The Iola Register, Dec. 1, 2022

School clinic readies for opening

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

A school-based health clin ic officially opens on Jan. 16 at Iola Elementary School. The Com munity Health Center of Southeast Kansas is pro viding the ser vice.

Students and faculty can access the clinic for a variety of health care needs, beyond the ser vices typically provided by a school nurse. That could include well-child checkups, immunizations, tests for in fectious diseases like strep throat and injuries at school, as well as writing prescrip tions.

Sara Clift, a physician as sistant, will serve as the onsite provider.

Staff can also access tele health services through KU’s Telehealth ROCKS children’s health program.

CHC/SEK also plans to in stall a vaccine refrigerator, which will allow students to get all their vaccines at the clinic, Ashley Hooper, direc tor of school health services for CHC/SEK, said in an up date to the board on Monday evening.

The program provides three nurses as well as Clift, so that all schools in the district have some type of health services. One will also visit two local preschools that work with the district.

CHC/SEK has provided two nurses to the district for a few years now, but the clinic

Looks like Christmas

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Angie Wray has developed a reputation for her lavish window displays for Christ mas.

The lights, of course, are a sight to behold.

Her storefront windows at Decorator Supply are a testa ment to her creativity, aglow with twinkling curtain lights at the corner of Jackson and Washington avenues, in front of an array of reindeer, Christmas trees and fresh garland, purchased new this year.

But the display deserves more than a passing glance, particularly the model trucks and cars she proudly shows off. All were made by hand by her father, Wayne Jackson, through the years.

Each is a piece of work unto itself, those ornate wood carvings shaped to the tiniest detail. He even added uphol stery to one of the vehicles.

Schools get more secure

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

A new security system will allow USD 257 staff to remote ly monitor and allow access to facilities.

At Iola High School, for example, it will allow secre taries in the main building to open doors for visitors to the science center or agricul ture building, both across the street.

It also will allow an ad ministrator to lock down all facilities in the event of an emergency, and give local law enforcement the ability to track live activities.

School board members ap proved a bid for $83,491.31 from INA Alert, an El linwood-based company that provides security technology for clients across the coun try, including school districts and colleges. Allen Commu nity College recently agreed to have the company install a

keyless entry system over the winter break.

Jake Strecker, INA Alert owner, delivered a presenta tion to the board. USD 257’s new technology director Ben Prasko was on hand to answer questions.

The system will work with the district’s existing equip

ment, which was a key factor in the decision. The district has a variety of equipment, from older cameras and sys tems at the middle and high school to new items pur chased for the new Iola Ele mentary School.

That means administrators

Tornadoes wreck homes in the South

WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — Tornadoes dam aged numerous homes, destroyed a fire station, briefly trapped people in a grocery store and ripped the roof off an apartment complex in Mississippi, while two people died as a tree crunched their mo bile home in Alabama, au thorities said Wednesday.

The National Weather Service had warned that strong twisters capable of carving up communities over long distances were possible as the storm front moved eastward from Tex as. They were fueled by record high temperatures and threatened a stretch of the United States where more than 25 million peo ple live.

A total of 73 tornado warnings and 120 severe thunderstorm warnings

Senate bill protects same-sex marriage

By JENNIFER SHUTT Kansas Reflector

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved legis lation Tuesday that would enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, codifying many of the rights that would dis appear if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn those landmark decisions the way it overturned the nationwide right to an abor tion this summer.

The 61-36 bipartisan vote sends the bill back to the U.S. House, where lawmakers expect to give it their final stamp of approval soon, be fore sending it to President Joe Biden. The House voted 267-157 in July to approve the original bill, but must vote again after a bipartisan group of senators added in

religious liberty protections.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, wore the same tie Tuesday he wore to his daughter’s wedding and re counted a conversation he had with his daughter and her wife following the death of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“I remember that awful feeling around the dinner table and I distinctly re member the question my daughter and her wife asked, ‘Could our right to marry be undone?’ “ Schumer said.

“It’s a scary, but necessary acknowledgment that de spite all the progress we’ve made, the constitutional right to same-sex marriage is not even a decade old and exists only by the virtue of

Allen ladies win, men fall

Hawaii volcano eruption draws tourists

Ashley Hooper

Angie Wray looks over Christmas decorations in front of the window at her business, Decorator Supply, 102 N. Washington. The downtown fixture is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Angie Wray’s father, Wayne Jackson, carves wooden model trucks such as this one. Note the detail of the upholstery.

Jake Strecker, one of the owners of a family business, INA Alert, talks to the USD 257 school board on Monday. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Obituary

Norman Stine

Norman Grant Stine passed away on Thurs day, Nov. 24, 2022, at CREDO Mem ory Care in Fort Scott. Norman was born Jan. 13, 1936, on a farm northeast of Uniontown, to Wil liam Kenneth and Mildred Agnes (Nutter) Stine.

Norman attended a one-room country school near Uniontown, then graduated from Uniontown High School in the class of 1954. On March 5, 1955, he was united in marriage to Audra Carol Swisher in Fort Scott. They were married 67 years.

Norman worked for the Kansas Department of Transportation for 35 years. During this time, he became the superintendent. He also worked on the family farm. After retirement, his work on the farm became full-time, which is what he loved to do.

He was one of the good guys, a devoted hus band, father, grandfather, and great-grandfa ther. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Norman was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed him. He was a devoted blood donor and donated multiple gal lons of blood over the years.

Norman was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Bernita Dawson and Margie Shanks; and brother, Kenneth Edgar Stine.

Norman is survived by his wife Audra, of the home; son Wayne Stine; four daughters, Paula (Larry) Goddard, Peggy (Kent) Frazell, Trish (Jon’e) LaHaye, Penny (Dave) Taylor; 10 grand children, Josh and Jace Goddard, Tara Small, Clete and Curt Frazell, Amber Lawrence, Grant LaHaye, Baley Robinson, Megan Ermel, and Tye Taylor; 21 great-grandchildren; one great-greatgrandson; and one brother, Bernard (Mary Ann) Stine.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 301 E. Madison Ave., Iola, with the Rev. Dr. Jocelyn Tupper officiating. Norman’s family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 U.S. 54, Iola. Me morial Contributions may be made to Southeast Kansas Down Syndrome Society or Wesley Unit ed Methodist Church and left in care of the fu neral home.

Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfu neral.com.

Dear Santa: Don’t forget the library

With Christmas just around the corner, the Iola Public Library is helping Santa deal with his correspondence.

The library has set up a special mailbox in the Children’s Library sec tion.

Letters can be written on Santa stationery.

Those who send a let ter can expect a reply as well.

Saint Nick will be at the library at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14 to read “The Night Before Christmas” as part of the regular Li brary Littles storytime.

Another Library Lit tles session will be held at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 4. Reg ular Library Littles ses sions will resume in Jan uary.

Elle Dominquez will be at the library at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 to read Christ mas stories from her collection of vintage Lit tle Golden Books in the library’s main lounge area.

Area news

Garnett eyes budget changes

GARNETT — In creased utility costs have forced Garnett city commissioners to request amending their budget, according to the Anderson County Re view.

Commissioners are asking for the budget for natural gas be raised from $1.8 million to $2.4

million and that for elec tricity be raised from $3.9 million to $4.4 mil lion.

Garnett City Manager Travis Wilson said funds to pay the expected in creases will come from city utility reserves.

Giant Santa Claus display stolen OSWEGO — An Os wego couple is offering a

reward for the return of a life-size Santa that was stolen from Riverside Park over the weekend, according to The Par sons Sun.

The Santa, valued at $3,000, is about 4-feet tall and weighs about 75 lbs., was positioned at a drive-thru Christmas display in the park.

“Old St. Nick has many more children

to see this holiday. We do not want them dis appointed,” said Sara Lytle, who donates the statue each year for the display.

Lytle added that the theft would likely “cre ate some bad karma.”

Those with informa tion are encouraged to call the Oswego Police Department at 620-7952131.

Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers

HILO, Hawaii (AP)

— The first eruption in 38 years of the world’s largest active volcano is attracting onlookers to a national park for “spectacular” views of the event, and it’s also dredging up bad memo ries among some Hawaii residents who have been through harrowing vol canic experiences in the past.

It was just four years ago that Nicole Skilling fled her home near a community where more than 700 residences were destroyed by lava. She relocated to the South Kona area, only to find herself packing her car with food and supplies this week after Mauna Loa erupted late Sunday.

Officials were initial ly concerned that lava flowing down the side of the volcano would head toward South Kona, but scientists later assured the public that the erup tion migrated to a rift zone on Mauna Loa’s northeast flank and wasn’t threatening any communities.

Still, the uncertainty is somewhat unnerving.

“It just happened last night, so I really hav en’t had a lot of time to worry about it yet,

basically,” Skilling said Monday. “And thankful ly, right now, it’s at the northeast rift zone. But if it breaks on the west side, that’s when we’re talking about coming into a large populat ed area. ... That’s why I do have a little bit of PTSD.”

Even though there were no evacuation or ders, some people decid ed to leave their homes, prompting officials to open shelters in the Kona and Kau areas. Very few if any stayed in them overnight, Ha waii County Mayor Mitch Roth said, and they would be closing Tuesday.

Despite that, some in the area were preparing

for unpredictable chang es.

Kamakani Rivera-Ke kololio, who lives in the south Kona community of Hookena, was keep ing supplies like food and blankets in his car.

