Baseball: Allen falls to Neosho County
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The Weekender Saturday, April 12, 2014
Safe at home
The new community storm shelter for Gas was placed on a thick concrete base near the old Gas School early Friday afternoon. Guiding the quarter-inch steel structure into place were Robert Taylor, left, owner of the Baskin, La., company that manufactured the shelter, and Mark Williamson. Steve Robb, city superintendent, said the shelter would be ready for use by the end of the coming week. Rated capacity is 40 people. The handicap-accessible shelter is on a concrete base 30 inches thick that required a pour of 38 yards. Cost was $54,000, which Gas had tucked away. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Sebelius officially resigns
Otto back on the stump By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Bill Otto wants another crack at legislating, this time from an independent perspective. Otto, Le Roy, represented the Ninth District in the Kansas House for eight years before redistricting two years ago left him on the outside looking in. He, Willie Prescott and Peggy Mast, all incumbents, were thrown into the same district, No. 76. Mast had the advantage, living at Emporia and having been the District 76 representative. That she had been in the House since 1997 helped as well. In the 2012 primary, Mast came away with 47 percent of the vote and Otto managed 33 percent. Prescott got 20 percent.
Fast forward to last month. Otto, 65, still has a yearning to serve and was mulling another run against Mast. Then, Jeff Freeman, a former legislator also from Le Roy, announced he would challenge Mast. Rather than give what he thought would be an advantage to Mast with three in the race, Otto decided to change his tactics. “That’s when I decided to change my registration to independent,” Otto told the Register. As an independent, Otto will not have to mount a primary race, and can save his resources for the general election in November. Kansas law provides for an independent to secure a spot on the general election ballot by petition. “I need 577 signatures, and See OTTO | Page A4
Obama praises work, names successor By MARY AGNES CAREY Kaiser Health News
President Barack Obama Friday officially announced the resignation of Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, praising her efforts to implement the federal health overhaul and predicting that it would “benefit our families and our country for decades to come.” In a White House ceremony, the president also announced that he plans to nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to replace Sebelius. News of the transi-
tion had leaked Thursday night. Sebelius, a for mer Kansas g ove r n o r and insurance commissioner, Kathleen Sebelius was an early supporter of Obama’s, endorsing him during his hard-fought Democratic primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton. The president turned to her to run the massive federal agency after his first choice for the job, former Sen. Tom Daschle, ran into confirmation problems. Sebelius became the face of the administration’s relentless campaign to reform the country’s health care system, appearing regularly before Capitol Hill panels and traveling the country seeking to win converts to the effort.
But she also became the face of the health law’s troubled rollout last October when the federal online insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov, suffered numerous technological problems that stymied enrollments and frustrated millions of potential customers. The administration eventually had to call in technology experts, who spent more than a month working around the clock to retool the site, which was relaunched in early December. But the catastrophic rollout threatened to undermine Obama’s legacy program. It also spurred numerous congressional oversight hearings at which Sebelius was called in to explain what went wrong to both exasperated Republicans and Democrats. Still, after the recovery of the website, Obama See SEBELIUS | Page A3
ROTARY
RYLA impact is huge By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
With enthusiasm that was infectious, Emma Piazza and Tyler Holloway profusely thanked Iola Rotarians for having given them the opportunity to experience activities at the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy near Tahlequah, Okla. The academy gave the two Iola High School juniors a
chance to better know themselves, Piazza said, and “to better myself in all ways.” Camp attendees are divided into tribes, with the intention of them becoming well-acquainted, learning leadership skills and taking on tasks through teamwork. Before she attended RYLA, Piazza admitted to knowing “nothing about Rotary.” With Stan Grigsby, an Iola Rotarian and a camp chaperSee RYLA | Page A4
Sewer work starts soon Shiloh the dog and other furry friends from ACARF visited SAFE BASE students Thursday afternoon. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
SAFE BASE teams up with ACARF By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Any USD 257 elementary child or family may donate new or used items to benefit the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF) through Wednesday.
A donation barrel has been placed outside of each elementary school principal’s office for donations. SAFE BASE will collect items in preparation of its special ACARF Blue Plate Special dinner Wednesday at Jefferson Elementary.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 117
Some suggested donations are paper towels, bleach, new collars, trash bags and dish soap. ACARF supporters visited SAFE BASE Thursday to talk about the shelter and animals available for adoption.
Iolans will be asked to refrain from flushing toilets and bathing or showering for a few hours during a wide-ranging sewer improvement project that will start next week. “We’ll put door hangars on homes when work is being done in a particular area,” said City Administrator Carl Slaugh. The project will cover 13,195 feet of mains throughout town, with no specific area encompassing a large amount,
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. — Sam Levenson, American humorist 75 Cents
he said. The process, by SAK Construction, O’Fallon, Mo., will involve inserting a plastic material, which then will be expanded under pressure to line mains. “It will be similar to PVC pipe when completed,” Slaugh said. Reason for curtailed sewer use in neighborhoods is that openings for service lines won’t be drilled until after See SEWER | Page A2
Hi: 79 Lo: 63 Iola, KS