41. April

EARTH

Rotarians deliver wheelchairs

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Inspired by Bob Hawk and Judy Brigham and her late husband, Tom, Rotarians Jim and Karen Gilpin recently joined the bandwagon by taking their grandson to Mexico for a service project.

“We thought it’s a great way to motivate young people to realize the world is a big place and they have lots of opportunities,” Jim said.

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

The term “throwaway society” makes Mike McGie cringe.

The term was coined from the prevalence of inexpensive, cheaply made products, such as furniture or shoes — heck, even cars — that are designed to be used, discarded and replaced rather than repaired.

However, what’s cheaper now often turns out costing the consumer more in the long run, notes McGie, who has owned Heigele’s Repair Shop for the past 20 years.

“Most of my work comes from antiques,” McGie said. “People will bring in a quality piece of furniture they know is better than something made from particleboard or plywood. Or, it’s sentimental, something Grandpa had, and it has fun memories.”

McGie specializes in upholstery repair, which covers everything from furniture to awnings, convertibles and tarps.

Heigele’s, at more than 120 years old, is one of Iola’s longest continuing businesses.

The shop’s origins date back to 1881 when Phil Heigele opened a harness and tack store in Abilene.

On March 9-13 the Gilpin crew delivered wheelchairs to children in need in Mexico, part of a charity led by Chris Lewis, son of the movie and television icon Jerry Lewis.

The Gilpins invited their twin grandchildren, Nemo and Talulabel Gilpin as a way to celebrate their 23rd birthdays. The twins live in Oregon with their mother, Krista Dalrymple. Their dad, Stephen, lives in Gas.

Things didn’t quite go according to plan, though.

The twins flew to Los Angeles to meet up with Jim and Karen. From there, they planned to take a flight to Mex-

See TRIP | Page A7

Mike McGie specializes in upholstery repair at Heigele’s Repair Shop, one of Iola’s longest continuing businesses at 120 years. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

street from its present location at 201 South St. Ballou eventually took over in 1920, just in time to face the toughest competition in the

By the Register staff

The Kansas Corporation Commission will host a line siting hearing for a proposed electric transmission line that is expected to extend through much of Allen County.

The three-day hearing will last from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 2-4, which runs Tuesday through Thursday. Spectators will be able to watch the proceedings via the Kansas Corporation Commission’s YouTube channel or on Zoom.

Kansas

NexEra has been contracted to build a 94-mile, 345 kV transmission line from Wolf Creek power plant to the Blackberry Substation in Jasper County, Missouri.

The proposed line route would cut diagonally through Allen County, affecting 58 local landowners.

The project requires the KCC to sign off on the route. Roughly 60 area landowners attended a March 1 hearing in Iola about the proposal.

revenue surplus expected to grow to $3B

By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector

The new forecast was released Thursday by the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, which includes executive and legislative branch budget analysts, along with economists from state universities. The prediction is that revenues for fiscal year 2023, which ends June 30, will grow to $9.8 billion, which is $128 million more than expected when the group issued its last forecast in November.

That would leave the state with an ending balance of

See REVENUE | Page A4

ly has yet to sign or veto.

Mike Purdon

John Michael “Mike” Purdon, 81, passed away at his home in Ozawkie on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Mike Purdon

Mike was the quintessential family man, wildly proud of and active in the lives of his children and grandchildren. A kind, gentle, generous man, Mike had a positive attitude and infectious optimism about life. Those qualities made all who met him feel welcomed and valued; he never met a stranger and was a friend to all. Although he could fix anything, it wouldn’t necessarily be a “fancy fix.” Mike was never late to anything: he ran on Purdon Time. Always a delight to his friends and family, Mike loved entertaining others with his puns, (terrible) jokes, and wordsmithing. He was also a life-long learner who enjoyed history and intelligent discussion.

Preceding him in death were his parents John Joseph Purdon, Frances (Hoffman) Purdon, and Elva (Howerton) Purdon; and his wife Barabara (Hehn) Purdon.

Mike is survived by his adoring children: Lisa Purdon, Lawrence; Craig (Polly) Purdon, Bangkok Thailand; Kathryn (Adam) Brown, Kansas City, Mo.; Erin (Phillip) Martin, Kansas City, Mo.; and Scott (Patty) Purdon, Perry; his grandchildren: Lilly Purdon, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Coy Garrett, Lawrence; Peter Purdon, Bangkok, Thailand; Lucille and Hazel Purdon, Perry; Victoria Brown, Kansas City, Mo.; Phillip John “PJ” and Charlotte Martin, Kansas City, Mo.; his life partner, Merrie Lewis, Ozawkie; and his cousin Kent Howerton, Kansas City, Mo.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 26, at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Meriden, with a reception to follow in the church hall.

Memorial contributions may be made to TARC, Inc., or The Nature Conservancy and may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary, 120 W. 13th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.

Opal Tidd

Opal Margaret Chriestenson Tidd, 88, died

Monday, April 17, 2023, at her home.

She was born to Victor and Alice Beckman Chriestenson on Sept. 9, 1934, in Neosho Falls.

Opal married Richard Tidd on June 12, 1951. This union was blessed with four children. They were married for 72 years until his passing.

She also was preceded in death by daughters Betty and Mary and great-grandson Bryson.

Opal is survived by her sons Gary and Richard; siblings, Mary, Alice, Floyd and Bill; 10 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild on the way.

Funeral services were held Friday, with burial at Neosho Falls Cemetery.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Children’s Miracle Network and can be left in care of Feuerborn Funeral Service, 1883 U.S.54, Iola, KS 66749.

Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.

Five generations

Amaya Lively was born Aug. 13, 2022, and becomes the fifth generation of a line started by Bob (deceased) and Audrey Maley. From left, great-grandfather Harry Maley, great-great-grandmother Audrey Maley holding Amaya, mother Alanah Maley and grandfather Joshua Maley. COURTESY PHOTO

REGISTER/TIM

The Register collaborated with Iola Elementary School to sponsor an Earth Day Giveaway. Teachers and students integrat-

ed past editions of Register newspapers in their classrooms as a fun way to remember the importance of recycling.

A lucky classroom, selected by a raffle, will win a pizza party. Here are a few photos that caught our eye on Friday afternoon.

Kindergarten

Robin Eshelman

pose for a photo with their class recycling project. Students worked together to create a papier mache nest full of treats.

The Register provides 25 copies a day to the Iola Elementary School library at no cost as well as online access to district teachers and staff.

Jacky McIntyre and her second grade students created some beautiful butterflies made of recycled newspapers, a colorful addition to their classroom.

Students in Rachel Palmer’s fifth grade class, above and to the left, used recycled newspapers to create Renaissance style clothing. The students used old issues of The Iola Register to make their projects.

STAUFFER

From left, Luuly Tran, Wren Clift and Radha Desai pose with their Viking longships created in Terri Carlin’s third grade class. Students are studying the Vikings in class.

Frequent shootings put US mass killings on a record pace

LOS ANGELES (AP)

— The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings in 2023, replaying the horror on a loop roughly once a week so far this year.

The carnage has taken 88 lives in 17 mass killings over 111 days. Each time, the killers wielded firearms. Only 2009 was marked by as many such tragedies in the same period of time.

