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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Demo delay won’t affect schedule Moran
plans mass shooting exercise
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Demolition of the old Allen County Hospital deadline has lasted longer than expected, although delays in clearing the property are not expected to hinder pending development. Allen County Counselor Alan Weber told the Register Monday that crews from Remco Demolition continue to remove debris from the former hospital site at the intersection of U.S. 54 and First Street. Most of the work is complete; only a few subterranean walls are still to be removed. The original deadline to have the property cleared was Dec. 26. G&W Foods officials have announced their intention to begin construction of a new grocery at the site in See DEMO | Page A2
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Crews from Remco Demolition continue to remove debris from the old Allen County Hospital site. Although the demolition has extended beyond the Dec. 26 deadline, the delay is not expected to affect the construction schedule for a G&W Foods grocer. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Kansas revenues fall short of mark overall tax collections, at $2.84 billion, are $19 million short of expectations. Also, the fiscal forecast issued in November was far more pessimistic than the previous forecast in April 2015. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, noted that Jordan and other Republicans saw positive economic news in November’s tax collections and suggested they were too quick to see a lessening of the state’s budget problems. “We’re still in a budget crisis,” Hensley said. “We’ve come around the corner and fallen into a manhole.” Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the GOP-controlled Legislature slashed individual income
By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected $27 million less in taxes than anticipated in December, and Monday’s disappointing revenue report worsened the state’s budget picture only a week before lawmakers convened their annual session. The state Department of Revenue said the state collected $599 million in taxes last month, when a fiscal forecast issued in November predicted collections of $626 million. The shortfall was about 4.4 percent. The latest figures mean the state is now projected to end its current fiscal year on June 30 with a deficit of about $14 million, when it previously
It is too soon to tell if this is a one-time event or not. — Nick Jordan Kansas revenue secretary
had expected to have a small cushion of cash reserves. The projected shortfall in the state’s $15.8 billion budget for the next fiscal year grew to about $190 million. Collections of both individual income taxes and sales taxes fell short of expectations for the month. The Department of Revenue noted that individual income
tax collections in December, at $204 million, were 16 percent less than they were in December 2014. “It is too soon to tell if this is a one-time event or not,” Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan said. The state had strongerthan-expected tax collections in November. Even so, since the fiscal year began in July,
MORAN — A mock drill involving an active shooter at Marmaton Valley High School will be conducted by area law enforcement officers, Sheriff Bryan Murphy informed Moran City Council members Monday night. Students, teachers and faculty members will be involved in the life-like scenario. Council members gave Murphy permission to use a meeting room in City Hall as a command center during the drill. “The only question is not if an incident will happen, but when,” Murphy told council members. “We want to be prepared.” Shane Smith, Moran chief of police, threw his support behind the exercise. “It will be a good test to see what all needs to be done,” Smith told councilmen. He expects it to be “an eye-opening experience,” for those who attend and work at the school. Moran residents can learn more about the drill at a community meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 14. at the high school. Then, Murphy, Smith and Jason Kegler, a deputy, will outline the ALICE concept of responding to a shooting incident. ALICE is an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, and is designed to enhance the “run, hide, fight” protocol recommended by the FBI, Homeland SecuriSee DRILL | Page A2
See SHORT | Page A3
Lawmakers eyeing shorter, quieter legislative session By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republicans are hoping the Kansas Legislature can close a projected $190 million state budget deficit quickly this year and avoid the infighting that made last year’s session the state’s longest ever. Education funding is another looming issue, but leaders of the two chambers’ GOP majorities aren’t sure how far they will get in drafting a new formula for distributing more than $4 billion in state aid to public schools. Key Republicans said late last summer that they would like to enact a new school finance law in 2016, but GOP Gov. Sam Brownback and legislative leaders have said in recent weeks that interest has waned. Lawmakers also are wait-
Several key issues on the state’s agenda TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A look at key issues facing the Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature after it convenes Jan. 11: ing for the Kansas Supreme Court to rule in an education funding lawsuit brought by four school districts. The justices will decide whether the school finance law enacted last year is fair and then consider whether the state is spending enough money to fulfill its duty under the Kansas Constitution to provide a suitable education to every child. The Legislature convenes Jan. 11, and its agenda is packed with issues. But top Republicans said in interviews that their goal is to
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 47
BALANCING THE BUDGET
tion projects worry the state will divert funds from highway projects, something it’s done repeatedly in the past. Also, legislators in both parties say the state needs to boost pay for corrections officers in state prisons, where turnover is about 30 percent.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOPdominated Legislature must rewrite parts of the state’s $15.8 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to close a projected deficit of roughly $190 million. Supporters of transporta-
Concerns about the financial health of hospitals, particularly in rural areas, are keeping alive a debate
wrap up the year’s legislating in less than the traditionally scheduled 90 days after last year’s session lasted a record 114 days. “The big issue is going to be balancing the budget, to get
us out of here,” House Speaker Ray Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, said in a recent interview. The state has a projected a shortfall of about $190 million in its $15.8 billion budget
SOCIAL SERVICES
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” —Mahatma Gandhi 75 Cents
over expanding the state Medicaid program’s health coverage for the poor. The federal health care overhaul championed by Democratic President Barack Obama encourages states to expand Medicaid, but GOP leaders in Kansas have resisted. Legislators also are likely to investigate safety issues at the state’s mental hospital in Osawatomie and examine See ISSUES | Page A3
for the fiscal year that begins July 1 after tax collections in December fell short of expectations. But legislators faced a much bigger budget gap last See SESSION | Page A3
Hi: 39 Lo: 29 Iola, KS