STATE -- The Board of Directors of the Association of Iowa Fairs has inducted Roger Ahrenholtz of Harlan into the Association of Iowa Fair’s “Hall of Fame”.    The honor was presented to  Ahrenholtz at the awards banquet during the association’s 2016 Conference and annual meeting, which was held December 9-11 in Des Moines.

Part two of the Harlan Newspapers’ look back at 2016 includes more stories that made the headlines during the year.  Here is July-December’s highlights:

    REGIONAL - Two influenza-related deaths have occurred in Iowa this flu season including a 61-year-old Southwest Iowa woman and an 81-year-old Central Iowa woman.    While influenza activity has been low so far this season, this death serves as an unfortunate reminder that the influenza virus is circulating and has the potential to cause severe illness.

    HARLAN – Committee assignments have been proposed for 2017 by Harlan Mayor Kate Kohorst, and were approved at a meeting of the Harlan City Council Tuesday, Dec. 20.    Council members include Jay Christensen, Ward 1; Dave Miller, Ward 2; Sharon Kroger, At Large/Center Township; Michael Kolbe, Ward 3; Greg Bladt, Ward 4; and David H. Pedersen, at large/Lincoln Township.

 HARLAN -- A strong fourth quarter erased a somewhat forgettable first three Friday night as the Harlan Community boys basketball team rallied for a 54-45 home win over St.

 NEOLA -- Ethan Lemon and Brandon Trevino each won individual championships on Saturday, leading the Harlan Community wrestling team to second place out of 14 schools at the Tri-Center Invitational. Eleven out of 13 HCHS wrestlers placed in the top six as the Cyclones scored 191 points and came in second to Missouri Valley (204), which is ranked second in Class 1-A by The Predicament with six Top 10 individuals.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Down one starter and facing the Hawkeye Ten front runner, Harlan Community hung around for a half Friday night before St. Albert’s three-point shooting and pressure defense proved to be too much. Trailing 32-24 at the break, the Cyclone girls were outscored 31-5 during the first 11 minutes of the second half and suffered a 67-37 loss at the hands of the surging Saintes. St.

 DENISON -- The Harlan Community wrestlers finished with a 1-2 record in Thursday’s quad at Denison, losing decisively to a pair of highly-ranked foes before soundly defeating Denison-Schleswig in the final dual of the night. Atlantic, listed third in the Class 2-A dual rankings by The Predicament, stormed out to a 57-3 lead and beat HCHS 63-12 in the opening round.

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW girls basketball team notched its second victory of the season here Thursday night, easily defeating Earlham 54-32 in non-conference action. The Lady Vikes also beat Tri-Center 53-43 on Friday, improving to 3-8 on the year. AHSTW gradually pulled away from Earlham, holding leads of 10-4 after one quarter, 22-11 at halftime and 37-19 after three quarters.