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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Commissioners limit discussion on Monarch By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Looking ahead to next week, Allen County commissioners said Tuesday they would not take any more public testimony when they decide whether to accept a Planning Commission’s recommendation to permit Monarch Cement Company to mine shale north of Humboldt. On Tuesday, in fact, they silenced two constituents who wanted to give statements relative to Monarch’s request. Chairman Tom Williams maintained arguments could be heard only if both sides were represented. “It would not be fair to Monarch,” he told Iolan Marilyn Jenkins, when she apparently arrived to give another take
on her opposition to the permit. John Naff, Humboldt, got the same reception, although he had made an appointment to meet with commissioners. “I want to have my say,” Naff said, which prompted Williams to give a tutorial on fairness. “If you were on Monarch’s side, or the reverse and against it, it would be extremely unfair to let you talk” without one or the other side available for rebuttal, Williams said. “You have a great deal of power, whether you know it or not,” Naff told commissioners. “I’d like to see you use it fairly,” which led Williams to say each commissioner was willing to talk individually with Naff after their meeting. See MONARCH | Page A4
Gas mayor proposes city helping business By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
GAS — Mayor Darrel Catron dreamed a bit about what might be as Tuesday evening’s Gas Council meeting wound down. “I talked to a young woman who said she and her sister would like to open a restaurant in Gas,” Catron began. “There’s no building available and they can’t afford one,” even if there were, he said. Then Catron ventured, “Could the city build a metal building and rent it to (them or) someone to open a business?” Councilman Mark Henry didn’t jump on board immedi-
ately, “I think we have enough on our plate.” To which Catron responded, “If the city isn’t interested, maybe we could find enough people” to put together an economic development organization similar to Iola Industries, which since the 1950s has had a prominent role in luring new business to the area. “They (the women) just want a shell,” Catron continued. “Steve (Robb, city superintendent) and I went for a ride,” and found a site that might work, “the old drive-in theater exit. It’s isolated and probably big enough. “Just think about it,” Catron concluded. See GAS | Page A4
Allen County Tomorrow Sharon Utley, Iola, keeps track of what participants think would steer Allen County on a more prosperous path.
Homegrown talent key to future By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — He wasn’t exactly a knight in shining armor, but Ray Maloney definitely put a spark in discussions Tuesday night at the second of a two-day symposium sponsored by Thrive Allen County and B&W Trailer Hitches on how to make Allen County more prosperous. A common theme from the talks was how to fight the decades-old trend of a declining population base, to which better housing and more jobs were the typical replies. Maloney, LaHarpe, proposed the area concentrate on growing a building trades industry starting with its high school students. A hands-on kind of guy, Maloney said he feared today’s youth has “lost sight of how to do things except sit behind electronics.” Maloney, 53, is involved
EPA rules put Holcomb plant in doubt The Clean Power Plan recently announced by President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by almost onethird over the next 15 years. Tucked into the plan’s thousands of pages is language that makes it even less likely that a new coal-fired power plant will ever be built in southwest Kansas. For 15 years, Hays-based Sunflower Electric Power Corporation has been trying to expand its coal-fired power plant near Holcomb. But even though the project has been designed and redesigned, for a variety of reasons the site is still just bare dirt. And with the new federal greenhouse gas rules for power plants, there’s serious doubt that construction will ever take place. “Long-term either way, there will not be any new
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Bryan Thompson KHI news analysis coal plants built in Kansas, and Holcomb 2 is dead, other than getting an official stamp on it,” said Bill Griffith, energy chair for the Kansas Sierra Club. The Holcomb expansion was approved in 2010 as part of a compromise that also included the establishment of the state’s renewable energy standards. Legislators softened those standards to statewide goals during the 2015 session. Sunflower officials say they’ve not abandoned the project and a multi-state legal challenge to the new EPA rules is still pending.
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But if the federal regulations survive the courts any new coal-fired power plants would likely have to employ expensive technology to trap carbon emissions and store them underground. That would make them less costcompetitive than cleaner energy sources like natural gas, wind and solar. The EPA’s new rules for power plants are intended to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists worldwide have tied to global climate change. They cover more than 3,000 pages, and for the first time the rules say that if the Holcomb plant is ever built, it would likely be regulated as a new plant, rather than an existing one. That distinction makes a big difference. “It matters a lot whether Holcomb is classified as a new or an existing power See EPA | Page A2
with two businesses, Ray’s Metal Depot in LaHarpe, with five employees, and Midwest Production Solutions, an oilfield drilling equipment operation north of Moran, at the site of the former Klein Tools, with 10 employees. The first he built from the ground up after a 10-year stint with the former Klein Tools. The second, he started with partners Chuck Shafer, Iola, and Mike Lane of rural Gas. The Midwest Solutions site has four “good-sized” buildings, of which only one is being used, he said. Maloney has offered local school districts the use of the other buildings to set up shop for a building trades program. “I’m willing to throw $500,000 at this idea,” he said, referring to the buildings’ value. “I’ve got the ball in the air, but I’m waiting for someone to step under it.”
Ken Lassmann, Humboldt, shares his group’s views. Discussions with area superintendents of schools have been very “receptive,” but at the same time dispiriting, Maloney said. “They’re See THRIVE | Page A4
ACC TRUSTEES
Teachers now required to hold master’s degrees By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
The new norm is that all instructors at community colleges must have at least a master’s degree, ACC trustees learned Tuesday night. Jon Marshall, vice president of academic affairs, explained to Allen Community College board members the new standards set by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and Higher Learning Commission. As popularity in dual credit hours rose in high schools the NCA/HLC began noticing inconsistencIes for staff credentials at different colleges.
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“They believe if English composition is taught online, onsite or in a different state, it should be the same and the faculty credentials should be the same,” Marshall said. At the end of June the new language Jon Marshall for the policy was approved. Faculty teaching general education courses must now hold a master’s degree or higher in the discipline or subfield they are teaching. If a member holds a master’s degree or higher in a See ACC | Page A4
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