HARLAN – Harlan officials will engage the services of the Iowa State Auditor’s Office in a special review and audit of the city’s financials for a yet-to-be-determined period of time.    The city’s personnel and finance committee (Mike Kolbe, Dave Miller and Sharon Kroger) voted unanimously Wednesday, May 11 to have a representative from the state travel to Harlan for an initial meeting that will take place Wednesday, May 18.

 HARLAN -- Toshia Kasperbauer of Harlan Community Middle School has been named a finalist for the 2016 Warren E. Shull Middle School Student Council Adviser of the Year Award sponsored by the National Association of Student Councils (NASC) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

    AMES -- Forty-five Harlan FFA members traveled to Ames to the Iowa State University Campus April 17-19 to compete and participate in various state FFA activities. On Monday, April 18, some members participated in Leadership Career Development events in a very competitive field of participants from chapters around the state.

    HARLAN -- For the second year in a row, Myrtue Medical Center has been named one of the 20 highest-ranked Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the country by National Rural Health Association, as scored by iVantage Health Analytics.    “Being recognized as one of the Top 20 Hospitals in the nation is a great reflection on the quality care our staff provides.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community boys tennis team finished the regular season by earning its fifth straight dual win here Thursday, outlasting Red Oak, 5-4, to improve to 8-4 overall and 6-3 against the Hawkeye Ten. After splitting six singles matches vs. the Tigers, the Cyclones prevailed behind decisive doubles wins by the No. 1 team of Isaac Stitz and Alec Plagman (10-1) and the No. 3 team of Josh Cheek and Kaleb Kaster (10-4).

 CLARINDA -- Jon Bieker earned a pair of conference titles and Marcus Klein continued a sensational senior season Thursday night as the Harlan Community boys placed fourth at the Hawkeye Ten Co-Ed Track Meet in Clarinda. Four girls and three boys won multiple individual events on the night, including Bieker’s gold-medal sweep of the shot put and discus.

 AREA -- Qualifiers for the 2016 State Track and Field Championships will be determined Thursday night when Co-Ed State Qualifying Meets are held statewide, starting at 4:00 p.m. The area’s four track schools will compete at four different venues. The Harlan Community girls and boys squads will be part of an eight-team Class 3-A meet at Glenwood.

 REGIONAL -- Monday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference tournaments for boys and girls golf and boys tennis were postponed due to rain and rescheduled for Tuesday at the same time and locations. The boys golf meet is at Glenwood and the girls golf meet is at Fox Run Golf Course in Council Bluffs. The boys tennis tournament is at Red Oak. All three events start at 9:00 a.m. Due to the rescheduling, Harlan Community’s golf triangulars vs.

 HARLAN -- Less than six minutes away from ending a long, frustrating losing streak, the Harlan Community girls soccer team was instead hit by another dose of heartbreak Thursday at Merrill Field. With HCHS leading 2-1, Riverside sophomore Grace Gleaves nailed a perfectly-struck, game-tying goal with 5:28 left in regulation, then assisted Lindsey White’s sudden-death game-winner with 3:49 left in double overtime as the Lady Dawgs (1-8) beat th