REGIONAL -- School districts in the greater Shelby County area have begun classes for the year, and local officials are urging motorists to be on the lookout for children as they make their way to and from school.    The Harlan Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office are informing motorists to take safety precautions, as the motoring public has not encountered large numbers of students in the traffic mix during the summer mont

    REGIONAL -- All of west central Iowa is currently under a moderate to extreme drought. The drought conditions are causing major concerns for both crop and livestock producers.    To compound this situation the Derecho weather event has caused significant damage to crops and infrastructure across the area.

    REGIONAL – As the summer months wind down, state officials are reminding residents to continue their diligence warding off mosquito and tick-borne illnesses.    There have been reports of West Nile Virus this summer in the heartland, and local health experts are sounding the alarm about a disease with similar symptoms to COVID-19 – Lyme Disease.    Health experts are especially concerned about Lyme Disease this year because new data shows

    STATE -- According to the latest economic impact study by the Iowa Hospital Association, Myrtue Medical Center generates 614 jobs that add $30.9 million to Shelby County’s economy.    A multiplier methodology is used to determine the level of impact, which means that the health sector and employees in the health sector purchase a large amount of goods and services from local businesses, having a multiplying effect in the community.    It i

    HARLAN – The Mores family made one of the biggest changes to its 81-year legacy in the newspaper industry by selling the Harlan Newspapers.  On Tuesday, Sept.

    HARLAN – For more than 10 years Rik Zortman has been running throughout Iowa, the nation and even internationally. “The Human Etch-a-Sketch” this summer hit a milestone running at least one “sketched” name in all 99 counties in Iowa.    Zortman was back in Harlan Friday, Aug.

    HARLAN – The Harlan Community Schools has been provided personal protective equipment (PPE) from the state, and will have the items available across the district to keep students and staff safe when they headed back to the classrooms this week.    Brian Gubbels, HCS Director of Finance, said the school district received the items Monday, Aug.

HARLAN -- Harlan Community Elementary Principal Jeff Moser welcomes back to school Jose Torres and Barbara Torres.  Students haven’t been in the classroom since mid-March.  Extraordinary efforts have been made in the HCS District to keep students and staff safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  Here, all are wearing masks as they enter the building.

    HARLAN – The City of Harlan will save approximately $200,000 in interest costs by refinancing three of its current bond issues, and coupling them with a proposal to bond for fire department needs including a new fire truck and fire breathing apparatus.    Bids were let last week and came in lower than expected, with Banker’s Bank of Madison, WI providing the low bid true interest rate of 0.8104 percent on the combined $3.85 million bond is

    PANAMA -- Richard “Dick” Keane of Panama works in the electronics field but he also thinks being a “full-time” grandpa would be a fun job. He and his wife, Kathy’s, first grandchild, Gabe, just celebrated his first birthday in July.    “I know that I am in the technological world but there is nothing like the drool on my arm from a one-year-old baby boy cutting three teeth at the same time.

HARLAN -- Alex Ahrenholtz will gladly admit it.    If you had told his middle school and high school teachers at Irwin-Kirkman-Manilla that he would someday write a book, many of them probably would have laughed.    “But they would probably believe you once you told them it’s a children’s book and its only 15 pages!” noted Ahrenholtz, a 2004 I-K-M graduate and the owner of Harlan’s screen printing and embroidery shop, Zander Ink.
 

    MARNE -- Elleen Wheatley’s words of wisdom as she nears 103 years old are “appreciate and enjoy every day.” Wheatley of Marne will mark her 103rd birthday on Wednesday, Aug. 26.    She has the honor of being recognized as Iowa’s Oldest Living Woman Marine. A Leslie, IA native, Wheatley entered the Marine Corps in 1942 when she was 25 years old.

    HARLAN -- The Shelby County Catholic School welcomes two new staff members to the school for the 2020-21 school year, which began yesterday, Monday, Aug. 24.

    COUNTY – Shelby County and Harlan are applying for reimbursement monies from federal/state CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funding to help offset costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.    Shelby County is allotted approximately $125,000 in reimbursable funds, while Harlan can be reimbursed up to $113,271.45.

    STATE -- Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is distributing personal protective equipment (PPE) and more than $2 million in funds to Iowa counties, including Shelby County, to utilize for the November 3 general election.    The PPE includes face shields, masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and social distancing markers for use at the polls on Election Day.