The Iola Register, Sept. 2, 2023

Caring for the whole person

SEKMHC takes over Ashley Clinic

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

CHANUTE — Dr. Dave Guernsey, a family physician and president of Ashley Clinic, recently saw a patient who was concerned about her son’s behavior.

Guernsey called Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center to see if they had school-based counselors at the child’s school. They did, so Guernsey set up an appointment for the child to meet with a therapist as soon as school started.

That approach to integrated care — meeting the needs of a patient’s physical and mental health — led to a new partnership between SEKMHC and Ashley Clinic.

SEKMHC acquired Ashley Clinic earlier this summer.

The goal for both entities is

See SEKMHC | Page A3

That’s not what I ordered: Burger King accused of false ads

By DEE-ANN DURBIN The Associated Press

Food ads have long made their subjects look bigger, juicier and crispier than they are in real life. But some consumers say those mouthwatering ads can cross the line into deception, and that’s leading to a growing number of lawsuits.

Burger King is the latest company in the crosshairs. In August, a federal judge in

Florida refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit that claims Burger King’s ads overstate the amount of meat in its Whopper burger and other sandwiches.

But Burger King is far from the only one. Perkins Coie, a law firm that tracks class action suits, said 214 were filed against food and beverage companies in 2022 and 101 were filed in the first six months of this year. That’s a huge increase from 2010,

when just 45 were filed.

Pooja Nair, who represents food and beverage companies as a partner with the Beverly Hills, California-based law firm Ervin Cohen and Jessup, said waves of class action lawsuits started hitting federal courts a few years ago. Some of the first were false advertising claims against snack chip makers for not completely filling the bags; most of those were dismissed, she said. Since 2019,

hundreds of lawsuits have been filed asserting that consumers are being misled by “vanilla-flavored” products that don’t contain pure vanilla or vanilla beans.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys largely file the cases in the same courts in New York, California and Illinois, she said, where federal courts are less likely to dismiss them outright.

While the case against Burger King was filed in Mi-

ami, where its parent company has its U.S. headquarters, one of the attorneys who filed it has similar cases pending in New York against Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Taco Bell. That attorney, James Kelly, didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Companies often settle cases before a lawsuit is filed instead of spending the time and money fighting it in

See FOOD ADS | Page A7

Mural touts staying active

By TIM STAUFFER The Iola Register

Many moons ago, Stephen Gilpin found himself sprinting down New York City streets at night, weaving along sidewalks choked with pedestrians and darting onto the street to avoid oncoming traffic. He was late for a movie, and in Gilpin’s mind that was no reason to call a cab, catch an express train, or just walk a bit faster. It was reason to run.

Once at the theater, Neil Magnuson, a fellow Iolan who had reluctantly trailed a sprinting Gilpin, looked up at him with a crazed expression. “You’re like a wild animal,” Magnuson panted. What in the world was someone like him doing in the city?

YEARS later, Gilpin under-

See MURAL | Page A8

Dr. Dave Guernsey, left, president of Ashley Clinic and Nathan Fawson, director of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, pose for a photo in front of the Chanute Ashley Clinic building. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Kansas is rich in small-town newspapers

Stephen Gilpin’s mural along the Lehigh Portland Trail encourages users to enjoy the outdoors. Or in his words, to “get out... and stay out!” Gilpin discussed his creation Friday. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER

Obituary

John Pollet

John Pollet, age 67, died on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, at home in Iola.

He was born July 24, 1956, in Iola, to Claude and Dorothy Heimberg Pollet.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Shirley Allen.

Survivors include sisters Nancy Pollett of Independence, and Barbara Beasley of LaHarpe; brother Clarence Pollet of LaHarpe; children, Dennis Walden of Humboldt, John Pollet of Girard, Terri Yokum of Iola, Regina Cuppy of Iola, Heather Trester of LaHarpe; 19 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Cremation will take place.

A memorial gathering will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, at The Venue, Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 Hwy 54, Iola.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions be made to Feuerborn Family Funeral Service to help defer John’s final expenses, or the ALS Fund at The University of Kansas Medical Center. They can be sent to Feuerborn Family Funeral Service 1883 Hwy 54, Iola KS 66749.

Police news

Arrest reported Iola police officers were called to the 100 block of East Jackson Avenue where Madison Gambill reported criminal damage to her vehicle. Jess Bolling, 35, of Iola, was arrested for suspicion of criminal damage to property

Drivers unhurt

Vehicles driven by Yvette Scheibmier of Iola and Karen Beecher of Yates Center collided at the Walmart entrance

Tuesday afternoon.

Both vehicles sustained heavy damage, but nei-

State invests $48.7 million for bridges

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Transportation earmarked $42.3 million in federal funding to support $6.4 million in local government investment over the next two years to improve safety of nearly three dozen city or county bridges outside of the state highway system.

KDOT said a total of 15 projects were included in the 2024 map and blended $21.8 million funneled through the state and $4.7 million in local matching dollars. The plan would replace 16 bridges and permanently remove 12 bridges from local road systems.

those routes were vital to moving people and goods.

ther driver was injured, officers said.

Bicycle found Iola police officers recovered a bicycle on the walking trail Aug. 25 between Washington and Jefferson avenues. The 20-inch boys bicycle may be claimed at the police department.

Items found

Officers received several pieces of property near Walmart, including a woman’s wallet, car keys and a cell phone Aug. 26. The items may be claimed at IPD.

NASA spacecraft spots lunar lander crash site

CAPE CANAVER-

AL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft around the moon has found the likely crash site of Russia’s lost lunar lander.

The Luna 25 lander slammed into the moon last month, a harsh end to Russia’s first moon mission in almost half a century. Based on observations by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA said Thursday that it appears the impact created a crater 33 feet across.

This fresh crater is about 250 miles short of the spacecraft’s intended landing site at the lunar south pole, and farther north. NASA’s spacecraft found no evidence of a crater in this spot in pictures taken during a flyover last year.

It’s located on the steep inner rim of an ancient and considerably larger crater.

Since the newfound crater is close to where scientists believe Russia’s lunar lander crashed, “it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor,” NASA said in a statement.

Meanwhile, India’s rover is exploring the moon’s south polar re-

gion after successfully touching down a few days after Russia’s failure. India became only the fourth country to pull off a lunar landing.

The $7 million in federal aid and $2 million from Dodge City allowed work to proceed on a new bridge on 14th Avenue over the Arkansas River. In northeast Kansas, $750,000 from Congress and $86,000 tied to a 10% local match enabled work on a bridge east of Highland.

Next year, KDOT said, $20.5 million authorized by the state would be combined with $1.7 million in local funding for 20 projects. The 2025 roster included $990,000 in combined funding for a Crawford County bridge over a Little Walnut Creek tributary in southeast Kansas and $544,000 for the bridge east of Edson over the south fork of Sappa Creek in northwest Kansas.

Gov. Laura Kelly said nearly onefourth of 19,000 bridges on Kansas’ local road systems were deficient, but

“Almost 5,000 of those bridges simply cannot meet our state’s needs in a modern world, which is why these investments are critical for making our state a better place to live and work,” Kelly said.

KDOT reshaped two local bridge programs to take advantage of the federal allocation. The agency received 176 applications for bridge repairs that would cost $162.4 million. Selec-

tion criteria took into account bridge condition, detour length, inability to carry legal loads and past project history.

“We welcome op-

portunities to partner with Kansas cities and counties to replace or rehabilitate deteriorating bridges,” said KDOT secretary Calvin Reed. “The needs are high.”

Gov. Laura Kelly visited Dodge City to outline a two-year plan to invest $48.7 million in improving safety of city or county bridges statewide. She was joined by Liberal Rep. Shannon Francis, left, the Republican chairman of the House Transportation Committee. (KANSAS REFLECTOR SCREEN CAPTURE FROM SUBMITTED IMAGE)

SEKMHC: Announces partnership with Ashley Clinic

Continued from A1

to provide expanded services.

Mental and physical health go hand-inhand, Nathan Fawson, executive director of SEKMHC, said.

“So often it’s the case that those we are providing services to have chronic illnesses that are in need of medical services that go neglected, or their form of treatment is going to the emergency room,” Fawson said.

“Our goal is to show them a better way by introducing them to primary care.”

Research shows that those with severe, persistent mental illness tend to die 20 to 25 years earlier than the general population, Fawson said, “and they tend to die not from their mental illness diagnosis but from medical complications.”

Guernsey agreed, saying some patients may be so distracted by their mental health issues that they neglect their physical health, and vice versa.

“Say I’m taking care of someone’s blood pressure or diabetes. If their mental health isn’t being taken care of, they’re probably not going to get their blood pressure or diabetes under control,” he said.

“When I see a patient with a physical problem who needs mental health care, the old way is to set up a referral with SEKMHC. But often — it could be the stigma, it could be financial, it could be a bunch of reasons — they never make it there. And then they’re not getting the whole care they need.”

Integrated care has long been a goal of both mental and physical health care providers, they agreed. But health care can be slow to change.

“Because we offer differing specialties and so often work within our own silos, making those connections with one another is the greater challenge,” Fawson said.

ASHLEY CLINIC began 85 years ago through the efforts of a father-and-son family medicine team. They later opened a primary care clinic in Humboldt.

The goal was always to offer as many services as possible under one roof, Guernsey said. They started by adding surgical services and now have three surgeons on staff in addition to primary care services.

Then, they opened a pharmacy.

