HARLAN -- Harlan Community High School announced this week that senior Jack Klitgaard, son of Dr. Don and Laurel Klitgaard, has been named a finalist in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program.    Klitgaard is among the more than 1.5 million students in 21,000 schools throughout the nation entered in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

    HARLAN – Myrtue Medical Center’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been nothing short of extraordinary.    Just ask Dr.

    REGIONAL – A new book by author James Kenyon that spotlights a collection of accounts from student alumni of closed Iowa high schools features some interesting antecdotes from local historians in both Shelby and Kimballton.    Echoes in the Hallways: History and Recollections of 102 Closed Iowa High Schools hit the shelves this month, documenting institutions from Iowa’s 99 counties, including Shelby and Audubon Counties.    Kenyon consult

    COUNTY -- Shelby County has locations featured in the new Scenic Byways Passport program.

    HARLAN -- In February 1964, The Beatles began touring the United States, bringing with them a musical phenomenon that captured millions of people worldwide, just not 16-year-old Harlan resident Craig Nance.    Nance took no interest in the boy band and preferred jazz and classical music. His sister, however, loved The Beatles, and Nance grumpily sat down to watch them perform live on The Ed Sullivan Show.

    HARLAN -- The Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation (IALF) has awarded 142 grants to schools throughout Iowa to support the integration of agriculture into classroom instruction or after school programs with an academic focus.    Yvonne Gaul and Ann Andersen from Shelby County Catholic School received up to $250 to integrate agriculture into science or language arts lessons, and conduct Agriculture in the Classroom type projects.    The Agr

    HARLAN – Happy birthday to Dave Pedersen, who turns 90 this week!    Hitting this milestone gives the former long-time pharmacist, community volunteer, Creighton ball player, husband, father, and grandfather a little time to reminisce and reflect on his nine decades.  And his advice?    “Be honest and truthful,” he says.

    HARLAN – Frank Clark never hid the fact that he was a heavy drug user in his younger years.    Marijuana, speed, LSD, cocaine, and lots of alcohol.  “It was in eighth grade when I started,” said Clark, and it lasted for years.  “I was into the dope really bad.”    His past substance abuse is no secret and never has been.  He doesn’t hide it, but also doesn’t broadcast it.  “It comes up all the time though,” he said.    So imagine everyone’

February 15, 2021The Harlan Community Board of Education is pleased to announce a new district superintendent pending formal board approval. The school board and Grundmeyer Leader Services Consultants conducted semifinalist screening interviews on Thursday, Jan. 21. Soon after the screening interviews three finalists were named: Dr. Jennifer Barnett, Mr. Andy Irwin, and Mr. Robert Scott.

    HARLAN -- Raymond Anastasi’s words of advice for a successful marriage are “Never get angry with each other and help each other. Love, respect, common sense and laugh a lot!”    Raymond and his wife, Frances “Frankie”, have been each other’s Valentines for more than seven decades. The couple was married on September 14, 1948 at St. Mary’s Our Lady of Fatima Church in Portsmouth.

Wind chills of 35 below expected by Sunday. Please be safe and prepared and have a vehicle safety kit. This from the National Weather Service....Prepare for Cold WeatherThe way to avoid frostbite and hypothermia is to plan for extreme cold before it arrives. Don't get caught unprepared.

    HARLAN -- Masks are still required at sporting events hosted in the Harlan Community Schools, although the number of spectators will be allowed to increase, officials confirmed, after Iowa Gov.

    WESTPHALIA – Temperatures dipped into the single digits Saturday evening, Feb.

    HARLAN -- Tami Schechinger, Elk Horn, recently joined the Harlan Newspapers as an Advertising Account Executive.    Schechinger comes to the Harlan Newspapers with an extensive background in sales and marketing, having served in those capacities with several local businesses over her career.

PORTSMOUTH -- The bottle of Seagram’s 7 whiskey has been on display at the Portsmouth American Legion for decades, saved for the last remaining World War II veteran from the post.    That veteran so happens to be Alvin Heller, who couldn’t have been more surprised when Legion members from Post #547 brought the encased bottle to him at Elm Crest Retirement Community recently.    Although they couldn’t present it in person due to the COVID-19 pa