HARLAN -- Bill and Dorothy Shannon of Harlan will celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary on March 17.    Their family includes Dennis and Diane Shannon, Boone; Rod and Noreen Shannon, Irwin; Janice and Maury Salz, Honey Creek; Joan Shannon, Des Moines; seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren with another great-grandchild expected to arrive in August.

    AVOCA -- John Henry Oehlertz, 88, Avoca, died March 8 at Avoca Specialty Care.    Services will be held Tuesday, March 13 at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Avoca with burial in the Graceland Cemetery at Avoca.  Family greeted friends Monday, March 12 from 5-7 p.m.

HARLAN – The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL on February 14, where 17 people were killed, has fueled efforts to enhance school safety nationwide.    School security is becoming a growth industry, with everything from bulletproof backpacks and palm scanners to metal detectors, bulletproof glass, remote door locks and even ballistic shelters being considered by school districts nationwide.    According to statistics

    HARLAN – A Harlan teenager has been awarded a scholarship from the Iowa Honey Producers Association to start and manage a beehive.    Miguel Mena will receive a bee hive, beekeeping equipment, honeybees, a mentor and beekeeping classes.  Soon he will receive the equipment and assemble his hive, and in late April he will receive his honeybees and install them into his hive with the help of his mentor. 

    HARLAN – Harlan and Shelby County need a weather observer.    Those words come from Iowa State Climatologist Harry Hillaker who said daily weather observations for Harlan have been non-existent for quite some time, with Harlan relying on automated weather observations made at the Harlan airport.    Hillaker said an official weather observer is much needed as the nearest active National Weather Service coop (cooperative weather observer) st

 DES MOINES (March 6) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton senior Sophia Peppers became a two-time, first-team all-state selection this week, recognized among the top eight girls basketball players in Class 1A by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association. The newly-formed IPSWA announced its first-ever girls basketball All-State teams on Tuesday, also citing area seniors Kealey Nelson of Exira-EHK (1A) and Kia Rasmussen of IKM-Manning (2A) as third-te

 AVOCA -- AHSTW senior AJ Sieh signed a national letter of intent on February 7 to play football at NCAA Division II powerhouse Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.

 ROCKPORT, TEX. -- This 41-inch black drum was caught by Brad Campbell and released off of Rockport Beach in Texas. Brad lives near Polk City, Iowa and is formerly from Irwin. Rockport, Texas, located along the Gulf of Mexico near Corpus Christi, was devastated by Hurricane Harvey last summer but is coming back strong, according to Campbell.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community Athletic Booster Club Hall of Fame added four new inductees on Friday, February 2, as longtime booster club members Brian and Pam Gubbels and Chris and Joni Larsen were recognized during the HCHS girls and boys basketball games vs. Glenwood.