Harlan — A group of Harlan church members have found a way to keep plastic bags out of landfills and, instead, are putting them to good use. Ladies from “The Church on the Hill”, the Congregational United Church of Christ & the United Methodist Mission Church of Harlan are re-purposing bags into sleeping mats for the homeless.The group is donating the mats to Midwest Mission, a nonprofit originated in Springfield, IL with sites throughout

Harlan — Barb Swanson, owner of Touch of Class Dry Cleaning in Harlan, has retired after 29 years of business.Swanson opened Touch of Class in November 1994. “We put all the piping and equipment in,” Swanson said. “It was a shell when we went there.”At that time, she had already had over 13 years of experience in the dry cleaning business, and she had worked at her parents’ laundry mat, D & A Laundry, while she was in high school.

HARLAN — Nurses at Myrtue Medical Center are being honored with The DAISY Award  For Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to express gratitude to nurses who perform extraordinary care and compassion every day.  The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes.

AMES — The Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University has named Alan and Steve Mores the recipients of its 2023 James W. Schwartz Award. The annual award recognizes distinguished service to journalism and communication and is the highest honor conferred by the school.The Mores brothers have been involved in the Iowa newspaper business since they were children.

The IKM-Manning girls basketball team struggled during their 2022 campaign, finishing with a 7-16 record, making a first round exit against the East Sac County Raiders in the Class 2A – Region 8 game. But with some new faces on the roster, and a new assistant coach, the Wolves are ready to get back to work.

The AHSTW Vikings girls basketball team is looking to build under new head coach Jason McCall off a 9-15 season where they made it to the Class 2A - Region 8 Second Round Game, eventually losing 51-36 to the Underwood Eagles.
“We’re so excited,” said Senior Delaney Goshorn. “We’ve had a lot of fun so far, a lot of underclassmen or girls who haven’t come out have came out. We’re getting a lot done the first week of practice.”

The Exira-EHK girls basketball team is hoping to build off a successful 19-5 season where they made it all the way to the Regional Championship Game, losing 51-43 to the Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks.
“I am always excited this time of the year,” said Spartan Head Coach Tom Petersen. “I have been doing this a long time, and every year as a head coach, it is a challenge, and this year is no different.”

After a run to the Regional Championship Game where they lost 64-38 to the Des Moines Christian Lions during their 2022 campaign, the HCHS girls basketball team is back to work ready to make another strong run.

For the third consecutive year, Junior Cyclone Lindsey Sonderman has won the KMALand Iowa Girls Cross Country Runner of the year. Sonderman also took home the award during her freshman and sophomore season.
“It's an honor to receive this award for the third time,” Sonderman said. “There are so many amazing high school runners that are just as deserving of this award, so it means a lot that they chose me.”