EARLING -- Kathryn A. Martin, 87, Earling, formerly of Shelby, died Friday, Jan. 12 in Earling.    Services will be held Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. at Shelby United Methodist Church in Shelby with burial in the Shelby Cemetery.  Friends may call Tuesday from 1-2 p.m.

    HARLAN -- Russell Dale Adams, 91, Harlan, died January 12 at Elm Crest Retirement Community.    Services will be held Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 1:30 p.m. at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan with burial in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Kirkman.  Visitation will be Tuesday from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

    KIRKMAN -- Rex Gilbert Adams, 88, Kirkman, died January 4.    Services will be held Saturday, March 10 at 11 a.m. at the Kirkman United Methodist Church in Kirkman.    Adams is survived by sons Rex A. (Cindy) Adams and Jay B. (Roxanne) Adams; grandchildren Alison (Don Cook), Rex C.

    HANCOCK -- Juliet Jean Powers, 70, Hancock, died November 28, 2017.  A celebration of life will be held at a later date.    Powers is survived by children Jennifer Lorenzo of Independence, MO, and Philip Powers of Hancock; siblings Raymond (Sharon) Gosch of Charter Oak and Aaron (Brenda) Gosch of Maine; grandchildren Nic Lane of Griswold, Alex Bearden of Independence, Teddy Stevens of Ocean Shores, WA and Cassandra Hernandez of Carroll.  

REGIONAL -- Blizzard conditions greeted Shelby County residents Thursday morning, Jan.

COUNTY – The well-being of Shelby County children continues to be better than average, according to the National Kids Count Initiative sponsored by the Annie E.

HARLAN – Twenty thousand pounds of produce had to be distributed and donated to regional food outlets last week after the heat went out at a local business New Year’s weekend.    Farmtable Procurement and Delivery staff and volunteers spent parts of last week loading and delivering squash, onions and sweet potatoes to local food banks, food rescue and soup kitchens in Nebraska and Iowa, so the produce wouldn’t go to waste after the building in

    HARLAN -- Gary Hans Christiansen, 80, Harlan, died January 10 at CHI Health - Creighton.    Services are pending at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan.    Christiansen was a former mayor of Harlan, serving the city for 12 years from January 1, 2000-December 31, 2011.

DES MOINES - Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 2.9 percent for November. The last time the rate was this low was in December 2000. The state’s jobless rate was 3.5 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent in November.