“We’re being makau kau for anything,” Rive ra-Kekololio said, using the Hawaiian word for “ready.”

Ken Hon, scien tist-in-charge at the Ha waiian Volcano Obser vatory, said Tuesday that the lava was flowing “not super fast” at less than 1

mph, though the exact speed wasn’t yet clear. It was moving downhill about 6 miles (10 kilome ters) from Saddle Road, which connects the east and west sides of the is land. The flow was like ly to slow down about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the road when it hits flatter ground.

It was not clear when or if the lava will reach the road. It could hit flat ter ground later Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Hon.

“We’re not even sure

it will reach the high way, but that is certainly the next step in progress if it continues on these trends,” he said, adding that it’s also possible a fissure could open up and drain away some of the supply feeding the flow.

The smell of volcanic gases and sulfur was thick in the air Tues day along Saddle Road, where people were watching a wide stream of lava creep closer. Clouds cleared to reveal a large plume of gas and ash rising from an open summit vent above the flow.

Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclama tion.

“We’re thankful the lava flow is not affecting residential areas at this time, allowing schools and businesses to re main open,” he said in a statement. “I’m issuing

this Emergency Proc lamation now to allow responders to respond quickly or limit access, if necessary, as the erup tion continues.”

Hon said lava crossed the Mauna Loa Obser vatory access road Mon day night and cut off power to the facility. It could move toward the county seat of Hilo, he added, but that could take a week or longer.

Meanwhile, scientists are trying to measure the gas emitted from the eruption.

“It’s just very early in this eruption right now,” Hon said.

The eruption is draw ing visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open 24 hours a day. “The view ing has been spectacu lar” especially before sunrise and at night, park spokeswoman Jes sica Ferracane said.

Norman Stine

A mailbox has been set up in the children’s area of the Iola Public Library for youngsters to pen their annual correspondence to Santa Claus. Special statio nery has been set up near the mailbox as well. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Mauna Loa eruption as viewed from Waikoloa. The world’s largest active volcano erupted in Hawaii Sunday, for the first time in nearly four decades, the U.S. Geo logical Survey said. It was the first eruption since 1984, according to its Hawaii Volcano Observatory daily update. ZUMA PRESS/COVER IMAGES/TNS

Security: Board approves remote access system

can use one centralized program to monitor all the cameras at all facil ities. Doors can be con trolled remotely by au thorized users, and the district will determine who has access.

“It would be a unified system, instead of three systems now for each school,” Strecker said.

In the event of an in cident, such as a report of stolen property, ad ministrators can quick ly review recorded ma terial. Prasko advised the district might pro vide a live stream to law enforcement, but only allow access to recorded material on a case-bycase basis.

Because the district already has numerous cameras and secured entry at facilities — and much of it is new — the cost to purchase addi tional equipment would be minimal. The system will work with a variety of equipment, which means the district does not have to buy specific brands.

“The flexibility of the system was one of

my main points when I was looking at options. It’s one of the biggest selling points of the sys tem,” Prasko said.

INA Alert will install equipment, including cameras the district owns but has not yet installed. Strecker esti mated the work would

take five to 10 business days, and his crews could get started in six to eight weeks. Equip ment could be added later, as time passes and administrators identify “blind spots” or other areas that need to be monitored. INA Alert would help with mon

itoring until USD 257 staff are trained to use the new system.

Board members and administrators were particularly pleased knowing the system will allow remote ac cess to the IHS science building. That’s one of the district’s biggest

security concerns. Mul tiple times each day, hundreds of students pass between the main building and auxiliary buildings. The system will allow them to bet ter control who goes in and out of the building, as well as monitor and record that activity.

Amazon: Biggest ever holiday shopping

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said Wednes day it had its biggest ever Thanksgiving hol iday shopping week end, aided by a record number of consumers looking for deals online amid high inflation.

The e-commerce company does not typ ically share how much it earns during its sales events and did not dis close its overall reve nue from the weekend. It said in a news release independent businesses that sell on its site gen erated more than $1 bil lion in sales.

A record 196.7 million people shopped in stores and online during the five-day shopping peri od that stretched from Thanksgiving to Cy ber Monday, 17 million more compared to last year, according to the National Retail Federa tion, a trade group.

Congress: New Senate bill will repeal Defense of Marriage Act

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a very narrow 5-4 Su preme Court decision,” Schumer continued. “And we all know the court has changed since that decision.”

Retiring Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, retir ing North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito, Maine’s Susan Collins, Iowa’s Joni Ernst, Wyoming’s Cynthia Lummis, Alas ka’s Lisa Murkowski, retiring Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, Utah’s Mitt Romney, Alaska’s Dan Sullivan, North Caroli na Sen. Thom Tillis and Indiana’s Todd Young voted for the bill.

Repeal of Defense of Marriage Act

The legislation would repeal the 1996 law known as the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The federal law also allowed states to ignore same-sex unions legally performed in other states.

It would ensure that if the U.S. Supreme

Court were to overturn the cases that have le galized same-sex and interracial marriages, the federal government would continue to recog nize those unions, a step necessary for hundreds of federal benefits in cluding Social Security and veterans benefits.

The bill, known as the Respect for Mar riage Act, would require states to recognize samesex and interracial marriages performed in states that keep the unions legal, though it wouldn’t require states to keep same-sex or in terracial marriages le gal if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn those cases.

Cathryn Oakley, Hu man Rights Campaign state legislative direc tor and senior counsel, said during a briefing in mid-November the bill is a “very important” part of the legislation LGBTQ rights advocates have been pressing Con gress to pass for years.

She also sought to clarify misconceptions the legislation will allow any two people to enter

a same-sex or interra cial marriage anywhere in the country, should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn those cases.

“Congress has done everything in this bill that it can responsibly do,” Oakley said. “What they do not have the ability to responsibly do, is to tell states that they must marry two people of the same sex.”

Oakley said U.S. law makers “are taking the maximum responsible action that they can take at this point” under the powers they have within the U.S. Constitution.

State bans

More than 30 states have constitutional amendments, state laws, or both that ban samesex marriages, accord ing to the Congressional Research Service.

Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ida ho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ne braska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vir ginia and Wisconsin are among the states with

state constitutional amendments that would prohibit same-sex mar riages.

Indiana and Penn sylvania are among the states with laws that would prohibit same-sex marriages. The Iowa Su preme Court overturned Iowa’s ban in April 2009, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage. Those laws and state

constitutional provi sions are currently un enforceable under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that estab lished same-sex mar riages as protected un der the Constitution. But they could go into effect again were the justices to overturn that case. States that still have laws banning inter racial marriages on the

books cannot enforce those laws under the 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft crit icized his state’s senior senator, Blunt, for vot ing for the legislation, saying he was “flabber gasted” by the move and noting that the state’s constitutional amend ment bars the unions.

The USD 257 Board of Education met Monday evening at the Iola Elementary School library. From left, board members Robin Griffin-Lohman, John Wilson, Tony Leavitt, President Dan Willis, (hidden) Mandey Coltrane, Jennifer Taylor and Superintendent Stacey Fager. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

School: Health clinic expected to begin in district on Jan. 16

will offer expanded ser vices.

USD 257 is one of four school-based health clin ics CHC/SEK is opening in January, bringing their total of districts served to 10.

School board Pres ident Dan Willis said board members and school administrators hope the clinic will re duce chronic absentee ism.

HOOPER also gave board members an up date on current health issues at the schools, in response to a question.

COVID-19 cases are minimal, but the schools are dealing with flu and stomach-related illness es. RSV, a respiratory illness, mainly affects younger children so there hasn’t been many cases in the schools.

They are seeing an increase in other health conditions, including hand-foot-and-mouth disease and bedbugs.

Superintendent Sta cy Fager said districts across the state are re porting an increase in students suffering from bedbug bites. Schools will give parents ad vice on how to treat bed bugs, and school-based providers are writing policies to help schools and families understand and deal with the issue.

Iola Rotary gift

The Iola Rotary Club has donated $21,750 to USD 257 since July, in cluding a gift of $8,000 on Monday to help the elementary school li brary.

Rotary Club members were on hand to deliver the check to the school board, along with a sym bolic larger check to represent the total con tribution.

In July, Rotary gave $6,000 to purchase new

stringed instruments for the orchestra pro gram. Strings instructor Elizabeth Cunningham thanked the group, not ing Rotary purchased instruments when the program first began sev eral years ago. The pro gram has grown, and now has double the par ticipation of students but not enough instru ments.

“It’s exciting because Iola has this program and not many schools this size do,” she said. “We have something very special, and it can help our students as they go on. They can get scholarships.”

Rotary also gave $500 to the middle and high school band program, during fundraising ef forts for a trip to St. Lou is in October.

Also over the sum mer, Rotary donated $7,250 to pay for the cost of restoring an historic school bell, which was moved from Jefferson Elementary School to the new elementary

school.

In each case, school officials said Rotary Club members reached out and asked, “What do you need?”

Project Bookshelf

In other library news, Title I teacher Lissa Manbeck gave an update on Project Bookshelf.

The fundraising ef fort was aimed at fill ing the shelves of the new elementary school library, as preschool through fifth grade are now under one roof.

Books from the previ ous elementary schools were moved to the new library, but the new library needed many more to fill the shelves

for all age groups.

Project Bookshelf raised a total of $35,025, Manbeck reported.

She gave most of the credit to Becky Nilges, a community volunteer who spearheaded the project. Nilges was un able to attend Monday’s meeting.

