REGIONAL -- “I will never shut up about this.”    A new photo project featuring residents of western Iowa tells sexual assault survivors’ stories, in their own words and on their terms.    The photo project is the third of its type completed by Rebecca McKinsey, a reporter at the Carroll Daily Times Herald, and Jacob Fiscus, owner of the Photography by Fiscus studio in Carroll.

    HARLAN -- Myrtue Medical Center is celebrating National Hospital Week May 7-13.    The hospital. Those two words permeate our national conscience. Think about it.    When Americans talk about the place they rely on at critical times of their lives, they just say the hospital and everyone knows what they mean. In communities all across America, the hospital is the place that cures and cares.    But hospitals are not just places.

    HARLAN -- Dallas A. Havick, 101, Harlan, died Tuesday, April 17 in Harlan.    Services will be held Saturday, April 21 at 10:30 a.m. at Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home in Harlan with burial in the Jacksonville Cemetery in Jacksonville.  Friends may call Friday, April 20 from 2-8 p.m. with family greeting friends from 5-7 p.m.

    MINDEN -- Marcia L. Ploen, 67, Minden, died April 17 at University of Nebraska Medical Center.    Services will be held Saturday, April 21 at 10 a.m. at Minden United Church of Christ in Minden with burial in the Minden Cemetery.  Family will greet friends Friday, April 20 from 5-8 p.m.

    ELK HORN -- Calvin Lee Hoegh, 85, Elk Horn, died Thursday, April 12 at Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn.    Services were held Wednesday, April 18 at 10:30 a.m.

    HARLAN -- Rhonda Su Edgecomb, 53, Harlan, died April 15 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.    Services were held Thursday, April 19 at 11 a.m.

REGIONAL -- It’s been a week since the region saw one of the strongest mid-April storms in recent history.  Shelby County residents are hoping that spring isn’t a no-show this year, and warmer temperatures will arrive next week.  Flashback to last Friday-Sunday where the area saw everything from heavy rain, thunder, lightning, hail, high winds and even a twister in southwest Iowa, followed by ice, ice pellets, snow, cold and blizzard condition

    REGIONAL – Students and adults representing four school districts in southwest Iowa, including Harlan Community Schools, recently returned from a historic trip to China – a cultural exchange with the emphasis on agriculture and business ideas in education.    Sponsored and paid for entirely by corporate sponsor Syngenta, the trip included a meeting with U.S.

    COUNTY – Residents interested in learning some history about Shelby County are invited on a bus tour of the county on May 15 with tour guide and local historian Ron Chamberlain.    “What a long, cold winter this was,” he said.  “So what do you think of a historical bus ride right here in Shelby County?  This tour is not going to Branson, MO or St.