COUNTY – Shelby County has seen an outbreak of Painted Lady butterflies during the past week with thousands descending on Harlan and neighboring communities.    The painted lady, or Vanessa cardui, has become widespread in the region this year.  Donald R. Lewis, Iowa State University Entomologist, said the swarm is similar to 2017 when the area saw many painted lady butterflies as well.

 HARLAN (June 13) -- Harlan Community’s first night as a state-ranked softball team was a good one. Led by Morgan Schaben’s 27 strikeouts in a pair of complete game pitching efforts, the No.

 HARLAN (June 13) -- For the Harlan Community baseball team, Thursday night at Jim Goeser Field was a five-and-a-half hour process of one step forward and two steps back. Hosting Glenwood for a varsity doubleheader, the fourth-ranked (3A) Cyclones held the lead for all of about 10 minutes, losing to the Rams 7-4 and 12-11 in eight innings on a night in which all phases of their game - hitting, pitching, defense and base running - were suspect

 ELK HORN (June 14) -- Ninety-nine times out of 100, Josh Pettepier’s 110th and final pitch Friday night would have resulted in the 21st out and an Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton win over Coon Rapids-Bayard. Instead, the Spartans’ sixth error of the ball game allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score and led to a frustrating 5-4 loss to the rival Crusaders. Exira-EHK, which scored all four of its runs and had three of its four hits in the third

 IRWIN (June 14) -- The IKM-Manning softball team scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth but fell one short Friday night in an 8-7 home loss to Logan-Magnolia. The Wolves also lost by one run at Riverside, 7-6, on Thursday and are now 5-10 overall.

    HARLAN - At approximately 6:20 p.m. Harlan Police Department, Medivac, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Harlan Fire Department were dispatched to 9th and Chatburn Ave for an accident involving a car and a motorcycle on Thursday, June 27.    When Officer’s arrived, they attempted to aid the motorcyclist, Scott Alan Petersen, 55, Harlan, until Medivac arrived and determined he had died at the scene.

 HARLAN (June 11) -- During eight straight trips to the state baseball tournament and four consecutive 3A title game appearances, Harlan Community’s mantra has often centered around pitching and defense. Don’t look now, but those same two elements have played a big role in a 12-1 start for the fourth-ranked (3A) Cyclones. One day after winning a 2-1 pitchers’ duel against St. Albert, HCHS swept a home doubleheader vs.

 HARLAN (June 11) -- Fresh off a 10-run seventh inning rally and remarkable 12-7 win at sixth-ranked Denison Monday night, the Kuemper Catholic softball team arrived at H. Jack Field with a whole lot of momentum for Tuesday’s doubleheader vs.

 HARLAN (June 10) -- Back-to-back home runs by Morgan Schaben and Madison Schumacher provided the offensive highlight Monday as the Harlan Community softball team made quick work of St. Albert with a 12-0, three-inning win at H. Jack Field. HCHS scored seven first-inning runs (all unearned with two outs) and added three in the second and two in the third to win by the rule.