normal spots and the ducks were flying everywhere the fist flock came in and we shot two. But after the next couple flocks came in we were getting spotted and so Ryan and I built ourselves a blind by the water underneath a log. Therest of the days was good not to many more spotted us and we ended up walking out of the swamp with six nice mallards. The rest of the days did not do so well becasue of the weather we only ended up with two more ducks . so we left early becasue of the weather and we home in time so I could go deer hunting the next day.

THE HUNT

THE HUNT

It was a cool windy October noon, when I talked to a buddy of mine Lucas Pagel. He asked me if I was heading out deer hunting I said, "No it's to windy." I hunt a lot of small woods and on top of hills and stuff. I don't have a good stand for getting out of the wind like in a valley on really windy days. He said, he had a tree stand I could hunt in that should be out of the wind a little more. I said, "I guess I could do that." So I met him at his place at about 3:00 p.m. He then brought me to my stand. he dropped me of and pointed out the tree from the top of the hill that I would be hunting.


I walked my way down to the stand. Got in it and looked everything over. Drew my bow back to check shooting lanes and arm room. I sat and waited. The area looked perfect. This same stand is the stand that Lucas shot his nubbin buck several weeks ago, and his doe last year. He has never seen a buck other than nubbin bucks there in several years of hunting that. There was a woods to my front right and to my back right. Straight to my right was a about 30 yard long by about 10 yard wide field drive way. On the top of that was a corn field. This is all on a hill side coming down to the bottom of the valley. Straight in front of me in the valley is a hay field. and to my left there is another corn field. Behind me is a wooded fence row where I'm set up in a tree and behind that there is a fresh, lush hayfield.


I was in my stand for about a half hour when I heard something coming out of the woods in front of me about 60 yards ahead. Out came a turkey, then two, then three, then four, then that was it. The four of them scratched around for a little while then one by one entered the woods where they had came from.



I waited for about another hour when I noticed a deer at the edge of the woods at about at least 200 yards away. There came 3 more. I watched the 4 of them for a while through my binoculars. I observed that there were two does and two fawns in the bunch by the looks of things. There was one curious fawn that didn't eat with the rest of them. Instead he kept looking and sticking his head into the woods. All of a sudden the fawn spooked and the other three deer followed. They were running at an angle towards me so I stood up and grabbed my bow off the bow hook. I got my release on my string. The deer stopped at about 60 yards and then started toward me again. I drew back my bow and tried getting them to stop. It didn't work and they ran by me at about 25 yards. I put my bow back on the hook and sat down. I looked back out where the deer had been and found those four turkeys in there place. They scared my deer away.


Time passed and I didn't see anything. It was getting to be about 15 minutes before shooting hours ended. I was bored and looking for an owl that sounded really close because it was so annoying it was driving me nuts.


Crack!!! To my right I heard something very interesting. It sounded like a deer breaking a stick. I slowly turned my head towards the noise and there stood a doe at probably 15 yards on that Field drive way. I wasn't in a shooting position and my bow was on the hanger. The deer new something wasn't right. He kept looking at me and I couldn't move. She started to walk towards the woods on the opposite side of the drive way she came from. She was about into the woods and I slowly stood up. She got about half of her body into the woods when I got my bow off of the hook and got my release on. She turned around and started heading toward me. I couldn't do anything because every other step she would look at me. And if she wasn't looking at me there wouldn't be a shot because of to big branches to my Right. She was following them branches so I couldn't get a shot. She continued to look my way. She began walking again andI seen that she was going to walk into a big opening. She wasn't looking my way and was still walking toward the opening when I drew my bow back and put my pin in the opening where I expected her to come out. She stopped when I pulled the bow back. She new something wasn't wright. Then she continued and she came right out where I expected her to. I squeezed the trigger. The arrow went right into her lungs. I thought the shot might of been to high, but it was good enough. she ran into the woods and I could here branches breaking. There was a loud snapping sound like a deer had fallen down or we hunters call crashed. I sat down and took it all in. I then climbed down my tree stand and walked to where Lucas had dropped me off. When I got to the spot I seen Pagel's van pulling in the driveway of the persons land we were hunting. We exchanged stories and went back to his house to get flashlights and let the deer rest. Pagel got his dad and brother to help us find the deer. We found blood pretty quick and followed it in through the woods. The blood trail wasn't real good so I was starting to get worried. Then there were two trails and we couldn't find blood. Pagel's dad found the deer by shining the light in the opposite direction the rest of us were headed. I then examined my kill and learned how to gut a deer. We tagged it and drug it back to the truck. We then stopped at Pagel's to drop him off. I then went home and hung the deer up in a tree. The next day we weighed the thing at about 110 to 115 lbs.


All that work of hanging stands and scouting. All that money spent. It all worth it. That feeling is the greatest feeling on earth and maybe some of you will get that feeling sometime or have and know what it feels like.


That's "THE HUNT"

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

GHS Computers, Bought in the Stone Age?

