Inside: Downtown Action Team raises $61,800 for Humboldt See A2
Football: Florida State wins BCS title See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Tuesday, January 7, 2014
NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN...
Patti Whitcomb delivers mail along South First Street in Iola. Mail carriers braved temperatures that dipped below zero Monday morning. REGISTER/STEVEN SCHWARTZ By STEVEN SCHWARTZ The Iola Register
Patti Whitcomb can remember only one time when weather stopped the mail — a blizzard halted incoming trucks from Kansas City — but Monday morning was business as usual, despite below-freezing temperatures. Whitcomb is one of four mail carriers in Iola city limits who braved the cold to deliver their mail. They can teach many of us lessons in preparation. The Register caught up with Whitcomb about midway through her route, which covers much of the south side of Iola. She had been out since around 9:30 a.m., when temperatures were around -4 degrees.
“It just seems like everything takes so much longer,” Whitcomb said, while stopping between houses on South First Street. The temperature at this point had warmed up to a toasty 8 degrees with ice and snow covering the ground. “It takes you longer to get the mail out of the truck because you’re so bundled up. It takes you longer to get to the mailboxes.” She said preparation is key in a situation such as this. She was adorned in all of her USPS attire, anything from her hat and scarf to jack, pants and heavy boots. Whitcomb, 54, has been with the postal service for 27 years. Her daughter is a mail carrier in Chanute as well. See MAIL | Page A6
Patti Whitcomb
MORAN COUNCIL
Food council in the mix MORAN — Moran council got the first look at Thrive Allen County’s newest venture, a food policy council for Allen County, at their meeting Monday night. John Robertson and Damaris Kunkler, from Thrive, and Debbie Bearden, Allen County Farm Bureau, discussed the project and its “seed to table” perspective. Its three priorities will be: — To increase economic development in Allen County, including efforts to attract full-time vendors, such as a new grocery. Of each $1 spent at the county farmers market, which will begin its fifth year this summer, 87 cents stays in the county, Bearden said. Also, she said some vendors have developed home-based businesses from the market experience. — To increase access to safe and nutritious food, including innovative ways to make food more available to low-income families. — To Increase the health and well-being of all Allen Countians. Bearden pointed out the new sidewalk being constructed along North State Street in Iola will give better access to Walmart as well as promote walking. She added the Southwind Rail Trail was another health-promoting See MORAN | Page A3
Ranchers face cold for cattle WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas cattle rancher Debbie Lyons-Blythe actually rejoiced Monday when school was canceled for her twin teenage sons, because it meant she would have extra help on the family farm in the Flint Hills amid the frigid temperatures. “The kids are pretty excited about it too, but it means they are not sitting by the TV playing video games,” she said. “They are outside working with us.” High school seniors Tyler and Eric Blythe, both 18, were helping water and feed cattle and rolling out straw so the animals would have a warm place to lay down. They got help from a 19-year-
old brother, Trent Blythe, who was home from college. Temperatures at the farm dipped to minus 9 degrees overnight, cold enough to freeze even some of the electric watering troughs. As long as cattle have fresh water to drink they can survive, even if it is icy cold water, Lyons-Blythe said. Cattle have a thick hide and hair that helps protect them from the cold, particularly when there is not much snow on the ground to get them wet. When the farm pond freezes over, the family chops the ice to make sure there is a hole where their cattle can drink. To thaw out the waSee RANCHERS | Page A3
Schools close Monday By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Although Allen County endured minimal snowfall last weekend, Iola schools remained closed Monday. The decision to give students an extra day of winter break came down to safety. “We closed because of the bitter wind chill and we were concerned about the wind chill in the evening hours,” said Jack Koehn, superintendent of schools. Sunday night tempera-
tures dipped into the low teens with a wind chill of -7 degrees. With temperatures that low, Koehn was concerned with the well-being of Iola students. Koehn said many factors came into play when making the decision to close the schools. Bus drivers must be able travel safely not only in town but also to students located on country roads. Student drivers also are considered in this travSee SCHOOLS | Page A6
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 49
Winter wreaks havoc on pipes Repair of a 12-inch water main that feeds the Oak Street tower was an ordeal for Iola crews Monday. The leak was found at 1 a.m. and repairs required about 14 hours of work in frigid weather. Eric Miller allowed the cold was less of a problem in the early morning hours because “there wasn’t any wind.” Water spewing from the break coated nearby bushes and the ground with several inches of ice. At right, a section of plastic pipe is lowered into the hole in the afternoon to complete repairs. REGISTER/ BOB JOHNSON
“Truth exists; only lies are invented.”
— Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor 75 Cents
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