The Iola Register, April 10, 2024

“By a show of hands, how many of you are here in support of chickens within the city limits,” asked Mayor Steve French. The majority of the hands in the room shot up, with the exception of only a couple.

Starting off the round table discussion, City Administrator Matt Rehder presented council members with proposed language for an ordinance to allow chickens in single-family residential zones. The ordinance states that roosters would not be allowed and owners could be limited to four hens or chicks. Hens would not be allowed on property other than single-family detached residen-

Sunday evening we drove to the small town of Doniphan, Mo., a town of about 1,700 near the bootheel of Missouri, to watch the total solar eclipse.

I chose Doniphan because it had a riverside park with ample parking. There was also a campground there as well as two ball parks. When we pulled in just after sunset Sunday

evening there was a lot of parking available. By late Monday morning the parking lot was full. Some people parked along roadsides to watch the eclipse from there. Others set up all through the town. The town square was packed with people.

THIS WAS my first total eclipse and it really was a great experience. A little before totality the street

TOPEKA — In three weeks, senators will decide whether to give Medicaid expansion a full floor debate or block discussion of health insurance coverage for low-income Kansans for another year. Lawmakers rushed to hammer out myriad policy pieces ranging from the tax code to K-12 education funding during a late-night marathon session before adjourning Saturday for three weeks. During the frenzied process, Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, introduced a motion to pull Senate Bill 355 to the floor for consideration.

District recognizes new ‘holiday’

Iola school board members are so confident the Kansas Chiefs will win a third consecutive Super Bowl, they’re already planning to give everyone the next day off.

OK, so the Chiefs may not win every championship, Superintendent Stacey Fager acknowledged. But the Super Bowl has become a de facto American holiday. It’s easily more popular than, say, President’s Day.

So the board agreed to do a switcheroo. Instead of having President’s Day off on Feb. 17, 2025, Iola teachers, staff and students will get the day off a week earlier, on Feb. 10, the Monday after the Super Bowl.

More and more districts are making the same change, Fager said. It’s common for teachers and staff to request the day off, as the Super Bowl and its associated parties run late into Sunday evening. This year, when the Chiefs won the championship, even more took Monday off to celebrate.

Scheduling the day off in advance means those teachers won’t have to take a personal or vacation day, and the move should be popular with teachers and families alike, Laura Caillouet-Weiner, who represents the teacher’s union, said. It’s not just about football,

Fager added. Teachers and staff find it useful to have a day off that’s not a federal holiday when banks and most governmental offices are closed. Now, though, they’ll have to reschedule that President’s Day party.

Summer maintenance projects

Some of the district’s maintenance needs will get a temporary hold as officials wait to see what might happen with baseball and softball facilities. Maintenance director Aaron Cole outlined four projects his staff or contractors could tackle this summer.

The procedural move is designed to override the authority of Republican leadership who refuse to allow the bill to move forward through the usual process. The Sykes motion will require approval from 24 of the 40 senators.

“This is not a partisan issue, and over 70% of Kansans, regardless of party, support Medicaid expansion,” Sykes said. “Only a few extremists in the Legislature are standing in the way, so Kansans deserve to know where their legislators stand on Medicaid expansion. To quote Beyonce, let’s bring it to the floor now.”

The quote is an apparent reference to Beyonce’s song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which contains the line, “Come take it to the floor now.” Senators will consider the motion after they return later this month, with a vote scheduled for April 26.

Gathering 24 votes will be an uphill battle, given GOP leaders’ opposition to Med-

Obituary

Shirley Ball

Shirley Ball, age 93, peacefully passed away on Thursday, April 4, 2024. She was surrounded by loved ones, at her home in El Dorado, Kansas. Shirley Mae Yocum was born in Moran on March 14, 1931. She was the second of two daughters born to Chester “Chet” Leonard Yocum and Olive Faye (Shelton) Yocum. She lived in Moran most of her childhood until her last two years of high school when she moved to Wichita with her mom and sister. She graduated from Wichita East High School in 1949. Shirley began her career as an insurance adjuster with Dulaney-Priest & Johnston then at Sheffer Cunningham.

In 1954, Shirley married Curtis Blackwill. From this union a son, Steven, was born. They later divorced in 1955.

On April 5, 1957, she married David Ball in Wichita. From this union a daughter, LeAna, was born. Over the following 32 years the family moved around the country every three years at the orders of the Navy, living in Mississippi, Florida, and California before returning to the Midwest.

Shirley made every house a home. She raised her children while she conquered unfamiliar territory, maintained many responsibilities alone while David was overseas. It was during this time Shirley began to teach Sunday school. She taught Sunday school at Hope Chapel in Moran for 35 years where she also served on the board.

Shirley enjoyed music, dancing, homemaking, gardening, cooking, craft-making and sewing. She embodied many pleasing character traits, as she was mild-mannered, slow to anger, finding light humor in most situations, rarely complaining and moved to generosity in empathy for the suffering and struggling. She was the rock of the family. Shirley was a self-proclaimed “Chocoholic” and the kids knew that chocolate was always hidden throughout the house. Ice cream was also a great love of Shirley’s.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, David Ball; her sister, Evelyn Fry; and her parents, Chet Yocum and Olive Long.

Shirley is survived by one son, Steve Ball of Menifee, California; daughter, LeAna Mitchell of El Dorado; five grandchildren, Erica Vega and husband, Rocky, Michelle Sotello and husband, Mark, Jeremy Mitchell and wife, Melissa, Tiffany Mitchell, and Jackson Mitchell; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are planned for 2 p.m., Thursday, April 18, at the Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 US Hwy 54, Iola. Burial will follow in the Moran Cemetery. Shirley’s family will greet friends from 1 to 2 p.m., prior to the service.

Memorial contributions in Shirley’s honor may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association and left in care of the funeral home. Condolences to the family may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.

SEK Recovery Resources offers virtual meetings

SEK Recovery Resources, a project of Thrive Allen County, will host a virtual series of speakers on substance use disorder topics of prevention, treatment and recovery.

The Lunch ‘n Learn virtual meetings are scheduled for Wednesdays in May, from noon to 1 p.m. Each meeting will focus on a specific topic and feature a guest speaker.

• On May 8, the topic will be prevention. The guest speaker will be from Johnny’s Ambassadors.

Johnny’s Ambassadors is on a mission to educate teens, parents, and communities about the dangers of today’s high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide. They focus on youth marijuana awareness, prevention, and education. Their goals are to keep youth from using marijuana and increase their perception of harm in using.

• On May 15, the meeting will cover the treatment topic, Neurobiology of Addiction, Stigma and Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), and will be addressed by Dr. Fred Rottnek, MD, as a speaker representative with the Opioid Response Network (ORN).

• The meeting on May 22 will focus on recovery and the speaker will be Seth Dewey.

Teacher says staff needs more protection

By SUZANNE PEREZ Kansas News Service

WICHITA, Kansas — Just a few days after this school year started, Dave Clark, then athletic director at Wichita West High School, was standing in a hallway when a fight broke out.

A school security officer had restrained a student, but the brawl continued. When another student jumped on the officer’s back and began punching him, Clark ran in to help.

“I got between the police officer and the mob,” Clark said. “That’s the last thing I remember, because I was knocked unconscious.”

Clark suffered a severe concussion and a torn rotator cuff. He was on medical leave for the rest of the school year, getting post-concussion therapy to manage dizziness and balance issues. But last month, after Clark had missed 180 days, Wichita replaced him at West High.

“I lost my career that I loved, through no fault of my own, by protecting the police officer and students,” he said. “So it is maddening.”