Children at a Nashville grade school, gunned down on an ordinary Monday. Farmworkers in Northern California, sprayed with bullets over a workplace grudge. Dancers at a ballroom outside Los Angeles, massacred as they celebrated the Lunar New Year.

In just the last week, four partygoers were slain and 32 injured in Dadeville, Alabama, when bullets rained down on a Sweet 16 celebration. And a man just released from prison fatally shot four people, including his parents, in Bowdoin, Maine, before opening fire on motorists traveling a busy interstate highway.

“Nobody should be shocked,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-yearold daughter Jaime was one of 17 people killed at a Parkland, Florida, high school in 2018. “I visit my daughter in a cemetery. Outrage doesn’t begin to describe how I feel.”

The Parkland victims are among the 2,842

tinues and barriers to change remain. The likelihood of Congress reinstating a ban on semi-automatic rifles appears far off, and the U.S. Supreme Court last year set new standards for reviewing the nation’s gun laws, calling into question firearms restrictions across the country.

and 230 people slain in such tragedies in 2017.

That year, 60 people died when a gunman opened fire over an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The massacre still accounts for the most fatalities from a mass shooting in modern America.

“Here’s the reality:

people who have died in mass killings in the U.S. since 2006, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today, in partnership with Northeastern University. It counts killings involving four or more fatalities, not including the perpetrator, the same standard as the FBI, and tracks a number of variables for each.

The bloodshed represents just a fraction of the fatal violence that occurs in the U.S. annually. Yet mass killings are happening with staggering frequency this year: An average of once every 6.53 days, according to an analysis of The AP/USA Today data.

The 2023 numbers stand out even more when they are compared to the tally for full-year totals since

Shop: Upholstery

Continued from A1

until son Randy was old enough to join.

As the times changed, so did the shop. Leatherwork transitioned to upholstery, and Randy soon found a new specialty — building awnings.

Randy Heigele sold the shop to McGie in 2002.

McGie still does some awning work, but typically works out of his shop for most repairs. He even bought equipment for shoe repair, “althought that was probaby a mistake,” he laughed.. “It wasn’t very profitable.”

McGie is recovering from a fall in midMarch that slowed him somewhat.

“My orders are backing up, but people have been pretty understanding,” he said.

He hopes to be back up and working at full speed soon.

At 63, retirement isn’t in the cards. “I have no hobbies,” he chuckled. “I have nothing to retire to.”

data was collected. The U.S. recorded 30 or fewer mass killings in more than half of the years in the database, so to be at 17 less than a third of the way through is remarkable.

From coast to coast, the violence is sparked

by a range of motives. Murder-suicides and domestic violence; gang retaliation; school shootings and workplace vendettas. All have taken the lives of four or more people at once since Jan. 1.

Yet the violence con-

The pace of mass shootings so far this year doesn’t necessarily foretell a new annual record. In 2009, the bloodshed slowed and the year finished with a final count of 32 mass killings and 172 fatalities. Those figures just barely exceed the averages of 31.1 mass killings and 162 victims a year, according to an analysis of data dating back to 2006.

Gruesome records have been set within the last decade. The data shows a high of 45 mass killings in 2019

If somebody is determined to commit mass violence, they’re going to,” said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Rockefeller Institute of Government’s Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.

“And it’s our role as society to try and put up obstacles and barriers to make that more difficult.”

But there’s little indication at either the state or federal level — with a handful of exceptions — that many major policy changes are on the horizon.

Revenue: Surplus is pending tax cuts

Continued from A1

of more than $1.9 billion, in addition to $1.48 billion in a rainy day fund.

The expectation for fiscal year 2024 is that revenues will continue to climb to $10.2 billion. The surplus would then be $3 billion, plus $1.6 billion in the rainy day fund.

J.G. Scott, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, said the forecast is based on the expectation that inflation, which reached the highest level in decades in 2022, will cool this year, and that the economy overall will see modest growth.

“It’s kind of nice to say that there wasn’t

a lot of changes after some of the recent years,” Scott said. “We’ve been going through ups and downs.”

The forecast ignores Senate Bill 169, which would reduce revenues by about $1.3 billion over three years. The Legislature passed the bundle of tax policies in the closing hours of the session, and the governor has not indicated whether she intends to sign it.

The bundle includes a flat income tax rate that primarily benefits the state’s wealthiest individuals, an accelerated end to the state sales tax on food, accelerated tax cuts for corporations and residen-

tial property tax relief. “The governor has always been focused on looking across the horizon and ensuring that we have structural balance for years to

come, so we don’t find ourselves in a hole,” said Adam Proffitt, the state budget director and secretary of the Department of Administration.

People embrace as they visit a makeshift memorial outside Oxford High School on Dec. 1, 2021, in Oxford, Michigan. (SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

Kelly vetoes anti-trans bills; overrides loom

By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)

— Kansas’ Democratic governor on Thursday vetoed a sweeping set of anti-transgender measures, including a ban on gender-affirming care for children and teenagers, but the Republican lawmakers who pushed them appeared to have the votes to override most of her actions.

Gov. Laura Kelly rejected restrictions for transgender people in using restrooms, locker rooms and other public facilities; limits on where they are housed in state prisons and county jails; and even restrictions on

rooming arrangements for transgender youth on overnight school trips. Her actions highlighted how her Republican-leaning state has become a fiercely contested battleground as GOP lawmakers across the U.S. target LGBTQ+ rights through several hundred proposals. Kelly narrowly won reelection in November, but the Legislature has

Kansas planning state presidential primary

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas plans to hold a presidential primary in March 2024 rather than leave it to political parties to decide whether they want to have more exclusive caucuses or state conventions instead.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday signed a bill into law that schedules the election for March 19, 2024, for the Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties. The measure had bipartisan support when the

Republican-controlled Legislature approved it this month.

County officials will oversee the voting and the state is likely to cover the costs, which could be several million dollars. Far more voters are expected to participate than the tens of thousands who usually do in caucuses or the dozens who would attend a party convention.

The new law does not schedule presidential primaries after 2024, however.

GOP supermajorities and conservative leaders who have made rolling back transgender rights a priority. The measures on bathrooms, jails and overnight school trips passed earlier this month with the two-thirds majorities needed to override a veto, and on April 5, lawmakers overrode Kelly’s March veto of a separate ban on female transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. However, two days later, the measure on gender-affirming care fell 12 House votes short of a supermajority.

Kelly said in statement on the four vetoes that measures “stripping away rights” would hurt the state’s ability to attract businesses. The vetoes also were in keeping with her promises to block any measure she views as discriminating against LGBTQ+ people.

“Companies have made it clear that they are not interested in doing business with states that discriminate against workers and their families,” Kelly said in her statement.

“I’m focused on the economy. Anyone care to join me?”

At least 14 states with GOP-led legislatures have enacted laws against

gender-affirming care for minors, including North Dakota as of Wednesday.

At least seven have bathroom laws, mostly focusing on schools, and at least 21 have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes.

The Kansas bathroom bill would have applied not only to bathrooms and locker rooms outside schools but rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and state prisons, as well as the county jails covered by a separate vetoed bill. Because it also sought to define “sex” as “either male or female, at birth,” transgender people wouldn’t have been able to change the gender marker on their driver’s licenses, though a 2019 federal court decree still would have allowed them to change their birth certificates.