The clinic has since added pediatric, urology and diabetes specialty services, along with a full-service lab including X-ray imaging, and a convenient care walk-in clinic open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“I had a patient come to see me in the clinic and I noticed they needed surgical specialties, so I was able to just walk right down the hall and ask the surgeon to see this patient and get a surgery scheduled — and all that before I even had lunch,” Guernsey said.

“But one thing we’ve always been lacking is mental health services.”

About a year ago, Ashley Clinic hired a parttime mental health professional. Immediately, her schedule was full. She now works full-time and still has a full schedule.

SEKMHC began in 1961 and is a non-profit organization that serves six counties: Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Linn, Neosho and Woodson.

About 45 therapists provide outpatient therapy and crisis services, with about 300 other employees offering support in other ways. SEKMHC provides therapy, substance use and addiction counseling, case management, crisis intervention and a variety of other services.

About a year ago, SEKMHC became a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), one of the first five community mental health centers in Kansas to earn certification.

The goal is to serve the overall health of a client, not just mental health.

The certification has allowed SEKMHC to qualify for additional funding, and the center has expanded significantly since then.

Fawson first joined SEKMHC in 1996 as a therapist. After a brief

time away, he returned and became CEO in 2013.

He recalled his early years in Iola, working as a crisis intervention therapist. One day, he was called to assess a patient for Dr. Timothy Spears, a local physician. Spears talked about how doctors once had authority to admit patients to the state hospital until legislators delegated that responsibility to the local community mental health center.

“He was saying how he felt a little offended at first, but he came to experience the greater value of inviting a mental health expert to assess the patient and their needs,” Fawson said.

“It’s always our goal to explore how we can help someone stay in their home community for treatment and, in doing so, wrap our behavioral health services around them.”

Since earning certification as a CCBHC, the mental health center added patient navigators whose job is to determine what services someone needs to be successful.

That could include housing, food or social needs. It could be medical treatment.

Navigators work to connect patients with whatever services they need.

“As we’ve embraced that mission to provide whole-person care, we wanted to purposefully take that next step and not just coordinate it but ultimately provide it,” Fawson said.

ASHLEY CLINIC’S positive reputation for comprehensive care drew

So often it’s the case that those we are providing services to have chronic illnesses that are in need of medical services that go neglected, or their form of treatment is going to the emergency room. Our goal is to show them a better way by introducing them to primary care.

— Nathan Fawson, SEKMHC director

Fawson’s interest. He reached out to administrators Guernsey and then-CEO Dr. Charles Van Houden this past spring to explore partnership opportunities.

In June, SEKMHC took over ownership of Ashley Clinic. Van Houden remains on staff. Patients likely won’t notice much difference, Guernsey and Fawson said. Ashley Clinic will continue to operate under the same name, just with an increased level of mental health services. The clinic is currently advertising for a mental health provider and will hire patient navigators to serve the same role as they do at SEKMHC.

As a not-for-profit provider, SEKMHC treats patients regardless of their ability to pay with a sliding-scale fee based

on income, along with insurance and other payment models. SEKMHC receives funding from the state, the counties it serves, grants, insurance and other sources.

The same kind of payment options will transfer to Ashley Clinic, although Guernsey said financial assistance programs have long been available to patients.

SEKMHC also has purchased land on U.S. 54 in east Iola. Plans to build a new facility there were put on hold with the acquisition of Ashley Clinic, Fawson said. Eventually, a strategic plan will be developed to consider what type of facility will best meet SEKMHC’s needs.

In recent years, SEKMHC began offering school-based therapy

services. That has expanded to 14 schools across the six counties.

“That has opened our eyes to an even greater need,” Fawson said. “It reminds me of the concept, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Well, they were already there. Now we’re just building it.”

He was not sure if there would be any changes to that program with the acquisition of Ashley Clinic. Both Fawson and Guernsey said they are excited about the possibilities.

“As a physician, I’m excited because I’m able to offer so much more to my patients and focus more on the whole person,” Guernsey said.

“As an individual in the community, I’m excited because we have more services to offer not only in Chanute but all of Southeast Kansas. It’s an exciting time for healthcare here.”

Detailer/Lot Porter

Federal judge upends court order on transgender birth certificates

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — A federal judge granted Attorney General Kris Kobach’s request Thursday to significantly undermine provisions of a 2019 consent judgment granting transgender individuals born in Kansas the right to amend birth certificates to match their gender identities.

Kobach sought the U.S. District Court’s intervention after the Kansas Legislature approved a law defining women and men by biological sex and requiring state agencies to collect health data identifying people as either male or female consistent with that determination at birth. Impetus for the statute was a movement to prevent transgender people from using restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities based on an identity in conflict with their biological sex at birth.

While transgender Kansans considered the statute imposed in July to be harassment,

the attorney general argued Senate Bill 180 enabled the court to end the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s practice of correcting gender markers on birth certificates. Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, opposed the law and objected to Kobach’s legal analysis.

“As long as I am attorney general, the laws of Kansas will be enforced as written,” Kobach said. “The Legislature decided that birth certificates must reflect biological reality, and they were quite clear in how they wrote the

Public notices

law. Today’s decision is a rejection of the activists’ and Governor Kelly’s attempt to twist the English language beyond recognition.

The court has told the governor what the law clearly means. We now expect the governor to follow the law and cease changing birth certificates to something other than biological sex at birth.”

Four years ago, Lambda Legal, along with the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm, represented four transgender people who were unable to obtain birth certifi-

Andrea Newman, Humboldt

Hiram Raby, Humboldt

Drake Tilman, Humboldt

Sandra Whitaker, Humboldt

Anthony Works, Humboldt

Josh Wrestler, Humboldt

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT #413

4 Members at Large

Cassie Cleaver, Chanute

Bob Cross, Chanute

Brianna M. Leroy, Chanute

Bruce W. Lee, Chanute

Derek Waggoner, Chanute

Samuel Smeed, Chanute

Owen Higgins, Chanute

Bradley LaRue, Chanute

Cody Howell, Chanute

1 Member at Large (Unexpired

Term)

Landon J. Wolken, Chanute

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT #479 FOR POSITION #1

Jamie L. Henderson, Kincaid

L. Jason Beckmon, Kincaid FOR POSITION #2

Kevin Nilges, Kincaid FOR POSITION #3

Laura Schmidt, Colony FOR POSITION #7

Nathan Beckmon, Kincaid

SOUTHWIND EXTENSION

DISTRICT #10 FOR BOARD MEMBERS – 2

positions

Darrell R. Monfort, Iola

Jill Wilks, Iola

NOTICE OF BOND ELECTION ALLEN COUNTY, KANSAS

cates consistent with their gender identity. That negotiated agreement of that lawsuit set aside Kansas’ discriminatory birth certificate policy and allowed hundreds of people to modify the key identification document.

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist at Lambda Legal, said Kobach’s interpretation of Senate Bill 180 was as unlawful as the Kansas administrative policy on birth certificates that was challenged by the 2018 lawsuit.

“We are disappointed that the court has saw fit to reopen the consent judgment, which has been in place for four years and operated without incident,” he said. “Let us be clear, however, today’s decision does not approve of SB180, as interpreted by the Kansas attorney general, but simply holds that the circumstances have changed. Indeed, the court went to great lengths to specify that it was not opining on SB 180’s constitutionality.”

ed?

Shall the Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Kansas, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the County in an amount not to exceed $9,950,000, to pay the estimated costs of making improvements to the Allen County Courthouse, consisting of the addition of a new courtroom, judicial offices, and secure entry and lobby; renovation of the existing judicial area to include secure areas, a jury room, conference rooms, ADA accessibility, and judicial offices, storage and work space; and all other necessary and related improvements; all pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 10 101 et seq. and K.S.A. 1915,114 et seq., as amended?

To vote in favor of any question submitted on this ballot, make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of the word “Yes.” To vote against it, make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of the word “No.”

O YES

O NO

**********************

NOTICE OF BOND ELECTION

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 479, ANDERSON COUNTY, KANSAS (CREST)

Gonzalez-Pagan said an individual’s access to accurate personal documents was vital because lack of accurate identification placed transgender people at peril of discrimination, harassment and violence. A lawsuit challenging the state law could emerge from this court battle.

“We will evaluate next steps to determine how best to continue to secure the right of transgender Kansans to have identity documents consistent with who they are,” Gonzalez-Pagan said.

Under the original consent judgment, the federal court ordered the state Department of Health and Environment and other Kansas government officials to provide birth certificates that reflected sex consistent with gender identity. The order noted the state’s previous policy prohibiting gender marker corrections to birth certificates violated the equal protection clause and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

The Republican-led

tion bonds in an amount not to exceed $5,950,000, to pay the costs to construct, furnish and equip renovations, improvements and additions to District school facilities, including but not limited to:

(a) classroom addition, designed as a storm shelter;

(b) main entry ADA accessible and secure entry addition, renovations and improvements; (c) existing classrooms and locker rooms renovations and improvements; (d) kitchen and cafeteria renovations and improvements;

(e) new auxiliary gymnasium addition; (f) parking and entry drive improvements; and (g) all other necessary improvements related thereto (collectively the “Project”), and to pay costs of issuance and interest on said general obligation bonds during construction of the Project; all pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 10-101 et seq., K.S.A. 25-2018(f), K.S.A. 72-5457, and K.S.A. 72-5458 et seq.?

