PERSIA -- Max Frank Handbury, 73, Persia, died July 15 at his residence. Services were held Monday, July 19 at St. Mary Our Lady Fatima in Portsmouth with burial at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Portsmouth. A visitation was held Sunday, July 18, at St.

 WINTERSET (July 13) -- For the Harlan Community softball team, another successful season has ended with another one-sided regional defeat. On Tuesday night, it was an eight-run bottom of the first that dashed the Cyclones’ latest hopes for their first state tournament berth since 2010. Winterset star shortstop Jena Young led off the first with a triple, capped the inning with a grand slam and added a two-run homer in the third as the top-rank

 ELK HORN (July 13) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team advanced to the district finals Tuesday night with an 11-1 win over Sidney in a Class 1A, District 14 semifinal. The Spartans (11-13) will now play fourth-ranked St. Albert (30-8) in a the District 14 final Saturday, July 17, in Council Bluffs. The Falcons have advanced with wins of 15-0 over Essex and 13-2 over Riverside.

 FONDA (July 12) -- The third time was nearly a charm for the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team. Loading the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning, the Spartans were just a base hit away from tying the game or taking the lead against top-ranked Newell-Fonda. Instead, N-F freshman ace Kierra Jungers buckled down and struck out the next two batters on pitches up in the zone, allowing the Mustangs to escape Monday night’s Clas

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 16) -- Harlan Community will take a record of 15-15 into the Class 3A substate baseball tournament after splitting its final two regular season games against a pair of Council Bluffs teams. HCHS lost at Abraham Lincoln 6-2 on Tuesday night before routing Thomas Jefferson 18-6 on Wednesday, committing five errors in both games. Seeded fifth in Class 3A, Substate 8, the Cyclones will open the postseason at fourth-seeded Gle

 HARLAN (July 10) -- As Kate Heithoff stepped to the plate for one of the biggest at-bats of her life, she still had tears in her eyes. Not because she was nervous or scared for the moment, but because she was filled with pride for one of her teammates. With Saturday’s Class 4A, Region 2 semifinal tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Harlan Community softball senior Kennedy Kjergaard, batting .209 on the year, had just electrified the H.

 KIMBALLTON (July 9) -- Trailing 3-0 and down to its last four outs, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team needed a break. The Spartans caught one in the form of a dropped fly ball and never looked back, scoring two runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to rally past Woodbine 4-3 in Friday’s Class 1A regional semifinal at Kimballton. Veteran juniors Alisa Partridge, Macy Emgarten and Mollie Rasmussen all delivered clutch singles in th

 LE MARS (July 9) -- The Harlan Community baseball team finished last week with a pair of road wins to get back to the .500 mark, winning 11-2 at ADM Wednesday night and 5-2 at Le Mars on Friday. The Cyclones improved to 14-14 overall going into Tuesday’s game at Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln and Wednesday’s regular season finale at Thomas Jefferson. They will open Class 3A Substate play Friday with a 7 p.m.

 AVOCA (July 7) -- The AHSTW softball team saw its season come to a jarring end last Wednesday as conference rival Tri-Center knocked off the Lady Vikes 3-1 in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal. AHSTW, which finished 15-13, had beaten T-C by scores of 19-1 and 4-3 during the regular season, but couldn’t complete the postseason trifecta. The 7-18 Trojans turned two double plays on the night and got a four-hitter from senior pitcher Faith McPhill