COUNTY -- The message is clear.    Shelby County Public Health and Myrtue Medical Center stand behind state and local health officials who recommend wearing face coverings to limit the spread of COVID-19.    Those words come on the heels of public comments made at a school board workshop Thursday, July 16 by residents who either questioned the need for masks, said they could possibly be detrimental to a person’s health, or said nobody real

    HARLAN – All Harlan Community School District students will return to school Monday, Aug.

 HARLAN (July 18) -- So often in high school softball, the final outcome is determined by one big (or bad) inning for one side or the other. On Saturday night that key inning was the bottom of the third for Harlan Community. Plating five runs on just one hit, the Cyclones gave Lewis Central fits with the bunt game, took a 5-0 lead and cruised past the Titans 6-1 in a Class 4A, Region 4 semifinal at H.

    IRWIN -- Betty Fokken, 81, Irwin, died July 24 at Hansen House.    Services are pending at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan.    Fokken is survived by her husband, John Fokken, of Irwin; daughters Julie (George) Bernstein of West Chester, PA and Tracy (Kurt) Pattee of Omaha, NE; sons Todd (Kathy) Fokken of Papillion, NE and John Fokken of Irwin; brothers John (Anita) Morrison of Chariton and Lonnie “Junior” Morrison of Kellogg; and six g

 HARLAN (July 17) -- In baseball - or any sport for that matter - it’s important to answer an opponent’s rally as quickly as possible to keep momentum on your side. Harlan Community was able to do that and then some Friday night, countering Creston’s two-run top of the fourth with four runs in the bottom of the inning, then adding two in the sixth to put away the Panthers 9-2 in a Class 3A, District 16 semifinal. Brenden Bartley finished a tri

 KIMBALLTON (July 17) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team earned another crack at Newell-Fonda here Friday, moving within one game of the state tournament with a 6-2, Class 1A regional semifinal win over West Harrison. The 9th-ranked Spartans took control with a five-run third inning and got a four-hitter and 13 strikeouts from ace pitcher Macy Emgarten, improving their unbeaten record to 15-0. They advanced to Monday night’s Region

 ONAWA (July 15) -- For the second straight year, AHSTW’s softball season came to an end at the hands of West Monona. The fifth-ranked Spartans (19-1) got a three-hitter from senior pitcher Lexi Lander and used a four-run fourth inning to down the Lady Vikes 6-1 Wednesday night in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 14) -- St. Albert followed up a five-run third inning with nine runs in the fourth and finished off Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton 16-2 in a five-inning Class 1A district baseball semifinal last Tuesday night. The third-ranked Falcons (19-1) advanced to Saturday’s District 14 final and won big again, beating up Sidney 16-1 in four to earn a spot in Tuesday’s Substate 7 final against CAM (15-2).

    COUNTY -- The Shelby County Fair was anything but ordinary this year.