Advocates of LGBTQ+ rights see the measure as legally erasing transgender people and denying recognition to non-binary, gender-fluid or gender non-conforming people.

“I am not going to go back to those days of hiding in the closet,” Justin Brace, executive director of Transgender Kansas, said during a recent transgender rights rally outside the Statehouse. “We are in a fight for our lives, literally.”

alter, improve or vacate the structure may cause the City to take appropriate action to have the structure repaired, altered, improved, vacated and closed, and/or removed or demolished.

WHEREAS, any person affected by an order issued by the City Council under this Resolution may within 30 days following the service of the order petition the district court of the county in which the structure is located for an injunction restraining the public officer from carrying out the provisions of the order pending final disposition of the case.

Council to discuss utilities, land swap

Iola City Council members will hear a request Monday to offer additional lenience for utility customers unable to pay bills in time to prevent late fees or service interruptions.

Tori Bland of Humanity House is requesting the city adopt a “Promise to Pay” policy, in which a customer would enter a contract to pay off their pastdue bills without accruing penalties or face disconnection.

The contracts would be either short- or long-term, depending on the amount owed, Bland suggested in her proposal.

Also on Monday’s agenda, the Council will consider a land

swap at Meadowbrook Park.

Unbeknownst to city employees, the southeastern portion of the park contains an unusual boundary. A small chunk of private property cuts into the park at a 45-degree angle.

In his notes to the Council, Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock is requesting the Council’s approval to adjust the property lines to reflect how the land is maintained by the city and adjacent property owners.

Monday’s 6 p.m. meeting is at the New Community Building at Iola’s Riverside Park and is open to the public.

Fundraiser in the works

The Iola Sisters Relay For Life Team will host a fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 29, at the Iola Elks Lodge, 202 S. Jefferson Ave. Roasted balsam-

ic pork loin, green beans, cheesy potatoes, dinner roll and cake will be served for $10 apiece. Proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mayor of the City of LaHarpe, do hereby execute this Resolution and order that notice be given in accordance with Article 6, Section 4 of the Code of the City of LaHarpe.

PASSED and SIGNED on this 12 day of April, 2023. THE CITY OF LAHARPE

By: Ella Mae Crowell, Mayor

Attest: Michelle Altis, City Clerk (4) 15, 22

Saturday, April 22, 2023

How a 125-year-old church stays relevant

Earlier this week Annie Vogel dropped by a flier announcing the 125th anniversary of Savonburg’s Covenant Evangelical Church on April 30.

“Come help us rejoice!” it said.

No need to be a member. No need to bring food — “God will provide,” the flier states. “Come celebrate God’s faithfulness to His church.”

That last sentence caught me off guard. I thought it was the other way around.

As with any church, Covenant Evangelical has had its ups and downs, attested Charles Hawkinson, a longtime member and the church’s designated historian.

“Between my family and the Vogels’ that’s pretty much the congregation,” Hawkinson said Friday evening. On the table before him were a pile of photo albums, church bulletins and manuscripts cataloging the

Susan Lynn Register editor

church’s history.

Hawkinson estimated average attendance today at 25. His local roots go back to the 1860s when his great-grandfather, Peter Hawkinson, came as a homesteader.

Besides his immediate family, his cousins and their families also attend the church.

The church organist, Susan Woods Haddan, is the wife of his cousin Richard Haddan.

Just down the road from Covenant Evangelical is the Swedish Cemetery.

“It’s so full of my ancestors there’s no room for me and my wife, Gloria,” said

Hawkinson, adding they have plots in the Odense Cemetery.

That’s not to say the church’s future is dim.

“They say if you don’t have children in your congregation, then you don’t have a future,” Hawkinson said. “Well, every Sunday there’s a swarm of kids. Nine of them are Jon and Annie’s grandkids.”

Jon Vogel serves as the church’s part-time pastor.

The church is at 3840 Arizona Rd., about 3 miles west of Savonburg.

The plain white building is surrounded by fields, letting nature do the boasting.

Tax truce is holding, but it’s time to finish the job

In 2019, the governors of Kansas and Missouri both committed to a truce, pausing the pointless, destructive tax border war. Prior to that, Kansas City-area companies would regularly leverage millions of dollars from their respective states in order to move just a few miles across the state line.

Waddell and Reed received $62 million to move from Kansas to Missouri, while AMC Theaters got over $21 million to move from Missouri to Kansas. Neither move took the respective companies out of the KC area. The result of this nonsense was millions of dollars lost to state services, most notably public schools, all for companies to relocate — not create — jobs. State money was in the mix, too — it was not just a Kansas City issue. The choice is then whether to cut essential services like schools and infrastructure, or make up the revenue by raising taxes on individuals and small businesses that do not have powerful, well-connected lobbyists. No jobs are created in this process, except of course for lawyers and lobbyists. This is absurd. Fortunately, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson agree.

In 2019, they agreed to a tax break truce, and it is holding. The Missouri General Assembly also passed

Michael Smith Insight Kansas

legislation codifying it, but only if the Kansas Legislature would pass similar legislation within two years, which they did not.

Kelly and Parson have each been re-elected since, but to make this commitment more binding once their terms are up, the two legislatures need to renew their own deal. This time, the Kansas Legislature needs to reciprocate. To be clear, both states are still gung-ho about tax breaks such as the massive “APEX” deal that lured a Panasonic electric-vehicle battery factory to DeSoto. However, since 2019 there have been no massive tax packages dangled before existing Kansas City employers to move a few blocks or a few miles. Yet unfinished business remains. Not only do the legislatures need to make the deal permanent, there is yet another issue that they need to address: A lack of tax reciprocity.

Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers live in Kansas and work in Missouri, and vice-versa. Each one is required to file and pay taxes in both states. Each state offers residents a credit for

taxes paid to other states, but the process is cumbersome and error-prone.

By contrast, Ohio has had a tax reciprocity agreement with all states which it borders for decades. Most notably, this includes the Cincinnati area, a substantial portion of which lies in Kentucky.

Under those agreements, one pays taxes to the state where one lives, not where one works. A single state tax return is filed, and that is the end of it. If there are any complications, the other state need only check the taxpayer’s state of legal residency. Kansas could also do this with Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

Opportunities are being lost and time wasted because of the baffling complexity of filing two tax returns and negotiating each state’s complicated process of taking a credit for the taxes paid to other states. It also incentivizes many people with otherwise-simple tax status to rely on paid tax preparers, wasting money. But for the border issue, these taxpayers could easily complete the forms on their own.

This should not be an ideological or partisan issue. The Kansas Legislature needs to renew the tax truce legislation and pass tax reciprocity — the sooner, the better.

The church was first organized in 1883 by Swedish immigrants and was called the Swedish Free Mission Church. In 1898, church founders purchased the nearby Friends Home Lutheran Church and moved the building to its current site.

“That must have been something to see horses pulling a building,” Hawkinson said.

Over the years the building has been expanded to the east and west, including a new sanctuary in 1977. Its last big celebration was in 1998 to acknowledge its 100th anniversary.

At the top of Annie’s flier is a drawing of the church and the Scripture, II Timothy 4:1-5.