To vote in favor of any question submitted on this ballot, press the word “Yes” on the voting machine or completely darken the oval to the left of the word “Yes” on the paper ballot. To vote against it, press the word “No” on the voting machine or completely darken the oval to the left of the word “No” on the paper ballot.

Legislature responded earlier this year with Senate Bill 180. Kelly vetoed the bill, but the Legislature overrode the governor.

In June, Kobach filed a motion in federal court to nullify the 2019 consent judgement. He said the original order conflicted with the new state law requiring state agencies to collect statistics based on a person’s sex assigned at birth.

The governor and attorneys for the original plaintiffs argued the 2023 law didn’t conflict with the consent judgment because state agencies could gather vital statistics in accordance with the statute and continue to issue modified birth certificates.

In wake of the attorney general’s effort to undo the consent order, Kansas ACLU executive director Micah Kubic said Kobach ought to rethink the “sheer indecency of this attempt to weaponize his office’s authority to attack transgender Kansans just trying to live their lives.”

The polls will open at 7:00 A.M. and will close at 7:00 P.M. The following is a list of each city precinct and respective polling site: East Elm, West Elm & Deer Creek TownshipsGas City Hall North & South Elsmore, Marmaton, Osage Townships Moran Senior/Community Center Humboldt City, Ward 1&2, Cottage Grove, Humboldt, Logan, Salem Twp. Humboldt United Methodist Church Iola City, Wards 1, 2, 3 & 4 Carlyle, Geneva, North & South Iola Twp. North Community Building

The Election Officer conducting the election will be the County Clerk of Allen County, Kansas, whose address is Allen County Courthouse, 1 N. Washington, Iola, KS 66749. Publication as per K.S.A. 25-2018(d) Voters must bring Valid Photo ID with them to vote.

A. Masterson, Iola

UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT #258

4 Members at Large

Chelsie Angleton, Humboldt

Josh Hart, Humboldt

Kevin Heisler, Humboldt

Cindy Jaro, Humboldt

The Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Kansas (the “County”), has heretofore, pursuant to resolution duly adopted, declared it advisable to acquire and construct improvements and additions to the Allen County Courthouse (the “Project”) at an estimated cost of $9,950,000. Notice is hereby given to the qualified electors of the County that a bond election has been called and will be held on November 7, 2023, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the County the following proposition: Shall the following be adopt-

The Board of Education of Unified School District No. 479, Anderson County, Kansas (Crest) (the “District”), has heretofore, pursuant to resolution duly adopted, declared it advisable to make and finance certain improvements to District facilities pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 10-101 et seq., K.S.A. 25-2018(f), K.S.A. 725457, and K.S.A. 72-5458 et seq. Notice is hereby given to the qualified electors of the District that a bond election has been called and will be held on November 7, 2023, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the District the following proposition:

Shall the following be adopted?

Shall Unified School District No. 479, Anderson County, Kansas (Crest), issue general obliga-

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 30th day of August 2023. Shannon Patterson Allen County Election Officer (9) 2

A U.S. District Court judge granted Thursday a request by Attorney General Kris Kobach to modify a 2019 consent agreement resolving a lawsuit by permitting transgender Kansans to amend birth certificates to be consistent with gender. (SAM BAILEY/KANSAS REFLECTOR)

Texas schools can’t meet mandate to require armed officers

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)

— A vision of armed officers at every school in Texas is crashing into the reality of not enough money or police as a new mandate took effect Friday, showing how a goal more states are embracing in response to America’s cycle of mass killings is proving unworkable in many communities.

Dozens of Texas’ largest school districts, which educate many of the state’s 5 million students, are reopening classrooms without meeting the state’s new requirements of armed officers on every campus. The mandate is a pillar of a safety bill signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who rejected calls this year for gun control despite angry pleas from parents of children killed in the Uvalde school massacre.

Texas has nearly 9,000 public school campuses, second only to California, making the requirement the largest of its kind in the U.S.

“We all support the idea,” said Stephanie Elizalde, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, which has more than 140,000 students. “The biggest challenge for all superintendents is that this is yet again an unfunded mandate.”

The difficulties lay bare limits of calls to put armed guards at every school, more than a decade after the National Rifle Association championed the idea in the face of an intense push for stronger gun laws following the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in 2012.

The new Texas law allows exceptions but also does not require districts to report compliance, making it unclear how many schools are meeting the standard.

But by all accounts, many are not.

The Associated Press contacted 60 of Texas’ largest school districts about whether they were able to start the school year in compliance. The districts, which cut across a wide swath of Texas, from rapidly growing suburbs to the U.S.-Mexico border, enroll more than 2.7 million students combined.

Not all districts responded and some declined to discuss staffing levels, citing security concerns. But statements to the AP, along with a review of school board meeting actions and statements made to local media, show at least half have been unable to comply with the law’s highest standard.

A major struggle is staffing elementary schools, where officers are traditionally less common. But those campuses came under calls for more protection after a gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers last year at Robb Elementary School — a tragedy in

Southside Independent School District police officer Ruben Cardenas, center, keeps watch as students arrive at Freedom Elementary School, Wednesday, Aug. 23, in San Antonio. (AP PHOTO/ERIC GAY)

which the failures were not over a lack of police, who were on the scene within minutes, but the inaction of hundreds of officers once they arrived.

Spokesperson for Abbott did not respond to questions about the rollout of the law. The Texas Education Agency did not address questions about concerns raised by schools and instead provided criteria for districts to seek an exception.

“How these exceptions look locally is determined by the school district’s board, and they must develop an alternative safety standard with which the district is able to comply,” spokesman Jake Kobersky said.

But local school officials say the additional funding Texas gave districts under the new law, about $15,000 per campus, is hardly sufficient. In Dallas, Elizalde said an extra $75,000 is needed for each additional officer in Texas’ second-largest district.

In the scramble to comply with Texas’ new standards, options some districts previously never considered are now on the table: Some are turning to private security firms or arming more staff and teachers.

“This is probably new to everybody at this stage of the game. It’s expensive,” said Charles Hollis, director of operations at L&P Global Security in Dallas, which until this year had not put guards at public schools. The company now has contracts with four booming districts and is in talks with four others.

The combination of not enough money for officers, and not enough of them to fill thousands of openings across the U.S., is an ongoing struggle in cities nationwide. Last month, a small Minnesota town lost its police department altogether after officers resigned over low pay and pursued better opportunities elsewhere.

The national shortfall of officers has hampered other states’ attempts to patrol all schools. Florida struggled in 2018 when the state became the nation’s first to require an armed officer on every campus following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas

High School. In Tennessee, following an elementary school shooting in March, the state offered

police departments extra funding to staff every school. But police in Nashville, Tennessee’s largest city, rejected

most of the money. “With the level of our staffing, we can’t pull 70 officers from the streets of Nashville,”

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters in July.

Joy Baskin, education counsel for the Texas Association of School Boards, said all mandates come with a price tag. “But I think this is the biggest one I can remember in more than 25 years of talking to districts,” she said.

In San Antonio, the Southside Independent School District was able to start the year with enough officers, who make between $23 and $30 an hour. Don Tijerina, the district’s police chief, said it wouldn’t take any of them long to find jobs elsewhere.

“Bottom line: The demand is so high right now,” he said.

ballot upon application to the County Clerk set forth below pursuant to K.S.A. 25-1117 et seq.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

and will be held on November 7, 2023, for the purpose of submitting to the qualified electors of the County the following proposition:

Shall the following be adopted?

Shall the Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Kansas, be authorized to issue general obligation bonds of the County in an amount not to exceed $9,950,000, to pay the estimated costs of making improvements to the Allen County Courthouse, consisting of the addition of a new courtroom, judicial offices, and secure entry and lobby; renovation of the existing judicial area to include secure areas, a jury room, conference rooms, ADA accessibility, and judicial offices, storage and work space; and all other necessary and related improvements; all pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 10 101 et seq. and K.S.A. 19-15,114 et seq., as amended?

To vote in favor of any question submitted on this ballot, make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of the word “Yes.” To vote against it, make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of the word “No.”

O YES

O NO

The polls will open at 7:00 o’clock A.M. and will close at 7:00 o’clock P.M., on November 7, 2023, the election day. The voting places in the County, and the area each voting place will serve, will be as follows:

Voters Residing in Precinct, Will Vote at, Location East Elm, West Elm & Deer Creek Townships, Gas Community Building, 624 W. Pine, Gas, KS 66742 North & South Elsmore, Marmaton, Osage Townships, Moran Senior/ Community Center, 407 N. Cedar, Moran, KS 66755 Humboldt City, Ward 1&2, Cottage Grove, Humboldt, Logan, Salem Townships, Humboldt Methodist Church, 806 N. Ninth St., Humboldt, KS 66748 Iola City, Wards 1,2, 3 & 4, Carlyle, Geneva, North & South Iola Townships, North Community Building, 505 N. Buckeye, Iola, KS 66749

Projected Summary of Project Costs Sources of Funds Uses of Funds Bonds to be Issued, $9,950,000 Project Costs, $10,687,188 Bond Premium, 916,688 Issuance Expenses (including attorney fees, printing costs, rating agency fees, financial advisor fees, underwriting fees and other miscellaneous expenses), 179,500 Total, $10,866,688 Total, $10,866,688 Projected Summary of Bond Issue Repayments Principal payments over 20 years Average Interest Rate, 4.18% Total Interest Cost to Assessed Valuation (2023), Maturity, $6,889,458 $163,743,718 Average Annual Principal and Interest Payments, $841,973 Average Annual Property Tax Mill Levy Rate for Principal and Interest Payments Total, 3.9 Mills The election officer conducting the election will be the County Clerk of Allen County, Kansas, whose address is: County Courthouse, 1 North Washington, Iola, Kansas 66749. DATED: August 29, 2023 Shannon Patterson, County Clerk Allen County, Kansas (9) 2, 9

The biggest challenge for all superintendents is that this is yet again an unfunded mandate.