On the first day of school our new principal was telling us in his annual speech how Goodhue has the best technology of any district in southeast Minnesota. We have a Smart Board in almost every room for example. He also explained how Goodhue has the best computer to student ratio. But then again 100 computers that don’t work are not as good as 60 that do work. So it got me wondering why they don’t work some of the time. So after about five years of looking for Mr. Sand I found him, sat down and asked him some questions.
“The citrix network is 5 to 6 years old,” said Sand. “Look at the change in cell phones in the last five years.”
Mr. Sand also went on to explain, for the size of the network that we have here a normal business would have about 12 IT guys working to keep the network up. Sand only has four hours out of the day that he can devote to computers. One things that has gotten better is getting the teachers off of Citrix, so instead of eating up about 30 lines a day we can use them for students. The other four hours are basically on our own for your entire computer needs. This means that when you go the computer lab by Lagosh’s and half of the computers don’t work you are probably on your own, or you can try to find the new guy, Mr. Anderson. He is more geared towards the software part of the computers but he wears glasses so he has to be smart. Citrix will be leaving in the next couple years and our computer system should get a lot better, however this isn't much comfort for those of us who will be gone by then. “I hate these computers everyday they get worse,” shouted Quin K. For all of you underclassmen remember how bad things used to be with Citrix, when you get laptops in every room in a few years.


DJ Buck

9th Grade Retreat

The ninth grade year is an important year for the students. The credits in high school count towards you graduating and more ninth grade students fail more classes then any other high school grades. This field trip was ways of helping the ninth graders do a lot better “academically and personally... The staff spent a lot of time discussing how to best receive the ninth graders and they think this is the best way,” according to the article sent by Michael Harvey.

The school decided to have an event for all the 9th graders to go on a retreat on Thursday, October 11th. This trip was split into two sessions. One session was with Rob Kesselring and the other session was with the school counselor and 2 of the 9th grade class advisors.

This trip was a great one, learning a lot of new things and challenging the students to become more motivated for things that go on in life. Rob Kesselring has lead several retreats at Goodhue for both students and staff and is a noted speaker and workshop leader. “Rob was really good” said, Chanel. He wants to teach them about leadership and decision making. His sessions will be held at the lions building. The second session was held at three crosses retreat center. They were focusing on friendship, bullying and decisions making. “It was a great experience,” said Ashton.

Showroom Beauties & Junkyard Beasts








In our latest studies in our journalism class we came up with the fabulous idea to figure out who has the best vehicle in the parking lot. For all of those people who don't know who has the showroom beauties or the junkyard beasts.

For the showroom beauties we have two vehicles. The first car that comes to mind is an electrifying red '02 Pontiac Firebird V8 T-top owned by the one and only Bryce Dankers. It's packing 315 ponies with a punch that does 0-60 in 4 seconds. When asked about this car all Bryce says is "It's so cool I cant wait to pick up chicks in it." This monster of a car is going to be a rare sporty car. After the year '02 Pontiac stopped making these models which makes this car a diamond in the rough.

The second beauty in the lot would have to be Justin Dickie's midnight black '79 Ford F100. You know when this truck is coming it has a 428 "FE" Big Block with a 7 inch lift in it. This bad boy will do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds,"It's got a lot of power so you can work and play with it whenever you want to," Justin commented. This monster pretty much does exactly what your right foot tells it to do. For being a '79 Ford F100 in mint condition this truck gets our vote to be the second best vehicle in the lot.

Now for the junkyard beasts we had a pretty good competition for being the worst vehicle. It was a tough decision to make but we had to go with Arron Waugh's dirty cream '96 Chrysler Concord. When you look at this so called car you just have to wonder how it even runs. Its got part of the grill missing which looks like it just got into a bar fight, its missing a front left hub cap, dents located on the hood and the trunk. But that's just getting started, it has no A/C, the gas gauge works sometimes on a good day, and the transmission slips between first and second gear and kicks out of gear every once in a while. To work under the hood it takes two people and a pair of pliers to open the hood. "I really don't have to worry about speeding because once I hit 55 mph its shaking like a freightliner," Waugh added.

The second junkyard beast belongs to a beast himself Tyler Stehr. Tyler owns a half white half red '82 Scottsdale Chevrolet with rust located just about every where. This beast has a 4-speed on the floor with many problems. The radio system is very nice for anyone 85 years or older for picking up all the AM stations. The Scottsdale had many engine problems for a while, to start his rust bucket, he had to have two people start it. The glow plugs didn't work so Ty had to manually engage his glow plugs and spray some ether in the engine while someone else turned the key. When asked how fast this truck goes he replied, "I would probably have to say 70...no maybe 85 but I'm scared to go that fast in it." Tyler wanted to purchase this vehicle from his father but his dad wouldn't let him because it wasn't a reliable vehicle. That right there gets our vote for the second worst junkyard beast!
Quin Kehren
Luke O'Reilly

The GIMP




Do you love photoshop but cannnot afford it? Well I have the solution for you, the GIMP. The GIMP is one-hundred percent free, no worries about ahving to pay for it months after. Since it has the same features, (not as good yet still worth it) it hardly seems fair that Photoshop costs $300-400 for your own personal use, and not to even mention the huge price of up to a $1,000 for a company using the brand. Now don't get me wrong, Photoshop is great! I love it! For some people though, it's just way too expensive. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, which pretty much just means photo editing. The GIMP's quality is nearly as some of the professional programs out there. It even has it's own owner's manual for your assistance.




