Locally owned since 1867
Allen County COVID-19 Case Count
Current cases ................. 59 Total cases* ................... 1,389 Deaths........................... 20 *Since the start of the pandemic Sources: Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Cases rise, vaccinations seem to stall
Thursday, August 5, 2021
iolaregister.com
Murder suspect, accomplice arrested By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A suspect in an Ashland, Mo., homicide was taken into custody after law enforcement raided a house in Iola Wednesday evening. Iola Police Chief Jared Warner, in a joint press release with the Ashland Police Department, announced the arrest of Robin Morales-Sanchez, 19, for the Friday murder of Moises Hernandez-Sanchez, and the assault of another victim. Ashland officers said Morales-Sanchez stabbed both victims multiple times before fleeing the area. The investigation led law
Iola Police officers work the scene after serving an arrest warrant in the 400 block of South Colburn Street Wednesday evening. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS enforcement to the 400 block of South Colborn Street in Iola, where Sarah Beth Malki was accused of harboring Morales-Sanchez and attempting
to aid him in his flight from the country. An arrest warrant was issued for Morales-Sanchez on Sunday; a warrant for Malki
VACCINE is available to those age 12 and older. Local health care clinics and pharmacies continue to administer the vaccine. The Allen County See COVID | Page A3
Softball squad resumes play
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Program provides $500K for child care PAGE A2
Unvaccinated may not be covered by health insurance PAGE A6 Vol. 123, No. 191 Iola, KS 75 Cents
See ARRESTS | Page A5
Mexico sues gun companies
By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Less than half of Allen County’s residents have received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to state statistics. About 45.86% of the county’s residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 40.94% are fully vaccinated, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. That’s less than the state average, with 49% of Kansans receiving at least one dose and 42.5% fully vaccinated. Confirmed cases, meanwhile, continue to rise. Allen County’s active cases rose to 59 this week, up from 37 a week earlier. In early June, the county had no confirmed cases. Since the pandemic began, Allen County has reported 1,389 confirmed cases and 20 deaths.
was issued on Tuesday. Iola police officers, aided by the Kansas Bureau of Investi-
By NACHA CATTAN and CHRIS DOLMETSCH Bloomberg News (TNS)
Kaevon Lewis-Hooks and Don Burns take a break from working on a bike at the repair station outside Thrive Allen County at 9 S. Jefferson Ave. on the east side of the Iola square. REGISTER/ TREVOR HOAG
Program offers free bikes By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
Need a bike of your own to ride? Look no further than Thrive Allen County and their new “Earn a Bike” program. That’s just what Kaevon Lewis-Hooks and Izaiah Westmoreland did, and on Wednesday they had secured the first of two bikes for their very own. “One of my sisters, they had told me they were doing bikes here [at Thrive],” said Izaiah. “She had told me I could go check it out, so I came up here to see if I could get a free bike.” And indeed, after only a short training session with Don Burns, they were ready to roll, hitting the Lehigh Portland Trails and elsewhere. To learn more, contact Thrive Allen County at 9 S. Jefferson or call (620) 3658128. AS A MEMBER of the Thrive Allen County board, Burns serves as ambassador
Kaevon Lewis-Hooks works on a bike. for the “Earn a Bike” program. After someone signs up for the program, he said, he will then contact them to set up an appointment for training whereby they’ll earn their bike. There’s only one required training session, but children under 18 will still need a parent’s signature. As for the training itself, it’s actually pretty simple, noted Burns. For example, “I show them how to properly lube a chain, because there’s a right way and a wrong way,” he said.
“And we typically will fix a flat tire, and I let them do most of it while I instruct them.” The training may cover “just minor stuff,” Burns said, but it could possibly save you an expensive trip to the repair shop. Burns said the “Earn a Bike” program repurposes old bicycles. “We’re taking the old bikes we’ve had for quite some time, because we’re getting brand new ones to replace them,” for its bike-share proSee BIKES | Page A3
Mexico filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court Wednesday against Smith & Wesson Brands Inc., Glock Inc., Sturm, Ruger & Co. and other major gun manufacturers, accusing them of contributing to gang violence south of the border. The civil suit in a Massachusetts federal district court argues that the companies “wreak havoc in Mexican society, by persistently supplying a torrent of guns to the drug cartels”. In 2019, 17,000 Mexican citizens were murdered with guns manufactured in the U.S., compared to 14,000 citizens of the U.S. itself. This is despite Mexico having a smaller population and only one gun store, according to the suit. “For decades the government and its citizens have been victimized by a deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns that flows from the U.S. across the border, into criminal hands in Mexico,” the country said in its lawsuit. “This flood is not a natural phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of the gun business or of U.S. gun laws. It is the foreseeable result of the defendants’ deliberate actions and business practices.” The complaint names U.S.-based manufacturers “whose guns are most often recovered in Mexico”: Smith & Wesson, Glock and Sturm, Ruger and Co., Beretta U.S.A. Corp, Colt’s Manufacturing Company LLC and Century International Arms Inc. It also names Barrett, saying its .50-caliber sniper rifle “is a weapon of war prized by the drug cartels,” and Interstate Arms, a wholesaler. Smith & Wesson, Glock and See GUNS | Page A5
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