THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, November 4, 2014
MORAN COUNCIL
Moran police chief to add body camera By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
MAKING IT COUNT Iolan Becky French fills out the necessary documentation to vote this morning at Bass Community Hall, 505 N. Buckeye. Voting continues until 7 o’clock tonight on state and local races, including new schools for USD 257 students. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
MORAN — Shane Smith soon may have another hightech advantage as Moran’s chief of police. Smith told city councilmen Monday evening his department received a $1,123 grant from Kansas Department of Transportation for participating in its Click-It-OrTicket campaign to encourage seatbelt usage. Proceeds of the grant may be used for equipment purchases. Smith said he would pursue information about a video-audio camera that he
would wear, either as head gear or on his shirt. It would be activated anytime Smith is involved in a traffic stop or other police business. The camera would be similar to those used by Allen County and Iola officers. Recordings give an officer’s view of what occurs during the course of any activity, which has proved valuable in other jurisdictions in both investigations and court cases. Smith said the camera itself would cost less than $600, but he has yet to determine cost of software to enSee MORAN | Page A6
Marmaton Valley puts on murder mystery this week By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
MORAN — Murder, intrigue and more than a few chuckles are the order of the evening for Marmaton Valley High School’s annual dessert theater production, “Murder Me, Murder Me Not.” The curtain rises at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the MVHS auxiliary gymnasium. Tickets sell for $9 for adults and $6 for students. “Murder Me, Murder Me Not” follows the aftermath of a murder, in which everyone is after the insurance money, (including the deceased), explained director Julie Tholen. An ensuing series of double crosses, mistaken identities, fake accents and phony mus-
taches should leave the audience in stitches. A small, but hearty cast headlines the play. Seniors Emily Boyd and Payton Wilson and junior Keagan Boyd all have earned state medals, district championships and competed at the national level in forensics (speech and drama) competitions. Emily Boyd portrays Geraldine Gaston, Wilson is Father Bently and Keagan Boyd is Inspector Feydeau. Senior Shauna Knight, portraying Mary Ellen Rodgers, also is a stage veteran at Marmaton Valley. Freshmen Clara Boyd and Lane Houk are making their stage debuts. See PLAY | Page A4
The cast for the Marmaton Valley High School production of “Murder Me, Murder Me Not,” are, from left, Shauna Knight, Lane Houk, Emily Boyd, Payton Wilson, Keagan Boyd and Clara Boyd. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Storyteller enthralls area students
Dec. 10, 1929 — Nov. 3, 2014
Iola loses a leader: Denise C. Apt
By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Do you know why an opossum plays dead? The Rev. Dr. Jim Stigall does. Stigall, a storyteller from Ottawa, told Iola students tales of silly frogs and jealous bones. Stigall is the Storyteller in Residence for Allen County, a position funded by the Sleeper Family Trust. He has been featured at several story telling festivals in Kansas and neighboring states. Monday afternoon he told McKinley Elementary students a story about opossums and how he loved eating frogs at every meal. As he got older the frogs became too fast for him to catch. They would tease him because they knew he couldn’t get them. Opossum’s friend Rabbit helped devise a plan to catch more frogs. Another story was about mean Owen Jones. Owen was the meanest man in all of Allen County so when he died nobody cared. His wife Emma Lou was liked by Odis, a fiddler. When Owen died Odis wanted to come a courting but
Rev. Dr. James Stigall tells a story to McKinley Elementary students about an opossum and frogs. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET Owen wasn’t going to let that happen. Even from the grave. Stigall has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in special education. He and his wife Jo Ann taught on a Navajo reservation in New
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Mexico after completing his schooling. Upon returning to the Midwest Stigall worked with a work study program for developmentally disabled high school students before going into ministry full time in 1975.
Former State Representative Denny Apt, Iola, died Monday, Nov. 3, 2014, at her home. Apt, 84, was appointed to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1981 and served an additional three terms up until 1988. She was a dedicated community servant who touched many lives through her various educational involvements. She was President of the USD 257 Board of Education for 12 years, elected to the State Board of Education for three years, and chaired several education and agricultural committees during her tenure as a legislator. Gov. Mike Hayden appointed her as his aide on education. She also served on numerous educational and agricultural advisory committees in the years following her terms in the Legislature. Denise “Denny” was born
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” — Emma Goldman 75 Cents
Dec. 10, 1929, in Maywood, Ill., the daughter of Lester Richard and Margaret E. (Fawcett) Coleman. Denny grew up in the Chicago area. She attended Iowa State Denise Apt University and The University of Arkansas, where in both cases she was the only female engineering student. A profound love of Arkansas was born as a youngster bareback riding through the hills and fields of northwest Arkansas. On a horse ride, a young man from Kansas sighted her! She married Frederick G. Apt, Jr., in Siloam Springs, Ark., June 8, 1951. Thus this love of the magical hills of Arkansas develSee APT | Page A6
Hi: 55 Lo: 37 Iola, KS