The GIMP has it's problems though. For instance poeple have reported bugs, but they have been improving the site so those problmes don't occur again. If you ever get a 'bug' you are supposed to report it to their 'Bug' site. Other than that, I think the GIMP is a great way to do photo editing, especially for the very tiny price of just having to download it to your computer. You need only 128 MB of RAM left to have room for the program, but make sure you leave room to store your art. Also remember, if you have either a Mac or Windows they have programs for each so no worries. On Windows Vista though, it takes about 30 seconds to read fonts, so just sit back and hang tight while you wait for the fonts to load.You can even live in a different country with a different language yet still get the program. GIMP has programs in 20 different countries, so there is a program for everyone.




Since you are not paying for this program, they ask nicely for you to donate. I recommend donating so the program can stay around for a long time, plus it's the 'good thing' to do. GNOME has sponsered GIMP since it started, and has a wire transfer all set up for us. You can also donate with PayPal.




Now that i told you about how GIMP works, go ahead and download it at http://www.gimp.com/ and let our artwork begin. In the upper left hand corner is an example of how GIMP works. All my information I found at www.gimp.com.
-Amy Mann









Tuesday, October 16, 2007

BCS...More Like B.S.


With the college football season about halfway through, the talk is turning to the BCS national championship. Usually all of the sports analysists are talking about a few top level teams such as USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, or Oklahoma as being in the race for the national championship. This year however, because of several upsets, the teams that will be vying for the title are still up in the air and the validity of the BCS system is in question.
Over the first half of the season, there have been a ton of upsets that have shaken the world of college football. Many of the perennial powerhouses have lost close games. There are only three division one programs left in the country without a loss: Ohio State, Southern Florida, and Boston College. Some of the big names schools that lost are LSU, Oklahoma, USC, Cal, Florida, and Auburn. No one knows who will be in the running for the championship at the end of the season.
College football currently uses the Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, rankings to select teams to play for the national championship. The rankings use a combination of a computer ranking, a coaches rating, and the AP poll to select the teams who will play in the championship. In most years, this ranking is usually a fairly accurate method of finding the two best teams in the nation to play each other, but not this year!
Since the championship teams are determined by a computer ranking, many people feel they do no accurately reflect the best teams. Opponents to the BCS rankings say that rankings mean nothing and the only way to determine who is better is to play the game. Teams that play weak competition may get a high ranking and gain an invitation to a bowl game. One loss to a quality program can wreck a team’s chances of going all the way.
Many college football fans, including Sean Thomforde and Kelby Buck, are not happy with the BCS ranking system.
“It really is a load of BCS,” said Sean Thomforde. To which Kelby Buck replied,
“Yeah, I feel sorry for LSU! They really got screwed this year.”
The colleges have a long break before their championship game and it would not be difficult to squeeze in a tournament. Because of all the controversy surrounding the rankings, the BCS system should be done away with and a tournament should take its place.

2007 National FFA Convention

There are six of the Goodhue FFA students will be attending the National FFA Convention with a lot of other FFA Chapters from across the country. The National FFA Convention is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is taking place on October 24th through October 27th.





The First night that they get down there, they will get to enjoy a concert by MONTGOMERY GENTRY!!! Then during the four days that their thre they will get to go hear a motivational speaker, learn about careers in agriculture. They will be going on a tour on an elk farm. They will also get to watch some "Xtream Bulls" and go to a battle gound. And they will get to go see a hypnotist. I asked David Safe what he thought about the hypnotist last year and he said "he said he really liked it and that it is really relaxing."

Firearms Deer Opener


The firearms deer opener is coming soon so you better get your shotguns ready and in tact, the first season for deer starts on November 3. The second season for deer starts on November 17 through the 25th. Also you should go out and make sure that you have bought your deer license.


If you are 17 or younger you are going to need to go out and buy your youth firearms license. If you are 18 or older you will need a regular licence. The only difference in these two licenses is that the youth is cheaper than the regular license. Other than the two license you can also buy bonus license. This year they have lowered the bonus licence that you can buy from 4 to 1. The reason for this is that our area has been changed into a management area.


After you buy your license you are also in need of other stuff like blaze orange clothing. You will need to have at least your upper body in blaze orange from cap, jacket, gloves and if you have enough money you could get overalls for your bottom half.


Last but not least you are going to need a shogun to shoot the deer . I talked to Jordan Zemke and he has just got done sighting his shotgun in and he said " I can hardly hit a 50 gallon drum with my bird barrel on it." Don't be like Jordan and buy a slug barrel for your gun. I told you how you can go deer hunting, so go shoot one.


Are you ready to rock!?



