HARLAN -- Bill and Bev (Majerus) Jensen of Harlan celebrated 50 years of marriage on June 30. The Jensens wed June 30, 1972 at First Baptist Church in Harlan. The couple owned B&B Tire and Oil until they retired in 2008. Bill is a part-time driver for HCHS.

 DEFIANCE -- Rick and Paulette (Ahrenholtz) Rasmussen of Defiance will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary July 1. The couple married July 1, 1972 at Defiance United Methodist Church. Rick is a retired farmer and Shelby County Farmers Mutual Insurance manager.

 HARLAN — A new leadership program will be available for  Harlan Community High School students in the 2022-23 school year. The program, Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (iJAG), will help students build skills to be successful in the classroom, in the workplace, and in life.

15-year-old Bella Muller is already shining on one of the biggest stages as she excels in weightlifting.
Muller has competed in multiple events including the USA Olympic Weightlifting Youth Nationals (held at her club in Carroll in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the USA Olympic Weightlifting Youth Nationals competition in Detroit in 2021, and the same competition this weekend in Las Vegas.

The HCHS varsity baseball team won it’s fifth consecutive game Tuesday on the road against the Carroll Tigers and won 16-2 behind the arm of Freshman Hayden Soma who pitched five innings, striking out five batters.
“Hayden competes really well on the mound,” said HCHS Head Baseball Coach Heath Stein. “His pitch count got a little high, threw quite a few more balls than he wanted to, but he did a nice job for us last night.”

Tuesday night, the HCHS varsity softball team went on the road to Sioux City East to take on the Black Raiders and lost, 14-4.
Junior Jenna Gessert got the ball for the Cyclones as she pitched 5.1 innings and struck out one batter. She suffered the loss, but contributed to the offense with a hit on the night. Overall, the Cyclones came away with seven hits on the night.

The HCHS varsity baseball teams bats continued to stay hot as they welcomed the Shenandoah Mustangs to their field for a doubleheader and mercied them in both games. They won the first game 10-0 and the second game, 12-0.
“We kind of got a slow start in that first game, but guys starting putting together good at bats and good approaches and put some good swings on it,” said HCHS Head Baseball Coach Heath Stein.

With runners on second and third base in the top of the seventh inning for the Shenandoah Mustangs, the HCHS varsity softball team was hanging on to a 2-run lead, but managed to get out of it as senior Tianna Kasperbauer recorded the final out and the Cyclones hung on to win, 7-5.