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Sports: Mustangs gear up for Wellsville challenge See B1

THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867

www.iolaregister.com

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thrive wins state award

Westar looks to improve LaHarpe

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

MANHATTAN — Thrive Allen County’s long-standing goal — to help produce a healthier, more productive citizenry — has been recognized by the state. Thrive representatives were on hand Wednesday to receive one of five 2014 Kansas Health Champion Awards during the third annual Kansas Obesity Summit. The Health Champion Award was developed by the Governor’s Council on Fitness through its Get Active Kansas Campaign. It was designed to single out groups or individuals who “recognize and promote exemplary contributions to fitness in Kansas,” according to a Kansas Department of Health and Environment press release The proverbial feather in the cap brings more than a trophy. As the 2014 Organizational Health Champion, Thrive will receive a fouryear, $600,000 KDHE grant. It’s the largest grant in Thrive’s history, noted Damaris Kunkler, Thrive’s program director. The award was particularly gratifying, Kunkler said, because the Kansas

LAHARPE — LaHarpe heard an emphatic mea culpa from Westar representatives Wednesday. Westar’s area wholesale customer manager Suzanne Lane, regional director Scott Hildebrandt and electric distribution supervisor Mark Wollenberg were at Wednesday’s City Council meeting to discuss steps the utility giant has taken to curb the recent epidemic of power outages. “We believe our electricity should be fast, safe and reliable,” Lane said. “We’ve struggled with the reliability part.” Westar counted 11 outages affecting LaHarpe so far in 2014, Hildebrandt said. “That’s not acceptable.” Some of the outages could be blamed on inclement weather, but not all. The aging power grid has been plagued by equipment failures that weren’t necessarily weather related. “It’s an old system,” Wollenberg admitted. “And it’s not only LaHarpe that’s affected.” Since 2013, crews have replaced some of the older lines and worn equipment, Hildebrandt said, particu-

See THRIVE | Page A5

Fairy tale characters, top, beg Shrek to help them return home. Donkey, left, asks Shrek if he can join him on his journey. Lord Farquaad, right, tortures Gingy the Gingerbread Man for information. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET

‘Shrek’ a lovable ogre and play By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register

The Bowlus stage will feature fun for the whole family this weekend. The Allen Community College Theatre will present “Shrek: The Musical,” at 7:30 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday. The musical’s plot closely follows the 2001 animated movie. Shrek, a green ogre, played by Jordan Garcia, lives alone in a dirty swamp because people fear him. One

day his quiet, smelly home is interrupted when Lord Farquaad, played by Colton Schubert, exiles fairy tale characters out of Duloc and to the swamp. The fairy tale characters beg Shrek to help them return home. He agrees because he wants them out of his hair. Along his journey he meets a talking donkey named none other than, Donkey, played by Roy Anderson. Donkey helps Shrek find his way to Duloc to ask Farquaad to take the characters back.

After he arrives in Duloc, Shrek finds himself in a tournament earning the “privilege” to save Princess Fiona for Farquaad from a dragon. In return the fairy tale characters would be moved. Fiona, played by Heather Kropf, has dreamed of the day her Prince Charming would come and save her. Once she finds out her savior is an ogre she isn’t thrilled, but Fiona has a secret of her own. The musical is filled with See SHREK | Page A2

Voter ID laws cut turnout for Kansas

Public Forum 7 o’clock tonight Lincoln Elementary School USD 257 officials will discuss plans to build new elementary and high schools in Iola

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — States that toughened their voter identification laws saw steeper drops in election turnout than those that did not, with disproportionate falloffs among black and younger voters, a nonpartisan congressional study released Wednesday concluded. As of June, 33 states have enacted laws obligating voters to show a photo ID at the polls, the study said. Republicans who have pushed the legislation say the requirement will reduce fraud, but Democrats insist the laws are a GOP effort to reduce Democratic turnout on Election Day. The report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative agency, was released less than a month from elections that will determine which party controls Congress. The office compared election turnout in Kansas and Tennessee — which tightened voter ID requirements between the 2008 and 2012 elec-

See LAHARPE | Page A5

GAO’s analysis suggests that the turnout decreases in Kansas and Tennessee beyond decreases in the comparison states were attributable to changes in those two states’ voter ID requirements. — excerpt from the report

tions — to voting in four states that didn’t change their identification requirements. It estimated that reductions in voter turnout were about 2 percent greater in Kansas and from 2 percent to 3 percent steeper in Tennessee than they were in the other states examined. The four other states, which did not make their voter ID laws stricter, were Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, and Maine. “GAO’s analysis suggests that the turnout decreases in Kansas and Tennessee beyond decreases in the comparison states were attributable to changes in those two states’ voter ID requirements,” the report said.

Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 242

The study cautioned that the results from Kansas and Tennessee don’t necessarily apply to other states with stricter ID laws. It also found that of 10 other studies that mostly focused on voting before 2008, five found no significant impact from voter ID laws, four found decreases and one found an increase. The report said that in Kansas and Tennessee, reduced voter turnout was sharper among people aged 18 to 23 than among those from 44 to 53. The drop was also more pronounced among blacks than whites, Hispanics or Asians and was greater among newly See VOTER | Page A5

Davis promises to undo Kansas Medicaid change By JOHN HANNA Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic challenger Paul Davis on Wednesday proposed reversing part of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s overhaul of the Kansas Medicaid program, appealing to vocal advocates for the disabled in a political race that remains a toss-up. Davis said during a Statehouse news conference that if he defeats Brownback, he’ll end three private health

“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.”

— Henry David Thoreau, author 75 Cents

insurance companies’ oversight of inhome support services for about 8,500 developmentally disabled Kansans. The firms’ oversight is part Paul Davis of the insurers’ management of the state’s $3 billion-a-year Medicaid program, which covers medical and in-home services for the poor and disabled.

See MEDICAID | Page A5

Hi: 82 Lo: 54 Iola, KS


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