Locally owned since 1867
Iola loses substate game to Louisburg
International Women’s Day
126K would enroll in Medicaid PAGE A2
Lady Cubs lose in substate matchup PAGE B1
Ceremony to honor Vietnam veterans LAHARPE — Vietnam veterans will be honored with a celebration at 6 p.m. March 27 at the Willis J. Ross Veterans of Foreign Wars post in LaHarpe. Dinner will be served and a pinning ceremony will follow. Maggie Barnett, an event organizer, noted it coincides with National Vietnam Veterans Day, which is observed on March 29. That date is significant because the last U.S. troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973. Allen County Commissioner David Lee, who retired in 2019 with the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and Kansas Army National Guard, where he served more than 34 years, including serving two tours in Iraq, will address the event. To RSVP — Barnett hopes to get a count in order to ensure enough food is prepared — call (620) 380-1814.
iolaregister.com
Proms will go on at area schools By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
PAGE B1
Monday, March 8, 2021
Prom will go on. All of Allen County’s schools plan to offer prom this year, after last year’s events were either canceled or smaller events were organized by parents. The proms will feature a few key differences this year, though, because of the ongoing pandemic. Officials with all schools said it was important to continue the spring tradition. Last year’s juniors are this
year’s seniors, and if prom were again canceled they would not have had a prom during their high school career. Iola High School
Iola’s prom will be April 17 at the school. Many of the traditional prom events will continue, including the parade of cars as students arrive at the school in their finery and family and friends typically gather to watch and take photos. After-prom activities organized by the parents are also
expected to be offered. “We’ve done a really good job with coronavirus restrictions. There’s been no spread at the school,” said IHS Principal Scott Carson. “We’ve done a great job all year hosting events and having school every day.” The prom itself will be a little different. Carson and prom organizers submitted a plan that was approved by the county health department. Some of the key details: It will be an hour shorter. Students will need to wear masks.
No out-of-town guests are allowed. That means all dates must be fellow IHS students, or students can attend without dates. The entire gym will be utilized. In the past, a small section of the gym was roped off for prom. Attendees will be asked to avoid mingling or dancing in large groups. To that end, the DJ will play a mixture of fast and slow songs to encourage students to dance with their date only. Food will be served in the See PROM | Page A2
Petals falling from a Rose Trevor Hoag Just Prairie Standing between the Pleasant Valley cemetery and schoolhouse in southern Woodson County, I lost myself in the immensity of the sky. Always looking, looking … but for what? According to the sign above the doorway, the sandstone schoolhouse has been surveying this same horizon since 1881, but the district is even older. First known as “The Brush School,” as it convened in Alva Brush’s house, District 18 had its start in 1867 in a little room about a mile to the north. Laura Dumond was the district’s first teacher at the subscription school, and would witness not only construction of its “box building” replacement, but the replacement’s replacement, the iconic sandstone structure that stands still today. In “Memories of My Valley,” Edith Mentzer recalled spelling competitions and other contests between Pleasant Valley and neighboring schools, and noted, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that “the debates became so interesting that it was necessary to limit the time for each.” Pleasant Valley closed its doors to students in 1952, but
Above, the iconic Pleasant Valley schoolhouse sits along US Highway 75, south of Yates Center. Hidden in Brush Cemetery, north of Rose, one can find the grave of George Trimble. The town of Rose is named for his daughter. has hosted countless 4-H meetings, weddings and family reunions over the years. Yet its existence points to something even more intriguing nearby. THAT something is the ghost town of Rose, founded See ROSE | Page A4
Mulberry files lawsuit accusing BP Energy of price gouging By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A small Kansas town is fighting natural gas prices charged by BP Energy during last month’s extreme cold, accusing the multinational oil and gas giant of “unconscionable profiteering” under state statute. A lawsuit filed Tuesday by the city of Mulberry says BP inflated prices for natural gas from $2.98 per mmbtu on Feb.
9 to $329.615 from Feb. 13-16. The city is asking for bills to be recalculated at a reasonable rate. Jim Zakoura, an attorney representing the city in the lawsuit, said BP took advantage of Mulberry and other Kansas towns that operate their own utilities at a moment when residents needed natural gas to heat their homes and stay alive. “This is pure and simple price gouging and profiteer-
ing in the sale of a critical life product, in a life and death situation,” Zakoura said. “It is not only unlawful conduct under Kansas law but also shows a complete disregard for the people of Kansas.” A spokeswoman for BP said the company was aware of the lawsuit filed in Crawford County District Court and declined to answer questions. Mulberry is a southeast Kansas town along the MisSee PRICES | Page A2
Gov. Laura Kelly says during a briefing Wednesday that federal regulators need to figure out why companies charged such high prices for natural gas. (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)
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