District officials won’t talk about the case because it’s a personnel issue. Clark hopes to get a teaching position, but he’s out as athletic director.

Dave Clark, shown here

shortage.

But most states, including Kansas, don’t track teacher injuries. Although Wichita schools prepare students and staff members for intruders with active-shooter drills and yearly “Run, Hide, Fight” training, teachers said they don’t get instructions on how to deal with fights on campus.

Katie Warren, president of United Teachers of Wichita, which represents about 4,000 school employees, said teachers — particularly those in large middle schools or high schools — often serve as first responders. Most act on instinct to protect students or colleagues.

for the Wichita school district, said the most effective security measure in schools is prevention.

If a fight does break out, teachers respond differently depending on their instincts and abilities, Moses said. She compared it to a motorist driving up to an accident: A young mother with an infant in the back seat might call 911 and keep driving, while an off-duty EMT might stop and render aid. Similarly, a teacher could step into a scuffle themselves to try to break it up, or they could use a radio or cell phone to call for

help.

“You’ve got options in terms of how you handle those situations,” Moses said, “but you’ve always got resources.”

Clark, the former West High staffer, said schools don’t have enough resources when it comes to safety.

“We just don’t have enough security officers in our schools, especially high schools,” he said. “And I don’t know why we’re not having an open and honest dialogue about that. It seems to be swept under the rug.”

Dewey has been an advocate for social change in the substance use arena since 2017.

He is a co-founder of the Kansas Recovery Network, a grassroots Harm Reduction coalition and has been working in public health since 2020. His passion revolves around the health, rights, and well-being of people who use drugs, people in recovery (no matter the path), and for the populations disproportionately affected by substance use due to the antiquated policies surrounding the issue.

Dewey is actively involved in recovery housing efforts including serving as the Oxford House World Council Chairman. Recently he was appointed to the Governors Behavioral Health Services Planning Committee for the State of Kansas.

The meetings can be accessed via Zoom using the Meeting ID: 864 6894 9978 and Passcode: 3806008.

For more information, contact April at (620) 380-6008 or email april@thriveallencounty.org.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For more information, visit HRSA.gov.

OVER the past few years, schools across the country are reporting more incidents of student-on-teacher violence. In a recent nationwide survey, about a third of school leaders said they’ve noticed an uptick in physical altercations since the pandemic. And experts believe behavior issues could be worsening the teacher

Wichita schools use an approach called “restorative practices” to help students resolve conflicts. District leaders also limit out-of-school suspensions or expulsions, and last year they tried to scale back teachers’ ability to remove disruptive students from classrooms, arguing the practice could run afoul of special-education guidelines.

Terri Moses, director of safety services

with members of the West High School baseball team in 2021, recently lost his position as West High’s athletic director after being on an extended medical leave for a concussion. He was injured while trying to break up a large fight involving several students and a school security officer. COURTESY PHOTO/DAVE CLARK

Council: Supporters argue for allowing chickens in city limits

to keep chickens and would be obtained from the code enforcement office.

With a fee of $50, the permit would be valid for a calendar year and would renew annually in the month of November. The ordinance also addressed concerns about foul odor, specifying that enclosures must be maintained in a neat and sanitary condition.

Code Enforcement Officer Greg Hutton noted that around 50% of the concerns his office has received in regards to chickens have had to do with noise and smell.

“Five backyard hens produce the same amount of poop as one medium-sized dog,” said Iolan Katrina Springer, during the public portion of the conversation. “You’re going to have dog owners that don’t clean up the poop in their yard and their yard is going to be nasty and smelly. There are a lot of homeowners here in Iola who have more than one medium-sized dog who don’t take care of their yard.”

there are so many dogs that bark loudly at us,” she said. “They make so much more noise than what my six backyard chickens did when I lived in Oklahoma. If you limit it to four hens, the noise isn’t really an issue.”

Springer, who owns farmland outside of Iola, brought along an egg from one of her chickens to show the

en at-large be attacked, maimed or killed by a dog, the chicken be considered a food product,” he said.

Just like you have a lot of good dog owners that do take care of their dogs, you’ll probably have a lot of good chicken owners as well.

She added that, unfortunately, there will also probably be some chicken owners who will do the same thing. “But, just like you have a lot of good dog owners that do take care of their dogs, you’ll probably have a lot of good chicken owners as well,” she said. Springer noted that there is also the advantage of being able to use chicken excrement in gardening, whereas you don’t have that benefit with dogs.

Similarly, Springer contrasted chicken noise to what already exists from dogs in Iola. “I go for a walk with my sister every night and

— Katrina Springer

council and prove her next point. “Eggs,” she said. “These are a benefit.”

Council discussion about concerns with allowing chickens were continued from the previous meeting. Mayor French noted that council member Jon Wells had previously stated he was concerned that dogs would be considered “vicious” if they were to go after a chicken. French proposed that chickens be classified as a food source, instead of a pet. “I would like the council to consider, should a chick-

Wells clarified that he would be content moving forward with the ordinance if there were a compromise on the definition of a vicious dog in such incidents. “This would be an exemption saying that chickens are livestock,” he said. “The vicious dog ordinance doesn’t apply to at-large chickens. We need to be really specific. It needs to be said that if a dog kills or maims an atlarge chicken, it won’t be deemed as vicious.”

Punishments for violating the regulations set forth would include immediate revocation of the chicken license and a $500 fine.

Council member Joel Wicoff stated he has heard there is a lot of resistance in Iola to the idea of allowing chickens. “I really appreciate everyone showing up and I don’t think chickens in our community really hurt anything,” he said. “But I think we need to maybe reflect on that.”

Mayor French responded by stating he

wished the passion of those in opposition was as great as those who had taken the time to show up to the council meeting.

“I’m hearing that you’re hearing from them,” French said to Wicoff. “I’ve heard from one person who is adamant against it and some history from another person. I’ve not heard from anyone else.”

Council member Joelle Shallah noted that she is still on the fence about the ordinance. However, the majority of the community members she has heard from are in opposition to allowing chickens in town.

“We have a lot of citizens who don’t feel comfortable coming in front of a public forum to speak and let their ideas and feelings be heard,” she said. “That’s why we have an email address and there are other ways of getting in touch with council members.”

Council member Nicholas Lohman said his interactions with community members has seen the vast ma jority being in favor of having chickens. “What this looks like to me is a logical fallacy called the negative selection bias,” he said. “For example, it’s like when someone has a negative experi

Hearing: Senators consider expansion

Continued from A1

icaid expansion. Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins have characterized the program as a way to “expand the welfare state,” instead of helping the “truly needy.”

Medicaid expansion would expand health insurance coverage for lower-income families. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government covers 90% of the extra cost of Medicaid services in exchange for expanding eligibility to those who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty rate. Most of the estimated 152,000 Kansans who would benefit from expansion are self-employed, small business owners and their employees, or suffering from chronic illness.

Medicaid expansion would unlock $700 million in annual federal funding and could save 59 rural hospitals on the brink of closing.

“The costs of everyday living continue to rise — including the cost of health care — and Kansas families are feeling

it,”said April Holman, executive director of Alliance for a Healthy Kansas. “It is past time for Kansas lawmakers to listen to the people and enact policy change that will ease the burdens of these costs on Kansas families.”

Kansas is one of 10 states left that have not expanded Medicaid. This session marked the first time in four years that GOP leaders

allowed a Medicaid expansion bill to receive a committee hearing. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly applied pressure before the session with a statewide tour in which she promoted Medicaid expansion.

