OMAHA -- Former Harlan resident Mike Kaufman of Omaha will mark his 80th birthday on March 15.      His family is requesting a card shower in his honor. Cards will reach him if sent to 5020 S 83rd Terrace, Ralston, NE 68127.

 TOPEKA, KAN. -- Just two years after winning his second state wrestling title in the Iowa high school ranks, Kimballton native Evan Hansen is a national champion for the most dominant NAIA program in the country. Hansen, a redshirt freshman for Grand View University in Des Moines, claimed the 197-pound championship Saturday, March 4, at the 2017 NAIA Wrestling National Championships in Topeka, Kansas.

 DES MOINES -- Area girls basketball standouts Sophia Peppers of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton and Kia Rasmussen of IKM-Manning were both recognized on all-state teams this week by the Iowa Newspaper Association and/or the Iowa Girls’ Coaches Association. The junior tandem has combined for more than 2,100 career points and helped their teams win 129 games over the last three seasons. Peppers, a 5-10 forward, was named first-team All-State by the I

The Harlan Community High School bowling team has partnered with Cyclone Lanes during the past three weeks to put together a mini Junior Cyclones Bowling League for the middle school students. In this league, each middle school bowler is paired with a high school bowler to help them learn the fundamentals of the game. 

    STORM LAKE – Three students from Harlan Community High School brought home two gold medal victories after competing at the Buena Vista University Spanish Language Fair in Storm Lake on Monday, Feb. 27.    HCS Spanish Instructor Kayla Weis took the students – Laura Kaufmann, Abby Pearson, and Annabel Schechinger, to the event, and said she was very proud of their efforts. 

    HARLAN -- Harlan FFA members competed at Southwest Iowa Northwest Sub-district FFA Contests on February 22 and Southwest Iowa District FFA Convention on Saturday, March 4. Forty-two Harlan FFA members now look to participate in various State FFA Leadership Events in Ames, April 9-11.Iowa FFA Degree Candidates    The Harlan FFA Chapter is excited that 11 members have cleared the first hurdle in an effort to earn their Iowa FFA Degree.

    HARLAN – Recent legislative changes to Iowa Code regarding collective bargaining are on center stage as the Harlan Community Schools Board of Education and Harlan Education Association begin contract negotiations this week.    Both provided their initial proposals Wednesday, March 8, highlighted by a package proposal by the school board that strips and deletes provisions of many excluded subjects of bargaining from the employee collective

    COUNTY -- Shelby County released 2016 wage totals for employees including the following top 10 payroll totals.    The list does not include elected officials whose wages are published yearly following compensation board hearings.    The top 10: Daniel Ahart, $118,102; David Gau, $73,281; Ylonda Maguire, $72,187; Michael Kienast, $71,640;    Brandon Burmeister, $70,971; Jason Wickizer, $67,362; Robert Seivert, $63,367;    Neil Gross, $57,75

    OMAHA, NE -- Richard Melvin Schomer, 62, Omaha, NE, died February 6 at his home.    Services will be held Saturday, April 8 at 2 p.m. at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan.    Schomer is survived by sons Jason Schomer of Apache Junction, AZ and Jeffrey Schomer of Gilbert, AZ; brothers Duane Schomer of Omaha and Jerry Schomer of Omaha; and sister Kathy Anderson of Avoca.