Intrigued, I looked it up.

The Scripture admonishes us to study God’s word year in and year out, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

WHEN SCRIPTURE from 2,000 years ago is even more applicable today, you know you have a winning formula.

look back in t me. A look back in t me.

A

70 Years Ago April 1953

OLATHE — Iola will open its first American Legion Junior Baseball season in history May 24, according to plans adopted at a meeting of the Second District Baseball League. Ray Emmons will be the coach of the team and he will be helped by John Webb and Elmer Frazell.

*****

One of Iola’s major businesses changed hands this morning when Jake Elliott purchased the Iola Milling Company from D. A. McDonald. Elliott will take possession on Monday.

*****

Iola’s Ban Johnson League baseball team began selling season tickets today to finance the operations of the club. Tickets will be sold on a family basis, with $5, giving an entire family admission to all 19 of the Beejays league encounters at Riverside Park.

*****

Nearly 40 youngsters reported for the first try-out session of the Iola American Legion junior baseball team at Riverside Park.

*****

Western Union announced it will close its Iola office at 111 W. Madison due to lack of sufficient revenue, if its application to do so is approved by the Federal Communications Commission. If the office is allowed to close, limited Western Union service will be available at the Portland Hotel.

*****

This morning the Iola City Commission was urged by

a group of citizens to call a special election to vote on two proposals. One proposal to issue $60,000 in bonds to meet the city’s share of construction of a new National Guard armory, and the other proposal to start a half mill levy to finance the promotion of new industries in Iola.

*****

Charles Gray, administrator of Allen County Hospital, announced the hospital has been designated as one of 25 hospitals in Kansas where gamma globulin will be available in 1953. Gamma globulin is the blood derivative that has been found effective in preventing paralysis following an attack of polio. Its supply is very limited and all use is under strict control of the Office of Defense Mobilization and the United States Public Health Service. Gamma globulin has also been found useful in treating measles and infectious hepatitis. Because of the limited supply available it will probably be allowed only in positively diagnosed cases of polio and direct family contacts of those cases. *****

Dr. Gerald Pees has moved his office from 13½ W. Madison two blocks west to the corner of Madison and Chestnut where he will have a nine-room suite. The lower floor of the large frame house has been remodeled and includes a commodious reception room, laboratory, business office, private office, examining rooms, an X-ray center and a dark-room for developing film.

Savonburg’s Covenant Evangelical Church is celebrating its 125th anniversary April 30. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN

Charles Hawkinson serves as the unofficial historian for Covenant Evangelical Church. “Maybe it’s because I like to be the one taking the pictures,” Hawkinson joked.

Trip: Gilpins travel to Mexico to deliver wheelchairs for kids

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ico but Talulabel couldn’t find her passport. They scrambled to find her a flight to Kansas City to spend time with family instead while Nemo and the others continued on with their flight. The airline found the passport while cleaning a plane and sent it to her two weeks later.

Meanwhile, Jim, Karen and Nemo arrived in La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur in Mexico. They met with 40 other Rotarians who were part of Rotary District 6110, based in Springdale, Ark. The district serves clubs in the four-state region of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

The trip was coordinated by the American Wheelchair Foundation, a non-profit organization that delivers free wheelchairs to children, teens and adults throughout the world. Chris Lewis was inspired by watching and helping his father, Jerry Lewis, with an annual telethon to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He helped create the wheelchair mission in 2000; since then, it has distributed more than 800,000 wheelchairs in 150 countries.

Rotary Clubs and Knights of Columbus organizations throughout the world contribute to the cause. Through the organization, they can purchase a wheelchair for just $150.

For this trip, participating Rotary Clubs purchased 80 wheel-

chairs.

The first stop on the trip was the Children’s Rehabilitation Institute TeletonUSA (CRIT), which offers comprehensive rehabilitation services for children with neurological, muscular, and skeletal disabilities.

The Gilpins were impressed with the stateof-the-art facility and how it helps hundreds of children at no cost to families, with 22 facilities across the country. They compared the facility to similar projects by the Shriners Hospital for Children and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

They met with Chris Lewis and Noel Morris, Rotary district president from Springdale, Ark.

The second day, the group rode a bus around La Paz, delivering wheelchairs to eight homes.

That was a special experience, Karen said. It especially meant a lot to Nemo, who is studying to be a nurse.

They met a 17-yearold girl with spina bifida who had been a patient at the CRIT since she was 4. She was an artist and showed the group some of her paintings. Someone asked if she might consider selling them at an impromptu auction. She picked three to sell and earned more than $200.

At another house, they met a 7-year-old boy who had to be carried up and down four flights of stairs at his family’s apartment building because there

are no elevators. After they helped him into a wheelchair, “he zipped off down the street because the school he goes to is just a few blocks away and he wanted to show everybody at school,” Karen said.

“He just took off because now he can go to school by himself.”

The Gilpins said their trip was a positive experience and they were glad to have an opportunity to share that with their grandson.

“My takeaway was how we could do so much more here in the U.S. if we could get rid

of the in-fighting and get rid of some of the regulations,” Karen, a former nurse, said.

They have 10 other grandchildren, so there are plenty of chances for future trips.

Jim described something called “The Rotary moment.”

“It’s an emotional connection you make when providing service to other people,” he said. “Those 80 wheelchair presentations were often very tear-filled encounters. The recipients were so appreciative. We definitely felt those Rotary moments.”

At Evergy, we’re focused not just on what we power, but on who we power. We’ve invested $7.5 million in community organizations and people, provided $52 million in payment assistance for neighbors in need, volunteered 25,000+ hours in the community, and powered tomorrow’s workforce with grants, scholarships and training.

Bridging the Gap Tree Program

Nemo Glipin and grandmother Karen help assemble the wheelchairs.

Thank You

Thank you to the hundreds of Kansans, here and across the state, who worked to make Lehigh Portland State Park a reality. Thank you to those who wrote letters and emails, called their legislators, and traveled to Topeka to support this dream.

We believe in Lehigh Portland State Park, and we believe in its potential to transform our community. A new state park will bring tourism. It will create jobs, help support local businesses and protect the beautiful lake and surrounding trail system. And a state park means that the land will belong to the people.

This is a win for Allen County, for Kansas, and for rural communities like ours that believe our best days are ahead of us.

Our hearts are full, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

THRIVE BOARD MEMBERS:

Brian D. Wolfe, MD, Chairman

Alan Weber, Vice Chairman

Karen Gilpin, Secretary

Don Burns

Rayna Kidd

Megan Meiwes

Randy Rasa

IOLA INDUSTRIES BOARD MEMBERS:

Mary Kay Heard, Chairwoman

John McRae, President

John Masterson, Vice President

Jim Gilpin, Secretary

Jerry Dreher

Josh Granere

Ron Hageman

Gary Hoffmeier

Judy Kramer

Susan Lynn

Lisse Regehr

Jerry Skidmore

Job Springer

Tim Stauffer

Montie Taylor

Sports Daily B

Yates Center runs into Eureka

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

YATES CENTER — The Yates Center High softball team was hindered by its defense and their inability to string together good at bats in a pair of losses to Eureka at home Thursday.

