Sports: Humboldt girls advance in sub-state See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Legislature beset by ‘March Madness’ By JOHN HANNA Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have their own form of March Madness, when they focus on building the next state budget after their annual session has cleared its midpoint. The Republican-dominated Legislature began the month needing to erase a projected shortfall of nearly $600 million in the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. They also must decide whether they’ll backtrack
on personal income tax cuts enacted in 2012 and 2013 at GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s urging or whether to pursue other revenue-raising ideas. Lawmakers also can’t settle spending issues without deciding whether to heed Brownback’s call to jettison the state’s formula for distributing $3.6 billion in aid to public schools and give local districts “block grants” instead. Aid to public schools is the biggest item in the budget, consuming more than half the state’s tax revenue, and GOP leaders hope See BUDGET | Page A6
Grant aids Moran fire department By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
MORAN — The incorporated fire department of Moran and Marmaton and Osage townships was awarded $2,500 by Monsanto, a multinational and agricultural corporation headquartered in St. Louis. Curt Drake, a Moran-area farmer, applied for the grant for the local fire department. He and a company repre-
sentative gave an over-sized check at Monday night’s Moran Council meeting. Phillip Merkel, Moran mayor and fire chief, said the money would go for equipment upgrades, including light-weight gear. Bill McAdam admonished council members to find ways to ensure dogs kept outdoors in Moran were well cared for by owners. He pointed to three that live in See MORAN | Page A6
Register news staff members are from left, Kayla Banzet, Richard Luken, Susan Lynn, Spencer Michelson, Bob Johnson and Rick Danley.
Register scores KPA awards The Iola Register’s news and advertising staffs brought home 28 awards in the 2015 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence. Award winners were announced last week. The Register brought home 11 first-place finishes, four for the news division, one for the newspaper’s website, and six for the ad department. The Register was ranked against all other daily newspapers with circulations of 3,800 or less. The Register also brought in 10 second-place finishes and seven third-place finishes. The awards are based on work created in 2014. Individual winners: Richard Luken won three first-place finishes, on government/political reporting for his Sept. 27 article on how Iola business owners supported or opposed the failed school bond vote; for sports feature writing for his March 22 article “The team time forgot” on the Humboldt High School 1963
Register advertising staff are from top Sarah Weide, Whitney Ikehorn and Mark Hastings. basketball team; and for headline writing with the March 24 issue, detailing NCAA Tournament losses by Kansas University and Wichita State University (“AMBER WAVES OF PAIN”). In addition, Register publisher Susan Lynn brought home first place in layout and design for her editorial pages.
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
(Samples of three pages from throughout the year were submitted for consideration.) The Register’s ad department — Whitney Ikehorn, Sarah Weide and Mark Hastings — also hauled in plenty of hardware for their designs. The trio brought home best See REGISTER | Page A6
Principal overwhelmed by prank By SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS The Wichita Eagle
Iola elementary students honored the beloved author Dr. Seuss’ birthday Monday. Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Seuss Geisel, was an American author for children’s books. He was born on March 2, 1904, and died at the age of 87 on Sept. 24, 1991. In celebration of the 2015 Read Across America, classrooms will feature a different Dr. Seuss book each day of the week. Monday, students wore hats and today they will wear location shirts for “Oh, the Place You’ll Go!” Other days involve pajamas, overalls and socks. Lincoln Elementary librarian Tammy Prather said on Friday the students did a reading challenge Read the Most from Coast to Coast. They took 1,788 Accelerated Reader tests.
Here’s how high school senior pranks usually go: Someone toilet-papers the campus. Someone pours detergent in the fountain. Someone turns desks upside down, sets clocks back, covers hallway floors with water-filled cups, parks cars on the lawn, fills the principal’s office with fake snow. So when Emily Jones told Sherman Padgett to hold a bucket in the hallway last week, he wasn’t having it. “No way,” the North High principal told her. “I’m not holding your bucket. … You’re going to put fish eyes in it or something.” He went back to his post in the hallway. Emily trotted off to class. When Padgett returned to his office, the old plastic paint pail was on his desk. He asked his secretary,
Hayden Tice, left, enjoys a cupcake. Riley Prather, right, shows off her Cat in the Hat outfit. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
See PRANK | Page A6
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 84
“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.” — Dr. Seuss 75 Cents
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