HARLAN – Harlan Community Schools will have five sections of kindergarten next year due to increasing numbers of students coming into the district in 2018-19, up from the current four sections.    The HCS Board of Education approved the hiring of Chelsy Petersen as a new kindergarten teacher.  The Harlan native and graduate of Harlan Community High School currently is teaching kindergarten at Missouri Valley.    HCS Superintendent of Schoo

    AVOCA – Darin Jones, currently the elementary principal at Montezuma CSD in Montezuma, has been named the new superintendent of schools at AHSTW, replacing Jesse Ulrich who has taken the superintendent’s position at Fort Dodge.    The AHSTW Board of Directors announced Jones’ hiring this week, and he will begin his duties officially on July 1.    The announcement comes following an interview process involving approximately 60 members of th

    COUNTY -- The Shelby County Plant Iowa Committee handed out trees to fifth-graders in Shelby County’s schools last week.     The committee said they are handing out hundreds of trees this year to the students.  The project has been ongoing for the past 35 years.

    EXIRA -- Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton students enjoyed great weather for their prom festivities Saturday evening, April 28.    Grand March was at 6 p.m. followed by a dinner and dance at the Exira Rec Center and after-prom at the middle school in Exira.

    ELK HORN -- Martha J. Eskov, 90, Elk Horn, died Friday, May 4 in Harlan.    Services will be held Wednesday, May 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Elk Horn Lutheran Church in Elk Horn with burial in the Elk Horn Lutheran Cemetery in Elk Horn.  A prayer service will be held Tuesday, May 8 at 6 p.m. at Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home in Harlan.  Friends may call Tuesday from 1-8 p.m. with family greeting friends from 4-7 p.m.

    EARLING -- Dale and Sue Graeve of Earling announce the engagement of their daughter, Cheyenne to Luke Baldwin both of Des Moines. Luke is the son of Denise Baldwin, Dunlap, and the late Jerry Baldwin.    The couple plans to marry on June 9 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Earling.

    PANAMA -- Ralph and Elaine Tremel of Panama observed their 50th wedding anniversary on April 27. The couple has three children: Brenda and Rodney Schaben, Council Bluffs; Curt and Kelly Tremel, Newton; and Stacy and Greg Mitchell, Ankeny. The Tremels have nine grandchildren.    An anniversary dinner in their honor was served at their home by their children on March 31.

 WINTERSET (April 28) -- Harlan Community avenged a substate loss from last year and took home a nice trophy in the process Saturday afternoon, beating Winterset 4-1 and Creston 3-0 to win the championship of the Winterset Boys Soccer Tournament. The host Huskies, ranked fifth in Class 2A, ended the Cyclones’ season last May with a 5-1 substate semifinal decision, but the rematch was all HCHS. The 10th-ranked Cyclones scored twice in each half

 OAKLAND (April 28) -- The AHSTW boys soccer team improved to 8-1 on Saturday, winning the championship of the Western Iowa Shootout in Oakland with wins of 2-0 over Riverside and 2-1 (in a PK shootout) over Treynor. The Vikings, ranked 14th in Class 1A, tied the Treynor match on Kyle Branan’s free kick with 16:21 left in the second half. The match went directly to a penalty kick shootout which AHSTW won 3-1.