“A big thanks to Becky, who had the idea and got the whole thing going. She was really a big blessing for the kids and the library,” Man beck said.

Board President Wil lis noted most of the donations were small er amounts, such as $25 or $50, to indicate the broad participation from the public. There

were a few larger dona tions, too, he said.

IN OTHER news, the school board: Advised library staff they would address an issue with sunlight streaming into the li brary. Shades on the lower windows block the light, but the up per windows also need to be addressed. Even though staff appreciate having natural light, the sunlight makes it difficult for students to see at times through out the day, and already has faded the colors on some books. The district has set aside $14,000 to address the problem,

Superintendent Fager said.

Learned a ribbon-cut ting ceremony is sched uled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Regional Rural Tech nical Center at LaHarpe for the new automotive technician program.

Heard a report from Iola Middle School Prin cipal Brad Crusinbery that school staff will have meetings to plan for the building’s 100year anniversary in 2024. He also reported the school had its first pep rally in his 21 years at the helm, and two new clubs had started in hopes of reaching different groups of stu dents. The new clubs are an eSports gaming club and a Dungeons & Drag ons club.

Board member Rob in Griffin-Lohman rec ognized the efforts to make enchiladas as a fundraiser for the After Prom Committee.

Storms: Two killed in Alabama, two injured in Louisiana

Continued from A1

were issued from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, said Matthew Elliott, a meteorologist at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Two people were killed in the Flatwood community just north of the city of Montgom ery. “They were in their home that was struck by a tree due to the tor nado,” said Christina Thornton, director of the Montgomery Coun ty Emergency Manage ment Agency.

Search and rescue teams would continue going door to door until everyone’s accounted for, Montgomery Coun ty Sheriff Derrick Cun ningham said.

Isaiah Sankey, the vice chairman of the Montgomery County Commission who rep resents the community, expressed grief for the lives lost and vowed that installing storm shelters will be a priority for the small community as it recovers.

“When we do rebuild, we will have storm shel

ters,” he said. “We have got to prepare for these unforeseen circum stances.”

In the west Alabama town of Eutaw, video from WBMA-TV from showed large sections of the roof missing from an apartment complex, displacing 15 families in the middle of the night.

“We’ve got power lines, trees just all over the road,” Eutaw Police Chief Tommy Johnson told WBRC-TV.

A suspected torna do damaged numer ous homes during the

night in Hale County, Alabama, where the emergency director said more than a third of the people live in highly vul nerable mobile homes.

“I have seen some re ally nice mobile homes tied down, but they just don’t stand a chance against a tornado,” Hale County Emergency Man agement Director Rus sell Weeden told WBRC.

Two other people were injured as the storm tore apart homes in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, Sher iff Clay Bennett told KNOE-TV.

The weather service confirmed that torna does hit the ground in Mississippi. Images of the wreckage in Cale donia showed a grocery store damaged, a fire station shredded and a house toppled, but Lown des County Emergency Management Agency Di rector Cindy Lawrence told WTVA-TV that ev eryone escaped injury.

Hail stones crashed against the windows of City Hall in the small town of Tchula, Mis sissippi, where sirens blared as the mayor and

other residents took cover. “It was hitting against the window, and you could tell that it was nice-sized balls of it,” Mayor Ann Polk said af ter the storm passed.

High winds downed power lines, and flood ing was a hazard as more than 5 inches of rain fell within several hours in some places. More than 50,000 customers in Mis sissippi and Alabama were without electricity Wednesday morning, ac cording to poweroutage. us, which tracks utility outages.

Bella Rahming, a fresh man at Iola High School, with a double bass that was purchased for the school with the Iola Rotary Club donation. It was one of nine string instruments purchased for the schools. COURTE SY PHOTO

Above, members of the USD 257 Board of Edu cation and Iola Rotary Club display a check for $21,750, representing the amount of money Ro tary has donated to the district since July. At left, Rotarians Chelsea Lea and Bob Hawk talk about the donations. REGISTER/ VICKIE MOSS

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Kansas gave away the farm to betting industry

A reminder: The house al ways wins.

The gambling industry is devised to make money. And in the case of Kansas, buck etloads, thanks to lawmak ers who recently ensured the sports betting industry will receive embarrassingly favorable tax breaks.

Folded into the sausage in the waning hours of last April’s legislative session was a measure that halved the 20% tax rate on indus try revenues that legislators had previously settled on. Even that rate would have been substantially lower compared to other states’ tax rates on the industry.

The upshot is that Kansas will receive a pittance of its due.

BETTING on profession al sports became legal in 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled federal prohibi tion was unconstitutional.

Kansas law took effect in September. In just two months, sports gambling revenues exceeded $350 mil lion. Kansas’ take? A paltry $270,000.

We are giving the house away, according to experts.

“States have leverage — they are just getting outma neuvered,” said Joe Wein ert, executive vice president at Spectrum Gaming Group, which analyzes the gam bling industry, in a recent New York Times story.

“The legislators have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to get the max imum amount possible. But these companies are just laughing all the way to the bank.”

Another example of Kan sas’ short-sightedness is al lowing the industry to fully deduct from their taxable income anything they spend on “free” promotions.

This is how it works.

Draft Kings, for example, advertises “risk-free” bets and other “free” promotions to entice customers. Though they say they’ll reimburse users for any losses, that’s not true. Participants will never see that money again.

Instead, they are reim bursed with “credits,” good only for placing more bets.

Nationwide, the sports-betting industry has doled out nearly $1 billion in such promotional bets over the last year — cost ing states more than $120 million in potential taxes, according to an analysis of the data by The Times and Vixio, a gambling industry compliance company.

KANSAS LEGISLATORS needing convincing were sold on the idea that legal ized sports betting would bring untold wealth to Kan sas’ coffers.

In truth, what money

Kansas does receive will go to a fund aimed toward lur ing the Kansas City Chiefs to build a new stadium in Kansas, further feeding the border war frenzy that legis lators pretend they have no interest in fostering.

And you thought the proceeds would go to fight ing addiction or for public schools or any of a dozen other worthwhile endeavors to perhaps assuage legisla tors’ guilt over such bad leg islation.

How endearingly …. naïve.

THE MEASURE passed by one vote in the Kansas Senate, indicating that Gov.

Laura Kelly could have — should have — vetoed the legislation, instructing leg islators to try again for a more favorable outcome to Kansas.

It’s only because of a year-long nationwide inves tigation by The New York Times that we are becoming aware of how the sports bet ting industry is influencing lawmakers across the coun try to craft legislation that heavily favors the industry.

Today, Americans are spending $8 billion a month in legal sports bets. By 2026, analysts predict the average to reach almost three times that.

WHERE THERE are win ners, there are losers.

As for certain legislators, they have been showered with money and gifts by gambling lobbyists and oth er lucrative perks for their districts.

The losers, of course, are those who don’t have dis pensable wealth. For many, unfortunately, gambling can be addictive. What may have started as entertainment, now replaces time better spent with family or friends. Hard-earned money once budgeted for food or utilities is now being spent chasing unwinnable odds.

The house always wins. And in Kansas’ case, we’re all left for the worse.

— Susan Lynn

With same-sex marriage vote, Senate says families matter

The U.S. Senate took a mo mentous step Tuesday, pass ing a same-sex marriage law that offers a vital backstop for LGBTQ folks in Kansas and the nation. While the Respect for Marriage Act falls short in some ways, it shows how far we’ve come over the past few decades.

In 1996, after all, President Bill Clinton signed the De fense of Marriage Act into law. That forbade the federal government from recogniz ing same-sex marriages, and allowed states to ignore such marriages performed else where. Only five years later, in the fall of 2001, I met the man who would become my husband.

Our time together has seen sweeping change throughout these United States.

In 2001, not only was samesex marriage illegal, but several states still made sex between people of the same gender a crime. Kansas was one of them. The dominos began to fall with Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, in which the U.S. Supreme Court over turned so-called sodomy laws. My husband and I moved to New Hampshire in 2005, which legalized civil unions three years later. In 2010, it upgraded those matches into full-fledged marriages. The next year, we became parents.

Finally, in 2015 the Supreme Court overturned the last ves tiges of the Defense of Mar riage Act and made same-sex marriage legal across the en tire country. But that change didn’t happen in isolation. It was accompanied by a sweep ing change in public attitudes toward relationships like mine. A full 71% of the public now supports same-sex mar riages, according to Gallup.

With Senate approval, the bill returns to the U.S. House for final passage.

Or as U.S. Rep. Sharice Da vids put it on Twitter: “En suring every American can marry the person they love

Clay Wirestone Kansas Reflector

is long overdue. Excited to get this bill across the finish line!”

Motivated to move

So why, then, did the U.S. Congress take action this year?

You can thank those one time allies in the Supreme Court. In overturning the seemingly ironclad precedent of Roe v. Wade, hard-right justices alarmed those whose unions depended on another precedent. Justice Clarence Thomas singled out the 2015 case — Obergefell v. Hodges — as one of those ripe for re examination.

The Respect for Mar riage Act looked like an ide al response. The bill sailed through the House of Rep resentatives this summer thanks to a surprisingly bi partisan vote. Sure, Demo crats voted for it, but so did 47 Republicans. Senators sat up and took notice. Maybe, they realized, they should also sup port widely popular rights en joyed by families across the country.

It took months of wrangling and an entirely superfluous religious liberty amendment, but that voyage ended in suc cess Tuesday evening.