Rock Band might just be the biggest game of 2007! Rock Band is based off of the popular video game series, Guitar Hero. Harmonix, the company that developed Guitar Hero, has spent the past year developing songs into playable pieces for it's new game. Soon players will be found in basements around the world jamming out on electronic drum pads, mashing buttons on guitar shaped controllers, and screaming their lungs out into microphones. Players using next-gen counsoles will be able to interact through both offline and online multiplayer capabillities. In addition to the songs already available on the disk, hundreds of additional songs may potentially be available as downloadable content. Rock Band was first announced on April 2, 2007. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos said in the announcement that Rock Band "takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold. It let's you create a complete collaborative band."

On screen, there will be three vericially scrolling sections along the bottom of the screen, one fore each lead guitar, drums, and bass. Vocals will be desplayed, scrolling horizontally. The lyrics will display beneath green bars, which represent the pitch of the individual vocal elements. The remainder of the screen is used to display the band's characters as they perform. Within the main co-op mode, all players earn points towards a common score. If a player doesn't play well enough, they will fail out of the song and their instrument will be muted from the audio. World Band Tour is the game's primary multiplayer mode. It will allow any combination of online or offline players up to four to create a band, play gigs, and tour a virtual representation of the world, bands will be able to play in 41 different venues spanning 17 cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, and New York. Players will choose a starting city and play a few concerts in small venues until they unlock a van, which will in turn unlock neighboring cities. As of October 15, 2007, 37 songs have been announced.

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" – Jet
"Black Hole Sun" - Soundgarden
"Blitzkrieg Bop" – Ramones
"Brainpower" – Freezepop
"Celebrity Skin" – Hole
"Cherub Rock" – Smashing Pumpkins
"Creep" – Radiohead
"Dani California" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Detroit Rock City" - Kiss
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" – Blue Öyster Cult
"Enter Sandman" – Metallica
"Epic" – Faith No More
"Flirtin' with Disaster" – Molly Hatchet
"Gimme Shelter" – Rolling Stones
"Go with the Flow" – Queens of the Stone Age
"The Hand That Feeds" – Nine Inch Nails
"Here It Goes Again" – OK Go
"Highway Star" – Deep Purple
"I Think I'm Paranoid" – Garbage
"In Bloom" – Nirvana
"Learn to Fly" – Foo Fighters
"Main Offender" – The Hives
"Maps" – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
"Orange Crush" – R.E.M.
"Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
"Reptilia" – The Strokes
"Sabotage" – Beastie Boy
"Say It Ain't So" – Weezer
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" – The Clash
"Suffragette City" – David Bowie
"Tom Sawyer" – Rush
"Vasoline" – Stone Temple Pilots
"Wanted Dead or Alive" – Bon Jovi
"Wave of Mutilation" – Pixies
"Welcome Home" – Coheed and Cambria
"Won't Get Fooled Again" – The Who

Additionally, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game will support downloadable tracks, including complete albums. Users can download the albums in their entirety or on a track-by-track basis. Thus far, the following downloadable content has been announced:

Who's Next – The Who
Nevermind – Nirvana
"One" – Metallica
18 songs by The Grateful Dead (including "Casey Jones", "Sugar Magnolia", "Touch of Grey", "Truckin'", and "Uncle John's Band")


Features XBox360 PlayStation3 PlayStation2

Price $169.99 $169.99 $159.99

Release Nov. 23, '07 Nov. 23, '07 Dec. 10, '07
Date

Game Yes Yes Yes

Software

Controller Wired Wireless Wireless


"I can't wait for this game to come out," says Peter Gruetzmacher. This game truly should live up to it's expectations!


For information on this topic, I referenced Wikipedia.com and Rolling Stone magazine.

Guitar Hero III

By: Peter Gruetzmacher


On October 28th of this year Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will be released in stores. Earlier this year, sometime in May, Activision bought out RedOctane, the original publisher of Guitar Hero I and II. There may be a few changes because of the new ownership, but these will only be in the way the game is produced and sold; it won't affect the actual game in any way.


Guitar Hero III will still have the ability to play guitar or bass in cooperative mode, which will now be able to be played as career mode too. According to the Rolling Stone, Guitar Hero III will contain most, or all, of the previous characters in number 2 plus a few newly introduced characters as well.
Activision is planning to release this game for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Mac, and PC. The Xbox 360, and mosty likely Mac and PC, versions will allow you to download new multi-player tracks off of the online store, which brought in more than 2 million dollars from the online store for Guitar Hero II.



The game will feature a new multi-player game mode called Battle Mode. Battle mode will include many different distractions, known as attacks.
The attacks are:

Broken string: One fret button on the opponent's guitar will not work until it is fixed (by rapidly tapping the button).
Difficulty up: The opponent will play the song on an increased difficulty for a short duration of time (except for expert difficulty).
Amp overload: The fret board will shake and appear blurry, making the scrolling notes difficult to read.
Whammy bar: The opponent will have to use the whammy bar before he/she can play notes again.
Steal power: This will steal your opponent's power-up (this will be lost if used when the opponent has no power-up).
Double notes: The opponent will have to play any single note as a two-button chord, and any two-button chord as a three-button chord for a short amount of time.
Lefty flip: The fret board will be mirrored, requiring the player to switch their handedness on the guitar.
Death Drain: This power-up is only available in Sudden Death mode. Once activated, your opponent's Rock Meter will rapidly drain on its own.



