Iola Indians are state champions, see B1
The
IOLA REGISTER Monday, August 5, 2013
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Man drowns in Elm Creek
Iolan shows support in a big way
What started out as a lark, turned tragic Saturday afternoon when Zane Forbis-Burgardt, 23, Iola, drowned in a flooded part of Elm Creek. Forbis-Burgardt and two companions, Aaron Browning, 22, Kansas City, and Austin Martell, 23, Iola, started down the rain-swollen creek in inflated innertubes. When they went over a small dam, the gushing current overturned their innertubes. The incident occurred just southwest of the south end of Buckeye Street. Browning and Martell escaped from the water; ForbisBurgardt didn’t. His body was found about 9 a.m. Sunday not far below the dam, said Sheriff Bryan Murphy. “By then, the creek had See DROWNING | Page A4
Register/Bob Johnson
Jerold Elliot stands between the tails of a huge pink ribbon he painted on his lawn at 622 S. Jefferson Ave.
By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
Jerold Elliot figures there’ll be some drive-by viewings of his well-kept lawn at 622 S. Jefferson this week. Now that the word is out, Elliot anticipates people will want to see the pink ribbon on the corner of his lawn, similar to those many people wear on their lapels to promote breast cancer awareness. The difference is, his and wife Barbara’s ribbon is a much more visible than most, as in about 20 feet long, painted on their lawn and wrapped around a tree where it can be seen easily, no matter from which di-
See PINK | Page A4
NATIONAL
Effort to ban IRS enforcement of Obamacare By DAVID LIGHTMAN and BEN KAMISAR McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Republican-run House of Representatives voted 232-185 Friday to bar the besieged Internal Revenue Service from enforcing or implementing the new health care law, but the effort was largely a political exercise. The vote on the “Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act of 2013” broke largely along party lines, with 228 Republicans and four Democrats in favor and 185 Democrats opposed. Most likely, the bill will go nowhere. Democrats control the Senate and the White House, and they’re not about to kill or dilute the 2010 law that President Barack Obama championed so forcefully. Still, Republicans were determined to deliver a strong message as Congress left for a five-week recess. They pressed the issue on the House floor and at a raucous subcommittee hearing. On the House floor, a vote that combined two of the party’s favorite targets Vol. 115, No. 198
Eight people were injured in a two-vehicle traffic accident at the east edge of Iola late Friday afternoon. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a car driven by Ashley Nicole Coy, 16, Humboldt, and a van driven by Barbara Stokes, 56, LaHarpe, collided as Coy drove from a northbound U.S. 169 off-ramp onto U.S. 54. Stokes was eastbound on U.S. 54. In addition to the drivers, six people in Stokes’ van were
— the IRS and health care — proved unusually inviting. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio summed up the Republican complaint: “The IRS has shown it cannot be trusted to implement the president’s train wreck of a health care law.” The IRS has a vital role in implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly known as Obamacare. The agency can act on 47 of the law’s provisions, including many of the more controversial ones. The law requires nearly everyone to obtain coverage next year or face a penalty. The IRS has been under fire for months because it targeted for particular scrutiny some conservative groups seeking tax exemptions. Republicans have fought to dismantle the health care law. Friday’s House vote was the 40th attempt at repealing it. During the fiery House debate Friday, Democrats offered their own summer talking point: Republicans are obsessed with the IRS and repealing the health care law, and they’ve done little to adSee IRS | Page A4
See WRECK | Page A4
Amid online threats, U.S. posts will remain closed By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid online “chatter” about terror threats, U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed at least through the end of this week, the State Department said. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the decision to keep
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facilities.” Diplomatic facilities will remain closed in Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, among other countries, through Saturday, Aug. 10. The State Department announcement Sunday added closures of four African sites, in Madagascar, Burundi, Rwanda and Mauritius.
This is the most serious threat that I’ve seen in the last several years. Chatter means conversation among terrorists about the planning that’s going on — very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11. — Sen. Saxby Chambliss, on Meet the Press
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Pretty in Pink
rection a vehicle approaches. The ribbon is in honor of several of his relatives. Elliott said his father died of cancer; cousin Vicky Lou Stout, 50, an Iolan, died July 29 after a battle with cancer that spanned 26 years; and his brother, John, has cancer, as does sister-in-law Shannon Lower. “I wanted to make people aware” of cancer and the effect it has on families, as well as encourage all to contribute to the fight against the disease, he said. Elliott has an affinity for a well-kept yard, and it shows. The Elliots’ front lawn has showcase qualities, and one day while tending it, he thought why not add the pink ribbon symbol. “I first cut it out with my lawn mower,” Elliott said, and added ground kill to stunt the growth of grass within the ribbon. “I then painted it pink after Vicky died,” Elliott said. While the front lawn has the ribbon and other appealing features, behind the Elliots’ home, in a woodfenced area, they have created a refuge from work-a-
Eight injured in wreck
the embassies and consulates shuttered is a sign of an “abundance of caution” and is “not an indication of a new threat.” Lawmakers, though, said the intercepted chatter suggested that a major terrorist attack was in the planning stages. One lawmaker said the chatter was specific as to certain dates and the scope of the operation. Psaki said the continued closures are “merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees, including local employees, and visitors to our 75 Cents
The U.S. has also decided to reopen some posts on Monday, including those in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Baghdad. The Obama administration announced Friday that the posts would be closed over the weekend and the State Department announced a global travel alert, warning that alQaida or its allies might target either U.S. government or private American interests. The intercepted intelligence foreshadowing an attack on U.S. or Western interests is evidence of one of the gravest threats to the United See POSTS | Page A4
Iola, KS