Inside: Trump plan would hurt farmers See A5
2017 1867
Sports: Houston beats Kansas City See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Brownback vows to veto budget By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback promised early this morning to veto an income tax increase approved by the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature to fix the cash-strapped state’s budget and meet a
court mandate on funding for public schools. Lawmakers approved a bill just after midnight that would raise $1.2 billion over two years by increasing income tax rates and ending an exemption for more than 330,000 farmers and business owners. It repeals or rolls back past income tax cuts championed
by the conservative governor. Also sent Monday night to Brownback is another bill that would phase in a $293 million increase in spending on public schools over two years. The state Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate and gave lawmakers until June 30 to pass a new school
finance law. The tax bill is meant to cover the higher spending on schools and close projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019. But Brownback issued a statement immediately after the tax bill's passage saying it had “many deficiencies.” “We have worked hard
City council contemplates fitness woes
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Wreck kills motorcyclist Iolan Rick Weiland, 44, Iola, was killed Sunday evening when the motorcycle he was riding crashed southwest of Iola. Allen County Sheriff Bryan Murphy said Weiland was riding with a group of friends on motorcycles, four-wheelers and other allterrain vehicles on private land at 1195 1100 St., when he left on the cycle and didn’t return. Alarmed, his acquaintances left in search of Weiland and found him with the wrecked motorcycle. “He had apparently gone across a hole,” Murphy said. Authorities were called, but Weiland was declared dead at the scene. He was not wearing a helmet.
By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
MORAN — City Council members may have gotten more than they bargained for with their involvement with the opening of the 54 Fitness center. Members discussed a list of woes Monday night, the first of which was the cleanliness of the facility. Council members were not pleased the center was not cleaned prior to its first day of operation, a task that was supposed to be overseen by Moran Pride Thrive. “They were supposed to provide cleaning.That has not worked out very well,” said Mayor Phillip Merkel. City Clerk Lori Evans, who assumed the task, said it was her understanding that Moran Pride Thrive would be scheduling a group to take care of the center’s needs this week. She asked council members if they would be in favor of supplying those who maintain the upkeep of the center with free memberships. The request was met with a less-than-enthusiastic response from members who ultimately decided to discuss it at a later date since no one from Moran group was present. Questions raised included how many would partake in the cleaning responsibilities and how many free memberships would be involved. Damaris Kunkler, program director for Thrive Allen County, told The Iola Register this morning that missionaries from Utah will clean the facility this week and that beginning next week eight volunteers have been secured to carry out the task. Council member Jim Mueller remarked the fitness center has not seen much utilization since it opened June 1. Evans said 20 memberships had been paid for to date, although she had a “stack” of applications that were filled out and have yet to be paid for. “Hopefully it will pick up,” Merkel said. Mueller also expressed concern over what the fitness center will cost the City Council in monthly utilities since membership is so low. In addition, the hot water heater does not work and council members were not eager to remedy that situation, but remarked instead
in Kansas to move our tax policy to a pro-growth orientation,”Brownback said. “This bill undoes much of that progress. It will substantially damage job creation and leave our citizens poorer in the future.” The votes on the tax bill
Contractor arrested for leaking info
of Mosul, the largest held by IS, in October, and heavy fighting is still underway there. IS stormed across large areas in Syria and Iraq in 2014, declaring a self-styled Islamic caliphate. But it has lost much of that territory over the past two years following grueling campaigns by an array of Syrian and Iraqi forces. The fighting has devastated communities in both countries and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. IS has been fortifying its positions in Raqqa for months, setting up barriers and hanging sheets of cloth over main streets to provide cover from warplanes. A belt of land mines and militant checkpoints circle the city. Inside, all the men have been ordered to wear the jihadis’ garb of baggy
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal contractor has been arrested following the leak of a classified intelligence report that suggests Russian hackers attacked at least one U.S. voting software supplier days before last year’s presidential election. Shortly after the release of the report by The Intercept on Monday, the Justice Department announced it The report suggests election-related hacking penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than previously known. A Kremlin spokesman denied the report. The classified National Security Agency report does not say whether the hacking had any effect on election results. But it says Russian military intelligence attacked a U.S. voting software company and sent spear-phishing emails to more than 100 local election officials at the end of October or beginning of November. U.S. intelligence agencies declined to comment. The document said Russian military intelligence “executed cyber espionage operations against a named U.S. company in August 2016 evidently to obtain information on elections-related
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See HACKING | Page A3
Strike zone A&W’s Kolton Northcutt delivers a pitch during a Monday Pee Wee League game against the Chanute Panthers in Iola Recreation League baseball action. Northcutt pitched a shutout in Iola’s 5-0 victory. Other Rec League results are on B1. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Syrian forces attack IS-held capital of Raqqa BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S.backed Syrian force said today it has begun an offensive to capture the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group, after months of clearing operations. Raqqa was among the first cities captured by IS, in January 2014, and has been the home of some of the group’s most prominent leaders, including those who planned the November 2015 Paris attacks and other international assaults. The battle for the city is expected to be long and bloody, and could mark a major turning point in the war against the extremists. Talal Sillo, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, told reporters that operations have begun in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition. “We declare today the beginning of the great battle to liberate the city of Raqqa,
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the alleged capital of terrorism and terrorists,” Sillo told a news conference held in northern Syria. “Morale is high and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete, in coordination with the U.S.-led coalition.” SDF fighters began advancing toward Raqqa in November, capturing wide areas of northern Syria from the extremists. Last week, they reached the northern and eastern gates of the city after intense clashes under the cover of U.S.-led airstrikes. Raqqa is currently surrounded from the east, north and west, and opposition activists have reported intense shelling and airstrikes on the city since Monday night, which killed at least 12 people. The extremists are not expected to give up easily. Iraqi forces launched an offensive to capture the northern city
“Thinking: The talking of the soul with itself. “ — Plato 75 Cents
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