As I said earlier, the bill isn’t perfect. It functions as a backup plan if the Supreme Court decides at some future date to overturn Obergefell. The measure doesn’t estab lish a true national right for same-sex couples to marry. But it does require that states recognize all valid marriag es performed in other states. Similarly, the federal gov

ernment has to honor such unions. Thus, the worst-case scenario would be that some states don’t perform same-sex marriages but respect those conducted elsewhere.

“It’s complicated, and may be unnecessarily so,” said Kansas state Rep. Stephanie Byers, one of the Legisla ture’s LGBTQ members. I reached out to all of them when it appeared the bill was going to pass. Byers pointed out that state income tax is based on federal law, which could lead to problems for same-sex couples of the kind seen before 2015.

“We could see a return to those frustrations and com plications,” she said.

Rep. Susan Ruiz was keep ing her eyes on the prize: “The ultimate goal is to cod ify same-sex marriage pro tections in every state, but at least we will have federal protections with the Respect for Marriage Act. It was en couraging to see bipartisan support in the Senate. Unfor tunately, (Kansas’) U.S. Sens. (Jerry) Moran and (Roger) Marshall continue to be out of touch with the majority of Americans and Kansans that support same sex marriage.”

Kansas challenges

As Ruiz suggests, serious work remains here in the Sunflower State.

For one thing, our sodomy law remains on the books. As I wrote during the past session, Kansas lawmakers should strike this unconstitutional law from the books immedi ately. Vestigial homophobia serves no useful purpose for a state desperately hoping to attract young people.

Next, our constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage should be replaced by one allowing it. Such an amendment would likely pass easily these days, so it should be an easy call for senators and representatives at the Statehouse to send it to voters

I have watched with horror over the last few years as the discrimination once leveled against gay men and lesbian women has been reconstituted to harm trans folk. Exactly the same slanders — that we’re mentally unstable, that we pose a threat to the young — have been weaponized to wound a fresh target.

in the next general election. LGBTQ Kansans must be able to marry regardless of the Su preme Court’s whims.

“Should Obergefell v. Hodg es ever be overturned, Kansas law and the Kansas Constitu tion will require me to travel to another state to become legally married,” said state Rep. Brandon Woodard. “I look forward to returning to Topeka in January and filing legislation to repeal the stat utory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in Kan sas.”

State Rep. Heather Meyer shares his determination.

“Same-sex couples deserve the same rights, freedoms and protections as their het erosexual peers, and (the federal bill) is a great step in the right direction to ensure that those rights are protect ed,” she said. But Moran and Marshall’s stance “just goes to show that those of us in the Kansas LGBTQ community, and our allies, have a lot more work to do.”

In the upcoming session, that includes protecting transgender children and teenagers from state-sanc tioned discrimination.

I have watched with horror over the last few years as the discrimination once leveled against gay men and lesbian women has been reconstitut ed to harm trans folks. Ex actly the same slanders once used against us — that we’re mentally unstable, that we pose a threat to the young — have been weaponized to wound a fresh target. No one who cares about same-sex

marriage or protecting the rights of their LGBTQ broth ers and sisters should allow these invidious proposals to take hold.

The struggle, pain and hope persist.

Biggest picture

The vote Tuesday allows all of us Kansas and these Unit ed States to take a step back.

Our government, the one that we created and elected, can act with purpose and determination to protect mi nority rights. While forces of intolerance and hate gather power from a fractured so ciety, we can protect couples and families and the love they share.

While I’m usually reluctant to put myself at the center of a story, I’m right there in the middle of this one.

This is my life.

My marriage and my fami ly have defined who I am, just as they define the lives of so many straight couples. I could not imagine the past 21 years without my husband. I could not imagine the past 11 with out our son. The ability to marry, to say who we are and what we mean to one anoth er to the world, has enriched everything. As a scrawny teenager growing up in mid1990s El Dorado, my life today would have sounded like an impossible dream.

I know how much road remains ahead. I know how many people need comfort and care.

I also know how far we’ve traveled. For today, at least, I plan to celebrate.

An employee counts dollars at BetRivers Sportsbook at Bingo World in Maryland. Nation wide, betting on sports has grown to $8 billion a month.PHOTO BY KARL MERTON FERRON/TNS

Economic instability pushing KPERS investment returns to negative

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Volatility in the stock market will push annual return on investment to the Kan sas Public Employees Retirement System into negative territory at close of the year, the pen sion system’s executive director said Tuesday.

The assumed invest ment return for KPERS was adjusted downward in May from 7.75% to 7%. To strengthen the

bottom line, the Kansas Legislature agreed to pump an extra $1.1 bil lion into the system.

The snapshot on in vestment return will be calculated based on fi nancial position of the portfolio Dec. 31, said Alan Conroy, executive director of KPERS.

“If you have the strength to watch the markets these days, the volatility — October was a great month, but some of the months have not been so good,” Conroy

told House and Senate members at the Capitol. “We’ll see where we end up at the end of Decem ber. But, I think, where we stand right now, the return will probably be negative for calendar year 2022.”

Conroy didn’t offer a projection as to how far under water the $24.8 billion portfolio would be at close of this year’s business.

Advocates of KPERS’ 300,000 members with careers in schools, the

judiciary, law enforce ment, firefighting and other government enti ties have pressured the Legislature for years to approve a cost of living increase, with many of those proposals ranging from 1% to 5%.

In Kansas, the last cost of living adjust ment was issued in 1998 and the last one-time cash bonus to retirees was made in 2008. The Legislature authorized 16 cost-of-living adjust ments from 1971 to 1997.

Store: Holiday Block Party is on Friday

Continued from A1

part of helping ring in the holidays in style.

Wray, like several other downtown mer chants, will be open Fri day evening for Iola’s annual Holiday Block Party.

She’ll greet custom ers with treats from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday as they check out her store’s wide selection of floor and wall coverings.

And while decorating for the holidays takes hours of planning and ensuring each piece is in its proper spot, truth is, Wray wouldn’t want it any other way.

“This is my favorite part,” she admitted this week. “I love the lights.”

She recalls with a sheepish grin a local effort a few years back to add Christmas lights aplenty to downtown Iola.

“If they want Christ mas lights, they’ll get ‘em,” Wray laughed.

DECORATOR Sup ply has been a part of Iola’s downtown busi ness scene for 50 years, ever since Wayne moved to Iola from Chanute in 1972, where he worked as a paint salesman but was eager to run his own business.

Jackson originally set up shop across the square on Jefferson Ave nue, where the Pregnan cy and Family Center is today, primarily as a paint store, but soon ex panded to include drap eries.

Angie was in the

fourth grade, and while she spent many an af ternoon walking to the store after school, she admittedly had little in terest in joining the fam ily business after gradu ation.

Instead, she worked briefly at Town & Coun try Western Casual Wear while in high school, before joining the ANW Special Educa tion Cooperative to work with elementary schoolaged pupils.

“I loved the job,” she said, and likely would have stayed had the pay been better.

However, that changed in the infamous 1986 in land hurricane that dev astated much of Allen and Coffey counties.

With several homes badly damaged in the storm, demand was high for paint and flooring materials.

“They were slammed,” Wray re called, “so I started working for them parttime.”

That part-time ser vice soon grew, as did Wray’s affinity for painting and hanging wall coverings.

Fast forward about 20 years, and she eventual ly took over the business from her parents.

While mother Norma retired for good a few years back, Wayne con tinues to help out every day.

“He still comes in each morning at 8,” Wray said.

WRAY’S workload

has altered in recent years after she ender went two back surger ies, the first time in 2015, to fuse together two damaged vertebrae.

She suspects the sec ond surgery may have led to other health com plications after doctors had difficulty inserting, and then removing a breathing tube, for the surgery.

Not long after, Wray endured long stretches of laryngitis. A special ist ultimately deter mined her vocal cords were damaged, necessi tating a third surgery and extended recovery date.

The surgery meant being unable to talk at all for several weeks af terward. She jokes the episode allowed her to garner a skill at rapidly writing up messages on a small white board for her family and cowork ers.

Wray was seemingly on the mend until she suffered a stroke in Jan uary 2020, which as fate would have it, occurred just blocks from the hos pital while she was eat ing lunch in Garnett.

Within minutes, doc tors were able to pin point the cause of the stroke, and adminis tered drugs to quickly dissolve a blood clot that reached her brain.

Had they not acted so quickly, Wray suspects paralysis may have re sulted.

One nurse noted par tial paralysis on the side of her face when Wray

arrived at the hospital.

“They didn’t tell me that immediately,” she said. “I’m glad they didn’t.”

She spent a few days in ICU, and recovered quickly enough, but then had to undergo months of physical therapy, and was unable to drive for another year and a half, instead relying on family or her partner, Jon, to transport her to multiple doctor appoint ments, and then to work in Iola. (She lives in a farmhouse in northern Allen County.)

Wray had already set up Decorator Supply’s computer system in her home prior to the stroke so she could work re motely while convalesc ing from her back and throat surgeries.

“And that’s probably best,” she laughed. “I find when I’m here at work, I almost never am able to do paperwork.”

That’s not because of any medical ailment. Rather, it’s because Wray is eager to visit with friends and cus tomers on a daily basis.

Long-time employee Wade Vogel remains a part of the staff to keep things in running order when Wray is gone. And of course, her father still stays busy with his 88th birthday coming up in December.

And there’s no thought of slowing down. She still figures up all estimates for po tential customers.

“I enjoy it,” she ad mits.