Democrats and health care advocates are hopeful this year’s election will place additional pressure on lawmakers to support Medicaid expansion. All 165 seats in

ence and they tell 10 people. If someone has a positive experience, they tell two people. People who have negative views are much more likely to be vocal about it, than those who have had a positive experience.”

The council closed the chicken discussion with no further action.

IN OTHER NEWS, council members heard a presentation on the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) by Assistant Director Dacia Clark. The SBDC for the region is associated with Pittsburg State University and serves as a resource and support center for small businesses.

SBDC works to “facilitate small business development and subsequent economic growth,” providing “startup and existing businesses with assistance in planning, financing, budgeting, management, and operations.” Clark briefly presented information regarding services the organization provides.

The SBDC covers a 13-county area and offers most services at no cost. “If you go to a bank and apply for a business loan, they’ll likely recommend you work with a small business center,” explained Clark. “If you need a valuation of your business, we provide that service. We want these businesses to work with us to help sell them so they don’t leave a hole on Main Street.” Council members unanimously approved an ordinance that rezones the property at 702 Scott. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on

March 19 to review the application from Iola Industries. In the application, Iola Industries requested a zoning change from R-2 Family Residential to Industrial at 702 Scott. Current zoning does not allow for the property to be used by the adjacent businesses. This property is in the flood plain and city staff believes there has never been any residential housing located there. City administration also sought direction from the council concerning an increase in a lease agreement with Iola Industries. A five year lease for $600 per month between the City of Iola and Iola Industries for Columbia Metals expired on Jan. 1. The lease payment covers insurance costs the city provides for buildings utilized by Columbia Metals. The current lease revenue

cated $100,000

the House and Senate are up for election, and polling shows bipartisan support for Medicaid expansion.

In a statement to voters Saturday, Kelly said, “Now is the time to make your voices heard.”

Iolan Katrina Springer shows an egg from one of her chickens that she has raised on farmland outside of the city limits. She noted that egg production would be a benefit of allowing the ordinance. REGISTER/SARH HANEY

KS wildfires consume thousands of acres

By ALLISON KITE Kansas Reflector

Two wildfires north of Manhattan are largely contained after burning thousands of acres, forcing road closures and evacuation notices.

At least one home has been destroyed by the fires, but according to the Kansas Forest Service, no fatalities have been reported. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued a disaster emergency declaration Friday in anticipation of dry and windy conditions that intensified the fires.

Shawna Hartman, public information officer for the Kansas Forest Service, said firefighters were working to contain the fire on Friday, but the high winds and dry air helped feed the fire.

“When that dry air hit the already-ongoing fire, fire behavior intensified on Saturday,” Hartman said in an interview.

Crews responded to two significant fires. One has gone by several names, including the Burklund-Axelton Fire, Axelton Hill Road Fire and Jenkins Fire. The other is known as the Big Blue 2 Fire or Blue River Fire.

Hartman said crews that responded from other parts of the state would be released from the Burklund-Axelton fire Monday evening. That fire is estimated to be 80% contained.

The Blue River Fire is estimated to be 60% contained.

“They are planning on patrolling again tomorrow, and then resources will be released midday tomorrow if (there is) no new growth,” Hartman said.

Hartman said that, as of Monday afternoon,

the Kansas Forest Service did not know how many acres had burned. Incident commanders flew over the fires on Monday, she said, but found the blaze was not burning where they had thought.

ON SUNDAY morning, Riley County Fire District No. 1 reported on Facebook that the fire had burned more than 3,000 acres just in that county.

Hartman said the Axelton Hill Road Fire, the larger of the two, began Friday near Tuttle Creek Lake Reservoir in Pottawatomie County before jumping over to Riley County and burning “aggressively” in the lake and river bottoms.

Becky Ryan, public information officer for Pottawatomie County, said that fire began as a prescribed burn, commonly performed in Kansas to control invasive plants, encourage new prairie growth and prevent wildfires. This one got out of control, Ryan said.

The Big Blue 2 Fire is burning near the town of Blue Rapids in Marshall County, Hartman said.

State Fire Marshal Mark Engholm said in a Facebook post on Sunday that “high winds, wind shifts, rough terrain and abundant fuels are making (the fires) very difficult to control.”

Evacuation notices were issued Sunday for parts of both Riley and Pottawatomie counties. A social media post from Riley County police on Sunday said the “fire is approaching swiftly and is not contained.”

The order in Pottawatomie County has since been rescinded.

Beyoncé makes history on country album chart

NEW YORK (AP) — Beyoncé has made history once again. Her latest album, the epic “Act ll: Cowboy Carter”, hit No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception. The album also topped the all-genres Billboard 200, marking her eighth No. 1 album. According to Luminate, the industry data and analytics company, “Cowboy Carter” totaled 407,000 equivalent album units, a combination of pure album sales and on-demand streams, earned in the U.S. in its first week.

As

reclaiming country music, Beyoncé stands in opposition to stereotypical associations of the genre with whiteness. Conversation surrounding Beyoncé’s country music explorations began when she arrived at the 2024 Grammy Awards in full cowboy regalia — making a statement without saying a word. Then, during the Super Bowl, she dropped two hybrid country songs: “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” eventually

Kansas women still face workplace inequality

By RACHEL MIPRO Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — It’s 2024 and the gender pay gap still exists.

And Topeka-based advocates for women’s financial empowerment warn that child care shortages in the state are worsening the issue.

During a recording for the Kansas Reflector podcast, YWCA Northeast Kansas CEO Kathleen Marker and Fatima Perez-Luthi, the founder and CEO of The Grind Coaching and Consulting and manager of a local financial literacy program, discussed gender-based financial inequities.

“We still have a lot of barriers to break down,” Marker said. “Women need to really take hold of their value and say, ‘This is my value in this workplace, this is what I bring, and I could do more. But here are the barriers that I have.’ I think those need to be open and honest conversations with their employers to be able to say that, and it needs to feel safe that they can do that, and employers need to be open to that. Because women do bring a lot of value to the workplace.”

ON AVERAGE, women who worked fulltime in 2022 made 84 cents on the dollar paid to non-Hispanic white men, the U.S. Census estimates.

Breaking wage disparities down by race, AAUW looked at 2022 earnings and calculated Latina women earned 52 cents for every dollar, Black women earned 66 cents per dollar and white women earned 74 cents per dollar.

In Kansas, the gender wage gap is around $10,746, according to U.S. Census Bureau

On average, women who worked fulltime in 2022 made 84 cents on the dollar paid to non-Hispanic white men, the U.S. Census estimates.

data. For managers, one of the largest listed occupations in the state, median male earners in management took home $81,515 whereas female earners only took home $56,188.

Marker emphasized the importance of fixing these inequalities as a tool against financial abuse. Financial abuse, such as controlling finances so that one partner can maintain power and control over another, can trap women, Marker said.

“A lot of times the reason that a woman might not leave an abusive relationship is because of financial security and saying, ‘I’m not going to have any assets. I’m not going to have any job skills that I’m going to be able to have the kind of income that I’m going to need to survive, maybe

myself and my children,’ is what is holding someone back from being able to leave a very abusive situation sometimes,” Marker said.

Affordable child care, elder care and care for people with disabilities are all factors that block women from staying in the workforce.

United WE, an nonprofit organization dedicated to improving women’s economic and social status, used feedback from Kansas women to pinpoint

some of their most pressing issues. The organization’s 2022 survey of 536 women across Kansas found that more than 50% of them were responsible for child care.

In a state where only 46% of children are receiving child care services, and an additional 85,000 child care slots are needed, the lack of child care providers is a significant obstacle.

