From Our Files

• Jan. 5, 1950

Officers of the newly organized Rural Young People's Group of O'Brien County started the year right by conducting the January meeting. Officers who were from Hartley included Blaine Hirt, president; Bonnie Harms, secretary; and Don Steinbeck, treasurer.

Larry Kindred, formerly of Idaho, Kansas and Iowa, purchased the Henry Morfitt interest in the Marshall-Wells Store in Hartley. Kindred, whose wife had passed way, was anxious to secure living quarters and a housekeeper to care for his family of three young children.

With the swiftness of a tornado, a measles epidemic swooped down on Hartley and invaded an untold number of households in the community and surrounding area. Public gatherings prior to Christmas were believed to be responsible for the latitude of the epidemic.

• Jan. 2, 1975

The O'Brien County Sheriff's Office warned area farmers to keep close watch on their stored grain and other farm commodities. The suggestion came after the theft of an estimated $5,000 worth of alfalfa from the Sheldon Dehydrating Co. Particularly susceptible were storage bins in isolated areas.

State Representative Ingwer L. Hansen, of Hartley, was reappointed as a member of the House Education Committee for the 66th General Assembly. He was also appointed to the Appropriations Committee and as a ranking member of the Human Relations Committee.

The completed application packet from Nebraska Growth Investment was received by the local Low Rent Housing Authority and submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assurance was received from HUD officials that all would be done to expedite the approval of the 10-unit project for Hartley.

• Jan. 6, 2000

Larry Sauer was promoted to chief of the Professional Development Bureau within the Iowa Department of Public Safety. He and his wife, Christie (O'Brien), were graduates of Hartley High School. Sauer served as an Iowa State Trooper for 12-1/2 years and as a Special Agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for eight. He became Assistant Bureau Chief of the Professional Responsibility Bureau in 1997.

Higher than anticipated estimates for the expansion of the Hartley fire station had city council members searching for other options to save costs. Based on a construction cost of $65 to $70 per square foot, the project estimate could go as high as $400,000. That was double what the council initially intended for the project.

"From Our Files" is compiled by Sentinel-News sports editor/staff writer Mike Petersen.