Sen. Rick Billinger, a Goodland Republi can and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he wasn’t convinced the state should grant a COLA because it would inflate the system’s long term unfunded liability above the current $9.8 bil lion. KPERS is a prefund ed system that invests employee and employer contributions to pay ben efits years into the future. A COLA, which can be viewed as an unfunded

benefit change, would exacerbate the unfunded liability.

“The stock market is down today,” Billinger told Conroy during a meeting of an interim House-Senate commit tee. “And, you’re going to probably be negative or this year. We’re not going to short anybody what we have been paying them all along. They’re going to con tinue to get that check, even though the market is down.”

Kansas providers cautious about telemedicine abortions

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas providers might not be ready for months to do telemed icine abortions even though a state-court judge has blocked the state from enforcing its ban on teleconferenc ing with patients seek ing pregnancy-ending medications.

Planned Parent hood Great Plains said Wednesday it is eval uating its options fol lowing the order last week from Shawnee County District Judge Teresa Watson. It op erates three clinics in

Kansas providing abor tions.

A spokesperson for Wichita clinic operator Trust Women said it hopes to resume tele medicine abortions but will move slowly. It pro vided them for a few months in 2018, filing a lawsuit challenging the ban just before it took effect at the start of 2019.

Kansas has required doctors to be physically present when a patient takes the first dose of what often is two doses of pregnancy-ending medication.

Allen ladies win, men fall to NC Missouri

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Allen Community Col lege men’s and women’s bas ketball teams hosted North Central Missouri on Tuesday night splitting their pair of matchups.

The Lady Red Devils (9-3) secured a 68-59 victory over the Pirates while the Allen men (6-4) dropped against North Central Missouri, 7369.

Women’s Basketball

The Lady Devils came out shooting and outshot the Pi rates from the floor in the first half, 40% to 27.6%, and from three-point range, 37.5% to 30.8%.

“We were a lot more loose offensively, we were much more relaxed than what we were on Saturday,” said Al len head coach Leslie Crane, recalling the team’s loss to State Fair CC. “We relaxed and shot the ball well tonight. We’re becoming a very good defensive team and we’re only going to continue to get better.”

The Lady Devils led the Pi rates at halftime, 35-21.

The Lady Devils were led offensively by Britney Schro er’s team-high 13 points, Nao mi Smith’s 12 points and Noa Muranaka’s 11 points. Schro er went six-of-nine from the floor while Shade Richardson collected eight points and went two-of-four from three-

point land.

“We got great minutes from Noa. She had 11 points and she’s handling the ball very well,” Crane said. “Nao mi had a double-double. Brit ney really shot the ball well tonight. She’s making some good decisions. We got a good game out of Sara Ortiz and Khassidy Warr as well.”

The Lady Devils won the game on rebounds, grab bing 30 offensive boards as opposed to the Pirates’ 19 re bounds.

“That’s really big. If we

outrebound teams like that consistently we’re going to win ball games because that’s possession,” said Crane. “The effort was unbelievable tonight and this is the way we’re going to have to play to win ball games from here on out. Tonight was defense, re laxing and shooting the ball and being patient on the of fensive end.”

The Lady Devils turned the ball over 23 times compared to the Pirates’ 22, but made a few more steals, 16-12, than North Central Missouri. The

Devils also had eight players clock double figure minutes in the win.

The Lady Red Devils were outscored 38-33 in the second half and saw a dip in their shooting. Allen also lost the ball on a few too many turn overs in the second half to bring the final margin to nine points, 68-59.

Allen hosts Metropolitan Community College next Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

The Allen men led for most

of the night against North Central Missouri but some late mistakes ultimately cost them as the Devils fell by four points, 73-69.

The Devils started off shooting lights out from a distance and knocked down 10 three-pointers in the first half to lead by eight points at halftime, 38-30.

“We made 10 threes in the first half so we had 38 points at halftime and 30 of them were three’s,” said Allen head coach Andy Shaw. “In the sec ond half we cooled off a good bit. We lived too much by the three and didn’t get enough paint touches and we weren’t tough enough to finish when we did get the paint touches. They just out-toughed us in the second half.”

In the second half Allen had a 12-point advantage be fore North Central Missouri began to claw back. Rebound ing and free throws were the name of the game in the sec ond half. The Pirates ousted the Devils in all of these ar eas.

Allen sank 14 three-point ers in the loss but shot only four three throws through all of regulation, with two of those for a technical foul called on the Pirates. North Central Missouri was able to knock down 16-of-21 free throw attempts.

“One of our keys to the game was to dominate in the paint and clearly we weren’t

World Cup viewers guide: Germany in must-win situation

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — It’s a simple task for Germany in its final game of group stage: beat Costa Rica on Thursday or the four-time World Cup champions will go home early for a second consecutive tournament.

Germany was knocked out as reigning World Cup champions in group play four years ago in Russia.

favorite for those looking from the outside. It’s clear we have to win. Naturally we have respect.”

IMS hoops battle

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Iola Middle School girls basketball teams matched up with Osawato mie and Uniontown on Mon day and Tuesday nights.

The eighth grade Mus tangs were the lone winning team over Osawatomie on Monday as well as against Uniontown on Tuesday. The junior varsity squad did not suit up on Tuesday against Uniontown due to illnesses among team members.

Osawatomie

The eighth grade Iola team took down Osawatomie with a final score of 29-7.

Dally Curry led the scoring with 12 points, including four free throws, while Brooklyn

Holloway totaled 10 points and Zoie Hesse sank seven.

“We won, but lost focus on running our offense and working as a team on de fense,” said Iola head coach Stacy Sprague. “Zoie was successful in stealing the ball when we attempted a press. Holloway and Curry were also very successful in stealing the ball and causing turnovers by Osawatomie.”

The seventh grade Mus tangs fell to Osawatomie, 149.

Shaylee Karns led the scor ing charge with four points, followed by Bella Wilson’s three and Estavia Genoble’s two.

“This team also needs to protect the ball and slow down to run our offense,”

But even a victory might not be enough. Germany is in last place in Group E and, depending on the out come of Japan versus Spain, goal difference deficit might come into play. Germany has scored two goals through its two games, a 2-1 loss to Japan in its opening match and 1-1 draw against Spain.

“We have a lot of humil ity,” Germany midfielder Thomas Müller said. “There isn’t much reason to be real ly euphoric.”

Germany had the same struggles in Russia in 2018 after opening with a 1-0 loss to Mexico before beating Sweden 2-1. Germany would have advanced with a win over South Korea in the final group game, but the defend ing champions lost 2-0 and went home.

“Now we have to do it differently,” Müller said. “When the football world looks at Germany versus Costa Rica, I think we’re the

Costa Rica earned a sur prise win over Japan last week and now control its own fate. Costa Rica will advance with a victory over Germany, and even a draw would be enough for Costa Rica to reach the knockout stages if Spain beats Japan in the group’s other game being played at the same time.

“We didn’t come to sit around and take pictures of Qatar,” Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suárez said before the tournament.

JAPAN-SPAIN

Spain still has some work left to do.

The 2010 World Cup cham pions routed Costa Rica 7-0 in their opening match in Qatar, but a 1-1 draw against Germany in the second game made things interest ing again.

The Spanish will face Ja pan on Thursday and the winner will be guaranteed of reaching the round of 16. Spain could also advance with a loss, depending on the result of Germany’s match against the Costa Ricans.

If Spain wins the group, the team would face the second-place from Group F. That could be Croatia, Bel

gium or Morocco. After that, a match against Brazil is possible.

“We are not thinking about our opponents in the knockout rounds,” Spain midfielder Koke Resurrec ción said. “We need to beat Japan first and then we’ll see which team we’ll have to play against. If it’s Brazil in the quarterfinals, so be it, and we’ll try to prepare for it as best as possible.”

Spain coach Luis Enrique is expected to rotate some of his players after making only one change from the first to the second game — Dani Carvajal coming in for César Azpilicueta at right back.

Teenager Gavi, who start ed the first two matches, trained separately from the group after the 1-1 draw with Germany because of a minor knee injury. He was expected to be available for Thursday’s match, but wasn’t likely to start.

Another midfielder ex pected to be rested is 34-yearold Sergio Busquets, the only remaining player from Spain’s World Cup-winning squad in 2010. Striker Ál

varo Morata, who scored a goal in each of the first two matches after coming off the bench, could get a spot in

Allen’s Ahmed Mahgoub (11) passes the ball to a teammate against North Central Missouri on Tuesday night. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Iola Mustang seventh-grader Lillie Bingham (5) takes a glance at the basket before going up for a layup against Prairie View. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

ITEMS FOR SALE

PACKING PAPERS

AVAILABLE at the Iola Register Office. $3 per bundle.

MOTORIZED BICYCLES

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Willing to buy Annals of Iola and Allen County, 1868-1945, Vols. 1 and 2. Call the Iola Register, 620365- 2111 or email susan@ iolaregister.com

GARAGE SALE

MOVING SALE THIS SATURDAY. Items priced to sell. Queen bedroom set that includes bed, dresser with mirror and two nightstands; dining room table with six chairs, sits eight; beautiful antique couch; lamps; buffet; chairs; kitchen items. 1018 Meadowbrook Rd E. Dec. 3, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

PETS

Congress averts rail strike

WASHINGTON (AP)

— The U.S. House moved urgently to head off the looming nationwide rail strike on Wednesday, passing a bill that would bind companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached in September but rejected by some of the 12 unions involved.