According to the Rolling Stone and Wikipedia there are currently 61 songs confirmed to be in Guitar Hero III.

Below is a list of the confirmed songs. (The two marked with an '*' are songs that are recorded by their original artist)

"3's & 7's" – Queens of the Stone Age
"Anarchy in the U.K." – Sex Pistols *
"Avalancha" РH̩roes del Silencio
"Barracuda" – Heart
"Before I Forget" – Slipknot
"Black Magic Woman" – Santana
"Black Sunshine" – White Zombie
"Bulls on Parade" – Rage Against the Machine
"Cherub Rock" – The Smashing Pumpkins
"Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" – Blue Öyster Cult
"Cliffs of Dover" – Eric Johnson
"Closer" – Lacuna Coil
"Cult of Personality" – Living Colour *
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" – Charlie Daniels Band
"Even Flow" – Pearl Jam
"Generation Rock" – Revolverheld
"Go That Far" - Bret Michaels Band
"Helicopter" – Bloc Party
"Hier Kommt Alex" – Die Toten Hosen
"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" – Pat Benatar
"Holiday in Cambodia" – Dead Kennedys
"I'm in the Band" – The Hellacopters
"In the Belly of a Shark" – Gallows
"Knights of Cydonia" – Muse
"Kool Thing" – Sonic Youth
"La Grange" – ZZ Top
"Lay Down" – Priestess
"Mauvais Gar̤on" РNaast
"The Metal" – Tenacious D
"Minus Celsius" – Backyard Babies
"Miss Murder" – AFI
"Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
"Monsters" – Matchbook Romance
"My Name Is Jonas" – Weezer
"The Number of the Beast" – Iron Maiden
"One" – Metallica
"Paint It, Black" – The Rolling Stones
"Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
"Prayer of the Refugee" – Rise Against
"Pride and Joy" – Stevie Ray Vaughan
"Radio Song" – Superbus
"Raining Blood" – Slayer
"Reptilia" – The Strokes
"Rock and Roll All Nite" – Kiss
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" – Scorpions
"Ruby" – Kaiser Chiefs
"Sabotage" – Beastie Boys
"Same Old Song and Dance" – Aerosmith
"School's Out" – Alice Cooper
"The Seeker" – The Who
"She Bangs the Drums" – The Stone Rose
"Slow Ride" – Foghat
"Story of My Life" – Social Distortion
"Stricken" – Disturbed
"Suck My Kiss" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Sunshine of Your Love" – Cream
"Take This Life" – In Flames
"Talk Dirty to Me" – Poison
"Through the Fire and Flames" – DragonForce
"Welcome to the Jungle" – Guns N' Roses
"When You Were Young" – The Killers

Getting Ready for the RUT



Hey it's getting to be that time of year again. Yeah, I'm talking about the rut. The time of the year that every hunter waits for. When that big mature buck you seen on your trail camera lets up on his senses, comes out when and where he never would of before, that's when you need to be in the woods.

You need to get all your appliances ready. It's coming faster than you think. It's only several weeks away.

You have to get your gun out if you are shotgun hunting, and sight that thing in . When shotgun hunting during the rut bucks will most likely come walking in by calling or just doing everyday things, but then there are the times when they are chasing does and never stop for a descent shot. To practice on a moving target, I have heard of rolling a fifty gallon drum down a hill to practice for that running deer. Don't ask me if it works, but it might just be worth a try. If you are bow hunting you shouldn't have to worry about getting your bow sighted in, it should already be sighted in from previous hunts.

Next is the clothing. Scent is still important even though the bucks have let down there senses doesn't make them retarded. The does are still pretty normal and will smell you like normal. So you should gather up your pants, jackets, hats, gloves, and whatever else you might wear. Go to Wal*mart and buy some scent blocker and wash your clothes with scent block. If you live on a farm and hunt in farm land I have heard putting your cloths in a barn or pole shed helps mask odor.

You can't overlook all the little details. Like at my place I have a decoy sitting in the shed. My dad has his smoker in the shed and always cooks in there. Well when the hole shed pretty much gets smoked out so does that decoy. So that decoy has to get washed and sprayed down with scent block. It might just save your chance at a buck if you know it or not.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Statewide Smoking Ban


On October 1st, 2007, the Minnesota smoking ban went into effect. This new law bans smoking in all restaurants, bars, and clubs in the entire state. However, the law still allows smoking in hotel rooms designated for smoking, outdoor restaurant patios, and tobacco product shops. The law also doesn’t affect anything on Indian Reservations, so any casino on a Reservation isn’t smoke free.
Minnesota is the 17th state in the U.S. to have a statewide smoking ban. There have been many years of debating this law, and it has finally passed. Many counties in Minnesota already had a smoking ban in effect. Some of the counties don’t even allow smoking within 25 feet of a door to a building, and so therefore, they have designated smoking areas. Although the statewide ban doesn’t have this as a part of the law, counties can make their own decisions on that part.
Kelsey Majerus’s mom, Cindy, is a bartender at WD’s bar in Mazeppa, MN. Cindy has said it is going good, but is kind of hard to get used to. She said that if someone lights a cigarette, she doesn’t even realize that the person needs to go outside until someone says something about it. Cindy said it will take a while to get used to, but not that many people have lit up in the bar since the ban.
I also talked to Katie Lichtblau, who’s sister, Danielle, works in a restaurant in Lake City, MN. Katie said that Danielle has talked about how out of state people don’t know about the ban, and come in to the restaurant and light up. The staff at the restaurant just needs to tell the person to go outside. Danielle also says that people who have had too much to drink also forget and need to be told to go outside. But other than forgetful people, the ban is going good so far.
My personal opinion about the ban is that it is a good law. Just because someone else chooses to smoke, doesn’t mean the people around them should receive the bad affects of the secondhand smoke. I think that this should’ve been in affect a long time ago.



