The opening negotiation session between the Akron-Westfield Education Association and the Akron-Westfield School Board will be Monday, Jan. 14, 6:15 p.m., in the A-W ICN room. The association will present their initial proposal at this meeting and the A-W school board will present their proposal Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 6:15 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public. All subsequent meetings will be conducted in closed session. Council meeting

The next Akron City Council meeting is Monday, Jan. 7, 7 p.m., at City Hall.

Pancake Breakfast

The Akron Knights of Columbus are holding a Pancake Breakfast Jan. 6 at Parish Hall, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Akron Golf Course will be offering Brunch every Sunday beginning Jan. 6.

As of press time Monday, many questions remain unanswered about Union County Planning & Zoning Commission’s Jan. 16 public hearing regarding Hyperion Refining Inc.’s request for rezoning 3,882.24 acres of agricultural land to Planned Development for the construction of an oil refinery and power plant. It was announced Monday that a special Planning & Zoning meeting would be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10 in the Union County Courthouse Community Room. According to Union County Land Use Administrator- Planning Director Dennis Henze, this special meeting is where Hyperion officials will explain their rezoning application to Planning & Zoning officials. Hyperion officials may present any “adjustments” to their application and address some of the Save Union County organization’s concerns, said Henze. This meeting will give Planning & Zoning members an opportunity to ask questions of Hyperion officials. “There will be no public input,” said Henze, explaining the public may make comments at the public hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 16, which will be held at the Elk Point-Jefferson School in Elk Point. However, this special meeting is open to the public.

This artist’s rendition of what the proposed Union County Hyperion project would look like was on display during the three public forums Hyperion held before Christmas in Beresford, Elk Point, and at Dakota Valley school.

The Le Mars Gehlen Catholic Jays came to town Tuesday, Dec. 18. The Jays provided the opposition for the Akron-Westfield Westerner boys and proved to be very tough. Both teams like to run but A-W’s running game was a little quicker and a little better. A-W defeated Gehlen 59-53. The Westerners had a narrow 14-13 lead after the end of one as they worked well under the boards and rebounded very well. “Woody” Harris, taking over for the absent Todd Colt, did a fine job. Especially when he had six guys on the floor. A-W was called for a “T” four. The foul was really the refs fault as they are supposed to count the players after a timeout. The second quarter proved to be a real test for both teams as they really got after each other. It was kind of physical but yet a clean hard fought half. A-W broke it open in the third as they had a 41-27 lead. A-W got rattled a bit as Gehlen started to get themselves back into the game. Gehlen had a 17-4 run as they pulled within one, 45-44. A-W led 51-46 at the four minute mark but only led 51-50 with a 1:30 left to play. Mike Oetken hit two free throws followed by Justin Koch who had two throws to go up 55-50. Schlesser hit a three for the Jay but Oetken and Koch each hit two more free throws to ice it at 59-53. A-W shot 48 percent from the floor while Gehlen shot 47 percent. A-W also had a 11-3 margin from the free throw line plus hit eight for eight from the line down the stretch. It was just a good high school game before a big crowd and the fans got into the festivities. One of the best things of the night was between the two games. The A-W Athletic Booster Club had a drawing for $1,000. Well “Poor Ardie” Heeren won the money but the special guest to draw was Santa Claus. Haley Netley, two and one half years old saw Santa and took off across the floor to get to Santa. Haley’s running and mother, Jodi’s in hot pursuit. Maybe Jodi was going to see Santa also?! A-W: 14-32-45-59 GC: 13-23-40-53 Scoring A-W: Koch, 24; Oetken, 19 GC: Schlesser, 24; Rohe, 16

A-W girls cage Jays

The Le Mars Gehlen Catholic Jays visited Akron-Westfield on Tuesday, Dec. 18. It was a visit I’m sure the Jays didn’t enjoy. The A-W Westerner girls clipped their wings 50-39. It started out pretty well as A-W had the break going with a number of uncontested shots. The only trouble was that the shots weren’t going in plus a number of bad passes let the Jays hang around. Shelby Johnson and Laura Kleihauer both got into foul trouble and the Jays tied it at 21. Mackenzie Heyl kept A-W alive as she hit a three at the buzzer to give A-W a 24-21 edge at halftime. Gehlen Catholic took the lead in the third quarter 26-24. Missy Dewey came off the bench to give A-W a little spark by hitting a couple of shots to put A-W back in the lead. Gehlen stayed close before Heyl drained a three to give A-W a 37-33 margin. Heyl hit another three to give A-W a five point lead. Then Jordan Harris hit a three to make it 43-37. A-W went to the free throw line to sink the Jays 50-39. A-W rebounded well and a win is a win. Heyl led A-W with 17 and Johnson added 11. A-W shot 35 percent while Gehlen shot 34 percent for the game. A-W: 11-24-32-50 GC: 10-21-31-39 Scoring A-W: Heyl, 17; Johnson, 11 GC: Hatting, 9; Wiltgen, 9

SBL girls beat A-W

The final game of 2007 proved to be a little disheartening as Akron-Westfield traveled to Sgt. Bluff to take on the Sgt. Bluff- Luton Warriors on Friday, Dec. 21. The Westerners lost the battle to the Warriors 64-0. The Westerners played an excellent first quarter as they scored well to lead 17-14. Shelby Johnson got into foul trouble in the second quarter as the Warriors got back into the fray and grabbed a four point lead at halftime 28-24. SBL built their lead to 36-26 but A-W really fought back to close it to two 40-38 at the end of three. SBL took control in the fourth quarter as they scored 24 points in the quarter and pulled away from A-W. SBL had some excellent shooting, plus some bad passing led to A-W’s downfall. Karly Groon led A-W with 16 while Johnson had 13. A-W: 17-24-38-50 SBL: 14-28-40-64 Scoring A-W: Groon, 16; Johnson, 13 SBL: Gliser, 21; Martinson, 19; Simmons, 10

Mustang names scholar athletes

Friday, Dec. 21. SBL can put some real height on the floor as they start three kids from 6’4” to 6’9”. The only real difference was the great play of 6’5” Aaron Zyzda. The first half was really a hard fought intense half. Both teams were physical and really worked hard. A-W rebounded well against the taller Warriors and played good defense. SBL got some scoring from 6’9” Brad Andrews who didn’t really control anything except he got some easy rebounds and put backs because of his height. The third quarter was a good quarter of basketball. Justin Koch, who led A-W in with 18, gave A-W a lead of 39-38. Both teams went on a scoring drought before Koch hit two free throws and a lay up to tie it up at 44. Derek Appley hit a three pointer from the left side and Koch hit a three from the top of the key to give A-W a 50-46 lead to start the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter A-W still led 57-55 when Mike Oetken hit a free throw to lead 58-55. Stulich dropped in a three to tie it. Stulich then stole the ball and scored a lay up to give SBL the edge 61-58. Eric Eskra was later fouled and hit two free throws to close it to 61-60. Stulich made two free throws but Koch was fouled and had two tosses. He made the first, then intentionally banked the ball off and Oetken rebounded, but his shot failed. I hate to say anything about offi cials but this game had three and could have used a fourth. A-W: 15-32-50-61 SBL: 19-34-46-63 Scoring A-W: Koch, 18; Appley, 13 SBL: Andrews, 18; Zyzda, 13

Oetken has a great season