The measure passed by a vote of 290-137 and now heads to the Sen ate. If approved there, it will be quickly signed by President Joe Biden, who requested the action.

Biden on Monday asked Congress to in tervene and avert the rail stoppage that could strike a devastating blow to the nation’s fragile economy by disrupting the transportation of fuel, food and other criti cal goods.

Cholesterol medications produce rare side effect of nightmares

DEAR DR. ROACH:

I am 64. I started tak ing statins to lower my cholesterol about two years ago. My choles terol level sometimes went over 200, and after seesawing results, my doctor advised that I was unable to maintain a low cholesterol by diet alone and prescribed a statin. I took 10 mg of atorvastatin. I noticed I started having very de tailed and vivid night mares. (I would rather be awake than be in these nightmares.) The doctor changed me to 5 mg of rosuvastatin. The doctor says my results are very good (cholester ol is 140). I am still hav ing nightmares, but not as frequent as before. I also am having memory

Dr. Keith Roach

To Your Good Health

issues (e.g., could not remember the names of close colleagues from only two years ago). I recently saw an article that suggested there may be a link between dementia and use of statins.

Can you provide com ments on nightmares and/or dementia links to statins? — H.L.

ANSWER: Largescale studies in people at high risk for, or with, heart disease suggest that statins reduce the incidence of dementia

These effects are postu lated and not confirmed by trials specifically de signed to look at demen tia.

On the other hand, there are certainly people who can develop forgetfulness on statin drugs. This side effect seems to be much more common in people tak ing simvastatin (Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipi tor) than pravastatin (Pravachol) or rosuvas tatin (Crestor). Unlike

between nightmares and statins. The prob lem with studies like these is that they are not likely to find rare side effects. It is certainly possible the simvastatin caused the nightmares (and I’m not sure if the rosuvastatin is, too), but it seems to be a very un usual side effect.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have someone close to me who was having chest pains and back

is understandable be cause my friend hasn’t been eating right), but about 40 minutes later, my friend got a call saying something else showed up and that their white blood cells are low (2.1). Any reason for concern? — B.E.

ANSWER: The nor mal range for a white blood cell count is from about 3.5 to about 11. (That’s actually 3,500 to 11,000 white blood cells per microliter.) When

we see white blood cell counts that low, we gen erally repeat them to be sure there wasn’t an error, and if persistent, your friend should visit a regular doctor or he matologist (blood ex

There are many pos sibilities: Medications and infections are com mon causes. A familial condition called “Duffynull” produces low white cell counts, but doesn’t cause problems such as recurrent infec tions. Unfortunately, low white cell counts can sometimes indicate a severe bone marrow problem, so your friend does need to get an eval uation if the repeat test still shows a very low count.

AFC, NFC ‘Beasts’ of NFL this year

By JOSH DUBOW The Associated Press

Two years after no team in the NFC East won more than seven games, all four have pulled off the trick with six weeks to go in the NFL’s regular season. Washington beat Atlanta on Sunday to join Philadelphia, Dallas and the Giants with win ning records. That gives the division a combined winning percentage of .711 for the best mark through 12 weeks by any division since the merg er. Making the perfor mance more impressive is the turnaround from 2020, when Washington won the NFC East with a 7-9 record. The AFC East isn’t far behind this sea son, with all four teams in that division posting winning records as well.

Two years after no team in the NFC East won more than seven games, all four have pulled off the trick with six weeks to go.

Washington (7-5) beat Atlanta on Sunday to join Philadelphia (10-1), Dallas (8-3) and the Gi ants (7-4) with winning records, giving the divi sion a combined winning percentage of .711 for the best mark through 12 weeks by any division since the merger.

Making the perfor mance more impressive is the turnaround from 2020, when Washington won the NFC East with a 7-9 record.

The AFC East isn’t far behind this season, with all four teams in that division also posting winning records, with Miami and Buffalo tied for the top spot at 8-3, followed by the Jets (7-4) and Patriots (6-5).

Before this season, the only times since the league went to eight di visions in 2002 when all four teams in a division had winning records through 12 weeks came in the 2021 AFC West, the

2014 AFC North, and the AFC East and NFC South in 2008.

The NFC South is at the other end of the di vision standings, with Tampa Bay (5-6) in the lead despite having a los ing record. The only oth er times since 2002 when every team had a losing record through 12 games came in the 2020 NFC East, the 2015 NFC East, the 2014 NFC South and the 2010 NFC West.

According to projec tions from Football Out siders, there is a 16% chance that the entire NFC East makes the play offs and a 15% chance that happens for the AFC East. It’s more likely both divisions will have four teams with winning re cords, with the NFC East doing that 52% of the time and the AFC East 60% of the time.

Football Outsiders projects all four NFC South teams to have a losing record 35% of the time.

300 CLUB

Josh Jacobs punctu ated the best day of his career in memorable fashion.

Jacobs scored on an 86-yard run in overtime to lead the Raiders past the Seahawks for the fourth-longest scrim mage touchdown ever in overtime, trailing only Ron Jaworski’s 99-yard TD pass to Mike Quick for the Eagles in 1985, Garrison Hearst’s 96yard TD run for the 49ers in 1998 and Teddy Bridge water’s 87-yard TD pass to Jarius Wright for the Vikings in 2014.

Jacobs finished with 224 yards rushing and two TDs and 74 yards receiving, becoming the sixth player ever to gain at least 300 yards and score multiple touch downs from scrimmage in a single game, joining Cloyce Box (1950), Billy Cannon (1961), Stephone Paige (1985), Priest Holmes (2002) and Adri

an Peterson (2007).

Jacobs is the only player since at least 1950 to rush for at least 225 yards and have at least 70 yards receiving in a game.

GO FOR 2

The Chargers and Jaguars took late-game gambles that paid off in a big fashion.

Los Angeles coach Brandon Staley and Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson both opt ed to go for 2-point con versions in the closing seconds when trailing by one.

Both teams delivered, making this the first week since the NFL added the play in 1994 that two teams won on a 2-point conversion in the final two minutes of regulation.

The Chargers scored with 15 seconds left and the Jaguars did it with 14 seconds to play. Before Sunday, only two teams in NFL history had scored on a game-win ning 2-point conversion in the final 15 seconds, with the Vikings doing it in 2002 and the Char gers in 2018.

There now have been 23 teams since 2000 that went for 2 when trailing by one point in the final minute, with 11 of those attempts being success ful.

The win by Jackson ville was the first for the franchise when trailing

by at least seven points in the final minute of regulation after losing their first 183 tries.

RARE SHUTOUT

The San Francis co 49ers ended the fourth-longest scoring streak in NFL history.

The Niners blanked New Orleans 13-0 on Sun day, ending the Saints’ streak of scoring in 332 consecutive games.

The last time the Saints failed to score came in the 2001 season finale when they lost 38-0 to the 49ers. That was the longest active scor ing streak in the NFL, two games more than Baltimore’s current run.

The NFL record for consecutive games with at least a point is 420 games by the 49ers from 1977-2004.

San Francisco has held four straight op ponents scoreless in the second half, just the eighth time that has hap pened since the merger.

DOUBLE TROUBLE Philadelphia’s Ja len Hurts threw for 153 yards and ran for 157 on Sunday night in a win over Green Bay, joining an exclusive group.

The only other play ers to rush and pass for at least 150 yards in the same game are La mar Jackson, Michael Vick and Colin Kaeper nick. Kaepernick did his in the 2012 playoffs against Green Bay.

Woods doesn’t ‘have much left in this leg’

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Tiger Woods painted an uncertain picture about how much golf he can play, saying Tuesday that “I don’t have much left in this leg.”

He also doesn’t have much hope the PGA Tour and the Sau di-funded rival league can get along unless Greg Norman is out as LIV Golf’s leader.

“Not right now. Not with their leadership. Not with Greg there and his animosity to ward the tour itself,” Woods said. “I don’t see that happening.”

Rory McIlroy also said in Dubai two weeks ago that Nor man needs to “exit stage left” before there can be any meaning ful discussions be tween the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Woods artfully skirted around other questions on Tuesday, such as details on two unexpected surgeries he had last year and whether the 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge should be getting points toward the world ranking.

He was forceful on the effect of LIV Golf, referring to friction the rival league has caused and how law suits stand in the way of any reconciliation.

“If one side has so much animosity — someone trying to de stroy our tour — then how do we work with that?” Woods said.

Phil Mickelson was among 10 players who filed an antitrust law suit against the PGA Tour in August, a law suit since taken over by LIV Golf. Bryson DeChambeau, Pe ter Uihlein and Matt Jones are the only players still involved as plaintiffs. The PGA Tour since has filed a countersuit. A tri al date is tentatively

scheduled for Janu ary 2024.

Woods said the law suits would have to be settled — he used the word “stay” on more than one occasion — or there is no way for ward.

Woods is at Albany Golf Club strictly as the tournament host. He had to withdraw on Monday because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot that makes it too difficult to walk over 72 holes, even on a relatively flat course for a holiday event.

Woods said he was posting low scores at home in Florida while riding in a cart. And his next two events — a made-for-TV match over 12 holes on Dec. 10, and the PNC Championship with his son the following weekend — allow for carts.

“I can hit the golf ball and hit whatev er shot you want,” he said. “I just can’t walk.”

He said the plantar fasciitis was related to injuries he suffered in the Los Angeles car crash in February 2021, which ended any hope of him playing on a regular basis.