By: Laura Lodermeier



Corn Drive 2007


I bet many of you are wondering why we have a corn drive here in Goodhue. The reason we drive around to local farms for a whole day and collect corn and money is to raise money for Camp Courage. Usually we do a pretty good job of this, raising 4,000 dollars last year alone, thanks to our local farmers. This was a school record. Mr. T was pretty proud of his corn drivers.
This year the corn drive was planned for October 10th. Last year it was much later, at the beginning of November. The reason it is much earlier this year is because harvest is ahead of schedule and we want to get it out of the way before the National FFA Convention. To go on the corn drive (and the convention trip) you have to be an FFA member. It’s only $15 dollars so I advise you to join. Now I’m going to explain what it is like a day on the corn drive.
At the first FFA meeting of the year, we plan a day for the corn drive and pick our groups and who is going to be driving. Usually the youngest person in the group drives, or the one who is willing to drive. Before we know it, the day of the corn drive rolls around. Everybody pulls into the parking lot with their pickups and gravity boxes ready to go. First hour bell rings and everybody meets in T’s room. He gives us a big speech on safety and having fun. "This is the one day out of the year that makes me nervous." explains Mr. T. in his speech. Next, we have to pick a location where we want to go so no one goes to the same place as you do. After all is said and done, we’re off. From now on what you do is a mystery.
In the morning is usually when the most corn gets collected. People usually go around to local farmers that they know and ask for a load of corn or a check, making random stops on the way. You can also go to local AG businesses and ask for donations. Kohlenhofers is a good place to go for some corn. After you have collected a load of corn, you take it to Goodhue to the elevator. First you stop by the window and get weighed. Next we unload it. Usually this requires some shoveling. After all the corn is emptied, you have to go back to Ag Partners and weigh your vehicle once again empty, and pick up your pink slip and if you’re lucky, you get a sucker. Before you know it, it’s time to eat. You can pretty much go anywhere to eat, but the traditional location is Dressens in Hay Creek.
The afternoon typically isn’t as productive. A lot of driving around and finding no corn happens. Everybody is pretty tired from shoveling all the corn. Before we know it, its time to head back to school for the end of the day attendance. Everybody usually has at least one good story at the end of the day. Over the next few weeks, Mr. T adds up the corn and donations and by the next FFA meeting we find out how much we collected. Everybody can’t wait until the next years corn drive. It’s one of the best things we do here at Goodhue High School. We’ll see if we can break another record this year.

Goodhue Vs. Hayfield Football Varsity


The Goodhue Wildcats played there 7th game of the season the night of October 12th, they won the game 48-14.
Goodhue received the ball on the first play of them game and went on to drive down the field and score on a Kelby Buck pass to Brett Watson. Goodhue's first team defense was strong all game and gave up zero points. The next possession the wildcats scored on a pass from Buck to Sean Thomforde, Thomforde made some moves and found the end zone. The final score in the first quarter was a Buck pass to, who else, Watson. In the second quarter Watson had two interceptions, one he returned for a touchdown, the other one also ended up scoring by an Eric Ryan run. At the end of the first half the wildcats were winning 41-0. the wildcat scoring came to an end in the third quarter when Chad Meyer ran in for the touchdown to give Goodhue their final score 48. The second string got a lot of playing time in the second half but gave up two scores to hayfield, to make the final score 48-14.


Buck finished 6-6 passing with130 yards and 4 touchdowns his favorite target was Watson he had 108 yards and three touchdowns he also passed once to Thomforde for a 22 yard score. Eric Ryan and Micah Huneke combined for 81 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown, Chad Meyer finished with 28 yards on three carries and had one touchdown.


