WEST DES MOINES -- Harlan Community High School Senior Addie Kaster was recognized by Iowa Gov.

    COUNTY – Shelby County employees, those covered under a union agreement and those who are not, will see a 2.25 percent salary increase next year under a proposal approved by the county’s board of supervisors.    In addition, the employees have the possibility of receiving an additional one percent salary increase upon receiving a satisfactory performance evaluation at the six-month date of the fiscal year.

REGIONAL – A novelist with Shelby County ties has authored the book “Shelby’s Creek,” now available for purchase at various locations, and local residents may notice some familiarity to the farming landscape of rural western Iowa in the novel’s feature.    Mark Schechinger, writing under the pen name Mark Matthiassen, has penned the book following extensive travel and writing experiences throughout the world.    “Shelby’s Creek” chronicles the

    HARLAN – Harlan officials will engage the services of the Iowa State Auditor’s Office in a special review and audit of the city’s financials for a yet-to-be-determined period of time.    The city’s personnel and finance committee (Mike Kolbe, Dave Miller and Sharon Kroger) voted unanimously Wednesday, May 11 to have a representative from the state travel to Harlan for an initial meeting that will take place Wednesday, May 18.

 HARLAN -- Toshia Kasperbauer of Harlan Community Middle School has been named a finalist for the 2016 Warren E. Shull Middle School Student Council Adviser of the Year Award sponsored by the National Association of Student Councils (NASC) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

    AMES -- Forty-five Harlan FFA members traveled to Ames to the Iowa State University Campus April 17-19 to compete and participate in various state FFA activities. On Monday, April 18, some members participated in Leadership Career Development events in a very competitive field of participants from chapters around the state.

    HARLAN -- For the second year in a row, Myrtue Medical Center has been named one of the 20 highest-ranked Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the country by National Rural Health Association, as scored by iVantage Health Analytics.    “Being recognized as one of the Top 20 Hospitals in the nation is a great reflection on the quality care our staff provides.

    COUNTY – Shelby County has been transitioning its public alert system from Code Red to Alert Iowa since September of last year and are encouraging local residents to sign up for the emergency notification system, officials with Shelby County Emergency Management announced this week.    The Code Red system has been used in Shelby County since 2009, and has been a valuable tool in assisting with emergency notifications to the public, said Em

    COUNTY -- The Shelby County Plant Iowa Committee handed out trees to fifth-graders in Shelby County’s schools last week.  Here, Mary Illg and Bev Burmeister, Plant Iowa Committee members, present the trees to Shelby County Catholic School students Friday afternoon, April 29.    The committee said they are handing out hundreds of trees this year to the students.  The project has been ongoing for the past 33 years.

    HARLAN - An improving financial picture, combined with cost containment efforts, increased patient activity and strong patient satisfaction surveys have opened the door for Myrtue Medical Center to reduce its employee cost reduction plan.    In a memo to employees, Medical Center CEO Barry Jacobsen said effective May 1, Myrtue was reducing the mandatory PTO requirement for affected staff to half of the original plan.

    HARLAN – Harlan has officially begun the search for a new city administrator.    At the direction of the city’s Personnel and Finance Committee, Harlan Mayor Gene Gettys, Jr. is contacting human resource firms to bring to the committee for review.  It’s hoped one of the firms will guide the city through the process.    But there’s no hurry, officials said.

    HARLAN – Harlan city officials appear likely to pursue a special financial audit that would review the city’s past financial records for an undetermined period of past years.    The move comes following questions about expense reports submitted by former city administrator Terry Cox, who announced his resignation last week.  Cox has since been put on paid administrative leave for the remainder of his contract term, which expires June 30.  

    HARLAN – Two Harlan Community High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) teams finished first and second at the fourth-annual Anti-Gravity Games on Saturday, April 30 in Council Bluffs.    The fourth-annual event was hosted by Iowa Western Community College in partnership with Google.  The goal of the event is to encourage participation in the STEM fields.    The winning team of Mason Chamberlain, Matt Devine, Garrett Erl

    HARLAN – Harlan Mayor Gene Gettys, Jr.

    HARLAN – Harlan City Administrator Terry Cox submitted his resignation to the Harlan City Council Tuesday, May 3, after 39 years of service to the community.    The announcement comes roughly two weeks following an open meeting of the city’s personnel and finance committee where Cox’s expense reports came into question by city council members.    Cox’s resignation is effective June 30 at the end of his current one-year contract.  Cox waive