REGIONAL – A terrified voice cried out in the night.  “Who are you? What do you want?”    The sound of snapping twigs closed in on the five teenagers enjoying an evening around a glowing campfire at Gitchie Manitou State Park. The night of music and laughter had taken a dark turn.

    “We have been tracking threats that have been made against schools across the country by individuals dressed in clown attire.    “We take these threats seriously and any students attempting to dress as clowns or scare others using clown attire will face consequences.    “We have been in touch with local law enforcement and they are tracking this as well.”

    COUNTY -- The Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry is hosting a candidates forum Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Harlan Community High School auditorium.    Shelby County Auditor candidates incumbent Marsha Carter (D-Defiance) and Mark Maxwell (R-Harlan) will discuss the issues and answer questions from the public.    The two both will appear on the November 8 general election ballot.

    HARLAN – Parking changes may be forthcoming for some streets in Harlan to comply with the International Fire Code as it pertains to safe clearance distance for emergency vehicles that may be responding to a call in the community.    The Harlan City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct.

    HARLAN -- Following a presentation by Keri Sonderman, Director of Diagnostic Imaging at Myrtue Medical Center, the MMC Board of Trustees approved the replacement of the current CT (computed tomography) equipment with the Toshiba Aquilion Prime 80 Choice.

 HARLAN -- As regular season losses go, this one was a gut wrencher for the Harlan Community football team. Leading sixth-ranked (3-A) Carroll 19-0 at halftime, the Cyclones allowed 35 second-half points, turned the ball over three times in their last four possessions and had their playoff hopes dashed with Friday night’s 35-32 Homecoming loss to the Tigers. Carroll was often its own worst enemy during a first half that included three fumbles

 NEWTON -- The Harlan Community volleyball team took some steps in the right direction at Saturday’s Newton Tournament, stealing a set from top-ranked Pella and placing third out of eight teams with a 3-2 record. HCHS finished second to Pella in Pool B, lost another three-setter to Newton in the semifinals and finished with a 25-23, 25-15 sweep of Boone in the third-place final. The Cyclones, 9-12 overall, will now face one of their busiest we

 MANNING -- AHSTW kept its unbeaten season alive and IKM-Manning’s frustrations continued Friday night as the Vikings scored 27 unanswered points in a 27-16 road win over the Wolves. IKM-M led 8-0 after one quarter and 8-7 at halftime but didn’t score again until it trailed by three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

 ELK HORN -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton volleyball team improved to 4-1 in Rolling Valley Conference play here Thursday night, outlasting CAM in four sets, 25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22. The Spartans are now 8-10 overall. CAM dropped to 8-12 overall and 3-4 in the RVC. The Spartans were led at the net by Sophia Peppers’ nine kills and Maggie Rasmussen’s eight kills with a solid .368 efficiency.