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THE IOLA REGISTER Thursday, April 3, 2014
A time to celebrate
257 left out of funding plan By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Betty Shaffer, left, and Josie Shaughnessy are two of 14 employees who have been with Iola Walmart since it opened here 25 years ago. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Walmart, workers ring in 25 years By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Iola Walmart is celebrating its 25th anniversary today, an event that brought memories flooding back for some long-time employees.
Fourteen have been with the Iola store since it opened in 1989, including Josie Shaughnessy, who confessed the quarter-century journey has been a pleasant one because “I’m a people person.” Betty Shaffer noted the store has a family atmosphere. “We’ve had a lot of people come and go, and it’s always sad when they leave,” Shaffer said. Both said they were in the habit of keeping in touch with former employees, as
well as customers who, for one reason or another, don’t make it to the store as often. “Sometimes a phone call is important,” Shaffer said. “No one wants to be forgotten.” Shaughnessy was among the first hired when Walmart came this way. “My first job was putting together lawnmowers,” she said. Shaffer came along in November of the first year. See WALMART | Page A5
Iola schools have little chance of seeing any of the proposed $129 million that legislators say they will direct to public schools to satisfy a recent court ruling demanding equal funding among state schools. “At best, we’ll keep the status quo,” said Jack Koehn, USD 257 superintendent of schools. That’s because legislators are robbing Peter to pay Paul. For rural school districts, the most damage will come from big cuts to districts’ transportation budgets and their online virtual education programs. In the Senate, the Ways and Means committee has the responsibility to draft a school finance plan. In the House of Representatives, the responsibility lands on the Appropriations committee. Under the current Senate plan, Iola would lose $13,482 in its transportation budget, while the House would cut transportation by $47,545. “We’ll lose the money, but will still have the same number of kids to pick up, and the same fuel costs,” Koehn said. “There’s no way we can
None of the proposals bring new money to our schools. For us, it’s a wash. — Jack Koehn, USD 257 Superintendent of Schools
adjust our service to meet a lower budget. The demand will remain the same.” Iola does not have a virtual education program, but Humboldt does. The program allows non-traditional students to obtain a high school diploma through an online-only program. Under the Senate version, Humboldt stands to lose $445,013. The House school finance plan eliminates $95,698 from the program. Other cuts would be to programs that help students who have failed in math and reading and are regarded as “non-proficient” in those two subjects. Iola will lose $13,482 that it directed to tutoring See SCHOOLS | Page A5
3 killed in Fort Hood shooting FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Iraq War veteran being treated for mental illness was the gunman who opened fire at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding 16 others before committing suicide, in an attack on the same Texas military base where more than a dozen people were slain in 2009, authorities said. Within hours of the Wednesday attack, investigators started looking into whether the man’s combat experience had caused lingering psychological trauma. Fort Hood’s senior of-
ficer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said the gunman had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems. Among the possibilities investigators planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on the base triggered the attack. “We have to find all those witnesses, the witnesses to every one of those shootings, and find out what his actions were, and what was said to the victims,” said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss the case by name.
The official said authorities would begin by speaking with the man’s wife, and expected to search his home and any computers he owned. The shooter was identified as Ivan Lopez by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. But the congressman offered no other details, and the military declined to identify the gunman until his family members had been notified. Lopez apparently walked See SHOOTER | Page A5
Senate voids local gun rules TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas proposal seen by the National Rifle Association as a model for stripping cities and counties of the power to regulate firearms and nullify existing local gun ordinances is on track to clear the state Legislature quickly after the Senate approved it Wednesday. Senators approved the gun-rights bill, 34-2, sending it to the House. Supporters were engineering a vote in the House by the end of the week, so that the measure could go to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The measure would pre-
vent cities and counties from regulating firearms sales or how guns are stored or transported by their owners. It would ensure that gun owners could openly carry their firearms across the state, though local officials still could prohibit open carrying in public buildings. The bill is being pushed by the Kansas State Rifle Association. Supporters say a patchwork of local regulations confuses gun owners and infringes upon gun-ownership rights guaranteed by the state and U.S. constitutions.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 111
“We want consistency in the law,” said Rep. Steve Brunk, a Wichita Republican and the chairman of a House committee that earlier approved a separate but identical bill awaiting action in the chamber. Brownback said Wednesday only that he’d review the bill if it reaches his desk, but he acknowledged that he’s been a strong gun-rights supporter. He’s signed gun-rights bills in the past. Both the National Rifle Association and the San Francisco-based Law CenSee GUNS | Page A5
Iola plagued by power outages By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
A substantial portion of east Iola was without power for better than an hour at mid-day Wednesday because of a freakish occurrence. Blame it on the moisture, said Corey Schinstock, assistant city administrator. “Apparently what happened was moisture (from an overnight drizzle) caused an insulator to fail,” he said. “That then grounded elec-
“Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.” — George Halas, coach 75 Cents
tric into the pole through a crossarm and the interior of the pole started smoldering” where a bolt holds the crossarm in place. “It’s kind of amazing that no one saw the pole smoking,” since it was along the west side of Kentucky Street — one of the busier streets in town — between Monroe and Douglas, Schinstock said. Eventually, the pole broke and knocked out the circuit See POWER | Page A5
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