— Stephanie Elizalde, Dallas Independent School District

A6

Saturday, September 2, 2023

~ Journalism that makes a difference

Kansas is rich with small-town papers

Meet the Lucas-Sylvan News

LUCAS — Another 50 subscriptions would help Rita Sharp sustain her smalltown newspaper. Sharp has owned the weekly Lucas-Sylvan News since 2012. It covers the towns of Lucas in Russell County and Sylvan Grove, 12 miles away in Lincoln County. Sharp’s paper has weathered the coronavirus pandemic, the rise of social media as a source for news and advertising, and the aging and shrinking population in Lucas (population 337) and Sylvan Grove (population 285). Without missing an issue even when the pandemic closed schools, city and county businesses, and events, Sharp continued publishing. She mails about 450 copies a week to local residents and readers across the country, a circulation that keeps dropping.

Sharp inserts ad flyers and applies address labels by hand every week before mailing.

“I’m here for the kids. They’re our future,” Sharp said about her motivation.

Lori Brack

For the Kansas

Reflector

of First Amendment freedoms brought more than 4,000 new subscriptions, doubling the Marion County Record’s previous reach.

Of course it’s our responsibility to champion publisher Eric Meyer’s determination to cover cops, courts and city and county without fear or favor. I encourage us to remember, once the attention drifts from Marion, that many small and smaller newspapers in Kansas also deserve our support. Sharp calls it “the power of the printed word” not only to keep us informed, but to preserve local history as it happens.

People ought to know having a newspaper is an identity for a town, just like having a school and a post office.

Rita Sharp

“I want them to come back here when they see how great it is, and to bring back what they’ve learned. They say it takes a village, but I say it takes villages. We are many towns working together to raise these kids.”

Why should we care about a tiny paper out on the edge of Western Kansas, or any small newspaper toiling away to keep going against the odds?

On Aug. 11, when the Marion County Record was raided by local police, the strobe light of national attention swung toward Kansas journalism. An outpouring of support for the newspaper and the press’s preservation

And as it happens, Sharp is selling more papers each week — from $30 to $44 a year for online, in-state, or out-of-state subscriptions — than there are households in Lucas and Sylvan. This indicates the importance of the news to residents and those who want to stay in touch with their hometowns. If ads and subscriptions stop supporting small newspapers, this community-building record of births, deaths, high school graduations, 4-H activities and library programs also goes away.

In July, the Lucas-Sylvan News — one of 188 weekly papers in Kansas today — celebrated 135 years in Lucas.

Before the News, there were the Lucas Advance, Sentinel and Independent, all weekly papers. Sharp reproduced their first front pages fullsize in the July 20 edition.

An 1889 Chandler and Price offset press still occupies the basement of the Main Street building where Sharp runs

her paper. She is proud of the 1909 Chandler and Price guillotine cutter she often uses.

To support the newspaper, Sharp designs business cards and creates banners, wedding invitations, letterhead and other printed material.

The Lucas Publishing Co. has kept visionary folk artist S.P. Dinsmoor’s booklet The Cabin Home, a guide to his concrete Garden of Eden, in print since he wrote it in 1927. The Lucas tourist brochure that Sharp designed has been the most-used brochure at the nearest I-70 Kansas Travel Information Center.

Sharp and editor LaRee Bretz, a 20-year employee of the paper, put out digital and print issues on 10-year-old

computers. Each issue is an entertaining reading experience from the front page to the advertisements and obituaries, almost always highlighting the activities of children in sports, scholarship, arts, and service.

TO SPEND AN HOUR in the newspaper office is to observe telephone calls and visits by residents needing help with post office regulations or questions about how to find information. Sharp is willing to help.

Always humble, she laughed and called herself a Jill of All Trades. She is a former certified EMT and 6-year, non-career postal worker. She gardens and preserves produce, designs and

Rita Sharp, owner of the Lucas-Sylvan News, still uses the guillotine cutter patented in 1909 that occupies an old newspaper office. At right, a 1909 offset press occupies a corner of an office.

sews her clothing, and sells her paintings, photography and jewelry at Switchgrass Artist Cooperative, right across Main Street from her office.

“People ought to know having a newspaper is an identity for a town, just like having a school and a post office. The printed word is our richest resource there is,” Sharp said.

About the author: Lori Brack is an author who has worked in programs and publications for the Salina Art Center, as a college and community writing instructor and as director of a foundation-funded artist development project in Salina. She lives in Lucas.

The door has cracked open on lowering US drug prices

The federal government operates three gigantic systems providing health care to millions of Americans. The VA takes care of veterans, Medicaid (whose costs are shared with states and localities) is coverage for the poor and Medicare is health insurance for seniors and people with disabilities.

The VA and Medicaid can, and do, negotiate with suppliers on drug prices, just like they negotiate payment levels for other health services. Yet Medicare, which sets the reimbursement rates for doctors and hospitals, is barred by federal law from negotiating on drugs. That’s the doing of the well-heeled pharmaceutical lobby.

The prohibition from allowing Medicare to negotiate on drug prices was part of the original legislation when Medicare’s Part D drug benefit was first approved by a Republican Congress and President George W. Bush in 2003. Sen. John McCain, always a truth-teller, said the ban on negotiations was

“outrageous,” as Democrats pledged to change it.

It took a long time, but the change finally came last year with President Joe Biden’s hodgepodge Inflation Reduction Act. The law, signed a year ago this month, permitted Uncle Sam (meaning Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra) to haggle over the prices

of medications, albeit only a small group of drugs at a time.

Biden has now announced the first 10 drugs. The negotiations, by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, will take years and the lower prices for consumers will begin in 2026. There will be another 50 drugs over the next four years up for

negotiations and after that, 20 a year. And Big Pharma is fighting all the way, already in court to stop it.

The billions saved by both the government and the patients are billions coming from their bank accounts. Higher prices mean higher profits. As for lower prices, that is something that they are not interested in. The first group of drugs are made by Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Amgen, AbbVie and Novo Nordisk.

Those pharmaceuticals do good work and deserve to be fairly compensated. We are committed capitalists and think that private companies are entitled to gain from their medical discoveries (even though a great deal of the research money is government funds). But should medicine for diabetes or heart disease cost a fortune?

One of the drugs on the list, Imbruvica, for blood cancer, runs $17,000 a

month, or $204,000 a year. Is it that expensive to manufacture? Or were its development expenses extraordinarily pricey? Or are there not that many patients using it, so the costs per person have to be so high? Whatever the reason, it can be addressed during the talks now permitted between Medicare and the supplier, a joint product of AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson.

Big Pharma argues that since Medicare is such a big customer of their goods, it won’t be a real negotiation but a dictate, laid down by Medicare without much back and forth. And since Medicare is the federal government, it would be akin to the government setting prices.

With their ample resources to wage this courtroom battle, the legal fight will eventually land in the U.S. Supreme Court. Hopefully, the program will be upheld and drug costs will be lowered.

— New York Daily News

PHOTOS BY LORI BRACK, ABOVE, AND RITA SHARP

—

of the Lucas-Sylvan News

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greet audience members during an event promoting lower healthcare costs on Aug. 29. (WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

Food ads: Suit alleges deceptions

Continued from A1

court, Nair said. Earlier this summer, A&W and Keurig Dr Pepper agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims they had deceived customers with the label, “Made with aged vanilla” on cans of soda which actually used synthetic flavoring.

Others say growing consumer awareness is behind the trend. Social media can instantly make a photo of a soggy sandwich go viral, informing other potential plaintiffs, said Jordan Hudgens, the chief technology officer for Dashtrack, an Arizona-based company that develops restaurant websites.

Rising awareness of health and nutrition is also causing people to question product claims, he said.

Ben Michael, an at-

Photos from a lawsuit against Burger King shows an actual Whopper sandwich next to an image used in the company’s ads and menu boards. A federal judge ruled against the chain’s motion to dismiss, freeing the case to move forward. U.S. DISTRICT COURT/TNS

torney with Michael and Associates in Austin, Texas, said inflation also might be making restaurants a target right now, since some may have cut back on portion sizes to cut costs.

“Unfortunately, many businesses make these changes without consulting their marketing department or updating their menus to represent new portion

sizes and ingredients,” he said. “This leaves them open to the kinds of lawsuits we’ve been seeing more of.”

In the Burger King case, plaintiffs in multiple states sued in March 2022, claiming that advertisements and photos on store menu boards show burgers that are about 35% larger — with double the meat — than the burgers they purchased.

The plaintiffs said they wouldn’t have bought the sandwiches if they had known the actual size.

A Burger King spokesperson said the plaintiffs’ claims are false, and that the beef patties in its ads are the same ones it serves across the U.S.

In late August, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman dismissed some of the plaintiffs’ claims. He ruled that the plaintiffs can’t argue that television or online ads constituted a “binding offer” from Burger King, because they don’t list a price or product information. But he said the plaintiffs could argue that the images on the menu boards represented a binding offer. He also didn’t dismiss claims of negligent misrepresentation.