A year ago, Woods was just starting to take full swings with the driver and his am bition was to make it to St. Andrews for the 150th edition of the British Open. He wound up playing the Masters and the PGA Championship, too.

That amounted to nine rounds — four at Augusta Nation al, three at the PGA Championship (he withdrew after the third round) and two at St. Andrews.

Woods felt he was making progress in the months after the British Open, only to hurt his right foot

said Sprague.

Iola’s junior varsity team slipped to Osawat omie by two points, 8-6.

The Mustangs were shut out in the sec ond half, scoring their six points off a trio of layups from Addilyn Wacker, Zoe Warner and Libby Maier.

“The junior varsity still needs to work on protecting the ball,” Sprague said of a com mon theme.

Uniontown

The eighth grade Mustangs knocked off Uniontown, 28-15.

Holloway led offen sively with nine points while Curry and Hesse finished with eight and seven points apiece, respectively. Hesse led with seven rebounds and snatched two steals from the Eagles’ offense. Shyla Preston also col lected three rebounds.

The Iola seventh grad ers stumbled to Union town, 25-16.

Mustang Olivia Mathews scored a teamhigh 12 points and brought down six re bounds while Estavia, Addi and Lillie each finished with four re bounds. Wacker and Brecken Bycroft each netted two points.

Iola hosts Burlington on Thursday at 4 p.m.

New York Giants defensive end Leonard Williams (99) and linebacker Jaylon Smith (54) during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 20. TNS

Marmaton Valley Jr. High squads return to action

MORAN — Marma

ton Valley Junior High’s girls returned from the Thanksgiving break in grand style Tuesday.

The Wildcats steamroll ed past visiting Northeast of Arma 26-3, allowing only a single field goal and free throw in the second quarter.

Mahala Burris was Marmaton Valley’s key offensive performer, pouring in 12 points, fol lowed by Taylen Blevins with seven, Emma Louk with four and Addisyn Drake with two. Andie Carr chipped in with a point.

The Wildcat B team also came out on top, 13-8 in a two-quarter affair. Drake scored seven, while Mary Burris, Blevins and Louk had two apiece.

IN BOYS action, Marm aton Valley’s A team fell, 36-22, to the Vikings, while the B team won, 37-19. The Wildcat C team emerged

with a 12-9 victory as well.

“We shot a little slug gish after the Thanksgiv ing break,” Wildcat boys head coach Byron Mar shall said. “But we com peted well and learned a lot.”

Thomas Allee led Mar maton Valley’s A team with eight points. Cooper Scharff followed with four. Brendon Newman, Ethan Lawson, Tucker Sutton, Dagan Barney and Kaden McVey all had two points.

Kaden McVey topped the Wildcat scoring in the B team game with 12 points, followed by Hunter Doolittle with six. Newman and Kris McVey each scored four.

Brady Burton chipped in with three, while Truett Blevins, Lane Lord, Allee and Bryant Uhlrich had two each.

Truett Blevins paced the C team with six. Lord had four and Corbin Bow ers two.

Changes let high school athletes bank big endorsement bucks

By BERNIE WILSON The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) —

Jada Williams was a so cial media star and a tal ented point guard when she moved with her mother from a Kansas City suburb to San Di ego, looking to play bas ketball for a high school powerhouse and parlay her online prowess into endorsement deals.

She found it all in California, which has become the trendsetter among the 19 states that allow high school ath letes to profit from their name, image and like ness without affecting their eligibility to play in college.

The 17-year-old Wil liams is now pulling in six figures a year from six major endorsement deals. The senior at La Jolla Country Day School has signed to play at the University of Arizona.

“It’s definitely a big change for me, but it was good in every sin gle direction,” Williams said during a break from her exhaustive practice routine, which she of ten documents with vid eos and photos posted online. It was the right decision for school and basketball, “and on top of that I was able to start capitalizing off NIL,” shorthand for name, im age and likeness.

The effort that began when former UCLA bas

ketball star Ed O’Ban non took on the college sports establishment over NIL rules is quick ly reshaping high school sports. Elite prep ath letes are banking six and even seven figures before heading to col lege. The buzz extends to social media, where the top stars have millions of followers on Insta gram, TikTok and Twit ter, which in turn helps boost their NIL valua tion.

“It’s getting bigger by the day,” said Michael Caspino, a Newport Beach attorney who be

came NIL savvy while reviewing deals for his son’s high school friends and pushing back against the ones that tried to take advantage of the athletes.

Three high school stars are at the top of On3.com’s NIL valua tions, which include both college and high school players. They are Bronny James, the son of Lakers star LeBron James; Arch Manning, the third generation of the first family of quar terbacks; and Mikey Williams, a basketball star at San Ysidro High

in San Diego.

James tops the list with a valuation of $7.5 million. He attends Si erra Canyon High in the Los Angeles area and re cently signed a deal with Nike. Mikey Williams, who has committed to Memphis and has a mul tiyear deal with Puma, has a valuation of $3.6 million. Manning, who attends Isidore Newman High in New Orleans and has committed to Texas, is at $3.4 million.

The On3 NIL valua tion, considered the in dustry standard, uses performance, influence and exposure data. While the algorithm in cludes data from deals, it does not act as a track er of the value of NIL deals.

Jada Williams has a half-dozen deals, in cluding with Spalding; Move Insoles, which was co-founded by NBA star Damian Lillard; Lemon Perfect, a bottled water company in which Be yonce is a major inves tor; and Gym Shark.

“My social media was already kind of big so I was just doing basical ly NIL without getting paid because it was ille gal,” she said.

After being ap proached by a few large companies with NIL offers, the family dis covered that the deals weren’t permitted in Missouri and that Cali fornia was the only state that allowed it at the time.

“I realized wow, this is insane,” said Williams’ mother, Jill McIntyre. Jada Williams moved to San Diego with her mother and an older sis ter ahead of her junior year.

“She had to take ad vantage of the opportu nity where she can liter ally invest in her future at 17,” said McIntyre, a regional sales manager for a tech company who helps her daughter man age her business affairs.

“We’re still young, but at the same time we’re learning about how to manage money and just learn a lot of life skills that are way bigger than just NIL,” said Williams, a two-time gold medal ist with the U.S. junior national team who has incorporated as Jada Williams Inc. and plans to start a foundation.

Malachi Nelson, a senior quarterback at Los Alamitos High who

has committed to USC, landed big deals even before signing with Klutch Sports, the agen cy that represents LeB ron James. He’s 42nd on the top 100 with a valua tion of $794,000, 10 spots ahead of UCLA quar terback Dorian Thomp son-Robinson. Jada Wil liams is at No. 71, with a valuation of $550,000.

California was the first state to allow high school athletes to sign NIL deals. Southern Cal ifornia has always been a hotbed of prep talent. Athletes from other re gions, like Williams, are moving to the Golden State to take advantage of NIL. Some transfer for just their senior sea son.

NIL has become such a big deal that a Los Alamitos High coach who helps players with recruiting also guides them through the new frontier.

“We’ve got guys on our team making a heck of a lot more money than I am this year,” Los Alamitos head coach Ray Fenton said. “All across the country, kids are getting paid a lot of

Marmaton Valley Junior High’s Tucker Sutton, left, and Emma Louk compete in their respective basket ball games Tuesday. PHOTOS BY MADISON ROBERTSON/MVHS (LEFT) AND HALIE LUKEN/MVHS

Jada Williams INSTAGRAM.COM

Mom blames herself for lack of grandkids

Dear Carolyn: I do not ever remember having a healthy relationship with food. Neither did my mother. She grew up obese and later yo-yo di eted her whole life to try to maintain her weight. She was terrified that I would be fat and taught me that food was some thing to be feared. In college, away from her watchful eye, I did gain a lot of weight. After col lege, I only became thin again through bulimia; finally, an ER doctor per suaded me to get help.

Through years of thera py, I was able to get a han dle on things, but main taining a healthy weight takes more energy and vigilance than most peo ple would believe.

My mom feels really badly about this and blames herself, but I know she did the best she could while dealing with her own eating dis

Carolyn Hax

order.

I’m serious with my boyfriend now, and the question of children has come up. I don’t see how I could ever be relaxed around my children regarding food. Also, there’s no question that eating disorders run in my family; my cousins all have weight issues, and two have had diag nosed eating disorders.

Because of this, I think it would be irresponsible to have children or even to adopt. My boyfriend embraces the idea of a child-free life. He has health issues that run in his family, plus his job is demanding, so he says he doesn’t think he could

be the kind of father he should be, anyway.

Mom is begging me to reconsider, is despon dent about my decision and is once again blam ing herself. What can I do to help her see that this is the right choice for me and that she didn’t “ruin my life”?

— I Don’t Blame Her I Don’t Blame Her: I hope you don’t mind my saying that your hard work seems to have brought you to a really good, centered, cleareyed place. That is not easy. Hats off.

As for your mom, she can beg you only if you grant her the time and space to keep talking about this. So don’t. It’s the same as with other boundaries: State your decision clearly and de finitively if you haven’t already (it sounds as if you’ve done this); state clearly and definitively

Deals: High-school athletes

Continued from B4

money for deals they sign.”

Peter Schoenthal, an NIL expert who is CEO of Athliance in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, predicts that every state will allow high school athletes to take advan tage of NIL within a year or so.

“We have 8-year-olds in this country and all over the world that have YouTube channels where they’re making millions of dollars re viewing toys,” Schoen thal said. “There’s no way to really stop an individual who has mar keting ability to stop them from their right to publicity, whether or not they’re high school athletes, whether or not they’re big-time re cruits.”