The Wildcats were coming off playing four straight games this week before taking the field against Eureka, possibly a sudden loss of energy as a team. The Wildcats didn’t have enough in the tank for a comeback in a 10-5 game one loss. Then in the second game, the Wildcats were held to only six hits in a 4-2 loss.

Game one

The Wildcats attempted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth inning tying the game at 5-5, but ultimately were overcome by Eureka’s bats in the 10-5 loss.

Yates Center’s Kinley Morrison tripled to lead off the game and scored on an RBI groundout for the early 1-0 lead.

Eureka wasted little time getting to work. The Tornadoes knotted the score at 1-1 in the top of the second inning and struck again in the fourth inning when an RBI single gave Eureka a 2-1 advantage. The Tornadoes came alive

in the fifth, scoring three, including an RBI single Callyn Miller knocked an RBI single to second base in the sixth inning which plated Yates Center’s second run for a 5-2 game. Izzy Lewis then ripped an RBI single with the bases loaded and brought one run home for the 5-3 hole in the sixth.

The Wildcats wouldn’t go down without a fight. Morrison smacked an RBI single to shortstop for the 5-3 score in the bottom of the sixth. Proper then laced a two-run single to left to knot the score at 5-5 heading to the seventh. Eureka added on five

more runs in the top of the seventh to ultimately sink Yates Center, 10-5.

Game two

Similar to game one, Yates Center was able to knot the score in the middle parts of the game but were ultimately downed when Eureka made their final push in a 4-2 loss.

Avery Eakin started in the pitching circle for the Wildcats and was hit early in the second inning with a couple of runs. After getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, Eakin was hit with two more runs in the top of the fourth in-

See YC | Page B2

Marmaton Valley blown out at home

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

MORAN — The Marmaton Valley High softball team was dealt a pair of setbacks at home against Oswego Thursday.

Defensive mistakes hurt the Wildcats the most after serving up a combined 32 runs through two games in losses with final scores of 1812 and 20-1.

Game one If it wasn’t for the fifth inning, the Wildcats may have had a chance at pulling out a win. Marmaton Valley’s defense surrendered nine runs in the inning, giving the Oswego lineup a good batting practice.

The Wildcats got in front

early when Brooklyn Adams doubled and scored on a Payton Scharff triple. The next three MV batters, Braelyn Sutton, Scharff and Tayven Sutton each scored in the bottom of the first for the 4-2 lead.

Shelby Sprague then sparked a second inning spree which saw the Wildcats plate four more runs and take an 8-2 lead heading to the third. Sprague walked, Bailey LaRue was hit by a pitch, Scharff singled and Sutton tripled before they all scored.

The hardest part of the loss to swallow for Marmaton Valley was they held a 10-2 lead in the fourth inning before Oswego unloaded for 10

See MV | Page B2

Crest no match for Burlingame

COLONY — It was a one-sided brawl when the Crest High softball team was taken down by Burlingame at home Thursday.

The Lady Lancers dug themselves into holes early in the first inning of each game in losses of 11-2 and 21-3.

Game one

Burlingame wasted no time going ahead as they scored two runs in the top of the first inning and six more runs in the top of the second. The Bearcats then extended their lead to 11-2 in the fifth inning with a two-run inning.

The Lady Lancers plated their first run in the bottom of the first and the other run in the fourth. Kayla Hermreck led with two hits while Kaylee Allen drove in the lone RBI. Haylee Beckmon and Allen each had one hit.

Liliana Blaufuss started in the circle for Crest and tossed all six innings, allowing 10 runs on eight hits. She also struck out two while surrendering 10 walks and a home run. The Burlingame homer came off the bat of I Masters.

Game two

Burlingame began the second game even stronger, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning.

The Lady Lancers scored two home runs in the third inning and another run in the fourth in the 21-3 loss.

Kinley Edgerton started in the pitching circle for Crest, serving up 21 runs on 19 hits in five innings. Edgerton also walked eight and struck out one Bearcat. Masters led Burlingame at the plate again, this time driving in a team-high five runs. S. Bennett knocked in four runs while J. Simmons plated three runs. S. Short also drove in two.

The Lady Lancers came up with seven hits, a teamhigh two hits off the bat of Edgerton. Kaelin Nilges and Cursten Allen each drove in one run.

Crest plays at Northeast-Arma next Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Wildcats fall to Oswego

MORAN — The Marmaton Valley High baseball team opened by scoring five runs in the first inning of a 15-5 victory over Oswego at home Thursday.

Wyatt Ard started at pitcher for Marmaton Valley and threw six innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits with eight strikeouts.

The Wildcats tacked on one more run in the second inning for the 6-1 advan-

Yates Center’s Avery Eakin pitches in the second game against Eureka Thursday. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Marmaton Valley sophomore Khiana Haynes. PHOTO BY ROSLYN HOUK/MVHS

Chiefs ready for KC to host NFL Draft

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes made a bold promise to Chiefs president Mark Donovan at one point last season, knowing full well that the NFL draft would be coming to Kansas City for the first time the last weekend in April.

“I was going to make sure they say ‘World Champion Kansas City Chiefs’ whenever they

MV: Softball

announce our pick,” Mahomes said, “and I held my word to that, and I don’t know it’s ever been able to be said in the host city.”

Get ready for what could be a long party next Thursday night at Union Station.

The same place where the Chiefs ended their Super Bowl victory parade in February is the site of the draft, and the

Chiefs are picking last in the first round after winning their third Lombardi Trophy. So unless they trade up — always possible given their aggressive general manager, Brett Veach — the Chiefs won’t be on the clock until the sun has long set.

It remains to be seen who will be left with a first-round grade from Veach by that point.

Or even what position the Chiefs will attack.

The Chiefs need help at offensive tackle and wide receiver, two positions that were hit hard by departures in free agency.

“I think when you have the GM blue book it kind of says, ‘Smart in free agency and build through the draft,’

See NFL | Page B6

YC: Softball not enough for Eureka

Continued from B1

Continued from B1 ning, including a hit by pitch.

runs in the top of the fifth to take a 12-10 lead. Marmaton Valley then responded with two runs to make it 12-12.

Grace Westerman and Lewis each reached base in the third in-

ning for the Wildcats via single and error, respectively. They both scored later in the inning on a Morrison RBI groundout and a

Proper RBI single to knot the game at 2-2. Eakin finished her performance in the circle allowing four runs on five hits.

@ Neodesha, 3:30 p.m.

Monday: Baseball/softball @ Northeast-Arma, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday: Baseball @ Pleasanton, 4:30 p.m.

Friday: Track @ Madison, 3 p.m.

Monday: Track @ Jayhawk-Linn, 3:30 p.m.;

@ Chetopa, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday: Track @ Iola, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday: BB/SB @ Jayhawk-Linn, 4:30p

Monday: Baseball/SB v. Oswego, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday: Baseball/SB v. Uniontown, 4:30

Tuesday: Track @ Iola, 3:30 p.m.

Sunday: Softball @ Highland, 1/3 p.m.

Thursday: Baseball/Softball v. Kansas City Kansas, 1/4 p.m.

Saturday: Baseball @ KCK, 1/4 p.m.; Softball @ Cloud County, 12/2 p.m.

That was all Marmaton Valley would score while Oswego brought six more runs across in the next three innings.

