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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Monday, December 8, 2014
Military appeals court to hear Kansas HIV case
Lissa Manbeck, right, sings during Vespers practice. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Vespers concert unfolds Sunday By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The sounds of the holidays will ring loud and true Sunday with the 58th annual Christmas Vespers concert. The free concert, presented by the Southeast Kansas Christian Artist Series, will feature the voices of more than 30 local singers, and commences at 3 p.m. Sunday at Iola’s First Christian Church. Terry Meadows, band and
vocal music instructor at Humboldt High School, directs the ensemble. The group will be accompanied by Iolans Ron Baker, organist, and Jan Knewtson on piano. Jan Kershner will play an assortment of songs on piano during intermission. Several individuals will be spotlighted during the event. Soloists Shelly Meadows and Matt Stuckey will sing during a special presentation of “Bethlehem Skies” as the
final piece of the first half of the program. Edlyn and Jason Franklin have solo numbers during “Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy)” to begin the second half. The Franklins will be joined by Lissa Manbeck as soloists during “Born In A Stable” later in the performance. Baker, chief executive officer at Allen County Regional Hospital, will provide the preSee VESPERS | Page A4
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces on Tuesday will take up the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military. “This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said. Air Force prosecutors have declined to comment. Gutierrez was a sergeant at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in 2011 when he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to eight years behind bars. In addition to aggravated assault, Gutierrez also was found guilty of violating an order to notify partners about his HIV status and to use condoms. He also was convicted of indecent acts and adultery. He has not been accused of actually infecting anyone with HIV. In his appeal, Gutierrez has challenged whether the
Iola Industries adjusts focus in 21st century By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
Whether the name “Iola Industries, Inc.” is familiar to every person in town, every Iolan has in some way been touched by its impact. Formed in the summer of 1955 by 12 area businessmen dedicated to promoting Iola as a good place to do and build business, the group’s charter — “to benefit the community by increasing employment, payroll, [and] business volume...” — has been a success by any measure. According to longtime board member Jim Gilpin, the volunteer-led group has been involved “with every local industry in Iola, with the exception of one or two, either by
selling them the ground or the building or both.” Even a partial list of the companies the group has drawn to Iola — Columbia Metal, Gates Corporation, Klein Tools, Haldex, Tramec, M & W Manufacturing, Russell Stover Candies, Herff Jones, Precision Pump, Sonic Equipment Company, Catalyst — reads like a primer on the recent industrial history of southeast Kansas. Even with this successful track record, Gilpin understands the risks implied when you invite large-scale manufacturing employers to an area. “The concern we have is that, like every place over the last hundred years who has had manufacturing, we will
An in-depth series looking at Iola and Allen County’s workforce environment. lose one of our major employers engaged in this sector every five to seven years, for one reason or another — changing consumer taste, a glut in that particular product, any number of reasons. “The whole purpose of Iola
Industries, then, was to create jobs and bring in new ones, recognizing that that phenomenon was going to be an ongoing concern. Our main goal was to provide low-cost overhead for startups or turnkey sites for existing industries.” “We facilitate things,” said John McRae, the board’s president. “We make it happen. We don’t really care how it happens, as long as it happens. And once it’s underway, we step out of the way and start looking for something else to work on. That’s our sole role. If we create jobs, then we feel we’ve been successful.” However, a worry that surfaces at Iola Industries’ monthly meetings — and a See INDUSTRIES | Page A4
risk to his sexual partners was high enough to constitute aggravated assault, arguing that laws covering exposure to the disease are outdated since the statistical probability of heterosexual transmission is low and medical advances have made the disease treatable. “About 100 years ago we used to have a lot of laws on the books that threw people in prison for having syphilis because you couldn’t cure it. Once they came up with a cure a lot of those laws went along the wayside,” McDermott said. The risk of infection by an HIV-positive man during sexual intercourse with a woman varies widely, and each side in the case is citing the statistic within that range that is most favorable to their argument. Defense lawyers say the risk of infection ranged from a 1-in-10,000 to 1-in-100,000 chance per sexual encounter, which they contend is so low that it doesn’t meet the legal standard for assault. Prosecutors counter that the exposure risk was closer to 1 in 500. “A 1-in-500 chance of receiving a deadly, incurable disease is not merely See APPEALS | Page A2
Pittsburg’s persistence pays off By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
PITTSBURG — During the early days of the last recession, Pittsburg lost its largest private employer in Superior Industries. The company closed its Kansas plant and shipped 600 jobs to Mexico. The area’s unemployment rate went from 6 percent to 10 percent, almost overnight. “Five years later, we have not only recovered,” said Blake Benson, the town’s See PITTSBURG| Page A4
Obama calls for patience in fight against racism By DON LEE Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, responding to the wave of protests and racial tensions across the country in recent weeks, appealed for patience and persistence in solving what he described as an issue “that is deeply rooted in our society ... our history.” “When you’re dealing with something as deeply rooted as racism or bias in any society, you got to have vigilance,
but you have to recognize that it’s going to take some time,” Obama said in an interview to be aired Monday evening on BET Networks. “You just have to be steady so you don’t give up when we don’t get all the way there,” he said in a short video clip of the interview released Sunday. Obama has come under increasing pressure to speak out after a grand jury declined last week to indict New York police Officer Daniel Pantoleo in the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man
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who was being arrested on suspicion of illegally selling loose cigarettes. The Staten Island grand jury’s decision came little more than a week after a St. Louis County grand jury failed to indict Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old whose death prompted unrest. Responding to these cases has proved challenging for Obama. As the first AfricanAmerican president, he has in the past addressed America’s
racial tensions in a personal way, saying after the 2012 shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin that the victim would have looked like Obama’s son, if he had one — or even Obama himself 35 years ago. Amid the protests in Ferguson, Obama has expressed empathy for those angered by what they perceive as unfair policing practices. The administration also has provided funding for police departSee OBAMA | Page A4
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” — Napoleon Hill 75 Cents
President Barack Obama
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