COUNTY -- The recycling bin in the Shopko/HyVee parking lot was clean and tidy on this day, but it hasn’t been the norm lately.  County officials said people have been dropping off trash more frequently that has to be hauled away.  On one day, there were nearly a dozen bags of trash and even a television left at this recycling site.    Officials are reminding Shelby County residents that this bin is for recyclables only, and for rural resi

    HARLAN -- Myrtue Medical Center Board of Trustees Rick Rasmussen and Jim Zimmerman have been reappointed to serve one year terms on the Shelby County Medical Corporation Board of Directors. Their reappointments were made at the June meeting of the MMC Board of Trustees.    MMC CEO Barry Jacobsen updated the board on various topics including the progress of the hiring of architects for the master facility plans.

    HARLAN – The City of Harlan has allocated $50,000 to be used as matching funds for a downtown upper story and façade improvement program during the next fiscal year.    Applications now are being accepted from building owners in the targeted downtown area through October, 2018, to be reviewed in November for recommended approval by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission to the Harlan City Council.    It’s a program that has been offer

    HARLAN – Former Harlan City Administrator Terry Lynn Cox, 67, Harlan, has pleaded not guilty in Shelby County District Court to Theft 1st Degree, Felonious Misconduct in Office and Tampering with Records.    A written arraignment and plea of not guilty was filed in district court July 9, and Cox also waived his right to a speedy trial.    The court has set pre-trial conference for 9 a.m. on August 20 and a jury trial for 9:30 a.m.

 HARLAN (July 18) -- Not so long ago, Brett Sears and the words pitch efficiency didn’t always belong in the same sentence. It’s hard to argue with Sears’ 27-3 career record for the Harlan Community baseball team, but sometimes striking out a lot of hitters requires throwing a lot of pitches. Not on Wednesday. Putting together one of the best outings of his four-year varsity career, the Cyclone junior ace outdueled Winterset sophomore Casey Yo

 HARLAN (July 16) -- On a night when Harlan Community committed three throwing errors and four all told, the biggest defensive play of the game involved two perfect relays that stifled Denison-Schleswig’s rapidly-gaining momentum. Three-run home runs by seniors Jared Moser and Nick Foss also proved pivotal as the top-ranked Cyclones held off a late-game Monarch charge to win 10-5 in Monday’s Class 3A, District 15 baseball final at Jim Goeser F

 WEST DES MOINES -- Area graduates Drew Voge of Harlan Community and Rudy Herrera of AHSTW both played for the victorious West squad after being selected for the 2018 Iowa High School All-Star Soccer Game on Saturday, June 16. Also known as the East-West All-Star Cup, the game was played at Valley Stadium and hosted by the Des Moines Menace of the Premier Development League, with support from Soccer Master and the Iowa High School Soccer Coach

 HARLAN (July 14) -- It’s not easy racking up 14 strikeouts in five innings, but Harlan Community junior ace Brett Sears just kept on missing bats during Saturday night’s Class 3A, District 15 baseball semifinal at Jim Goeser Field. Sears mowed down 14 of the 19 Carroll batters he faced and the Cyclone hitters eventually got to Tiger lefty Nick Haberl in an 11-1, five-inning win pushed back 24 hours due to rain.

 COON RAPIDS (July 12) -- For four innings on Thursday, pitcher Alex Lingle and IKM-Manning were able to stay away from the big inning defensively and hang with Audubon in a Class 1A district baseball semifinal. Unfortunately for the Wolves, when momentum started to swing the way of the Wheelers, a 1-0 game quickly snowballed into an early finish. Putting 12 of its last 13 batters on base safely, Audubon plated five runs in the fifth and four