“One of the biggest barriers is child care,” Perez-Luthi said. “But it also comes when we’re taking care of our parents, and the cost of that — a lot of times women are required to leave their jobs because they just can’t make enough to pay or sustain the child care costs or the caregiving cost of their parents or their loved ones.”

leading to the release of “Cowboy Carter.”

In February, “Texas Hold ’Em” reached No. 1 on the country airplay chart, making her the first Black woman to top that chart as well.

Fatima Perez-Luthi, the founder and CEO of The Grind Coaching and Consulting and manager of a local financial literacy program, discusses the child care calculations many women must make before entering the workforce. RACHEL MIPRO/KANSAS REFLECTOR

It’s Mike Johnson’s Ukraine moment

The Speaker is stepping up, but Biden needs to help him get Democratic votes

Congress returns to Washington this week, and for once something substantive is on the docket. House Speaker Mike Johnson deserves credit for plowing ahead on U.S. support to Ukraine and Israel over the loud objections of his right flank. Few if any votes in the 118th Congress will be as consequential.

The press is preoccupied with the political maneuvering, but the larger strategic picture is that Ukraine is struggling to hold its lines of defense against Russia. The Institute for the Study of War estimates that the Russians have seized about 300 square kilometers of territory since January, albeit at high cost. The Ukrainians are short of ammunition and air defense. Absent an infusion of U.S. weapons, Ukraine will have to make harrowing choices about which ground to relinquish.

In other words, two years of U.S. support and valiant Ukrainian resistance could still result in a victory for Vladimir Putin. The U.S. would look like a feckless friend, and Europe would be the most unstable since Stalin was on the march. America’s friends and foes in Asia and the Middle East will recalculate their strategic risks and opportunities.

Donald Trump is capitalizing on the GOP discontent with President Biden’s Ukraine policy and says he wants to negotiate an end to the war. But Vladimir Putin doesn’t — except on his terms.

assets, which makes sense if it can be negotiated with Europe where most of the assets are located.

Overturning Mr. Biden’s destructive ban on gas exports would be a victory both for the U.S. economy and weakening Mr. Putin. But that will cost dozens of Democratic votes, and Republicans have so far failed to hang together to extract victories from the Biden Administration. Mr. Johnson may need two-thirds approval because members of his own party can block passage in the Rules Committee that moves bills to the floor for a majority vote.

Yet Mr. Johnson is not the Commander in Chief, and Mr. Biden has abdicated his obligation to build bipartisan support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine. He has made no show of outreach to the Republicans who have voted for U.S. support to Ukraine. And Mr. Biden and the campaign advisers who seem to be running his foreign policy may be bloody-minded enough to think that Republicans will pay the bigger political price for blocking aid. That is a bad bet. Voters hold Presidents responsible for trouble on their watch, and they know Mr. Biden has framed the fight in Ukraine as an inflection point in history in the struggle between freedom and autocracy. The White House is so far indicating that it won’t abide a trade on natural gas, but is the President’s election-year LNG sop to the climate lobby really worth an historic blow to U.S. credibility if Ukraine falls to Mr. Putin?

Two years of U.S. support and valiant Ukrainian resistance could still result in a victory for Vladimir Putin. The U.S. would look like a feckless friend, and Europe would be the most unstable since Stalin was on the march.

Mr. Trump will have a stronger hand if Ukraine improves its position between now and next year, which means that more weapons now are in Mr. Trump’s political interest.

Funding for arms passed the Senate with 70 votes but has been hung up in the House. More support for Kyiv is unpalatable to roughly half of the GOP conference. So it’s all the more notable that Mr. Johnson is clear about the stakes and is trying to cobble together a package that can pass. The word for this is leadership.

Mr. Johnson has been floating a proposal that would convert some assistance to loans, an idea Mr. Trump has suggested, and overturn President Biden’s ban on liquefied natural gas exports. Some of the assistance could be paid for by seizing billions in frozen Russian sovereign

Mr. Johnson deserves leeway to see how many GOP votes he can muster for an aid bill. But in the end we hope he will let the House work its will in a floor vote on the Senate’s aid bill. House Republicans can rightly sell the vote as a down payment on U.S. rearmament on everything from 155mm ammunition to Patriot missiles. Ditto for more funding for Israel’s air defenses and Taiwan that is also part of the Senate bill thanks to Republicans like Alaska’s Dan Sullivan. It has been dispiriting to see how quickly some on the right have derided the conservative Mr. Johnson as a swamp sellout on Ukraine. It’s easier to shout from the cheap seats than to govern, which Mr. Johnson is obliged to do. The particulars of the bill will be forgotten within weeks. What America’s allies — and adversaries — will remember is whether the U.S. cuts and runs on its friends in a fight.

— Wall Street Journal

Thursday morning, the staff of The Kansas Reflector got a jolt: Without warning or explanation, every link to their website was erased from their Facebook page. And it wasn’t only them — the same went for every other user who had shared their content.

Just like that, one of the primary conduits for the nonprofit newsroom to reach its audience was cut off. “We’ve been flooded with instant messages and emails from readers asking what happened, how they can help and why the platform now falsely claims we’re a cybersecurity risk,” opinion editor Clay Wirestone and editor in chief Sherman Smith explained on their site.

They assured readers their electronic devices weren’t in danger, but wondered: Did Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, take such draconian action because the news site had just shared on its page a commentary by an environmentalist documentary filmmaker critical of the social network’s advertising policy?

By the end of the day, the links had been restored. Meta communications director Andy Stone tried to allay the Reflector staff’s concerns that the block wasn’t because of what had been shared.

“This was an error that had nothing to do with the Reflector’s recent criticism of Meta,” Stone wrote on X. “It has since been reversed and we apologize to the Reflector and its readers for the mistake.”

Comforting words, perhaps, but Meta hasn’t given users and content creators a lot of reasons to trust it. Its Facebook and Instagram social networks still teem with fake accounts, scammers and ridiculous amounts of misinformation and deliberate disinformation.

A sobering recent study from three academic researchers looked at more than 13 million Facebook political image posts — the most potent type of social content. These are often called “memes,” combinations of photos with text laid over the top. The study found a shocking 23% percent of them contained misinformation. And it wasn’t evenly distributed by ideology: Bad info was in 5% of left-leaning content, but in 39% of posts from the right.

Scammers identify, target unwitting victims The fraud on Facebook is hardly limited to politics,

though. As an experiment, go make a comment on a post by a major public figure — someone like Paul McCartney. In no time, you’ll get replies from accounts with names such as “Paul Mc Cartney” (with an extra space) or “Paul McCart,” using a profile picture of the man himself, usually with flattering words for you. These hoaxsters are often playing a long game: They’re trying to identify people who are gullible enough to believe an international superstar is sifting through his own comments. When they get a bite, they’ll take it to private messaging — where it often turns into a financial con: “If you’ll just give me your credit card number, I’ll send you a special copy of my new album ahead of everyone else.”

Facebook isn’t the only Meta product with a credibility problem. Its Instagram announced earlier this year that it will push less political content into people’s feeds. Creators who run popular accounts have long suspected that Instagram and the other social networks suppress their posts when they get political — “shadowbanning” them. There’s plenty of evidence it does exist there and also on YouTube, TikTok and more. And who knows which views are tamped down?

Spotify deleted, didn’t ask questions

Big Tech is terribly opaque. Unilateral deletions like The Reflector’s aren’t uncommon, and good luck finding someone who can help you out when something nonsensical happens. Just ask Georgia-based musician Benn Jordan, aka The Flashbulb.

