Sports: Referee’s 50 years of service honored See B1
The Weekender Saturday, May 9, 2015
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IHS student caught with handgun
Cancer connects community By KAYLA BANZET l
C
ancer does not discriminate. It creeps up and latches onto children and adults, women and men, health conscious bodies and kind-hearted souls. Roberta Ellis was 25 when she had her first encounter with skin cancer. Ellis, a red-haired, fair-skinned, Iola native, endured her fair share of sunburns in her youth. “Back then we didn’t use a lot of sunscreen, you used baby oil,” said Ellis, now 56. Melanoma continues to appear on Ellis’ skin. Since January she has had spots removed from her chin and arm. She
The Iola Register receives treatment in Wichita. Doctors have cut and burned off the cancerous spots. Recently they tried a chemical peel. “I never thought about dying from skin cancer, but I had an aunt who did, and that’s what scared me,” Ellis said. “I didn’t think of skin cancer as being that bad, but it is. Most people think of cancer as more of an internal thing.” Over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined, according to skincancer. org. See RELAY | Page A6
Roberta Ellis
Payton Craft, 14, a freshman at Iola High School, was arrested Monday for allegedly possessing a handgun on school property. Iola Police Chief Jared Warner said it appeared there was no apparent untoward reason to prompt the juvenile to take the pistol to school. “It appeared he was showing it off to his friends,” Warner said. “As soon as administration found out, the situation was handled quickly, and the police were called” IHS Principal Stacey Fager said. Craft was immediately removed from school grounds without incident. Charges have been requested through the Allen County attorney’s office, officers said. In Kansas, juveniles’ names in criminal cases are made public by authorities if they’re 14 or older.
Celebrating Mother’s Day, one hug at a time Maple perseveres, thrives
Yocham family’s journey filled with surprises
By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
At 17, Rebecca Maple had to gather the courage to tell her mother she was pregnant. This was 15 years ago; Maple was a senior at Iola High School. “My mother had always taught me that whatever happens in life you have to face it head on and deal with it. And so when the time came, she told me: ‘You have a decision to make, a choice. Now, I’ll support you in whatever choice you make. But if you make the decision to have this child, you’re making a decision to be a mother.’” Two weeks before Maple’s 18th birthday she gave birth to a son, Jackson. Skipping forward a few years, Maple, barely out of her teens at this point, is crossing her front porch, about to enter the house. “I had groceries in my hand, but Jackson is wanting me to pick him up, but I can’t because I’ve got Orion in the other hand.” Orion is Maple’s second son, who arrived barely two years after Jackson. “Or, no,” — the memory clarifies — “actually,
To say motherhood was a surprise would have been an understatement for Ashley Yocham. Fresh out of high school, and still a teenager, Ashley wasn’t sure at the time what lay before her. Her original plans were to graduate early in order to get married. “Kind of glad that didn’t work out,” she said, because she and her ex eventually split. But she soon found another suitor, Luke Yocham, and they thought a while about marriage, once a few other things sorted themselves out. “We were both still living with our parents,” Ashley recalled, “and I had never really had a job.” Pregnancy changed that. After learning she was pregnant with son Bryson — he was born in August 2011 — Ashley and Luke realized they needed to shift gears as they officially entered adulthood. “We were wanting to be married before he was born,
Rebecca Maple Jackson was running out in front of me, that was it. And I was holding Orion in one arm and also holding Tamera” — her daughter, born a year after Orion — “and I was still holding the bags and trying to open the door. One of my friends from across the street, he came out laughing so hard and was like, ‘What are you doing?’ “That was a tough time, with all three of my kids being See MAPLE | Page A6
Ashley Yocham and son, Bryson but it didn’t work out that way,” Ashley said. “He was about three months old when we were married.” Luke had a job, but his earning potential was limited because he had never earned a high school diploma. He enrolled in the Humboldt
Virtual Education Program, allowing him to take online courses in order to graduate. Luke earned his diploma in 2012, and now works evenings at Gates Corporation. Ashley decided to continue See YOCHAM | Page A6
Academic excellence puts Iola High School seniors in the limelight As Iola High School’s Class of 2015 enters its final week of school, the Register will detail 10 — yes, 10 — students who have maintained perfect 4.0 grade-point averages throughout their high school careers. The IHS Senior Commencement is at 2 p.m. May 17 in the high school gymnasium. The number of students who maintained perfect GPAs is the largest in recent memory. Starting Monday, the Register will feature each of the students and their lofty achievements and aspirations.
Alex Bauer
Colton Heffern
Travis Hermstein Jo Lohman
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 131
Lexie Long
Kaden Macha
Emma Piazza
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” — Milton Berle, comedian 75 Cents
Baylea Thompson Jonathan Tidd
Shane Walden
Hi: 77 Lo: 65 Iola, KS