Godhue is 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the HVL Gold, Goodhue can clinch home field advantage through sections with a win on wednsday. Goodhue can also tie for the HVL Gold division if they get a win and Triton a loss. They would tie with Winona Cotter and Triton that would be great seeming it's their first year in the divison.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Goodhue Football Has a Strong First Year in the HVL

Everyone thought that the move from the TRC to the HVL would be too much for Goodhue to handle. Teams didn’t respect us at all and we were fine with that, with teams like Zumbrota saying “Welcome to the HVL Goodhue,” (after our loss to Triton) and Kenyon coaches saying “When is Goodhue going to learn that you can’t run power football in the HVL.” This year we finally got to play some teams from the area. Football Programs like: Lake City, Kenyon, Zumbrota, Rochester Lourdes, Hayfield, and power house Triton. I’m glad we made the switch in conferences because this year has been a great time so far and we haven’t started playoffs yet. So far our overall record is 6-1 (4-1 in the Gold Division). The last game of the regular season is home against Zumbrota-Mazeppa. In the rest of this article I will briefly break down the games that we have played this season.
The first game of the year started down in Rochester, at John Marshall Stadium. We were playing Rochester Lourdes who was Class 3A. It was back and forth for the whole game. Brett had a great game, recording two long touchdown catches and another one rushing. The game was a battle back and forth but after it all we pulled out a sweet win with a game score of 28-26.
Game two was with power house Triton. Coming into this game we thought we would give them a good game. We held them to seven points in the first half and went into halftime down just0-7, but when the second half rolled around they started scoring a lot. Our defense got tired and our offense just wasn’t clicking. We ended up losing big to Triton 0-34. Hence the "Welcome to the HVL Goodhue!" from Zumbrota. Well Zumbrota... good job this year.

Week 3 of the season we were in Kenyon against the Knights. The final score of the contest was 28-0 with Goodhue coming out on top. Coming into the game we figured that we had to put of a lot of rushing yards and we did just that, posting 306 yards on the ground with 62 attempts. We earned an average of 4.9 yards a carry. Eric Ryan lead the rushing attack with 39 carries for 211 yards. Now I think that’s some POWER football for you in the HVL, but that’s just my opinion.

Next Friday was homecoming, where we took on the panthers of Pine Island. We jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. Goodhue took advantage of four Pine Island turnovers to earn a 52-14 victory. Micah Huneke had TD runs of 11, 15, and 3 yards. Huneke also returned an interception early in the 1st quarter of 11 yards. Mr. Huneke ended the contest with 4 TD’s on the evening. Ryan also had another strong performance running 21 times for 126 yards.

The following week we were down in Winona at the University. Coming in we knew it was going to be a great battle. After all the offense displayed, Goodhue came out with a convincing 44-21 win over the ramblers of Winona-Cotter. Kelby Buck had a big game throwing for 124 yards and two TD’s. Eric Ryan and Brett Watson both finished with two TD’s. Our defense really stepped up against a great offensive team. We recorded four interceptions against one of the best quarterbacks in the state, Thomas O’Brien. Goodhue finished the game with a total of 398 yards and Cotter with 424 yards, but turnovers were the difference in this game. The ramblers gave up the ball six times.
Lake City was in town for week 6 and we won big. Winning in 43-17 rout over the tigers. We scored on our first possession, capping the drive with a five-yard run from Kelby Buck and kept rolling after that. Next possession, Eric Ryan took a run to the house in the first quarter, on a scamper of 59 yards. Buck hooked up with Brett Watson twice for TD’s of 40 yards. Watson finished the game with one of his best, recording six receptions for 172 yards. Buck also had one of his best games throwing, finishing the evening with 253 yards through the air. After this win we had an overall record of 5-1.
Week 7 our team was down in Hayfield, where we took on the vikings. Our offense and deffense both played great in a big win of final score of 48-14. The vikings were held to -2 yards of offense in the first half. Goodhue put up a total of 298 yards and most of them coming in the first half with ease. Brett Watson caught three TD passes from Kelby Buck and also picked one off on defense and took it to the house for 60 yards. Watson also led the defense with three interceptions.


By: Sean Thomforde

Thursday, October 11, 2007

"Knee"ding A Miracle




As you all should know the third week of the football season was also the last for Quinlan Kehren. Quin, during the second offensive drive of the game, ended up with a season ending injury. He tore both his ACL and his MCL. It would be a miracle if he would play again this fall.

The game was played in Kenyon when it all happened. Quin was on the line blocking for the one and only Eric Ryan when he was hit from the side and then it happened, Quin went down. No more ACL or MCL, we didn't know this at the time when Quin was just sitting on the bench but the trainer told him that it was probobly an MCL tear. When I asked Quin what he thought happened to it later that night he replied, "I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure that i tore my MCL."

Later that night Quin drove all the way down to LaCrosse to see if they could tell him anything that night. He found out that there was no broken bones but they could not tell him much more until he had an MRI done. Later after Quin got his MRI results back they told him that he tore his ACL and MCL. They gave Quin just two opions, come back in six weeks with a brace on and play with a very great chance of breaking a bone or else screwing up cartilage on his knee which they can't fix. Or wait and have surgery once he can bend his knee at 90 degress which will take about six weeks. As you can see Quin needs a miracle to play sports again this year.

Quin now has decieded that he is going to do surgery once he can bend his knee 90 degrees. As of now his surgery is scheduled for November 30th. Wish him luck.

NHS Flood Relief Fundraiser







As many of you know this past week there was a NHS Flood Relief Fundraiser. The Fundraiser took place monday october 8th -friday october 12th. There were pink buckets placed in almost every classroom, at the volleyball game on thursday and in area businesses.