In February, he realized that his entire huge catalog of albums — hundreds of hours of music — had disappeared from the major streaming services: Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music. After many frantic inquiries about what had happened, he learned Spotify thought it found “abnormal streaming activity” on his account — and got the centralized streaming service distributor to

delete it without so much as an email or phone call. (Jordan got his albums restored, but he’s working on a more artist-focused alternative to that big distributor now.)

It’s not just big national creators, either. Our own opinion editor Yvette Walker recently found her Facebook account, which she used for both personal and professional purposes, was deleted. She’s still not been able to get it back.

So what Facebook says, goes. But 18 years after it opened up to the public, it still wants to have it both ways: It wants all the revenue it can get as a publisher, but also wants to deny responsibility for its users’ misdeeds. (“We’re just a platform.”)

This potentially existential threat for organizations that produce legitimate journalism puts convenience at its core. Facebook organized the confusing, wide-open internet and put its best features all in one place — keeping up with your high school friends, playing games, messaging. Facebook takes great advantage of traditional journalists’ work to fill users’ timelines with things to look at — but the company sells its own advertising and doesn’t prioritize sending people off to follow those links to outside websites.

Facebook wants and needs what reporters, editors and photographers produce, but doesn’t always act like a good partner.

If you care about responsible, verifiable news, we suggest that you directly visit the websites of the news organizations you value. Cut out the social media middleman. And if those

257: Board seeks new boilers

Continued from A1

road. That project is estimated to cost about $128,937. It can wait until next summer, board members decided.

The boilers, on the other hand, need to be replaced as soon as possible. Cole said the current two-unit system is 36 years old, far exceeding its 24-year lifespan. The system is only about 70% efficient and replacement parts are nearly impossible to find. The system struggles when temperatures drop below 10 degrees and Cole doesn’t believe it will survive another winter. He wants to replace it with a threeunit system, which would alternate between the three so that two are always running and one is a backup. Cole also would change the vent system to go into a sidewall rather than through the roof, and would remove two existing smokestacks used by the current boilers. That way, when the district redoes the roof it will have fewer penetration areas that could lead to leaks.

The board agreed to seek bids to replace the boilers, which Cole estimates could cost up to $300,000.

The other two projects were much less costly. One would replace carpets in parts of the middle school. The other would replace partitions in bathrooms at the middle school.

Though Fager suggested both could wait, board members decided to move forward with the bathroom partitions. Board member Dan Willis said the outdated, broken partitions are an embarrassment when other schools visit. Others agreed. Cole received three bids to replace them and recommended accepting the low bid from All Partitions for $22,766.

Most districts in southeast Kansas have a lot of at-risk students, so at-risk funding greatly impacts us.

— Superintendent Stacey Fager

The carpets will have to wait.

Tech equipment

Ben Prasko, the district’s technology director, asked board members to consider adding an eSports program, in which students compete through online video games. Such programs are becoming popular at high schools and colleges, with scholarships available. Fager said he would not be surprised to see eSports added as a sanctioned Kansas State High School Activities Association sport. Prasko and Fager recently toured an eSports program at Fort Scott to learn more. It could be either a Caraeer and Technical Education program that fits into an existing pathway, or an after-school program. The Fort Scott district offers it as a CTE class; at Girard, it’s an after-school program.

Preliminary costs show it will take about $20,000 to set up 12 eSports stations with a desktop computer, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Gaming computers require more power and graphics than traditional, home computers. The powerful computers could be utilized for some of the district’s other technology needs, Prasko said. The board agreed to let Prasko continue to research the program and seek grants or other funding sources. He’ll report back at the April 22 meeting. The board also approved an annual request to purchase new laptops and Chromebooks. The district replaces some of its technology equipment every

year, with most equipment on a five-year rotation. The total cost this year was $74,348.40.

Prasko also gave board members an update on a new twoway intercom system recently installed at entrances at all of the district’s facilities, including the new science center and ag building at the high school. The new system works similar to a camera doorbell, popular for residential homes. It allows for two-way communication and can be used remotely from a laptop. That will be especially useful in the summer, when staff aren’t always available to monitor the doors from an office.

IN OTHER news, the board:

• Heard an update from Fager about legislative issues being considered by lawmakers in Topeka. He and other education advocates were encouraged by a compromise bill regarding at-risk funding. Earlier last week, it looked as if lawmakers would pass a bill that some said would “permanently underfund” special education. That changed Saturday morning when a committee passed legislation that would fund at-risk programs through at least 2030 and increase special education funding.

“Most districts in southeast Kansas have a lot of at-risk students, so at-risk funding greatly impacts us,” Fager said. “It’s good to see cooler heads prevail because it wasn’t looking very good for quite a while. We’ll see what makes it to the governor’s desk.”

Fager also is watching a new tax plan passed by both the Senate and House on Saturday, but could possibly be vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly.

• Heard from board member Robin Griffin-Lohman, who participated in the meeting virtually, to recognize speech and language pathologists “who play an important role in the development of our students.”

lights came on. During totality I was able to easily see Venus and Jupiter near the eclipsed Sun. It became dark enough that it was difficult to see some notes that I had written on a piece of paper. I took some time to just enjoy the experience. During totality you can look at the eclipsed sun without causing

any harm to your eyes. And you can remove any solar filter from a camera or telescope. I could easily see the large solar flare or solar prominence extending from the sun with the naked eye. It was large enough that no telescope was needed to see it. Through the telescope it was easy to see the other solar flares extending from the edge of the Sun.

DRIVING BACK to Kansas City, the traffic was heavy but mostly it kept moving. It was strange to see all of the traffic moving in one direction, away from the eclipse zone. Approaching traffic was rarely seen.

In Doniphan, I talked with people who had come from Chicago, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, and even one man from Canada just to see the eclipse.

Rare comic sells for $6 million

NEW YORK (AP)

— A 1938 copy of the comic that first “introduced Superman to the world” has sold for a record-setting $6 million, the auctioneer that handled the purchase said last week.

According to Heritage Auctions, the rare copy of Action Com-

ics No. 1 was sold to an anonymous buyer on Thursday. The $6 million price tag makes the book the most expensive comic to ever sell at auction, the action house added.

Heritage Auctions

hails Action Comics No.

1 as “the most important comic ever published”

— noting that the Superman who first appeared in the 1938 spring issue “remains remarkably like” the version still seen in comic strips and on the big screen today. In addition to the Man of Steel’s first appearance, the book also introduced central love interest Lois Lane.

Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas and Thrive Allen County are partnering to provide access to vaccinations including Flu, COVID-19 and Shingles

Vaccination is recommended by the CDC for all people over 6 and is especially important for adults who are over 50 or who are immunocompromised. No Appointment Necessary.

Vaccinations are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance

Need a Ride? Transportation to and from the event will be provided by Allen Regional Transit. To schedule, call (620) 228-0463 or email transportation@thriveallencounty.org

Wednesday, April 24 @ 10:30AM - 2:30PM

Humboldt Health Fair @ the Humboldt Library 916 Bridge St, Humboldt, KS 66748

Sports Daily B

Just out of reach

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

YATES CENTER — An undermanned Yates Center High softball team came up short on the scoreboard Monday, but nevertheless kept the fans on the edges of their seats until the final pitch.

The Wildcats staged late rallies in both games of their doubleheader with visiting St. Paul, but with two of their best young hitters unavailable, Yates Center was unable to put the finishing touches on a victory in either game, falling 8-7 and 6-5.

The Wildcats came within an eyelash of tying both

games in the latter stages Yates Center left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and runners on first and third in the sixth of Game 1, and then saw the potential tying run thrown out trying to steal in the seventh inning of Game 2.