Schoenthal and Caspino help athletes avoid the downside of NIL, such as one-sided deals, and they offer

assistance with under standing taxes and han dling money.

“Most of the families I’ve worked with are very low on the econom ic totem pole in our so ciety. For the first time, they’re able to have economic stability in their life,” said Caspi no, whose son, Sam, is a freshman tight end at SMU.

Coaches, too, try to keep athletes from get ting in trouble.

“You really have to be grounded as a fam ily, because you have 18-year-old kids that all of a sudden walk into a lot of money, and they think it’s endless,” Fen ton said. “It could be $10,000, and for a kid who’s never had $5 in his pocket in his whole life, that $10,000 is an in credible amount. What they don’t realize is $10,000 runs out, and it runs out pretty fast.”

Bruce Bible, the as

sociate head coach at Los Alamitos, cautions against young athletes becoming “all about NIL.”

“The main thing has to be the main thing — academics and athlet ics. NIL is secondary,” he said. He also tries to “temper expectations” because not everyone is going to get an NIL deal.

Bible said Nelson, who has a deal with a Los Angeles-area hospi tality group founded by a former USC walk-on, is a perfect example of what drives NIL.

“It’s not based on the school he’s going to. It’s based on him and what he’s doing in his career and how marketable he is,” Bible said.

“This is the wave of the future and it’s just going to get bigger and bigger,” he added. “Can you imagine LeBron James in high school nowadays, what that would look like?”

that it’s your decision, not her fault (“Mom, I like my life this way; it’s not your doing, and it’s not your place to tell me it’s not a good life”); say you won’t discuss this with her further; and end all conversations calmly, kindly and on the spot, by the easiest means available.

So, phone: “I’ve got to go, talk later.” Click.

In person: “Next top ic.” If she doesn’t com ply, change the subject, and if she doesn’t com ply, leave the room.

On social media: Ig nore, delete or hide posts.

Over text: Ignore her. Note that there is no set of “help her see” steps. Not discussing it, ever, is helping her see that this choice is not open for debate. And liv ing the good life you’ve made for yourself is helping her see that it’s not ruined and that your choices were right for you. She can choose either to remain de spondent in her own vision of what could be or to join you in your actual content ment. That’s up to her.

BLONDIE

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote: Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves. — Thich Nhat Hanh

MARVIN

AND LOIS

ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne FUNKY WINKERBEAN by Tom Batiuk

by Young and Drake

by Tom Armstrong HI

by Chance Browne

Woods: Injuries taking a toll

while trying to prepare for a 72-hole event in the Bahamas.

“When you get plan tar fasciitis, the worst thing you can do is walk, and I was walk ing more and more and more, trying to get my legs ready for this event, and I just kept making it worse,” he said. “So had to shut it down.”

He said he would take a month or two to rest, which won’t af fect his golf schedule because he wasn’t go ing to play that much, anyway.

This has been com ing. Woods turns 47 on Dec. 30, and he has had roughly as many surgeries as majors he was won (15).

“The goal is to play

just the major champi onships and maybe one or two more. That’s it. Physically, that’s all I can do. I told you that (at) the beginning of this year, too,” he said.

“I mean, I don’t have much left in this leg, so gear up for the biggest ones and hopefully, lightning catches in a bottle and I’m up there in contention with a chance to win, and hopefully, I remember how to do that.”

He said he did every thing to prepare for St. Andrews, only for his leg to act up on him and lead to an early departure packed with emotion. Woods does not anticipate return ing to another Open at St. Andrews.

His health wasn’t great that week be

World: Cup guide

in the starting lineup against Japan.

The Japanese are trying to advance to the knockout round for the second straight World Cup. They could see Ayase Ueda and Junya Ito playing together in attack from the start for the first time.

CROATIA-BELGIUM

There should be some young faces on the field when two veteran teams meet in a decisive Group F match.

Croatia, which reached the World Cup final four years ago but lost to France, needs only a draw against Belgium to ensure its place in the round of 16. The Belgians and their aging “Golden Genera tion” likely need a vic tory, but a draw may be enough depending on the result in the other group game between Morocco and Canada.

The youngsters could make the difference.

Joško Gvardiol is a 20-year-old center back who joined the nation al team last year. Nick named “Little Pep” because of the similar ities between his last name and that of Man chester City coach Pep Guardiola, the phys ical Gvardiol has al ready become a main stay in the defense for Croatia.

“At the age of 20 he has demonstrated that he can play at a great level,” Croatia team mate Mateo Kovači said. “He just needs to continue doing that.”

On the other side is 21-year-old midfielder Charles De Ketelaere. The baby-faced De Kete

laere, or “CDK” as he’s referred to, has only played off the bench so far at this tourna ment. But he has been impressive with Italian champion AC Milan this season, drawing comparisons to former club great Kaká for his dribbling ability and precise crosses in the playmaker position.

“Some of the young players that haven’t been in the game, they are growing behind the scenes. I can feel that they can be called on when needed,” Bel gium coach Rober to Martínez said. “I thought the players that came on against Morocco, they did their jobs, they performed well.”

CANADA-MOROCCO

Morocco is on the verge of reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and coach Walid Regragui made it clear why the team is in such a posi tion.

The players.

“There are other coaches that like to make you think that they’re magicians, they’re the ones, they’re puppeteers,” Regragui said through an interpreter on Wednesday. “The play ers are the ones that make the coach and not the other way around.”

Morocco would ad vance with a victory or a draw on Thursday against already-elimi nated Canada and also could reach the round of 16 with a loss de pending on the result of Belgium’s match with Croatia.

Allen: v. NC Mizz

Continued from B1

able to do that,” said Shaw. “That was frus trating for us. They’re a smaller team heightwise but they had a more aggressive mind set going after loose balls. Last year we won a bunch of these games because we were the tougher team.”

Chris Dixon led the Devils’ offensive attack with 18 points, followed by Brayden Thompson and Donovan Seam ster’s 12 points apiece and Ahmed Mahgoub’s 11 points.

The Pirates out-re bounded the Red Devils,

56-33. Red Devil Brayden Thompson snatched a team-high eight re bounds while Chris tian Arndt grabbed six boards and Dixon col lected five rebounds.

“They seemed like the more physical, tough team and we’ll hopefully bounce back from that and get some things corrected,” said Shaw. “If I had to say one word it would just be their toughness,” that won the game.

Allen tips off in a Holiday Classic at Southeast Community College on Friday at 8 p.m.

yond his leg, though it wasn’t COVID-19.

McIlroy, in a wide-ranging inter view with the Sun day Independent in Ireland, said he and Woods played a prac tice round at Bally bunion on the Thurs day before the British Open and McIlroy was feeling ill afterward.

He said sweat was pouring off him and his temperature spiked. McIlroy called Woods, who reported he was feeling fine. But then Woods text ed him that night and said he had chills and a fever.

“And I’m like, ‘(Ex pletive), I’ve just given Tiger COVID!’ This is horrendous!’” McIlroy said. “So we both had COVID going into the Open.”

Woods said he test ed for the coronavi rus and it came back negative.

“Was I feeling un der the weather? Yes, wasn’t feeling great the whole week,” Woods said. “But I never got a positive test.”

Ovechkin passes Gretzky for most road goals in NHL

VANCOUVER, Brit ish Columbia (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored twice, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most road goals in NHL his tory, and the Washing ton Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Ovechkin has scored 403 of his 793 career goals away from home. Gretzky holds the over all record with 894.

“It’s always nice when you beat the Great One,” Ovechkin said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of milestone it is. It’s history.”

Anthony Mantha added a goal and an as sist for the Capitals (1011-3). John Carlson and Martin Fehervary also scored, and Darcy Kue mper stopped 31 shots.

Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks (9-11-3), who had won three in a row. Spencer Martin made 23 saves.

“Spencer’s been great for us. He’s prob ably a bit like the other players tonight. They

weren’t ready to play and it showed on the scoreboard,” Vancou ver coach Bruce Bou dreau said.

The 37-year-old Ovechkin nearly netted a hat trick when Van couver pulled Martin for an extra skater with just over six minutes left, but his rocket of a shot skimmed the out side of the post.

“I think he has 13 goals this year and I want to say like eight or nine have been like a new record. So it’s been cool,” Washington center Dylan Strome said. “Any time you pass Wayne Gretzky in anything, it deserves a standing ovation, which he got.”

Fehervary was the one who sealed it, flip ping the puck high into the Canucks zone and into the empty net at 15:57 of the third period.

Ovechkin topped Gretzky 11:52 into the first, firing a one-timer from the left circle past Martin to give the Cap

itals a 2-0 lead with his 13th goal of the season.

“On his second goal, it looks like, ‘Oh, maybe (Martin) should have had it.’ But I’ve seen (Ovechkin) score 100 goals like that,” said Boudreau, who coached the Capitals from 200711. “He’s got a shot that finds its way in.”

The star forward from Russia got his first of the night 5:35 in, taking the puck off the stick of Vancou ver defenseman Quinn Hughes near the net and batting in a quick shot.

“It could have been 6-1 after the first peri od, quite frankly, with the amount of chanc es (Washington) had,” Boudreau said.

It was Ovechkin’s 135th game-opening goal, tying Jaromir Jagr for the most in NHL history.

“(Ovechkin) was real ly good in the first and I thought we were real ly good in the first so it was nice to get out.”