Baseball: Royals lose opener
Locally owned since 1867 www.iolaregister.com
See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Tuesday, April 1, 2014
House panel leader quits over school finance By JOHN MILBURN Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Rep. Marc Rhoades unexpectedly resigned Monday as chairman of the Kansas House Appropriations Committee, saying he couldn’t support the House Republican leadership’s school funding bill because of how much it would cost and the lack of control over how the money would be spent. Rhoades, a Newton Repub-
lican, submitted his resignation to House Speaker Ray Merrick before the start of what was to be two days of hearings on a funding proposal Marc Rhoades aimed at satisfying a Kansas Supreme Court ruling issued March 7. Legislators are considering proposals that would increase spending by $129 million to meet a July court
Deadline brings high interest for insurance By JUDY LIN Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A blizzard, jammed phone lines and unreliable websites failed to stop throngs of procrastinating Americans from trying to sign up for health coverage by the midnight Monday deadline for President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative. In Louisiana, wait times for callers lasted up to two hours. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee received nearly 1,900 calls by midday compared with about 800 the previous Monday. And in California, where enrollments surged toward the Obama administration’s original projection of 1.3 million, the deadline day volume forced the state exchange to switch off a key function on its website and encourage people to finish their applications in the days ahead. Across the nation, the interest in getting health insurance and avoiding a fed-
eral tax penalty was made clear in interviews with enrollment counselors and consumers. “I have not had a physical in over 15 years,” said Dionne Gilbert, a 51-yearold uninsured woman from Denver who waited in a 90-minute line to get enrollment assistance. “I told myself, ‘You need to do this. Your daughter loves you and needs you.’” The last-minute rush was expected to significantly boost the number of Americans gaining coverage under the new law, and government officials told The Associated Press late Monday that they were on track to sign up more than 7 million Americans for health insurance by the deadline. But the months ahead will show whether the Affordable Care Act will meet its mandate to provide affordable health care coverage or whether high deductibles, paperwork snags and narrow physician networks See ACA | Page A4
deadline. Rhoades was not in the budget committee when a lengthy amendment was introduced Monday that linked the K-12 spending to that for higher education. He told The Associated Press that as the bill was being developed by House GOP leaders that it became more evident that he could not support the proposal. “I’m a conservative. I want to use the money for schools as wisely as we can,” Rhoades said.
He said there were several amendments that were being developed from last Friday until Monday morning that he was not aware of until he arrived at the Statehouse. Rhoades decided to tender his resignation rather to try to guide a bill through the process that he could not support in committee or on the House floor. “It made my decision easy,” he said, adding that he would still seek re-election to the House this year. “The decision was made for me
when the bill was completely changed and had more things in it.” The House proposal seeks to boost aid to poor school districts to satisfy the court. The court ruling was the latest in a case filed in 2010 by parents and school districts alleging that the state’s level of funding for public schools was unconstitutional. The court gave legislators until July 1 to make the changes, though legislators are expected to take a threeSee PANEL | Page A4
Humboldt thrives with progress By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — Thrive Allen County makes its way to different communities within the county to hear of their progress. Monday night Thrive board members met in Humboldt. Larry Tucker, Humboldt city administrator, told Thrive members of the city’s current projects, the first being housing. Many of the people who work in Humboldt don’t live there, Tucker said. When those non-residential workers were surveyed many said they would live in Humboldt if the city had adequate housing. Tucker said they have tried different ideas to provide affordable housing and have applied for a $100,000 grant to buy older houses and rehabilitate them. The Business Action Team is trying to help new business. Team members are trained on how to be a business coach and help guide business owners to resources. The Downtown Action Team has stayed very busy. Recently the city bandstand was listed on the state and
Humboldt City Administrator Larry Tucker fills in Thrive board members on Humboldt’s progress at a community session. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
national historic register lists. A performance at city bandstand from 3 to 6 p.m. on April 12 will help celebrate the official designations. “We want to maintain the infrastructure of the downtown area,” Tucker said. “We have submitted a grant for a streetscape project.” The new design would have more than 50 acorn style light
posts, trees and sidewalk improvements. “Neosho River Park has been an example of the community coming together,” Tucker said. Community members raised their own money to help build a handicap accessible fishing dock and a rock amphitheater. The group has See HUMBOLDT | Page A5
Iolan looks ahead to new career in restoration By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
A blessing of youth is enthusiasm. For instance, if one door closes, another seems to open almost instantaneously. Cassie Jones, 30, is leaving her career as a hair stylist to pursue home restoration. The decision came because the act of cutting hair proved too painful to her hands. After 10 years of having to hold a comb and scissors just so, Jones has sold her share of Addictive Trendz to partners Jessica Marvin and Amber Glasgow She has a doctor’s appointment early this month to learn more about her hands, whether it’s a recurrence of tendonitis or something else. Meanwhile, she’s looking ahead to spending more time on her hobby of restoring
From there, Jones hopes to tackle the upstairs. “As soon as I’m able I’m going to give it a deep cleaning,” Jones said, which is divided into several small rooms. Her favorite is the most spacious, with three sides filled with windows. Wainscoting covers walls and ceiling. “This is a room I’d love to have at home,” she said.
Cassie Jones homes. “I did mine,” on South Sycamore, “and started on this one,” she said of a house moved from east of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center to the 400 block of South Oak.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 109
Jones’ role, strictly as a volunteer and as a learning experience, to date has been to carefully remove “four layers of wallpaper that was painted over” on walls and ceilings of the ground floor of the two-
story house, built in 1910. “That was a quite a job,” Jones said, noting that to protect exquisite oak woodwork she spent “about 15 hours just covering it with plastic and taping it off.”
“Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever. — Charles Lamb, writer 75 Cents
JONES IS NOT closing the door on hair styling for good. She intends to enroll in Fort Scott Community College’s cosmetology program and earn a certificate to teach the art. “I’m excited to get my hands back to where they ought to be,” which might include a small salon in her home. She’d also like to do more volunteer work. “People have been good to See JONES | Page A4
Hi: 58 Lo: 48 Iola, KS