“We are a very young team, with a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Yates Center head coach Alexa Estes said. “Our bats are good, but we hit a lot right to them. Their defense is really good.”

Jaycie Randall walked and scored to start Yates Center’s offense in the opener, before Kamdyn Trahan provided the Wildcats’ second run by sin-

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Wildcats sweep St. Paul

By RICHARD LUKEN

YATES CENTER — After losing its previous four games by an average of 17 runs a contest, Yates Center High’s baseball team was in need of a pick-me-up.

The Wildcat pitching staff did just that Monday, shutting down visiting St. Paul to sweep the teams’ doubleheader, 12-2 and 125. “It felt good to get the boys out there and get some positivity after a couple of tough doubleheaders,” Wildcat head coach Jarrod McVey said. “And it started with our pitching.”

Wildcat hurlers Blake Morrison and William Stackhouse combined on a five-hitter in the opener, and perhaps more importantly, surrendered a total of just two walks, compared to nine strikeouts.

Evan McVey, Tristan Ballin and Jason Meigs continued the trend in Monday’s nightcap, combining to allow seven hits and striking out 12.

“Blake set the tone,” Coach McVey said. “And it was William’s first outing out there, and he did a good job. I look forward to getting him some more mound time.”

In both contests, the Wildcats took control early.

The Wildcats scored four in the first, three in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth to end the game once the spread reached 12 runs.

Stackhouse singled twice and drove in three, while Kaiden Rutherford

Marmaton Valley rolls past Northeast

MORAN — A year ago, a young Marmaton Valley High baseball squad struggled through the early portions of the season before finding its groove and ending the year on a high note.

History appears to be repeating itself.

After dropping their first seven games of 2024, the Wildcats have found the winning touch.

On Monday, the Wildcats erupted for five runs in the fifth inning — the big blow, a two-run double from Daniel Fewins — to rally from a 7-4 deficit against Southeast, winning 10-7.

Marmaton Valley didn’t wait nearly as long in Game 2, scoring six in the second to take the lead for good before ending the game in the fifth once the margin reached 10 runs in a 13-3 romp.

The Wildcats spotted Southeast an early 3-0 lead in the opener, but quickly

See MV | Page B3

St. Paul Monday. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

had a triple and RBI. Evan McVey, Morrison and Ballin added singles.

Morrison got the start, and surrendered four hits and one earned run over three innings, striking out four. Stackhouse struck out five over two scoreless innings of relief work, allowing one hit. The Wildcats racked up nine stolen bases, three from Evan McVey, two each from Stackhouse and Kage Beck and one apiece from Morrison and Meigs. “The guys are doing a good job on the bases of being really conscious of reading pitches, working and being aggressive,” McVey said. “We have some good speed. It’ll

UConn enters dynasty mode

By DAVID BRANDT The

Associated Press

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies proved that even in the age of NIL and rampant player transfers, it’s possible to build a program capable of winning backto-back national titles. A few minutes after cutting down the nets on Mon-

day night, the coach was already thinking about a three-peat. “We’re going to maintain a championship culture,” Hurley said. “We’re bringing in some very talented high school freshmen. Our returning players, through player development, will take a big jump. We’ll stra-

See UCONN | Page B3

William Stackhouse bats for Yates Center High’s Wildcats in a win over

Marmaton Valley High’s Kele Michael bats Monday against Southeast-Cherokee. PHOTO BY MARIA FORERO/MVHS

The Iola Register

Yates Center High’s Jaycie Randall, left, tries to elude the tag of St. Paul infielder Jorja Harris Monday. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

The Connecticut Huskies celebrate after beating the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Monday. GETTY IMAGES/JAMIE SQUARE/TNS

UConn: Repeat shows model for college hoops in NIL era

Continued from B1

tegically add through the portal. “I don’t think that we’re going anywhere.”

Hurley’s confidence is understandable considering the Huskies did basically the same thing before this season. They lost their top scorers from the 2023 championship team — Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins — before reloading with players like Cam Spencer and Stephon Castle who helped them beat Purdue 75-60 in the title game of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night.

Another overhaul will be needed.

Spencer and Tristen Newton are out of college eligibility, while

Donovan Clingan and Castle are potential lottery picks in the NBA draft. Hurley already had the potential scenarios running through his head.

“We’ll enjoy this for a couple days,” Hurley said. “On the flight home tomorrow, we’ll start talking about what the roster’s going to look like. Obviously we graduate some players. We’re going to lose a couple potentially to the NBA early entry.”

Hurley, 51, will be a hot item on the coaching market over the next few weeks, particularly if the Kentucky job comes open as expected. John Calipari is reportedly in talks with Arkansas to become their next coach, which would lead to a

ed after last year’s title with a $32.1 million, sixyear deal that could keep him on campus through 2029. It wouldn’t be a surprise if another raise is in the near future.

high-profile vacancy.

But Hurley didn’t sound like a man who wanted to load up a moving truck anytime soon.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t think that’s a concern,” Hurley said laughing. “My wife, you should have her answer that.”

At this point, it’s understandable why Hurley is comfortable in Storrs. He was reward-

MV: Rolls past Southeast

closed the gap with RBI doubles from Dominic Smith and Garrett Morrison to pull the Wildcats to within 3-2 in the bottom of the first.

The Lancers responded with two more in the second to lead 5-2.

Bases-loaded walks to Mason Ferguson and Andie Carr closed the gap to 5-4 in the third frame, but again Southeast responded, scoring twice in the fifth to lead, 7-4.

Mason Ferguson stole home as part of a double steal to ignite the pivotal fifth-inning rally. Smith followed with an RBI single to close the gap to 7-6, setting the stage for Fewins’s two-run double later in the inning.

Kele Michael worked a bases-loaded walk into the mix for a 9-7 lead.

Brayden Lawson’s RBI grounder in the sixth drove home Lord for the 10th and final run. Smith paced the offense with a double and two singles, with two RBIs. Fewins singled and doubled and drove in two, Lord singled twice, while Morrison doubled.

Morrison and Michael shared the pitching duties. Morrison struck out two over 2.2 innings before Michael shut down the Southeast lineup over the final 4.1 innings, striking out five innings and allowing four walks and no earned runs.

SOUTHEAST again struck early in the nightcap, leading 3-0

after half an inning. But it only slowed the inevitable.

Lord singled and Smith walked to lead off Marmaton Valley’s half of the first. Both came around to score.

Chris Ferguson walked and scored before Lord’s RBI triple put the Wildcats on top for good, 4-3, in the bottom of the second. Lawson followed with an RBI single, Morrison drove in two with a double and Mason Ferguson made it 8-3 with an RBI base hit.

Smith tacked on two more RBIs with a third-inning double. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Fewins. Fewins

then helped end the game with an RBI single. He came home on Michael’s single with one out in the fifth to end the game. Lord was dominant on the mound, striking out 10 over five innings, allowing four hits.

Smith hit a double and triple, while driving in three. Smith singled and doubled with three RBIs. Michael singled twice. Morrison had a single, double and two RBIs. Lord, Lawson, Mason Ferguson and Brevyn Campbell chipped in with singles.

he picked UConn is because he wanted to learn from Hurley’s intensity.

Spencer played his first three seasons at Loyola (Maryland) before transferring to Rutgers last season. With one year of eligibility remaining, Hurley coaxed Spencer to UConn, and it was a perfect fit.

Despite Hurley’s hard-charging personality, his players don’t seem to mind. He’s been able to attract five-star recruits and also has a knack for finding mid-major transfers who can play at an elite level.