Mural: Promotes activity

Continued from A1

stands just how much the city grated on him. After graduating from Iola High School, he enrolled at New York’s School of Visual Arts. (Magnuson, a classmate of Gilpin’s, was a student at New York University.) In 1999, Gilpin received a bachelor’s of Fine Arts in illustration. But true to his friend’s word, he never truly felt at home in Manhattan. “Even now,” remarked Gilpin Friday morning, “I don’t feel comfortable even in Midwestern cities.”

Gilpin was addressing a small crowd that had gathered to celebrate the unveiling of his mural at the Lehigh Portland Trail complex. As he stood back and looked back at the design, one couldn’t help but note that the message of the mural seemed to reflect so much of Gilpin’s constitution.

“I start by trying to draw a feeling,” he said. As he worked on a design, he made space for a banner but was still unsure what it would say. As he worked, though, Gilpin reflected on how so much of today’s anxiety, so many of our problems, exist in tiny little screens.

What’s the point?

What are the gadgets, the phones and watches and tablets, speakers and phones, good for? Why do we keep torturing ourselves? Get out. And stay out. Gilpin had his message. Really, it’s the same one he’s had for a long, long time.

THE MURAL is Gilpin’s first in more than 20 years, and it’s sure to leave an impression. The bright and bold colors communicate the beauty and wonder found outdoors, and all the characters--sans perhaps a walking tree and a young man playing the bagpipes while on a unicycle--are all based on experiences Gilpin, an avid user of the Lehigh trail system, has had himself while on the trails. There are also some fun local touches, too, with a boy dressed in Iola’s traditional blue and gold, and a dog that is a spitting image of Gilpin’s own pooch.

His mural, painted along a section of a privacy fence erected between the Madison Avenue pedestrian bridge and State Street, joins one painted by Rodrigo Alvarez and Isaac Tapia of Kansas City. That mural was finished in April 2021. Gilpin intentionally used butterflies, a prominent element in the first mural’s design, to create a feeling of symmetry.

Created with an enamel paint selected thanks to advice from local artist Max Grundy, Gilpin believes “the paint will outlast the fence — that’s the plan at least.”

He had help in the process, as daughter Talulabel Giplin and

wife Jennifer Gilpin joined the effort. “Talulabel is very artistic and helped getting the paint on,” said Gilpin. The process from start to finish took about two weeks of solid work, with four to five days spent painting.

GILPIN has worked professionally as an illustrator since 2001 and has received several awards for his work. His design, one of nine entries, was chosen by community members via an online contest sponsored by Thrive Allen County. As with the first mural, funding for his work came from a grant Thrive se-

cured from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, a division of the Kansas Department of Commerce. Any future murals will also be funded by grants, so there’s no telling when the next mural will happen. But the vision is clear. “We’ll continue to go after any grant that will help us make these types of projects happen,” said Thrive CEO Lisse Regehr on Friday. “We want this whole fence to be full of murals.”

And in that sense, Gilpin’s message couldn’t fit any better with Thrive’s vision: Get outdoors. And stay out.

Iolan Stephen Gilpin discusses his “Get out.... and stay out!” mural Friday that decorates a privacy fence along the Lehigh Portland Trails. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER

Above, Iolan Paul Porter and daughter Billie Jean marvel over the artwork created by Stephen Gilpin as part of his new mural at Iola’s Lehigh Portland Trail. At right, Gilpin’s “Get out... and stay out!” message includes butterflies that transition seamlessly to a second mural along the trail’s privacy fence. REGISTER/ TIM STAUFFER

Friday’s football final results were not available at the time of publication. Check Wednesday’s paper for results.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Sports Daily B

MV, YC earn string of medals

BURLINGTON — A string of medals earned by the Marmaton Valley cross country team kick-started the season Thursday. Yates Center was also in attendance and had some top-place finishes.

The Wildcats’ Sophia Heim earned a fifth place medal and Brandon Newman an 11th place medal at the JV level.

Thomas Allee earned a seventh place medal while Colin Ard took ninth for the eighth grade boys. Emma Louk snatched a first place medal for the seventh grade girls.

Girls JV two-mile run

— 4. Jalynn Birk, Yates Center, 16:43.41; 5. Sophia Heim, Marmaton Valley, 16:45.04.

Boys JV two-mile run

— 11. Brandon Newman, Marmaton Valley, 15:06.51; 12. Asher Arnold, Yates Center, 15:09.49.

Girls 7th grade onemile run — 1. Emma Louk, Marmaton Valley, 6:51.26; 26. Decembyr Garrett, Yates Center, 13:31.86.

Boys 7th grade onemile run — 6. Daniel Allee, Marmaton Valley, 7:05.49; 8. Jaren Curl, Marmaton Valley, 7:18.35; 15. Laken Culver, Yates Center, 7:49.25; 17. Joseph Bishop, Yates Center, 8:39.59; 18. Connor Bysfield, Yates Center, 8:40.57.

Boys 8th grade twomile run — 7. Thomas Allee, Marmaton Valley, 14:46.60; 9. Colin Ard, Marmaton Valley, 15:02.45; 18. Isaac Stoll, Yates Center, 17:41.10; 25. Maddox Bysfield, Yates Center, 21:24.69. Marmaton Valley runs at Fort Scott Thursday.

IMS football opens with win at Oz

OSAWATOMIE — It was easy work for the Iola Middle School’s Mustangs when they rolled over Osawatomie in their season opener Thursday.

8th grade Iola outscored Osawatomie 16-0 in the first quarter before taking a commanding 40-6 lead by halftime. The Mustangs tacked on a touchdown in both the third and fourth quarters to finish off the 52-6 romp.

Reginald Davis III rushed for three touchdowns and 148 yards

See MUSTANGS | Page B2

Iola, Humboldt and Crest speed it up

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

GARNETT — The Iola, Humboldt and Crest cross country teams began their season at the 19th annual Jerry Howarter Invitational in Garnett Thursday evening.

Humboldt took home second as a team in both the junior varsity boys and girls races.

The local teams had a number of top finishers. Iola’s Lynsie Fehr took second in the girls JV 3200-meter run and Kaiden Vega and Joshua Wanker placed sixth and ninth, respectively, in the boys JV 3200.

Humboldt’s Kreed Jones took sixth place in the JV boys 5K.

“Kaiden and Josh had fantastic races, Kaiden’s a firstyear cross country guy and the longest distance he’s ran was a 400-meter,” said Iola junior Cole Moyer. “Josh comes in from running in middle school and I think he’ll take a leap this year. He’s grown and

finished great today.”

Moyer took home the best Iola finish in the varsity boys 5K, placing 21st.

“As much as people want to say running is skill, it’s really just work and mentality,” Moyer said. “We can be out running every day but we’re still not going to win every race. Obviously there’s room to improve which is

good. There’s a lot of guys I think I should be with and I have been with them before. That’s a mental hurdle for me, knowing I should be with those guys.”

Jerry Howarter Invitational

JV Boys 3200-meter run —

6. Kaiden Vega, Iola, 14:26.65;

9. Joshua Wanker, Iola, 15:16.01; 14. Cooper Gillespie, Humboldt, 18:28.23; 16.

Karsen Lampe, Humboldt, 20:14.93. JV boys team scores

—

2. Humboldt, 43 points

JV boys 5000-meter run —

6. Kreed Jones, Humboldt, 21:03.76; 9. Colden Cook, Humboldt, 22:08.49; 17. Brigg Shannon, Humboldt, 23:01.43; 25. Thatcher Mueller, Humboldt, 23:52.50; 33. Jack Works, Humboldt, 25:27.91; 39. Landon Bauer, Humboldt, 26;40.19; 41. Nathan Swogar, Humboldt, 27:19.59; 51. Maxtyn Mueller, Humboldt, 29:36.44. Boys varsity 5000-meter run — 21. Cole Moyer, Iola, 19:33.85; 23. Gunner Ellington, Crest, 19:41.91; 43. Elijah Taylor, Crest, 21:01.70; 45. Keegan Hill, Iola, 21:04.04; 48. Brennen Coffield, Iola, 21:26.05; 73. Ryan West, Crest, 26:16.14.

JV Girls 3200-meter run —

2. Lynsie Fehr, Iola, 15:47.90. JV girls 5000-meter run — 13. McKenna Jones, Humboldt, 26:08.16; 18. Mahailie Genoble, Iola, 26:55.38; 21. Victoria Melendez, Hum-

Mustangs host Columbus, Indy for home opener

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Iola High tennis team welcomed Columbus and Independence to town Thursday to open the 2023 season.

Mustang Keira Fawson won both her matches while Rebekah Coltrane also grabbed a singles win and the duo of Kyndal Bycroft and Harper Desmarteau won in doubles play.

“We had some wonderful weather,” Iola head coach Chris Belknap said. “We played really well against Columbus and Indy. It was awesome to see all the local people at the meet supporting the team.” Independence took first place as a team with seven

REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

victories while Iola secured four victories and Columbus had one.

In singles action, Fawson grabbed a win over Columbus’s Chloe Ash, 8-0, before

taking down Indy’s Addison Rosenhoover, 8-4.

Coltrane grabbed her lone win over Columbus’s Lizzy Welch, 8-1, before falling to Independence’s Ava Gustin, 8-1.

In doubles play, Molly Riebel and Melanie Palmer opened by losing to Columbus’s Brooklyn Lima and Hailey Ediger, 8-0, before falling to Independence’s Laney Chism and Presley Schabel, 8-5.

