The
IOLA REGISTER
By SUSAN LYNN susan@iolaregister.com
Tuesday’s hospital board meeting began on a happy note. Dr. Earl and Linda Walter gave a gift to the new Allen County Regional Hospital. In recognition, the Walters will have patient room 115-116 designated in their names. The extra big room sits right across from the nursing station. With their breakaway from Hospital Corporation of America effective Monday, trustees signed with the Kansas Hospital Association workers’ compensation employment program. When under HCA’s umbrella, hospital employees received workers’comp in-house. At one time, such services were provided by the state, said Ron Baker, hospital chief executive officer. “But the nature of our jobs — the lifting and transfer of patients — makes us expensive to insure,” Baker said. “Hospital and nursing home employees typically suffer a lot of work-related injuries.” All of the hospital’s 150-160 employees will be covered. A neurosurgeon, Dr. Harold Hess, has begun seeing patients in the medical arts building, and an oncologist, Dr. Cinderella Chavez, will begin office hours in July, Baker said. Recruiting specialists is See BOARD | Page A6
Iola Seahorses compete at home See B1
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Locally owned since 1867
Hospital readies to go it alone
SWIM TEAM
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Riding the rails to new heights
Register/Steven Schwartz
Staff member Kelsey Larson, along with her students, look over a bridge while riding a train on the Georgetown Loop Railroad Tuesday afternoon in Colorado.
SAFE BASE kids take train through mountains By STEVEN SCHWARTZ steven@iolaregister.com
The third day of SAFE BASE’s excursion to Colorado was one of transition — by way of road and rail. The students had time to sleep in and then enjoy the morning of their final day in Rocky Mountain National Park. Their journey thus far had taken them from Iola to the rivers of alpine basins, to ridges scraping the skyline
of the Rocky Mountains. “And it’s only going to get better,” SAFE BASE student Sam Terhune said. Several of the students filed their way over to the ranger station in Moraine campground, where they took their final step in the junior park ranger program — being sworn in. “Ranger Katie,” as the students referred to her, had them raise their right hands and repeat the ju-
nior ranger oath: “As a junior ranger, I promise to help protect Rocky Mountain National Park, my neighborhood parks and all other natural areas by taking care of the environment. I will help keep wildlife wild by not feeding animals. I will help protect plants by not picking them. I will help keep parks beautiful by placing trash in recycling bins or trash bins. I will enjoy nature
safely and be a good example to others.” The students’ eyes lit up as Ranger Katie passed out their badges. They may have been plastic in actuality, but to the students they were gold. The next leg of the journey took the group south and west, through the heart of the mountains. After stopping at a park in in the quaint riverside community See TRAIN | Page A6
State programs could entice out-of-staters By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
Register/Kayla Banzet
Muralist Jim Stukey paints on Sophisticated Rose’s south wall Tuesday morning. The Burlington artist has created murals for about 20 years.
Murals bring character to community By KAYLA BANZET kayla@iolaregister.com
With a paint brush in hand muralist Jim Stukey takes a step back from his work on the south wall of Sophisticated Rose’s building Tuesday. A motorist honks and waves at the artist and he returns the gesture. Stukey has been drawing and painting all of his life and has been a muralist for about 20 years now. He is well known for his mural work across Coffey County. Tuesday, Stukey was “sprucing up” spots on the downtown merchant’s building. He has painted small and large projects in the past. There are multiple blank canvases around Iola that can
tell a story. Ron Moore, owner of Iola Office Supply, has one of those canvases. Moore said he has been approached about putting a mural on his south wall in the past. “Years ago I was approached about putting a historical mural on my wall,” Moore said. “I’m OK with the idea as long as it can be funded.” The wall is north of the Funston home in the Allen County Historical Society’s complex on the west side of the square. The idea for the mural fell through the cracks years ago, Moore said, partly because of the insistence the building’s rough exterior be made smooth at Moore’s expense. Stukey, however, said the convoluted exterior is perfect for a mural. Vol. 115, No.171
Stukey said he has done murals that have been funded multiple ways. “I have done murals through private funders and through a county’s contributions,” he said. Elyssa Jackson, the historical society’s director, said she hasn’t been contacted by anyone about a mural near the Funston home but could see the Society approving the idea. “I could see the possibility of it happening,” Jackson said. “We would be more than happy to entertain the idea if it was a reasonable idea and had a sound budget.” The type of paint used for a mural depends on its canvas, Stukey said. Metal and steel buildings, for example, use a different kind of paint than a
Numbers flew every which way in an Allen County Commission meeting Tuesday morning. All were part and parcel to the commissioners putting together the county’s 2014 budget. One set of numbers may lead to attraction of professionals and former Kansans who have lived away from the state at least five years. Larry Tucker, Humboldt administrator, and Barbara Anderson, employee of the Kansas Department of Commerce (DOC), proposed commissioners provide financial incentives for college graduates to return. A program the Kansas Department of Commerce will unveil in detail by July 1 would repay up to $15,000 of college loans to students who locate in the county and
stayed at least five years. The state DOC will match up to $1,500 a county provides — a total of $3,000 — each year for up to five years to repay student loans. The county also may be a conduit for a business — such as a hospital seeking trained personnel — or an industry that puts up money and then has latitude to choose the recipient. “I’ve talked to our industries in Humboldt, and they need engineers,” Tucker said. “It’s a program to bring people back or get new ones to move here,” said Anderson. Another program, already in place and also under auspices of the Department of Commerce, encourages former residents to return, by forgiving income taxes for See COUNTY | Page A5
Iola Municipal Band -Since 1871Thursday, 8 p.m.
At the bandstand
Jake Ard, director
Star Spangled Banner...................................Arr. J.P. Sousa
Barnum & Bailey’s Favorite............................ King
It Had to Be You..........................................Jones
Theme From Summer of ’42............................Legrand
Orange Bowl March....................................H. Fillmore Home on the Range..................................... Kelly
Colossus of Columbia....................................Alexander
Themes From Great Italian Movies.....................Arr. Cacavas The Thunderer............................................J.P. Sousa Rained out concerts are scheduled the following evening.
See MURAL | Page A2
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Iola, KS