Castle, a five-star talent who could have played just about anywhere in the country, said one of the reasons

“We said ‘Cam, if you don’t join us, we’re a top 10, top 15 team. If you do join us, we could go back-to-back,’” Hurley said.

Hurley joined an elite group of coaches Monday, becoming the first coach to lead a school to back-to-back titles since Billy Donovan accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007. Others who have done it — UC-

LA’s John Wooden and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski — are some of the sport’s biggest icons.

But Hurley said he’s still chasing some of his mentors, particularly his dad. Bob Hurley Sr. won more than two dozen state championships at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, producing dozens of Division I college players in the process. He was at State Farm Stadium on Monday night to watch his son clinch another college title. “Even after back-toback for me, I’m still just a worse version of him,” Hurley said. Then he grinned. “A little bit worse,” he added. “I’m getting better, and I’m coming for him.”

MARMATON VALLEY (3-7) hosts Crest Thursday.

Marmaton Valley High’s Brendon Newman reaches third base in a game against Southeast Monday.

Marmaton Valley High’s Garrett Morrison pitches against Southeast Monday. PHOTOS BY MARIA FORERO/MVHS

Dan Hurley, head coach of the Connecticut Huskies. GETTY IMAGES/MICHAEL REAVES/TNS

Staley: Clark, Cardoso’s greatest days will be in WNBA

By JONATHAN TANNENWALD Philadelphia Inquirer

CLEVELAND — In the biggest moment of all, the one right after the third national title of her career, Dawn Staley didn’t just want to talk about that.

Standing on the oncourt stage, with the confetti flying and the national TV cameras rolling, Staley made a point of centering the WNBA.

Star center Kamilla Cardoso, Staley said, “played like one of the top picks in the WNBA draft.”

Then Staley proclaimed that Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark’s spotlight “is not going to stop here on the collegiate tour, but when she is the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, she is going to lift that league up as well.”

This was quite something to hear. Isn’t winning a college title supposed to be an end in itself? Especially one of the most remarkable you’ll see, a perfect 38-0 season after losing five draft-pick players? It would be for countless teams, big and small.

But Staley knew the truth: in basketball, the pros should be bigger. They’ve long been

in the men’s game, as her native Philadelphia knows well. Now it’s time for that to be true of the women’s game, too.

The latest stars, not the first

“We have to grow our game, and we have to bridge the gap between college and the WNBA,” Staley told The Inquirer after the court had quieted to just the confetti-cleaners, the chair-removers, and some friends and journalists.

“I think our fans do it — our fans follow our players from South Carolina throughout

Sweep: YC wins

Continued

pay off as the season goes along.”

THE WILDCATS erupted for six runs in the nightcap to take control, sparked by RBI singles from Meigs and Morrison and a two-run single from Garrison Brittain.

McVey was dominant from the start, shutting out St. Paul over the first 3.1 innings with three strikeouts, but was pulled from the game, Coach McVey noted, to keep his pitch count low. “If we didn’t have to worry about Thursday, it would have been a different story,” Coach McVey said. Ballin came in and pitched the next three innings, striking out seven, and allowing three hits. Meigs struck out two of the three batters he faced to finish the game.

Evan McVey led the offense with a pair of singles. Stackhouse, Meigs, Morrison, Brittain and Beck added singles. With sizable leads in both games, the Wildcats were able to bring in several reserves in the latter stages. “It’s good to get them opportunities,” McVey said. “I saw a lot of good at-bats tonight, as far as seeing pitches. As a group, we’re getting more confidence, stringing hits together, getting baserunners, and continuing to work on it. We had big hits across the board. “We needed to come out and play to our potential to start the game,” he added. “That helped us set the tone and gain confidence.” Yates Center (4-6) returns to action Thursday at Jayhawk-Linn.

wherever they end up. But we’ve got to continue to bridge that gap. College coaches have to talk about it, anybody has to really get on their bullhorn and talk about what’s happening in our game.”

When the Indiana Fever call Clark’s name next Monday, she’ll rightly garner tons of attention. But there have been many big-time players in WNBA’s 28-year history, from Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson these days to Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie in the early ones.

Who would know that better than Staley herself? After playing three years in the defunct ABL, she was a WNBA stalwart from 1999-2006, beginning her coaching career concurrently at Temple in 2000.

Clark knows her share of history too, from C. Vivian Stringer’s pioneering years at Iowa to the rest of the game. When told of Staley’s remarks, she was moved.

“I think any time someone like Coach Staley is able to recognize you and what you did for the game, it’s pretty special,” Clark said. “And obviously, she’s someone I respect so much. I respect what she’s done for South Carolina, I respect what she did as a player for our game.”

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder, now in her 24th year at the Hawkeyes’ helm, knew, too.

“Obviously, Dawn

A A

Staley is the leader of women’s basketball right now,” she said. “She’s our Olympic coach, she is the person that we are all looking up to. And she’s somebody that, when she says something like that to a player, it should make them feel really good.”

Center of attention

Cardoso’s name will be called soon after Clark’s, and for good reason. The 6-foot-7 center was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, with 39 points and 26 rebounds combined over her last two games.

No matter what level of basketball you most enjoy, you know a dominant post presence when you see one. Philadelphia certainly does, being the city of Joel Embiid, Moses Malone, and Wilt Chamberlain.

As Staley famously said of title-winner Aliyah Boston two years ago, Cardoso will soon get to play against single-coverage defense instead of double teams. She will likely thrive, as Boston did last year with the Fever when she was named Rookie of the Year.

Speaking of coverage, let’s once more dismiss the fallacy that Clark will make less money in the WNBA than she does now. Of course her endorsements are coming with her, as the many blue-chip companies she has deals with have loudly made clear.

Her impending arrival is already making the WNBA money. The Fever have been marketing it in every unofficial way they can, with ticket sales through the roof and some smart social media plays.

On the day of the Final Four, the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces — as star-studded a team as the league has ever had — announced they’re moving their July 2 home game vs. Indiana from their usual 12,000-seat home to the 18,000-seat arena where the NHL’s Golden Knights play.

That’s the kind of progress UConn coach Geno Auriemma called for when he said Thursday that “the WNBA, I don’t think, has done a great enough job of marketing their individual stars. For whatever reason, because there’s been a lot of them.”

The buck stops here Auriemma’s words drew a chorus of praise on social media, and many nods from reporters in front of him. On Sunday, Staley added her strong agreement.

“Any business that you’re part of, marketing is the key,” she said. “I know the WNBA’s novelty has worn off. So you’ve got to continue to have innovative ways to capture fans, the corporate dollars and such.”

Will words with Norristown and North Philly accents get through to Collingswood-born WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert? She was at the Final Four, so she surely was aware of the feeling.

Expansion would obviously help too, bringing not just more exposure to the league but more players. There will be 13 teams in the league when Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers turns pro next year or the year after. Will there be plans for any more teams by the time current freshmen Hannah Hidalgo and JuJu Watkins arrive?

A growing number of cities have shown they want a team, making for a pretty loud chorus pushing Engelbert to be far more ambitious than she’s been for most of her tenure.

And yes, let’s note here that there are still seemingly no rich people out there willing to spend their wealth on bringing one to Philadelphia. (With no strings attached, such as conditioning it on getting a new arena on Market Street.)

If there are, they’ve yet to say so and start the marketing effort — there’s that phrase again — required to get Engelbert’s attention.

At least for now, everyone can look forward to Clark, Cardoso, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, LSU’s Angel Reese, and more moving this month to the professional stage where they deserve to be. And if they know it, Staley knows it, and Bluder knows it, then it’s time for everyone else to see it.

