Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Locally owned since 1867
Middle school hosts football camp
Races set, one too close to call By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
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Thousands hurt in Beirut blast PAGE A2
State treasurer bests Rep. Watkins PAGE A3
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With a handful of races decided in Tuesday’s primary election, one remains up in the air. As it stands, Allen County Commissioner Bruce Symes holds a seven-vote lead over challenger John Brocker in his re-election bid. According to unofficial election results compiled by the Allen County Clerk’s office, Symes received 347 votes, compared to Brocker’s 340. The election won’t be certified until next Tuesday, when county commissioners — Symes included — determine the validity of 40 provisional ballots that were cast on or before Election Day.
GOP picks Rep. Marshall over Kobach TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Republicans on Tuesday nominated Rep. Roger Marshall for the Senate over polarizing conservative Kris Kobach, heeding the party establishment’s advice as it tries to keep a normally safe seat out of play in what could be a difficult year for the GOP. Marshall prevailed comfortably in a crowded priA provisional ballot is one that’s cast when a voter’s name does not match what’s listed on the voter rolls. It’s not immediately known how many of the provisional
mary field with the backing of major farm, business and anti-abortion groups but without a pre-election endorsement from President Donald Trump sought by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell and others for the two-term congressman for western and central Kansas. Marshall overcame KoSee SENATE | Page A3
ballots are from voters within Allen County Member District 3 — Symes’ seat — which covers all but the northeast quadrant of Iola. Additionally, mail-in bal-
John Brocker
Bruce Symes
lots will still be counted as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday and are delivered to the county clerk by the end of the week, County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said. AS FOR the other contested County Commission race, David Lee won in a three-way race over Craig Mentzer and Gene Weatherbie. Lee, who previously served See RESULTS | Page A3
City hires new administrator By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Ready for kindergarten Michelle Griffin, kindergarten teacher at McKinley Elementary School, asks Gaelle Blanc to complete a series of tasks to determine if she is ready to enter school. Blanc will attend in-person classes when the fall semester begins Aug. 24. Students are enrollling this week at schools throughout the county, and families are asked to declare their intention for students to learn in person at school buildings, or online becasue of the coronavirus pandemic. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS
November ballot will feature liquor law vote By TIM STAUFFER The Iola Register
This November’s election was already shaping up to be a momentous one. Now there’s one more reason to cast your ballot. Allen County voters will have a say in loosening the county’s liquor laws. Commissioners agreed Tuesday to put a resolution on November’s general election ballot that would eliminate a current restriction on entertainment establishments requiring them to obtain at least 30% of their profits from food. Commissioner Bruce Symes referred to the resolution as “an economic development opportunity,” and while Symes said he
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heard concerns about opening up a bar in the middle of a pandemic, “these businesses won’t open immediately.” Paul Cloutier from A Bolder Humboldt attended the meeting and informed commissioners that, if for some reason they declined to support adding the question to the ballot, his organization had enough petition signatures to do so regardless. Kansas has long had some of the nation’s most restrictive regulations on alcohol. Public on-premise liquor sales were prohibited from 1881 to 1987, when the 30% rule was instated. Five of nine counties in southeast Kansas (includSee COUNTY | Page A6
Christopher Weiner, Garnett’s city manager, has been tapped as the next Iola city administrator. Iola City Council members gathered for a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, Chris Weiner after which they agreed in principal on a three-year contract with the Iola native. Weiner was born and raised in Iola before moving with his family to Chanute when he was in the fourth grade. He lived there briefly before moving to St. Mary’s in northern Kansas, where Weiner earned his high school diploma. He still has several relaSee CITY | Page A5
Cofachique: Allen County’s ‘pro-slavery nest’ Trevor Hoag Just Prairie Veteran Register reporter Bob Johnson and I were in Cofachique, the birthplace of Allen County, now nothing more than a field of soybeans. Looking across the field, I marveled at the raw emptiness of the scene, taken aback by how the origins of more than 160 years of local history were now completely concealed. James Barbee, president of the Cofachique town company, was quite literally the first recorded death in Allen County, though the location of his grave remains a mystery. Many other firsts sprung
Bob Johnson surveys the site of Cofachique near the Neosho River. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG from that seemingly blank template near the banks of the Neosho River as well: first county seat, first court (which reportedly met in a stable), first government, first post office ... and first lynching. Though Cofachique had
been abandoned by 1870, a fellow by the name of E.G. Dalson had been strung up in a deserted house there by a vigilante group, after they burst into the first Iola jail, overpowered the sheriff, and led him See TOWN | Page A5
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