Iola’s doubles of Bycroft and Desmarteau defeated Columbus’s Macey Allison and Meagan Hosier, 8-0, before losing to Independence’s Sarah Veile and Sadie York, 8-3.

See LOCAL | Page B2 Iola’s Kyndal Bycroft goes for a hit.

The junior varsity squad is at Parsons on Tuesday while the varsity is in Chanute on Wednesday.

Iola High runners Cole Moyer (#271) leads the pack of Keegan Hill (#269) is in the middle and Brennen Coffield (#263) run in the boys varsity 5000-meter run in Garnett Thursday. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Crest’s Josie Walter, a sophomore, runs the final stretch of the varsity girls 5000-meter run. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Iola Middle volleyball falls to AC

GARNETT — The Iola Middle School volleyball team had a tough start to its season against Anderson County on Thursday.

Iola’s A team came up short in the first set,25-8, before securing a victory in the second set, 25-17, but falling in the final two sets, 25-15 and 25-22.

Bella Wilson scored a team-high four points in the first set before Addy Wacker scored 14 points and Shaylee Karns went for three of her own. In the fourth set, Wilson struck again with 10 points, all of them in a row.

The Mustangs B team lost to the Bulldogs in the first set, 2520, before winning the second set, 25-17, and then falling in the final two sets, 25-10 and 2521.

In the first set, Khloe Martin scored a teamhigh six points while Harlei Gregg went for three. Lauryn Tisdale scored 10 points, including five in a row, in the second set. In the fourth set, Emma Moore scored seven.

The Mustangs travel to Wellsville on Tuesday.

Mustangs

Continued from B1

while Kevon Loving came up with 60 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Colton Thompson ran for 51 yards and a score.

“The eighth grade student athletes came out tonight on a mission and started the season on a positive note,” IMS head coach Scott Ellis said. “This team settled in quickly offensively. I’m proud of the 11 eighth-graders that worked their tails off this game. It was a good start for us.”

Reed Clift started at quarterback and threw for two touchdowns and 52 yards.

Davis III rushed for two touchdowns and 52 yards. He had a couple of receptions,totaling 52 years. He and Loving shared top defensive honors with seven tackles apiece.

7th grade Iola’s seventh graders came out on top, 8-0.

Broden Emerson scored the lone touchdown, a two-yard rush in the second quarter. He finished with 71 yards on the ground, while Hunter McDaniel rushed for 18 yards.

“The seventh grade kids came out and competed tonight,” Ellis said. “Kids worked hard. We had a couple of early bumps, but we started executing our plays and we made positive yards. I am proud of how we finished.”

Defensively, Emerson made a team-high three tackles while Braylon Keithly, Lucas Boeken, Spencer Sargent and Henry Kramer each had two. Kramer also came up with a sack. Iola hosts Fort Scott next Thursday.

ACC becomes latest conference to expand

By AARON BEARD The Associated Press

The Atlantic Coast Conference voted Friday to add Stanford, California and SMU next year, providing a landing spot for two more schools from the disintegrating Pac-12 and creating a fourth super conference in major college sports.

The move provides the ACC a windfall of revenue for its current members.

“It really is a transformational day for the ACC,” Commissioner Jim Phillips said.

Starting in August 2024, the league with Tobacco Road roots in North Carolina will increase its number of football schools to 17 and 18 in most other sports, with Notre Dame remaining a football independent.

The ACC needed 12 of its 15 members to approve expansion, and the vote was not unanimous.

“I can tell you when we left that call today, everybody was in a really good place and felt really good about the process,” Phillips said. North Carolina and Florida State both voted no. The Seminoles said the move did not fully address its concerns about the ACC’s revenue distribution model.

“All three schools are outstanding academic and athletic institutions, and our vote against expansion does not reflect on their quality,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said. “We

look forward to earning new revenue through the ACC’s success incentives initiative, based on our continued excellence. We’re grateful to the league for continuing to listen to our concerns.”

Like the Big Ten and Big 12, the ACC now will have members in at least three time zones.

It will span from Boston in the Northeast to Miami in South Florida, out to Dallas in the heart of the Southwest and up to Northern California, where Stanford and Cal reside. Notre Dame is currently the westernmost ACC school in South Bend, Indiana, with Louisville the farthest west among football members.

The ACC becomes the fourth league, along with the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12, to have at least 16 football-playing members, starting in 2024. The formation of the sprawling leagues has raised concerns about everything from the impact on athletes’

MVJH football, volleyball hit the road at St. Paul

Football

ST. PAUL — Marmaton Valley Junior High crushed St. Paul, 44-0.

travel to the changing recruiting landscape and the lost rivalries treasured by fans now facing different destinations if they want to cheer on their teams.

Stanford said it expects 22 of its 36 sports to have either no or minimal scheduling changes as the 2024 schedules are set.

“The ACC is really interested in using Dallas as a place where teams might come together to have games to minimize the impact of travel on both eastern members and Cal and Stanford,” Cal Chancellor Carol Christ told reporters.

The move seems to signal an end to this wave of realignment among the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful conferences after three years of turbulent movement that has whittled the so-called Power Five down to four.

“We’ve gone from regional-based conferences to national, coast-to-coast conferences,” Phillips said.

Local: Cross country teams ramp up

Continued from A1

boldt, 27:18.26; 22. Anna Heisler, Humboldt, 27:21.16; 31. Mallory Sinclair, Humboldt, 29.26.77; 37. Sophia Barlow, Humboldt, 30:46.90; 47.

Danica Modlin, Humboldt, 32:51.46. JV girls team scores — 2. Humboldt, 64 points. Varsity girls 5000-meter run — 9. Josie Walter, Crest, 21:20.13; 11. Peyton Schmidt, Crest,

22:14.53; 34. Aubrey Allen, Crest, 25:36.80; 51. Kaylee Allen, Crest, 28:35.70. Iola travels to Fort Scott while Humboldt and Crest will both be at Girard Thursday.

The Wildcats went ahead 14-0 after the first quarter before making it a 38-0 game by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, Marmaton Valley led 44-0.

“Our defense played really well last night,” Marmaton Valley head coach Dan Uhlrich said. “Pitching a shutout is always exciting. It is not easy to do in eight-man football. It was evident that we were the more physical team early on. We played aggressively and tackled well for it being the first game of the season.

“Last year we improved so much from week one to the last

ball game,” he continued. “I hope to see the same progress with this team. We have a lot of challenges that lay ahead and know that we will have much tougher games ahead. I am excited for these challenges. We know we learn more from being tested and pushed.”

Volleyball

The Wildcat volleyball teams earned one win between the three teams Thursday.

Marmaton Valley’s C team earned a 25-7 victory. The Wildcat B team lost 25-20-25 and 25-21, while the A team was also on the losing side of 25-14 and 25-10 sets.

Marmaton Valley hosts Uniontown next Thursday.

MORNING BLAST BOOTCAMP

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY • 6 A.M.

Get up and kickstart the day with our high energy Morning Blast Bootcamp. This class is a quick 30-35 minutes of hard work! We’ll incorporate di erent styles each class to keep your body in constant motion and get you ready to tackle the day.

HEALTHY FOR LIFE

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY • 9:30 A.M.

As you age, it is more important than ever to stay active. Routine exercise can help improve your overall health. In this 40-45 minute class, we’ll focus on strength, cardiovascular endurance, balance, and coordination for a total body workout.

SIT AND BE FIT

MONDAY & WEDNESDAY • 10:30 A.M.

This 25-30 minute class is a safe and e ective way to improve your life through functional fitness. We focus on improving strength, range of motion, and more. Each participant will have a chair during the class along with any other equipment as needed.

YOGA

MONDAY & WEDNESDAY • 5:45 P.M.

Our 30-35 minute yoga class is a mix between the slow-paced style of yin restorative yoga and vinyasa flow yoga. This yoga class will put you in poses that apply moderate stress to the connective tissues of the body—with the aim of increasing circulation in the joints and improving flexibility.

BODY BLAST

Marmaton Valley’s Lane Lord gets past a defender to make a touchdown.

PHOTO BY: HALIE LUKEN

California cornerback Tyson McWilliams (11) reacts with safety Craig Woodson (2) after breaking up a pass intended for a USC wide receiver.

GINA FERAZZI/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Isner set to retire after US Open loss

NEW YORK (AP) —

John Isner rested his chin on clasped hands, the words coming slowly, the tears welling in his eyes, as he spoke during a news conference at the U.S. Open on Thursday, his last day as a professional tennis player.

“It’s been a huge part of my life. It’s tough to say goodbye. It’s not easy,” the 38-year-old American said. “But eventually, this day would come. It’s hard to prepare for the emotions of it.”

As career-ending days go, it would be hard to come up with a more appropriate way for Isner to bow out than a pair of final-set tiebreakers — one in singles, one in doubles — and, while he would have preferred a victory or two, of course, he did appreciate the raucous crowd support and standing ovations he was showered with at each defeat.

The 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner announced the week before play began at Flushing Meadows that this Grand Slam tournament would mark his farewell, and the guy who long was his country’s best male player bowed out in the second round of the singles bracket with a 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (107) loss to another American wild-card entry, Michael Mmoh, at the Grandstand.

A few hours later, Isner headed into fullfledged retirement by

dropping a doubles match alongside Jack Sock, another American who has said the U.S. Open will be his last tournament. They were beaten by Robert Galloway and Albano Olivetti 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (10-3) at Court 12.

