Monday, March 23, 2020
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Schools Nearing ‘normal’ in China traversing uncharted M waters By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Students may be staying at home, but area teachers and administrators are back at work, figuring out how to educate them for the rest of the year. Meals will be available Kay Lewis to students starting today in Iola and Humboldt, and Tuesday for Marmaton Valley. Area districts released announcements via social media about the preliminary steps they will take to determine a new “Continuous Learning Plan.” On March 17, the state canceled classes for the remainSee SCHOOLS | Page A4
oran native Molly McEwan and her fiance, Tyson Carpenter, have been living in China for the past year where they work as teachers. They were out of the country when the coronavirus lockdown first began, and returned to China Feb. 10. They were put on a 14-day health quarantine, as much of the country required residents to stay home to avoid spreading the illness. Molly recapped her experiences in articles Feb. 4 and 17. She described scenes of temperature checks each time they left their apartment, only being able to leave to go buy food and having to carry official papers at all times. Molly speculated what a similar nationwide quarantine might look like in the United States, and predicted selfish behavior with hoarding of supplies and food. The Register caught up with Molly to see how she and Tyson adjusted to quarantine life, and where things stand as China reports fewer new
Moran native Molly McEwan, with her fiance, Tyson Carpenter, said life has mostly returned to normal in China after about six weeks of health and travel restrictions to slow the spread of a deadly new coronavirus. Both Molly and Tyson See MCEWAN | Page A4 are teachers living in China. COURTESY PHOTO
Works talks B&W closure due to COVID-19 By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — On Thursday, management at B&W Trailer Hitches made the decision to close its doors in response to the C OV I D - 1 9 pandemic. In order to better understand Joe Works the process behind the closure and beyond, the Register corresponded with B&W owner and general manager Joe Works. As he explained, “[t]his was, and still is, a particularly brutal, gut-wrenching and heart-breaking decision to make.” Despite demand, production and leadership See B&W | Page A4
Coronavirus relief talks continue in Washington WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Trump administration officials and congressional leaders struggled today to finalize a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package as the coronavirus crisis deepened, even as President Donald Trump seemed to suggest he had qualms about extending the current 15-day suggested shutdown. “I didn’t expect to be starting off my week with such a dire message for America,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on “CBS This Morn-
ing,” as he warned the numbers will grow get worse this week. “Things are going to get worse before they get better. We really need everyone to understand this...and lean into what they can do to flatten the curve.” Only hours before the surgeon general’s dire warning, Trump suggested in a tweet that the remedies may be more harmful than the outbreak in a tweet that contradicted the advice of medical See TALKS | Page A2
Kelly eases health care, trucking regulations TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas residents will be able to get medicine without an in-person visit to the doctor during the coronavirus crisis under a new executive order that Gov. Laura Kelly announced Sunday. Kelly, a Democrat, announced two new orders aimed at temporarily expanding health care access. She said in a statement that the orders “will make sure Kansas families can access
needed care and supplies until we have weathered this storm.” Sixty-four cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, are now confirmed
in Kansas, including one announced Sunday in Bourbon County. They include two deaths. One was announced in Johnson County on Saturday. The state’s first death from the virus, a nursing home resident in Wyandotte County, was reported March 12. Johnson and Wyandotte counties, both in suburban Kansas City, account for 42 of the 64 See KELLY | Page A2
Pa. distilleries turn focus to hand sanitizer By STEVE MARRONI Pennlive.com
Soup’s on! Marcia Davis, a volunteer with Sunday Soups, hands out a container of white chili to a recipient outside Humanity House Sunday afternoon. The meal program, typically held at First Presbyterian Church, was moved outdoors with carry-out orders only, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. First Presbyterian and Humanity House volunteers coordinate the food program which serves food the last two Sundays of the month. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG Vol. 122, No. 103 Iola, KS 75 Cents
As we all do what we can to limit the spread of the coronavirus, help is coming from an unexpected source. Pennsylvania’s distilleries. Many in the region are cutting back on their spiritmaking operations and are now making hand sanitizer instead. And some are just giving it away in this time of need. “Coming from a military background, if I can do something to help, we’re going to do it,” said Pat Devlin, one of the owners of the Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works in Middletown. “We saw a need, and
the need is great right now.” He estimates the distillery has produced close to 400 gallons of hand sanitizer since they switched over their operations on Tuesday or Wednesday. Devlin said all of the hand sanitizer produced so far has been donated to those who need it most — first-responders, healthcare workers and the like. The demand is great, but he hopes to soon be able to sell it, likely at cost, in smaller quantities to the general public. Many distilleries in the state and nation are taking similar steps as they swap out vodka and whiskey for See SANITIZER | Page A2
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