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Sports: Iola squads open on road at Girard See B1

The Weekender Saturday, December 6, 2014

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Iconic landmark on sales block By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register

Community National Bank & Trust is accepting sealed bids for the large building at 415 W. Madison Ave. How you refer to the building at this address probably says something about how long you’ve been in Iola. The building, recently known as “Madison Avenue Steaks and Chops,” began life in 1933 as H.L. Miller & Son Inc. — to a handful it will always be “the old dress factory” — whose faded brand name still clings to the north side of the large brick structure, and whose historic architecture lends character to a corner that counts among its premises a gas station, liquor store, and two fast-food spots. The dress factory arrived in Iola not long after the Pet Milk Company, and though

es for a pair of smart trousers. In time the dress factory gave way to a restaurant and

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A judge Thursday blocked the University of Kansas from releasing hundreds of pages of emails and other documents to a student group looking for ties between an economic research center and billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild issued his temporary restraining order the same day that Art Hall, executive director of the Center for Applied Economics, sued the university to prevent the release of years of emails, correspondence and notes. His lawsuit said

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The building that housed Madison Avenue Steaks and Chops is up for sale. The massive structure was built originally for H.L. Miller & Son dress factory in 1933. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN years separated their respective ends, it was the similar acknowledgement of shifting consumer taste that spelled both companies’ eventual ob-

solescence. Almost overnight, it must have seemed to some, families stopped cooking with condensed milk and women traded in their everyday dress-

Judge blocks KU records release

Employment challenges in focus By RICK DANLEY AND RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Thanks, Santa Eliana Higginbotham takes a candy cane from Santa at his house on the square Thursday night. Boys and girls from Allen County told Santa what they would like for Christmas and took pictures with him. He will be in his house from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET

The 4.4 percent unemployment rate in Kansas is enviably low. Allen County’s is lower still at 3.8 percent. While these are encouraging figures, they do not, in themselves, describe a healthy economy. In fact, in some cases, according to our area’s largest industries, these figures may even obscure the outlines of the real problem facing local employers: namely, a persistent shortage of skilled labor. There are more jobs than

qualified employees in Allen County. “Iola has a great pool of hard workers,” said Lonnie Larson, director of quality assurance at Iola’s Sonic Equipment Company. “And Iola has a great source of jobs. We’re fortunate to have places like Herff Jones, Sonic Equipment, Gates, Russell Stover, Precision and Catalyst. “But we’ve saturated our workforce,” he continued. “The lack of available employees to hire is a concern, and it’s a Catch 22. You can’t get people here because they can’t afford the housing. And you can’t get the housing in

here, because you don’t have the employees.” There is some hope in the fact the labor pool in southeast Kansas is not limited by specific county boundaries; this is a commuter-heavy part of the country. And Allen County ranks high in the number of workers it draws from surrounding counties. As of last month only Montgomery County had a higher percentage of commuters — a statistic not likely to survive the new year, when that county waves goodbye to two of its largest employers, Amazon.com and See WORKFORCE | Page A8

Wichita school wants to prove physics is for all WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — There’s a physics revolution in the works at North High School in Wichita, and science teacher Hannah Kelderman couldn’t be happier. In the past, physics - the branch of science that deals with properties of matter and energy - was for “those kids,” Kelderman says, and she makes the air quotes with her fingers. The math and science nerds, the young Einsteins, the Sheldon Cooper types who already know the difference between Bernoulli’s principle and Pascal’s law, The Wichita Eagle reported. Only about 36 percent of North High students enroll in physics, a rate that reflects the national average among public high school students and is slightly above the Wichita district average. Most students take biology and chemistry and then a random elective such as anatomy, zoology or environmental science to complete the three units of science re-

quired for graduation. Compare that to more than 95 percent of students in the nation’s private high schools who take physics before graduation. “We looked at that and said, ‘Why?’” said Kelderman, co-chair of the science department at North. “In other schools, in other countries, it’s just a given that students are required to take biology, chemistry and physics. . Physics is crucial to your understanding of science, of problem-solving. About 70 percent of STEM careers require a prerequisite of physics. “So why not here?” And why not now? Next year, with the blessing of principal Sherman Padgett, North High aims to have at least 80 percent of juniors enrolled in either regular, honors or Advanced Placement physics, more than doubling the number of students who will have at

Home for the holidays McKinley Elementary students, above, sing a song about going to grandma’s house during their annual winter program on Thursday night at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Steve Taylor, left, and his daughter Brandi Taylor act out a skit of a soldier coming home for Christmas. Lincoln Elementary’s program will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.

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Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 31

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy 75 Cents

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