“There’s, of course, a lot of disappointment with the result of my singles match today, but at the same time a lot of gratitude, as well, just to have one last time playing in an atmosphere like that. It was very cool. As I said on the court, that’s why I work so hard,” Isner said. “Hard to explain how bad my body feels — I’m not (about) talking right now, because it does, but just in general, lately. So everything I do to get it ready to play, there’s a lot that goes into it. I wanted one more U.S. Open and

was able to get that.”

When Isner put a volley into the net off a dipping passing shot by Mmoh, the two opponents hugged.

Then Isner — who was one point from winning at 5-4 in the fifth set but netted a backhand return — sat on his sideline chair and covered his face with a white towel.

“In the moment, in that tiebreaker, you’re not really thinking about the fact that it’s his last match. Maybe before you start the match you are, but not in that tiebreaker and not when you’re down match point,” said Mmoh, a 25-year-old who only once before had won a match after dropping the initial two sets.

“When I won the match, I had a lot of positive emotion and I

was really, really happy. But then, one second later, I felt bad. I genuinely did,” said Mmoh, who will play 21-yearold Jack Draper of Britain next. “When I saw him get emotional in that interview, I genuinely felt for him. So it was tricky. It was almost like bittersweet. Obviously, at the end of the day, we’re all competitors and we come here for one reason, and so I’m happy to get the ‘W.’”

Women advancing included Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys, threetime major semifinalist Elina Svitolina and No. 13 seed Daria Kasatkina. No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, the high-

See ISNER | Page B7

CALENDAR

Tuesday: Volleyball @ Burlington, 4 p.m.

Wednesday: Girls tennis @ Chanute, 3 p.m.

Thursday: Cross country @ Fort Scott, 4 p.m.

Friday: Football v. Wellsville, 7 p.m.

IOLA ACC

Saturday: Volleyball home tournament, 9 a.m.

HUMBOLDT

Tuesday: Volleyball @ Oswego, 5 p.m.

Thursday: Cross country @ Girard, 5 p.m.

Friday: Football @ Caney Valley, 7 p.m,

MARMATON VALLEY

Tuesday: Volleyball @ Eureka, 5 p.m.

Thursday: Cross country @ Fort Scott, 4 p.m.

Friday: Football @ Yates Center, 7 p.m.

Tuesday: Volleyball @ Eureka, 5 p.m.

YATES CENTER ACC CREST

Thursday: Cross country @ Lyndon, 4 p.m.

Friday: Football v. Marmaton Valley, 7 p.m.

Tuesday: Volleyball @ Burlingame, 3 p.m.

Friday: Football @ Chase Co., 7 p.m.

SOUTHERN COFFEY COUNTY

Friday: Football @ Centre-Lost Springs, 7 p.m.

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John Isner returns the ball against Andy Murray during the second round of the Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club. SEBASTIAN BOZON/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

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Teen asked to apologize after grandpa hits her

Adapted from an online discussion.

Dear Carolyn: About a month ago, my mother had a procedure scheduled in my brother’s metro area, about four hours from my parents’. The plan was for my parents to stay with my brother and his family for about a week.

My mother experienced complications and was in the hospital while my dad was staying with them, which was stressful and open-ended. It came to a head one morning over breakfast. Between work, my mother and the kids’ stuff, they didn’t have time to make dinner and eat it together, so my sisterin-law planned DoorDash. My father said my older niece, 15, should cook dinner when she gets home from school.

My sister-in-law said she can’t because she has two school projects due the next day. My father reiterated his point. My niece said he can make dinner himself if he wants a homecooked meal. My father slapped my niece in the face.

My brother and sister-in-law kicked my father out of their house.

My brother still deals with our parents at the hospital, but he refuses to allow our father to be around his children. I flew out to get my father into a hotel and generally help.

It is very obvious my father is experiencing a change in personality consistent with earlyonset dementia. Here is my perspective check: I think my brother is overreacting. I think an apology from my niece to my father for smarting off would go a long way. I suggested this to my brother to smooth things over, and he refused it as an option. My siblings supported my brother. I feel as if I’m alone in getting help for my father and as if

Carolyn Hax

my family is fragmented over something that isn’t that big of a deal. Can you or your readers give some perspective here? — Perspective

Check Perspective Check: How your brother and his wife protect their kids, and from what — a sexist, abusive grandparent or a dementiaviolent one? — are none of your business. I could get well into the weeds on the details, but then we’d both be in the weeds on stuff that’s beside the immediate point of your parents’ health logistics, which is your business. You just don’t get a vote about your dad’s stay in your brother’s home.

So here’s my advice: Drop it. Don’t opine on it, ask about it, try to fix it. It’s done.

Train all your attention on the work of Team Sibs: what care your parents need, who is willing to give it, how and when. “Okay, Dad needs X and has to go to Y and brother isn’t an option.” That’s it. Straight-up facts. Those are where you live now. This may seem weird, because it’s ignoring the elephant, plus we make sense of the world through talking about things, but nothing can make this situation worse faster than your rolling in with a “should” cannon. Especially demanding apologies. Egads.

Readers’ thoughts:

• Can you see that your niece’s parents are teaching their teenager that it is NEVER okay for a man to assault her? If they had told their daughter that she should apologize, they would teach a teenage girl that it was her fault

a man hit her in the face. Think that through.

• A man slapping his granddaughter when he has already butted in where he has no business (his daughter-inlaw decided the meal plan) IS that big a deal. Whether he has dementia is not the point; the child should not have to apologize. Bugging your brother is just going to estrange him from you as well as your father.

Update: I wrote a letter to you a few weeks ago to get a perspective check on my father slapping my niece after a heated exchange. Thank you for taking my question and giving me excellent advice to just work with what we have in terms of caring for my parents. As I spent more time with my parents, it became clear that my father deteriorated mentally and my mother physically. We haven’t spent very much time together in person over the past 2 years and my mother was able to compensate for my father quite a bit. My parents are moving into an assisted living home close to me next week so I can check up on them. My brother told me that he will do anything necessary for our mother but not our father. I understand this, but it is impossible to separate out their care. Since my father has essentially no short term memory, he does not recall the conflict that lead to the family split. It is heartbreaking. The silver lining is that the counselors at assisted living gave me some really great tools to use when helping my father. My mother knows exactly what is going on and that is also difficult in its own way. Thanks for the help.

Carolyn's response: You're welcome. I'm glad they're moving near you to make things easier. A lot of people resist that, from both

the patient and caregiver sides.

I'm also going to butt in one more time: It's not impossible-impossible to separate out their care. Your brother is drawing a line and your job is to respect it. Not to-the-penny respect, as you seem to be framing it here, but inconcept respect. He is here for your mom and done with your dad. So, when you need something, take an extra beat to think of how it can be a mom-centered ask: e.g., can he pitch in $ for her physical therapy, can he manage her insurance claims, can he talk to her doctors. Yes, your dad has doctors and draws on insurance, too, but you can do those. It's actually a tidy division of labor, in some ways.

My point being: I think you will find there are ways to manage the yes-mom, no-dad thing if you truly accept it vs resisting it. Maybe I'm reading more between the lines that there is, but I'm also basing this on my memory of the original question.

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

Isner: Retiring

Continued from B3

est-ranked American woman, took control early and beat Patricia Maria Tig 6-3, 6-1 in 72 minutes in Arthur Ashe Stadium at night, after defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the third round by overpowering Lloyd Harris 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in a match that some viewers in New York, Los Angeles and several other cities couldn’t watch on ESPN2 when it went dark because of a dispute between Disney and the Charter Spectrum cable system.

“I played a great match,” Alcaraz said, “from the beginning until the last ball.”

In the day’s final match, which ended after 1 a.m., 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev beat Christopher O’Connell 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

In other action, Stan Wawrinka, a 38-year-old owner of three major titles including the 2016 U.S. Open, moved into the third round, while Andy Murray, a 36-yearold owner of three major titles including the 2012 U.S. Open, was eliminated.

Wawrinka beat No. 30 seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-2. Murray was knocked out by No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

Always known for his tough-to-read and tough-to-reach big

serves, Isner smacked 48 aces against Mmoh, raising his ATP-record career total to 14,470. His last serve, fittingly, arrived at 134 mph.

Isner also holds the single-match mark of 113 aces, achieved during his 11-hour, 5-minute victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 that concluded at 70-68 in the fifth set — the longest contest in the history of tennis.

He’ll long be remembered for that marathon. His career-best showing at a Grand Slam event also came at the All England Club, where he made it to the semifinals in 2018 before a defeat against Kevin Anderson that finished 26-24 in the fifth.

Those two lengthy final sets were a big factor in the sport’s change to tiebreakers in the decisive sets at all Grand Slam tournaments.

After losing the firstto-10 tiebreaker against Mmoh, Isner was asked to describe his emotions for the spectators who chanted his last name.

“Yeah, it’s tough,” Isner said, and sniffled.

Later, offering a summation of his career, he again was hit by the finality of it all.

“I might not win every match, that’s for sure. I might lose a lot of close matches. I might get tight and choke a little bit on the court. That happens.

Parsons claims top spot in AP’s NFL defensive line rankings

By JOSH DUBOW The Associated Press

When Micah Parsons entered the NFL two years ago, the biggest question was where he was best suited to play.

After spending a spectacular rookie season shifting between off-ball linebacker and defensive end, Parsons has found a home as an elite edge rusher. Parsons has established himself as one of the best in that role and was chosen as the top defensive lineman in the league by The Associated Press.

