Sports: Fillies beat Lady Bulldogs, play Girard tonight See B1
The Weekender Saturday, March 7, 2015
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Judge: Cuts could be ‘dire’
THE VOICE OF COLONY Register correspondent keeps columns ‘newsy,notnosey’ By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
COLONY — A pyramid of scrapbook albums cover the Luedke’s dining room table. Allene Luedke sits in her quaint Colony home and thumbs through the album pages. She traces her index finger across the yellowing newspaper clippings attached to the pages. The softly worn books contain 19½ years worth of feature stories that Luedke has written for The Iola Register. Luedke, 84, began writing for the Register in 1971. She had never written for a newspaper until former owner and publisher Emerson Lynn Jr. asked her if she would. “I told him ‘Well, I’ll try it,” she said. As a child Luedke had pen pals but that was the closest she came to being a writer. She began constructing her feature stories about community
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Allene Luedke has been a contributor for The Iola Register since 1971. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET members on a typewriter. Through the years she progressed to an IBM typewriter and now, a computer. Her nephew helped get her started on the computer but she also taught herself many tech skills. In August 1995 Luedke retired from writing fea-
ture stories for the Register when the demands of taking care of her mother became her responsibility. She still sends in Colony News to the newspaper every week and it runs on Wednesdays. “People always say I don’t know how Mrs. Lu-
edke gets so much news,” she said. Luedke gives thanks to her numerous sources in the Colony community. She has made contacts with its churches, school board clerk, city clerk and club See LUEDKE | Page A6
With 96 percent of the state’s judicial branch budget targeted for salaries, any lapse in funding by the Legislature would be troubling, District Judge Dan Creitz told Iola Rotarians Judge Creitz Thursday. Fiscal year 2016 starts July 1 and faces a $600 million deficit. Creitz said his court and all others among the 31 judicial districts, as well as state-level courts, might be faced with working until funds run out — and then shutting down. That could be devastating, he said. Courts would be obligated to release inmates awaiting court appearances that couldn’t be honored, he gave as an example of the repercussion. Few in the judicial system understand financial concerns more than Creitz, who See JUDGE | Page A6
Data: Plan trims school aid again TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — New Kansas Department of Education figures show that public schools would lose a total of $51 million in state aid before the end of June under an education funding plan from Republican leaders. Figures released Friday show that the total reduc-
tion would be 1.5 percent of the general aid districts had been set to receive. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback already has announced cuts of $28 million in aid to public schools to help balance the budget, and they take effect Saturday. Department of Education figures released Friday show
that the GOP leaders’ plan for overhauling education funding would trim an additional $23 million. However, GOP leaders have noted that total spending still would remain significantly above the amount for the 2013-14 school year. They released their plan Thursday.
Electric service company expands to Iola By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Kurt Jackson, left, and Michael Covey are co-owners of J&C Electrical Solutions, LLC, which expanded and has since moved to Iola recently. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 87
Some problems are good ones. Michael Covey and Kurt Jackson have alleviated some of those “good problems” by expanding their business, J&C Electrical Solutions LLC, to Iola last fall. “We got too big to operate out of our homes anymore,” said Covey who lives in Carlyle, while Jackson lives in Yates Center. They have since purchased the old Embassy Shoes building at 10 W. Jackson to house their offices and equipment, See J&C | Page A6
Bob Johnson
Ancient artifacts to come alive Thursday A journey into prehistory will begin at 7 o’clock Thursday evening at Iola Public Library. Bob Johnson will lead the discussion on stone artifacts collected within Allen County and their stories. There will be a number of points, several knives and a couple of ax heads, along with an oddity or two. A few historical items, including a Papago lidded basket and some blackon-black pottery fashioned in New Mexican pueblos, will be
“There are lots of people who mistake their imagination for their memory.” — Josh Billings 75 Cents
Want to know about your arrowhead collection? Bring it to the Iola Public Library at 7 p.m. Thursday shown. People first arrived in North America many centuries ago, with a preponderance of evidence indicating they came here across an ice bridge over the Bering Strait during a glaSee ARROWS | Page A6
Hi: 59 Lo: 32 Iola, KS