March Madness will always be special, but the professional game is the pinnacle of every major sport. It’s time for women’s basketball to act the same way.

Caitlin Clark (22) of the Iowa Hawkeyes shoots over Kamilla Cardoso (10) of the South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship Sunday. GETTY IMAGES/STEPH CHAMBERS/TNS

Dear Carolyn: I consider myself a good feminist, so I normally avoid talking in terms of gender roles, yet here I am. Is it the role of a wife and mother to help bridge a rift between a father and his grown sons?

When I have an argument with one of my sons, leading us to not communicate for a time, she just goes merrily along as if it’s none of her business. Sometimes a son needs to have explained how his actions hurt his dad, and sometimes Dad needs to be told why those actions were important to the son.

Sure, the guys should man up and talk it out, but men have egos, and you know in the real world sometimes people retreat into stubborn silence and resentment.

I’m not talking about Mom/wife taking sides, but about being a conciliator. Frankly, this attitude that she’s not involved in these two people’s sadness or happiness is one reason we’re separated (friendly) and slow-walking to a divorce. — Functional Single Parent

Functional Single Parent: I consider myself a good masculist, yet here I am: Your “men have egos” has me rethinking my policy against falling off my chair in fits of snark.

Yes, people (of all varieties) have egos. Yes, sometimes egos persuade people (of all varieties) to retreat into stubborn silent resentment instead of regulating their emotions and using their words.

When this happens, however, mature people (of all varieties) recognize their mistakes, leash their egos and initiate reconciliation themselves, modeling for children (of all varieties) how it’s done. They do not declare it incumbent upon the nearest mature female to goddess-splain them out of whatever messes they’ve egoed themselves into.

Sometimes people need help, yes! We don’t

always get everything right, and it is healthy both to admit that and to model for kids, even grown ones, how to own our frailty. If you would like the opinion or assistance of nearby mature people (of any variety) to help you fix your mistakes, then ask them for it.

I suggest you refrain from asking this of your wife person, however, immediately after identifying her failure to read your mind (and parachute into arguments you started) as the attitude problem that’s driving your union toward divorce. I’m guessing that conversation won’t tilt in your favor. Best to wait a beat between blaming her for, and needing her for, everything.

Hi, Carolyn: My husband and I are estranged from his sister. She has been emotionally abusive toward us, and the last straw was her bullying our 10-year-old son. I have her contacts blocked, but his sister keeps finding reasons to contact him. She texted saying she thought their mom was declining

cognitively, and to say her daughter missed my husband so they needed to FaceTime. I think this is so manipulative of my sister-in-law, but my husband says he would be a monster for not responding. I’m not sure how we deal with this. I don’t want to insist my husband have no contact with his sister, but she is not a safe person for us, especially our son, whose needs I think should be paramount here. — Anonymous Anonymous: They should, absolutely. But if your husband can keep his sister away from the rest of you, then you can prioritize your son without asking your husband to feel monstrous.

So the real question is whether your husband’s boundaries are up to the challenge of his sister’s manipulation.

If you doubt that, then that’s your discussion with your husband. In depth, with role-playing and clear limits. Better that than re-litigating the sister’s role every time she texts.

ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne

BLONDIE by Young and Drake

MARVIN by Tom Armstrong

HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne

MUTTS by Patrick McDonell

Trout homers, triples as Angels roll past Tampa Bay

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)

— Mike Trout hit his fifth homer and added an RBI triple, and Tyler Anderson pitched seven-plus innings of four-hit ball in the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

Taylor Ward had three hits and drove in three runs for the Angels, who have won six of eight since getting blown out in their first

two games of the season. Anthony Rendon also had three hits and scored three runs as Los Angeles also rebounded smartly from a blowout loss to Boston on Sunday.

“It was definitely a complete game performance,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “You find out the character of the people you’re around when you get knocked down

like we got knocked down yesterday and then come back and prove there is some character in that room. We’ve just got to sustain it and be consistent. We got punched, but it didn’t bother us.”

Trout continued his strong start with a triple in the first inning off Zach Eflin (1-2), followed by a 423-foot homer in the third. He added a two-out single

in the eighth, but didn’t get another chance to hit for the cycle for only the second time in his career.

Anderson (2-0) has thrown 14 consecutive scoreless innings against Florida teams to start his second year with the Angels. After dominating in Miami last week, he flummoxed the Rays with his speed variance and sharp location, striking out three

with just one walk. “It seemed like we couldn’t get on one pitch (from Anderson),” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Whatever pitch we were on, he was throwing the opposite. He kept us off balance. Really efficient.”

Anderson is the first pitcher in Angels history to begin a season with two starts of at least seven scoreless in-

Close: Yates Center softball falls in nailbiters

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gling and scoring in the bottom of the fourth.

The fun really started when Lauren McConaghie smashed a solo home run to start Yates Center’s half of the fifth inning to pull the Wildcats to within 8-3. Kinley Morrison and Avery Eakin followed her blast with singles, and both came around to score on an error, to make it 8-5.

Then, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, McConaghie reached on an error, and Morrison doubled to make it 8-6. Morrison then came in to score on error, making it a one-run game. But with runners on the corners, Trahan’s shot up the middle was speared by a St. Paul infielder, who threw to first and beat her by an eyelash to end the threat. Morrison handled the pitching, striking out 13 over seven innings.

McConaghie had a home run, while Morrison went 3-for4 with a pair of runs. Eakin, Trahan, Wylee Shaffer and Randall had a single,

THE WILDCATS took full advantage of assorted St. Paul miscues in the nightcap. Randall walked and scored in the first inning, and then after Lauren Schultz walked in the third, Randall reached on an Indian error. Both came in to score to push Yates Center ahead, 3-2.

The Indians tied the score in the top of the fourth, 3-3, but Yates Center responded promptly in the bottom half, after Peyton Petit and Schultz singled with one out. Petit came in to score on a passed ball, pushing the Wildcats back ahead, 4-3.

St. Paul wouldn’t be denied, scratching across single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to lead, 6-4.

Morrison gave the home fans one last hurrah when she singled with one out in the seventh. She moved up on a ground ball and alertly raced to third when she realized St. Paul wasn’t covering the bag. As the Indian infielders realized what was occurring, a throw to try to get Morrison at third instead bounced away, allowing her to scamper across with Yates Center’s fifth run.

But the rally ended there. Eakin handled the pitching duties, striking out 10 over seven innings.

Mylin Tidd singled twice. Petit had the team’s only double. Randall, Morrison, Eakin, Shaffer and Schultz each had a single, YATES CENTER was without the services of freshmen standouts Cayten Cummings and Jayda Rice due to injury, the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup. “We’re trying to get some girls healed up,” Estes said. “Those girls who don’t typically play those roles did a good job of backing them up. “Our defense is coming around,” she con-

tinued. “There are little things we need to work on as far as communica-

tion, but we’ll get there. We’ve just gotta get those young girls more experience. They’re doing a good job.”

nings apiece, according to the team. He left to a standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single in the eighth. “We have a lot of great fans, and I feel like last year I didn’t pitch well for them,” said Anderson, who went 6-6 with a 5.43 ERA for the Angels in 2023. “To start off the year this way, it feels good.”

Chiefs re-sign Danna

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna has agreed on a three-year, $24 million deal to remain in Kansas City, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal is pending a physical.

Danna had a career-best 6½ sacks last season plus seven tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits while playing 74% of the defensive snaps. A fifth-round pick in 2020, Danna has 17 sacks in four seasons.

Yates Center’s Lauren McConaghie (5) is greeted by her teammates at home plate after hitting a home run Monday against St. Paul. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN