WESTPHALIA -- William “Bill” Francis Goetzinger, 67, Westphalia, died March 13 at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan.    Services will be held Wednesday, March 20 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Westphalia with burial in the St. Boniface Cemetery in Westphalia.  Family will greet friends Tuesday, March 19 from 4-6 p.m. at the church.  Visitation is from 3-7 p.m.

    LEWIS -- Jay Delbert Brehmer, 53, Lewis, died March 14 at his home.    Services were held Monday, March 18 at 1 p.m.

HARLAN -- Snow melt, heavy rains and frozen ground contributed to historical March flooding in Shelby County and Harlan.  Roads were closed, Westridge Acres Mobile Home Court and homes along Exchange St.

    COUNTY -- The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has accepted its audit report for the 2017-18 fiscal year, as presented by Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co., CPAs.    Audit company representative Chris Nelson said the county’s finances, including total assets and liabilities, are very similar to the prior year, and said the audit was clean.    “The county’s in a good financial position,” Nelson said.    He also said there were no issues id

    RURAL HARLAN -- Rodney and Rhonda Knudson of Harlan announce the engagement of their daughter, Tara to Colton Clack both of St. Louis, MO. Colton is the son of Brian and Diane Clack, Hillsboro, MO.    The couple will exchange marriage vows on May 11 at Altamont Baptist Church in rural Harlan.

    PORTSMOUTH -- Robert Grote, 96, formerly of Portsmouth, died Thursday, March 14 at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan.    Services are pending at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan.
See a PDF below of their obituary, if one was provided by the family or funeral home.

    WESTPHALIA -- William Goetzinger, 67, Westphalia, died Wednesday, March 13 at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan.    Services are pending at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan. 

    IRWIN -- Richard Dean Straw, 58, Irwin, died March 9 at his home.    A memorial service will be held at a later date in Nebraska City, NE.    Straw is survived by his father, Richard Straw, of Nebraska City; daughters Catherine (Jorge) Broca of Lincoln, AL, Jessica (Jason Wiley) Straw of Lincoln, and Kindra Straw of Lincoln; son Rickie (Stephanie Clark) Straw of Lincoln; sisters Susan Holm of Defiance, Vicki Straw of Detroit Lakes, MN, Den

To the citizens of Shelby County,    Approximately 22 months ago, the State Auditor’s Office was contacted by Shelby County’s legal counsel, Michael Galloway, requesting a special investigation to review various payroll issues and policies governing various Shelby County departments.  Although the process took some time to complete, we believe the review was thorough and it demonstrated that the process of engaging an independent review was th