AVOCA -- Clarence L. Harder, 92, Avoca, died June 19 at Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan.    Services will be held Tuesday, June 23 at 11 a.m. at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Avoca with burial in the Graceland Cemetery at Avoca.  Family will greet friends Tuesday from 9-11 a.m.

    HARLAN -- Arthur “Art” James Hibray, 94, Harlan, died June 15 at Elm Crest Assisted Living.    Services will be held Friday, June 26 at 2 p.m. at Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan with burial in the Harlan Cemetery.  Visitation (10 visitors at a time) will be Friday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

 AVOCA -- Deep, versatile and competitive. That is the type of team AHSTW softball coach G.G. Harris envisions as the Lady Vikes prepare for this year’s three-and-a-half week sprint to the postseason. AHSTW finished 12-11 overall in 2019 and went 9-6 (fourth place) in the Western Iowa Conference.

 AVOCA -- A veteran cast of eight seniors has AHSTW poised for a fun 2020 season on the baseball diamond. The Vikings return seven letter winners - six seniors, one junior - from last year’s 12-12 campaign, and nearly all seven will be playing at least their third season of varsity ball. AHSTW will be looking to improve on a seventh place finish (7-9) in the Western Iowa Conference last year, when it lost to a talented St.

 HARLAN -- While all swim meets have tentatively been cancelled for 2020, the Harlan Summer Swim Team will hold a practice season starting Monday, June 15, at the Norman D. Stamp Aquatic Center. A total of 83 youth swimmers have signed up for the season, which runs through Friday, July 17. On May 17, the Harlan Swim Team Board of Directors voted unanimously to pull out of the Western Iowa Swim League for the 2020 season.

    HARLAN -- The Harlan Farmers Market will open for business on Saturday, June 20, in the parking lot of the former Hometown Shopko building on Chatburn Ave.    The farmers market will operate from 8:30 a.m. until noon each Saturday through October 31.

    STATE -- The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced that the State of Iowa has received nearly $1 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to offer free crisis counseling to any Iowan who has been affected, in any way, by the COVID-19 public health emergency.    The program, called COVID Recovery Iowa, is available immediately.

    COUNTY – Two Shelby County entities have been awarded funding from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs as emergency relief grants made possible by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic  Security (CARES) Act.    The Shelby County Historical Museum, Harlan, received $4,500 under the second and third round of funding from the state, while the Museum of Danish America, Elk Horn, was awarded $14,000 through the State Humanities P

    HARLAN -- The 8-Ball Aviation Club and City of Harlan have announced that the annual Flight Breakfast held on Father’s Day Weekend every year, and scheduled for this weekend, has been canceled.    Officials said they made the tough decision to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  All activities, the breakfast and airplane rides at the Harlan Municipal Airport, Rueschenberg Field, are canceled.    Hopes are for a re-scheduled event later t