Lunar eclipse Saturday morning as seen from Placerville, Calif. RANDALL BENTON/SACRAMENTO BEE
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Monday, April 6, 2015
Bill bans ‘frivolous’ use of aid TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is close to telling poor families by law that they can’t use cash assistance from the state to visit swimming pools, get tattoos or consult with psychics among a list of other things, leading critics to focus on whether tighter rules for social services will make life more unpleasant for the needy. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his allies are emphasizing how they believe a social services bill approved by lawmakers this week helps move people from state assistance into decent jobs. The bill puts policies imposed by Brownback’s administration into state law, so they’ll be harder to undo later. A key policy requires able-bodied adults receiving temporary cash assistance to work, be looking for a job, or to enroll in job training. But lawmakers added rules, too. One limits ATM withdrawals with assistance cards to $25 a day, to make it harder for benefits to be converted to cash and used for non-essential items. The list of banned uses would not only include alcohol, tobacco, gambling and sexually oriented materials, but other entertainment, including movie theaters and See ASSISTANCE | Page A4
From left, Mary, Abi, Brody and Brett Daniels, of Nordic Roots farm. Brett Daniels was recently named a “mushroom identification expert” by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Nordic Roots will be selling morels, and more, at the Allen County Farmers Market later this month. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Savonburg family harvests rare delicacy By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
O
ne of the state’s few recognized experts on morel mushrooms — a perennial favorite in the world of haute cuisine — operates a farm in the far southeast corner of Allen County. Brett and Mary Daniels’ farm, called Nordic Roots — a fixture at the Allen County Farmers Market — sits on a low hill off of a gravel road outside Savonburg. A storm had blown across
the county Wednesday night and, on Thursday, there were bathtub-sized puddles in the rutted road leading up to the Danielses’ land. A long curving driveway mounts the hill to their front door. Brett Daniels, wearing a faded Pitt State T-shirt, stands in the yard his family has occupied for six generations, and explains how this season’s early humid weather will advantage the local morel hunter. “It’s always hard to say how many will be out,” said Daniels of the fickle fungus. “It
all has to do with the weather. But right now, with the rain, I bet they’re just popping out of the ground. They’re going to be coming up for the next couple of days for sure — matter of fact, I’m going out this evening.” Daniels has been actively hunting morels for nearly 40 years. As a kid, he trailed behind his father and grandfather along the local creek beds, peering into the dark carcasses of fallen trees in search of the spongy delicacy, whose key feature is its honeycombed cap.
LAST MONTH, though, his longstanding expertise was made official by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Daniels was one of fewer than 50 Kansans to complete the inaugural certification workshop — held in conjunction with the Kaw Valley Mycological Society — where he was named an “approved mushroom identification expert.” Current KDA food safety regulations require that mushrooms picked in the See MOREL | Page A4
KS firm faces sentencing for dumping toxic waste
On the hunt Lylac Warner, 4, looks ahead in the lawn as she and other children scavenge for candy during the Easter Egg Hunt on the square Saturday. About 100 kids participated in the hunt. The annual hunt lasted 72 seconds. Look for more hunt photos on A4. COURTESY PHOTO/NICK KRUG
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas metal finishing business and its owner have asked a federal judge for “a measure of leniency” as they face sentencing for discharging untreated industrial wastewater into a city sewer system, then submitting to regulators fraudulent water samples and reports to conceal the dumping. C&R Plating and its owner Kevin L. Cline will be sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Topeka. They pleaded guilty in December to knowingly introducing pollutants into the sewer and water treatment system of the north-central Kansas community of Minneapolis, which they knew could cause personal injury and property damage. The illegal dumping deposited excessively high zinc levels into the sludge from the city’s sewer lagoon.
Quote of the day
“Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.”
Vol. 117, No. 108
75 Cents
— Arthur Conan Doyle
Their attorney in a court filing Thursday asked the court to impose a sentence of probation without a fine so Cline could continue to operate the business and make restitution to the city. The company has employed between 25 and 33 residents over the past seven years in Minneapolis, Kansas. The defense filing included a bevy of letters from supporters lauding Cline’s years of community service in which he donated to charity and served as a school board and city council member. “Defendants C&R Plating and Kevin Cline come humbly before this Court seeking a measure of leniency, not only for the benefit of the business and himself, but for the benefit of the people and the community that depend See FIRM | Page A4
Hi: 75 Lo: 62 Iola, KS