Oswego tallied a total of 14 hits led by Abby Strickland’s five hits.

Tayven Sutton started at pitcher for Marmaton Valley and was relieved by Gabby Briggs.

Game two

When game two came around, the Wildcats were out of steam.

Payton Scharff started in the pitching circle for Marmaton Valley and was hurt by her defense making errors and allowing Oswego runners to advance with ease.

Oswego scored 14 runs in the first inning, four runs in the second inning and two runs in the third.

“Payton did a great job tonight throwing. But our fielding was just off. We weren’t making plays we normally can make, along with girls not playing in their regular positions,” said Marmaton Valley head coach Brenda Mills. “We will continue to work on fundamentals as our team has several inexperienced players.”

Scharff allowed 12 hits and four walks in the first inning and she punched out two in the first. In the second inning, Scharff allowed four runs to score on three hits and two walks.

Marmaton Valley came around to score in the bottom of the second inning when Mary Brown walked and later scored on an Adams RBI single for the 18-1 deficit.

Marmaton Valley travels to Chetopa on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Is a friend who routinely disappears a true friend?

Dear Carolyn: I have a friend I would like to call a dear friend, but I don’t think I can. Occasionally she just disappears from my life.

Sometimes for a couple of years, sometimes for a few months. I have, I think inadvisedly, allowed her back into my life after each of these ghosting incidents. When she returns, it’s as if nothing ever happened, and there is no explanation whatsoever for the lack of communication, or acknowledgment that I may have been hurt that she ignored me completely.

I’m in the middle of another ghosting episode now and have tried to contact her, to no avail.

What do I do if she contacts me to reestablish our relationship again?

My instinct is to ignore her once and for all, but that makes me no better than she is.

When she has recontacted me in the past, I have gently tried to ask what was wrong, what’s been happening, why does she do this? I get nothing but evasive answers and thank-yous for letting her back into my life.

I find these incidents very hurtful and extremely confusing, as I think anyone would. I have tried to understand, and I think I’ve tried too hard. Tell me what you think; I can take it.

— Ghosted Ghosted: Interesting last words you chose, “I can take it,” because my answer and your friendship hinge on exactly that. Can you take it?

More specifically, can you find a way to interpret her behavior that makes the friendship takable, as-is?

You seem to see her

CRYPTOQUOTES

Carolyn Hax

Tell Me About It

vanishings as rejections of you personally, as hurtful actions that she takes when she could be choosing instead to remain warmly and consistently in touch.

That’s reasonable — but it’s not your only option.

Because she’s giving you blanks where her reasons would be, you get to fill in those blanks however you want. You can choose reasons that aren’t personally insulting. You can choose forgivable reasons.

Maybe she has health or family challenges that overwhelm her intermittently. Maybe she has periods of hyper-focus on a project, a relationship, a cause. Maybe she has some questionable coping skills and knows to separate herself from the rest of civilization when she’s struggling. Maybe she gets embarrassed and lets too much time go by. Maybe she’s stonecold eccentric.

If one of these were true — meaning, if her ghostings were only about her, never about you personally — then could you choose, consciously, to roll with them? Simply accept her as ephemeral and enjoy her while she lasts, like a seasonal fruit?

If not, then that’s fine, too. You don’t have to be able to take it, or even want to. (Though you would need to tell her explicitly it’s too hurtful for you to keep taking her back, to avoid the “no better than she is” issue.)

But her evasions and those “thank-yous for letting her back into my life” suggest she knows she’s asking a lot of you and doesn’t take your

PIXABAY.COM

generosity for granted — and these alone, to my eye, are enough to say you’re taking her back advisedly whenever she returns.

Stranger friendships have worked; all any of them needs is mutual acceptance of terms. Such as: “She will be my friend when she can be my friend.”

By the way, you do have standing to be blunt. “Yes, you’re welcome, I’m glad you’re back in my life. But will you ever explain why you do this?”

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote:

If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion. — Noam Chomsky

ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne

BLONDIE by Young and Drake

MUTTS by Patrick McDonell

MARVIN by Tom Armstrong

HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne

NEW YORK (AP) —

Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday following his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand during a game.

Scherzer initially appealed the suspension but dropped his appeal hours later. In exchange, his fine was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000, according to a person familiar with negotiations between MLB and the players’ union. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced.

Scherzer said shortly before New York’s game at San Francisco that the Mets urged him to accept the suspension, adding that it was the best move for the team.

“I went through the appeal process. Looked at what that appeal process was going to look like. I thought I was going to get in front of a neutral arbitrator but I wasn’t. It was going to be through MLB. Given that process I wasn’t going to come out on top,” Scherzer said. “I’m going to follow what the Mets wanted me to do and that was to accept the suspension and come to a settlement.”

The appeal and suspension were imposed by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations. Scherzer became the third pitcher suspended since the crackdown on sticky substances started in June 2021. Seattle’s Héctor Santiago was penalized that June 28 and Arizona’s Caleb Smith that Aug. 24, also 10game penalties.

All three inspections that led to suspensions involved umpire Phil Cuzzi.

Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was ejected on Wednesday during the fourth inning of a game at Dodger

Stadium. He claimed the stickiness was caused by rosin and sweat and not by a foreign substance.

Cuzzi determined after the second inning that Scherzer’s hand was stickier and darker than normal and ordered Scherzer to wash his hand, which Scherzer said he did with alcohol while a Major League Baseball official watched.

After the third inning, Cuzzi then determined the pocket of Scherzer’s glove was “sticky,” likely with too much rosin, and he ordered Scherzer to change gloves. The umpires then checked the 38-year-old right-hander

NFL: Draft set to be hosted in Kansas City

Continued from B2

Veach said, “and I think I’ve learned over the years as you have more and more success that becomes more difficult.”

In free agency, players cost more. In the draft, the Chiefs tend to pick near the end of each round.

Yet they struck it rich in last year’s draft. Defensive back Trent McDuffie and defensive end George Karlaftis, both first-round picks, became linchpins of the defense alongside cornerbacks Josh Williams and Jaylen Watson. Second-round pick Skyy Moore had a crucial punt return in the Super Bowl, while seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco led the Chiefs in rushing.

“We really had to slam dunk this thing from start to finish,” Veach said, “and it was one of those years a GM dreams of.”

Who are the Chiefs

dreaming about this year with 10 picks overall?

If they address the offensive line with the No. 31 pick, Ohio State’s Dawand Jones and Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison are possibilities. The Chiefs have done plenty of work on Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers if they go that route. And pass rushers such as Kansas State’s Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey could be available there.

“We always try to stick to best available. It’s probably a cookie-cutter line all GMs use,” Veach said, before acknowledging: “It does become difficult sometimes when you have certain position groups that are really deep, because you do think, ‘Maybe he’s a little higher in value but there’s depth in that position, so maybe you can get something similar.’ So, it’s just working the

Wildcats: Baseball

Continued from B1

tage followed by two more runs in the third for the 8-1 lead before Oswego plated four runs in the fourth and fifth to make the score 8-5. The Wildcats then pulled away by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more runs came across in the sixth for the 15-5 final score.