All the money collected will be going to the flood victims of the southeast Minnesota flood. Many people lost there homes and belongings. When talking to some of the 6th graders many of them told me about people they knew that lost there homes in the flood. Sixth Grader Ben Ramboldt said "my aunt lost her house and my cousin has 2 inches of water in her basement." This money will help those families rebuild there homes and there lives

Through this fundraiser we earned 308.42. Thank you to everyone who donated. The money will be put to good use.

Thank You, Merrisa Ramboldt

What is Camp Courage?

Every year the Goodhue FFA has their Corn Drive for Camp Courage Centers. You may have had kids come to your house on Wednesday October 10. When they asked you for a donation for Camp Courage, you probably asked yourself, "What is Camp Courage???" The Camp Courage Centers are a non-profit organization for children and adults with mental and physical disability and illnesses that were just discovered.


I talked with the Goodhue FFA Advisor Lee Thompson. When I asked him how long that the Goodhue FFA has been donating to Camp Courage Centers Lee said "This is my 29th year teaching and the advisor of the chapter and we have been doing it every year."

During the Corn Drive the members ask residents and farmers for a cash or corn donation. When the kids get corn from the farmers they bring it in to the Goodhue AG Partners grain elevator. "Over the years AG Partners donation there share by dropping the drying costs of the corn."

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Computer chips for trucks

Well the way that fuel prices are going these days I am recommending if you have a truck that does not get very good fuel mileage stock from the dealer, that you look into buying a chip or programmer for your truck. One reason why is because if you buy a chip it will tune your computer in your truck so that it gets just the right amount of fuel and also have plenty of power when you need it. One other good thing about the chips is that you can set it at what level you want.

There is all different kinds of ones you can buy also. You can buy a chip just for fuel mileage and you can buy one for better mileage and more power at the same time, and you can also buy one just for pure power and you will not get any better fuel mileage. The chips can rage from like $80 to anywhere around $500, so there is a big price range. I would prefer that you spend a little more money and buy the better one so that you get better mileage and so it will pay off. I think that you would be able to order a chip for you truck from the dealer but there are also other places that you can buy them from like, xtremediesel.com, beansperformance.com and a lot of others. I prefer if you buy a chip you buy a TS chip. They are a good brand and you can get different kinds of chips and you can set your own level on them for good mileage and more power.

Borderline4x4 off-road club

Borderline 4x4 off-road club

The best thing about the Borderline 4x4 club, is that we can go wheeling on trails, play in the mud, clime over rocks that are the size of your trucks, and the best thing is that your truck will not come out of the woods without any dents on it because of all the trees.

People of all ages have their own trucks in this club but you need your driving permit to be out on the trails. We make our own trails or trails that were already made for the trucks like washout ditches, creeks' and trails just going through the woods. And you can bring a camper or tents to sleep in or you can use your truck to sleep in to.

In wet weather like we've been having lately, we can have lots of fun in the mud. We have rock climbs, mud runs, and a mud hole that we can play in with our trucks. There is a river down the road where we go in Frontenac that we can go swimming and wash our self's off when we get muddy. When we get stuck we can use tow straps or winches to pull out the truck that is stuck.

We meet every first Friday of the month. Anyone can join as long as they are 18 years of age or older. We meet at Veit’s Bar in Hager City, Wisconsin. We go 4-wheeling in Gilbert, Minnesota, New Albern, Wisconsin, Moab, Utah, Frontenac Farms, Minnesota.

Their are all kinds of trucks like Fords, Chevys, Jeeps, home-made buggies, Toyotas, Jeep Willys, and trucks made out of all other trucks. Some of the trucks are also modified. You can add bigger tires, bigger suspension lifts, or you can do body lifts. You can add roll cages around your trucks too. Lots of people put thousands of dollars into their trucks.


This is my dad's truck, he rolled it over at on of the places we go 4-Wheeling and that's in Frontenac. We converted our truck to propane. So it runs off it insted of gas. It does the same but it is cleaner. We can role it over an it will stay running. "THAT IS SWEET"


We put lots of money into our truck.






By: Troy Simmons

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Hunters Report

Some of our classmates have already harvested deer. Steven Finstad shot a fawn , and we asked Steven why he shot a little deer that only measured 36 inches from nose to tail he said "I thought it was bigger." Another person who got one is Lucas Pagel who shot a nubben buck. when we asked him about the shot placement he said, "It was quartering to me and I shot it the lung, liver and the guts. He said Gutting the deer smelt horrible. "I had to wash my hands a lot," Pagel said. Now pagel is persuing the big eleven pointer on his trail camera .Another person who got a deer is Brady Ferguson who shot a 100 pound doe on opening weekend of the season. Last but not least the biggest deer taken so far was me the edidtor Cody Miller. It was about 135 pound doe . I shot through both lungs, "now i am going for a big buck." There are three months of the season still left so there should be more deer taken. We will keep you up to date.


Another season that we can talk about is small game hunting. There hasn't been much small game hunting to report. I've seen a good number of hungarien partridge lately. A few friends and I shot four geese the other week. Lucas Pagel already cooked his in the oven and said it "didn't taste real bad but was really tough." I am going to try making mine into muscle jerky. That way the toughness shouldn't matter.