A panel of nine AP Pro Football Writers ranked the top five players at defensive line and edge rusher, making their selections based on current status entering the 2023 season. Firstplace votes were worth 10 points. Second through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.

Parsons got five first-place votes and was picked on all nine ballots to come in first ahead of 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa.

Bosa got two firstplace votes and was the only other player picked on every ballot to finish second.

Happy

Three-time Defen sive Player of the Year Aaron Donald got one first-place vote and came in third with T.J. Watt getting the other first-place vote to fin ish fourth. Myles Gar rett came in fifth.

Chris Jon

es, Maxx Crosby and Matthew Judon also received votes.

1. MICAH PARSONS Dallas Cowboys: Parsons followed up a 13sack season as a rookie with 13 1/2 last season, joining Aldon Smith and Reggie White as the only players with at least 13 sacks in each of their first two NFL seasons. Parson’s 26 1/2 sacks rank sixth-most through two seasons. Parsons has been runner-up as Defensive Player of the Year both seasons and is a twotime All-Pro.

2. NICK BOSA, San

Francisco 49ers: Bosa made an immediate impact on the Niners defense after being drafted second overall in 2019, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year and helping San Francisco reach the Super Bowl. After a knee injury sidelined him for almost all of 2020, Bosa has bounced back with 15 1/2 sacks in 2021 and 18 1/2 last season. He earned Defensive Player of the Year honors last season and can join White as the only players with three straight seasons with at least 15 sacks if he ends his contract holdout.

3. AARON DONALD, Los Angeles Rams: Donald is on a short list for best defensive players ever but slipped a little on this list after an injury-shortened 2022 season. Donald joined Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt as the only three-time winners of Defensive Player of the Year. He has 103 career sacks and his seven first-team All-Pro selections are one shy of the most ever for a defensive player.

4. T.J. WATT, Pittsburgh Steelers: Watt has established himself as more than J.J.’s

See PARSONS | Page B8

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) tries to punch the ball away from linebacker Jabril Cox (14) in a drill during a training camp practice. SMILEY N. POOL/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS/TNS

Parsons: Early favorite

Continued from B7

little brother after leading the league in sacks in 2020 and ‘21. His 22 1/2 in 2021 tied Michael Strahan’s single-season record and earned him Defensive Player of the Year honors. Watt missed seven games last season with injuries but when he is on the field he is as

Acuñ a first player with 30 HR’s, 60 stolen bases

productive as any other edge rusher.

5.

MYLES GAR-

RETT , Cleveland Browns: While the other four players on this list have consistently been part of top defenses, Garrett has done his work on teams that have struggled on that side of the ball. He has not been the reason. He has five straight seasons with double-digit sacks and is third in the NFL in total sacks with 74 1/2 since entering the league as the top pick in 2017.

LOS ANGELES (AP)

— Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a long grand slam in the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night, becoming the first player in major league history with 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in the same season.

Acuña sent a 429foot shot to deep into the left field pavilion off Lance Lynn for his third career slam and first since 2021.

Acuña has 36 career

homers in August, his most in any month.

Acuña has 62 stolen bases.

Acuña and Dodgers star Mookie Betts are the leading candidates for NL MVP. Betts homered twice for the Dodgers in the series opener. Betts hit a threerun, opposite-field homer to right with two outs in the fifth, cutting the Dodgers’ deficit to 7-4. Acuña made a leaping grab at the wall but his glove was over the

RACING THIS WEEK

COKE ZERO SUGAR 400

Chris Buescher picked up his third victory of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway Saturday, the regular-season finale for the Cup Series.

More momentum for Buescher after Zero win

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – When owner/driver Brad Keselowski pushed Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammate Chris Buescher to victory in overtime on Saturday night, it was ecstasy for Bubba Wallace and the epitome of frustration for Chase Elliott.

Buescher picked up his third victory of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the regularseason finale for the Cup Series, but not until Ryan Preece’s bad barrel-roll wreck on the backstretch forced three extra laps.

With Buescher’s repeat win, Wallace clinched the 16th and final spot in the series Playoffs on points. Hemmed in by an armada of Fords after the overtime restart on Lap 162, Elliott— whose only path to the Playoffs was victory—couldn’t move forward.

Kevin Harvick blocked Elliott in the bottom lane, and Aric Almirola and Joey Logano on the outside prevented Elliott from making a move to the top. Elliott came home fourth behind Buescher, Keselowski and Almirola, but NASCAR’s most popular driver and 2020 series champion will miss the Playoffs for the first time in his Cup career.

Buescher restarted second and Keselowski third on Lap 162. Keselowski quickly locked onto Buescher’s bumper and pushed him to the lead. A lap later Buescher secured his fifth career victory and first at Daytona by .098 seconds over his teammate.

The 1-2 finish was the first for RFK Racing since Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed the top two spots for owner Jack Roush at Bristol in 2014.

Wallace claimed his Playoff spot with a 12th-place finish because no winless driver below him in the standings was able to knock him out of the top 16 by winning.

“That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in I’ve ever been,” said Wallace, who entered the race with a 32-point edge over Ty Gibbs for the final Playoff berth. “Knowing that this place is mostly out of your control, I just tried to focus on doing the things that I could do. Missing that wreck (a pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 95) was massive.

“Proud to be locked into the Playoffs. 23XI Racing, third year in, getting both cars in the Playoffs. So proud of the effort we put in.”

Elliott, who missed seven races during the regular season— six with injury and one on suspension—took his failure to make the postseason with grace.

“Yeah, I really liked where we were before the caution (for Preece’s accident),” he said. “Honestly, after the restart there, we had the bottom lane that we wanted. I knew the 6 (Keselowski) was going to go with the 17 (Buescher). I thought the 4 (Harvick) was going to take the bottom, and they did. We really had all the help we could ask for behind.”

The wreck that forced the overtime was breathtaking in its magnitude. As the pack of cars cleared Turn 2 on Lap 156,

fence and the ball tipped off it.

Betts homered again with two outs in the seventh, a solo shot that drew the Dodgers to 8-6.

Rickey Henderson came close to being the first 30-60 player. He had 28 homers and 87 steals in 1986 with the New York Yankees, then 28 homers and 65 steals when he won MVP with Oakland in 1990.

Two players are in the 30-50 club: Eric Davis had 37 hom-

XFINITY BURNOUT ALERT! Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona Friday. (James Gilbert/Getty)

ers and 50 steals in 1987 and Barry Bonds had 33 homers and 52 steals in 1990, when he won his first of seven MVPs. Davis also had 27 homers and 80 steals in 1986, joining Henderson as the only members of the 20-80 club.

No one has had 40 homers and 50 steals in a season. There have been four 40-40 players: Jose Canseco in 1988, Bonds in 1996, Alex Rodriguez in 1998 and Alfonso Soriano in 2006.

CUP PLAYOFF 1ST: SOUTHERN 500

Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, takes the checkered flag to win the Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Saturday. (James Gilbert/Getty)

Preece’s Ford turned sideways on the backstretch and slammed into Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and pole winner Chase Briscoe’s Mustang in the bottom lane.

The contact launched Preece’s car high into the air, and it barrel-rolled more than a half-dozen times before it landed on its roof and bounced upright. Preece got out of his car and stood talking to medical personnel before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation.

If Preece’s accident was a lasting image from the race, so was the action that preceded it.

Despite rapid-fire exchanges of the lead throughout the second stage, the race ran caution-free except for the Stage 1 break—until the final corner of the final lap of Stage 2.

That’s when the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs, fighting for the stage win, broke loose after a bump from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell as the cars raced through Turn 4, turned down into the No. 12 Ford of Ryan Blaney and ignited a wreck that involved 16 of the 39 cars that started the race.

Blaney and Gibbs shot side-by-side into the outside wall, and the cars behind them were helpless to avoid the melee. Gibbs’ Camry was eliminated, ruining any outside chance he had of overtaking Bubba Wallace for a Playoff spot.

Gibbs took the disappointment philosophically.

“I felt like I was getting a great push,” Gibbs said. “I feel like all of our teammates were working really well together tonight. I may have got a push in a bad spot, but we were going for the stage win. I want to thank Christopher for all of the pushes he gave me—I really do.”

Joey Logano finished fifth, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Harvick and Corey LaJoie.

Darlington Raceway 6 p.m. ET Sunday, USA

• Location: 1301 Harry Byrd Hwy., Darlington, SC

• Nicknamed “The Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” These two titles provide some indication of the respect and awe NASCAR drivers and fans have for Darlington, the oldest superspeedway hosting Cup events.

• Length: 1.366 mi (2.198 km)

• Capacity: 47,000

• Surface: Asphalt

• Opened: 1950. Darlington contractor Harold Brasington attended the Indianapolis 500 in 1933 and dreamed of building a similar track in his hometown.

CUP PLAYOFF NOTES

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs eld was set Saturday at Daytona in the regular-season nale.

Fifteen of 16 spots had been clinched in advance of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, meaning one spot was available. Bubba Wallace earned the nal spot based on points when repeat winner Chris Buescher took the checkered flag.

Wallace of 23XI Racing entered the regular-season nale 32 points ahead of Ty Gibbs for the nal playoff spot. Playoffs are broken up into four rounds – Round of 16, Round of 12, Round of 8 and Championship 4. The rst three rounds consist of three races before Championship 4 race. Four drivers are eliminated in each of the rst three rounds before four drivers are left battling for the title.

Erik Jones made it to Victory Lane in last season's Playoff opener at Darlington JARED C. TILTON/GETTY