Marmaton Valley was able to get to Oswego starter Rayden Myers who was bashed with eight runs and 10 hits through three innings of work. Brevyn Campbell led the Wild-

cats at the plate with three hits and four RBIs while Chase Smith, Lu cas Bloemer and Ard each drove in two. Ard also collected three hits while Dylan Drake, Kason Bessecker and C. Smith each had two hits. In all, Marm aton Valley had 15 hits and 11 RBIs as well as six walks. Two of Oswego’s runs came from Jake Hutchinson while Con nor Minor, Tate Per ona and Myers each knocked in one run. Marmaton Valley travels to Jayhawk-Linn next Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

board and really trusting your guys at the end of the day.”

PICK ‘EM

Why are the Chiefs picking 31st if they have the last pick in the first round? The Dolphins had to forfeit their first-round pick for violations of the NFL anti-tampering policy, moving Kansas City up one spot in the draft order.

NEEDS The Chiefs watched JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman leave in free agency, making wide receiver a priority. Two other priorities are defensive end, where the Chiefs released Frank Clark to create salary cap space, and offensive tackle, where starters Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie signed elsewhere in free agency.

DON’T NEED Quarterback, of course, but also Mahomes’ protectors on

FORWARDING THINK-

ING

Travis Kelce remains the best tight end in the NFL. But he turns 34 in October, and while the Chiefs have a few developmental prospects, they need to start looking for a replacement for the four-time All-Pro.

GOING LOCAL

The Chiefs would certainly cause a hometown stir by selecting Anudike-Uzomah, who was born in Kansas City and played prep football in the suburb of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, before becoming a star for Kansas State.

again before the fourth, and his hands were even worse than before.

Mets manager Buck Showalter described Scherzer’s state of mind as good on Thursday and pointed out that the pitcher was at the front of the line when the team came off the field after Wednesday’s game.

“He loved what his teammates did behind him,” Showalter said. “He’s a very competitive guy, but

he also always wants to do what’s best for the team.”

The manager said the aftermath of Scherzer’s ejection wasn’t unexpected, and called it “pretty much standard in history.” He said a day earlier that he was comfortable with where the team is in the Scherzer incident, and explained what he meant.

“Meaning we’re comfortable with what went down and what happened and where there was a lack of guilt.”

Wildcat junior high athletes continue to shine

ARMA — Cooper Scharff missed out on a gold medal hat trick by .09 seconds Thursday. After breezing to wins in the long jump and 100-meter dash, the Marmaton Valley High eighth-grader was barreling stride for stride down the stretch in the 400-meter dash with Liberal (Mo.) runner Ben Dingman. But Dingman crossed the finish line in 59.21 seconds, .09 seconds better than Scharff’s 59.30. Most folks can’t blink that fast.

Nevertheless, the scintillating finish highlighted another strong day on the track for Marmaton Valley at the Northeast Junior High invitational.

In seventh-grade action, Marmaton Valley’s Ethan Lawson, Colin Ard, Kaden McVey all earned gold, as the Wildcat squad breezed to the team championship.

The MV seventh-grade boys racked up 128 points, more than 30 points clear of runner-up Northeast.

The Wildcat seventh-grade girls, buoyed by Emma Louk’s distance running, finished second as a team. Louk won both the 3200- and 1600-meter runs, while Addisyn Drake was tops in the 100-meter hurdles and Clara Ferguson topped all comers in the shot put. (Side note: Ferguson, a sixth-grader, competed amongst primarily seventh-graders.)

Full results follow:

Seventh grade boys Team scores — 1. Marmaton Valley, 128

High jump — 2 (tie). Thomas Allee and Ethan Lawson, 4’8” Long jump — 2. Lawson, 14’2”; 12. Truett Blevins, 11’3”; 16. Lane Lord, 10’6”

Discus — 2. Kooper Welch, 83’9.5’; 8. Kris McVey, 66’6.5”; 10 Blevins, 54’8”

Shot put — 9. Kr. McVey,

27’2.5”; 15. Welch, 22’2.5”; 17. Blevins, 19’6” 3200 meters — 3. Tucker Sutton, 13:00.57; 5. Bryant Uhlrich, 13:44.26; 8. Jaxon Stevens, 22:05.22 100m hurdles — 1. Lawson, 18.55; 2. Kaden McVey, 18.55: 8. Brady Burton, 22.73 100 meters — 1. Colin Ard, 13.62; 2. Ka. McVey, 13:65; 16. Lord, 16.31 1600 meters — 3. Allee, 6:07.12; 4. Uhlrich, 6:16.56; 6. Ard, 6:43.45

4x100m relay — 5. MV (Blevins, Burton, Kr. McVey, Lord), 1:04.46 400 meters — 4. Kameron

McClenning, 1:08.21; 9. Allee, 1:20.67; 15. Stevens, 1:50.05 4x200m relay — 1. MV (Kr. McVey, McClenning, Stevens, Uhlrich), 2:17.94

800 meters — 4. Sutton, 2:51.88; 6. Ard, 3:00.87; 11. Welch, 3:30.47

200 meters — 1. Ka. McVey, 28.50; 2. Lawson, 29.35; 7. McClenning, 31.65 Medley relay — 4. MV (Lord, Allee, Ka. McVey, Sutton), 2:15.71

Eighth grade boys Team scores — 1. Liberal (Mo.) 85; 4. Marmaton Valley, 56

Long jump — 1. Cooper Scharff, 17’2”; 12. Brendon Newman, 12’11.5”; 15. Corbin Bowers, 11’8” Discus — 2. Dagan Barney, 98’2”; 9. Hunter Doolittle, 66’4” Shot put — 5. Barney, 30’3.5”; 14. Doolittle, 22’9.5”

100m hurdles — 2. Barney, 18.95

100 meters — 1. Scharff, 12.09; 15. Bowers, 14.53; 21. Doolittle, 17.61

400 meters — 2. Scharff, 59.30; 13. Brendon Newman, 1:11.98

800 meters — 7. Newman, 3:04.78

Medley relay — 5. MV (Doolittle, Barney, Bowers, Newman), 2:22.10

Seventh grade girls

Team scores — 1. Jayhawk-Linn, 114; 2. Marmaton

Valley, 76 High jump — 4. Evva Sander, 4’ Long jump — 2. Sander, 11’11.5”; 4. Addisyn Drake, 11’7”; 12. Kaylee Burris, 10’3” Discus — 3. Drake, 60’11”; 6. Clara Ferguson, 55’9”; 13. Tayleigh Forman, 38’5”

Shot put — 1. Ferguson, 29’5”; 2. Drake, 28’10.5”; 7. Forman, 23’8.5” 3200 meters — 1. Emma Louk, 14’:03.58

100m hurdles — 1. Drake, 20.08

100 meters — 6. Sander, 15.24; 14. Burris, 16.95

1600 meters — 1. Louk, 6:35.03; 5. Haylie Aiello, 7:43.66

400 meters — 5. Emma Louk, 1:21.16; 10. Aiello, 1:30.07

800 meters — 7. Aiello, 3:34.57

200 meters — 7. Sander, 33.78; 12. Burris, 36.62 Medley relay — 6. MV (Ferguson, Forman, Aiello, Louk), 2:45.41

Eighth grade girls Team scores — 1. Oswego, 114; 9. Marmaton Valley, 1 High jump — 8. Mahala Burris, 4’; 9. Andie Carr, 4’ Long jump — 12. Taylen Blevins, 11’11.5”; 17. Burris, 10’4”; 18. Emma Michael, 10’1.5”

100 meters — 16. Blevins, 16.30; 17. Michael, 16.49; 18. Carr, 16.94

400 meters — 10. Michael, 1:29.87

200 meters — 11. Burris, 34.70; 12. Blevins, 34.78; 13. Carr, 35.28

Medley relay — 6. MV (Blevins, Michael, Carr, Burris), 2:34.37

In celebration, we at Allen Community College want to share the impact Allen has on our community, especially since we already know how much our community means to us. Below are some facts and statistics that we researched, collected and analyzed from survey responses of our faculty, staff, students and alumni. We believe this demonstrates how mutually beneficial Allen is to our community, and in turn, our community is to Allen.

YOGA

At left, Marmaton Valley Junior High’s Clara Ferguson competes in the discus at a meet earlier this week in Yates Center, while Ethan Lawson, at right, clears the high jump. Ferguson, a sixth-grader, won the seventh-grade girls shot put at a meet in Arma Thursday. PHOTOS BY HALIE LUKEN/MVHS

Marmaton Valley Junior High’s Evva Sander runs in the 100-meter dash at a meet Tuesday in Yates Center.

On the brink: The scenario facing Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham

By STEVE DOUGLAS The Associated Press

The champagne is on ice for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Soccer is the new love of the Hollywood celebrities and there’s a big day in store for the Welsh club they bought unexpectedly in 2021.

Wrexham, which has been thrust into the spotlight because of its famous owners, could seal promotion from the fifth tier of the English game on Saturday. It would mark the realization of the first part of their dream of ul-

timately getting Wrexham all the way up to the Premier League, the world’s most popular soccer league. A look at the scenario facing Wrexham and what the team can look forward to: WHAT’S THE SITUATION?

It’s simple: Wrexham has a four-point lead over Notts County in the National League and needs three points from its final two matches to guarantee promotion to League Two, which

is the fourth tier of the English soccer pyramid. Its first shot comes against Boreham Wood at home on Saturday. There is only one automatic promotion place in the National League, with another spot coming from the playoffs, in which Wrexham lost last season.

WHO’S IN LEAGUE TWO?

By gaining promotion to the 24-team League Two, Wrexham would be playing in the same division as Salford, the Manchester-based club owned by five members of Manchester United’s Class of 92 — Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul

Ryan Reynolds Rob McElhenney

Scholes and Nicky Butt. In 2009, the league had star power in the form of Notts County, which briefly came under ownership of a consortium from the Middle East that brought in Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football and former England defender Sol Campbell as a player.

IS THERE A TV DEAL?

Sky, the British broadcaster owned by Comcast, has a deal with the English Football

CUP

SERIES

ALERT! Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with an epic burnout after winning Sunday at Martinsville.

BURNOUT

League — the three divisions below the Premier League — worth around $150 million per season through 2024. The vast majority of live matches are in the second-tier Championship.

IS THERE A CASH BOOST?

In League Two, each club receives around $1 million per season, half of which comes from a “solidarity payment” from the Premier League. Since Reynolds and McElhenney came on board, Wrexham has typically had home attendances approaching 10,000 per match, which would be one of the highest in League Two.

Pit gamble gets Larson win No. 2

5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy with 30 laps remaining, but then having to hold off another past champion in Joey Logano, whose runnerup finish Sunday was also impressive considering he started at the rear of the field after a post-qualifying adjustment to his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“I feel like [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody did a great job all day on pit road, making the right calls and having great pit stops and it all kind of worked out for me there at the end, we had a great car, that was the best my car had been,” said Larson, whose final 30 laps out front were the only laps he led on the day.

It marks the second win of the season for the 30-year-old Californian who joins his teammate William Byron as the only multiple race winners on the year. Larson was recently named one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers ever, as well.

That late-race pit gamble for Larson was indicative of a dramatic final few laps when pit strategy played a big role in the race. Logano was one of four drivers who did not pit on a caution flag with 56 laps remaining, choosing to take track position instead after he’d gone down a lap not once but twice earlier in the afternoon.

“Solid recovery for what the start of the race looked like,” Logano said, joking that at one point he would have been happy just to finish on the lead lap.

“Stayed out at the end when everyone pitted, which put us on the front row and had a shot to win the race,” he continued. “I tried to hold off Larson as long as I could. But overall there’s some days when you’re mad about second [place]. Today’s not one of those.”

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin finished third and fourth – the first top-five finishes for both drivers this season. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe finished fifth just in front of his teammate Aric Almirola.

The SHR team was especially strong Sunday with three of its four drivers combining to lead 264 of the 400 laps. Ryan Preece, who started from the pole position for the first time in his career, collected his first stage win and led a race-best 135 laps, but was penalized for speeding on pit road and had to go to the rear of the field. He recovered to finish 15th. Briscoe led 109 laps and Kevin Harvick, who claimed his first stage win

since 2020, was out front for 20 laps, but a late-race issue left him 20th.

Logano’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney was seventh, followed by this year’s Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace – who also had to recover from a pit road speeding penalty.

Stenhouse is already up to four top 10s on the season, which is just one shy of matching his 2022 total.

Perhaps the most noteworthy top-10 finish of the day belonged to Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott who was making his first start since suffering a broken leg in a snowboarding accident seven weeks ago.

“It was pretty good, honestly, about what I expected, so that was a good thing,” Elliott said of his leg after the long day. “Just it was warm [temperatures] and I’ve been sitting on the couch for six weeks so that probably hurt me more than anything.

“We struggled every run but the last one and finally got it going there at the end and I was able to start making some passes and do things I didn’t really think I was going to be capable of doing. So, I was pleasantly surprised by that and got a top 10 of our first day back so that was definitely nothing to be too bummed out about.”

Elliott acknowledged the earnest and warm welcome he received at the race track all weekend – the first time he’s been to a track since his injury six weeks ago.

“The people, honestly, from my peers to my teammates just the competitive nature of being here and wanting to be better,” Elliott said of what he missed most being away from the track during his recovery.

“Really nice to be back and I appreciate the warm welcome this weekend by everybody. I appreciate that and it didn’t go unnoticed.”

With the win, Larson moves to fourth in the championship standings – only 17 points behind leader Christopher Bell, who finished 16th on Sunday.

Sept. 14, 1969 with its rst race, the Talladega 500, named in honor of the local people who helped bring the track from vision to reality. Richard Brickhouse wins the inaugural event.

• Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, with a length of 2.66 miles (4.281 km), compared to the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The total peak capacity of Talladega is around 175,000 spectators, with the main grandstand capacity 80,000.

• How fast do NASCAR’s go at Talladega?

The Talladega record is 212 mph and has stood for over 30 years.

• Talladega has seen a wide amount of winners, but Brad Keselowski has the most wins there among active drivers with ve.

• Talladega is known for rst-time winners, including Bubba Wallace mor recently.

• Talladega Superspeedway is the most competitive racetrack on the NASCAR schedule (record 88 lead changes in 188 laps).

• Three- and four-wide racing at 200 mph are a norm at Talladega, along with nail-biting, photo nishes.

Kyle