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THE IOLA REGISTER Tuesday, January 21, 2014
MLK DAY
Getting ‘beneath’ the civil rights movement
‘YOU ARE MY VOICE’ Citizens voice concern over schools, healthcare
By STEVEN SCHWARTZ The Iola Register
D.J. Dangerfield used a story to illustrate the need for forgiveness as part of Monday night’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day services. The story has Dangerfield standing in line at a concession stand during a baseball game when a fight broke out. One of the men in the fight was bloody and badly injured. Dangerfield came to him and asked if he should call the police. The man looked at him with a blank stare, and replied, “No, call an ambulance.” “What was I thinking this,” Dangerfield asked the audience at the Ward Chapel A.M.E. “We have a tendency to issue citations, instead of issuing care.” As associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Chanute, Dangerfield said his goal is to get “underneath the civil rights movement,” and to talk See MLK| Page A6
Rev. D.J. Dangerfield spoke at the Ward Chapel A.M.E. Monday evening. REGISTER/STEVEN
Rep. Kent Thompson, left, listens as Tim Cunningham, executive director of Tri-Valley Development Services, right, asks a question of Sen. Caryn Tyson during Monday night’s legislative forum sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau. Below at right, Laura Caillout-Weiner, center, reacts in a discussion about school finance. Flanking her are Denise Mentzer and former state representative Stanley Dreher. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
It wasn’t exactly a love fest. And while the mood remained congenial between legislators and their audience, there was a clear division of opinion between what the legislators and their constituents thought should be the goal of the current legislative session in Topeka. For more than 90 minutes State Sen. Caryn Tyson and Rep. Kent Thompson listened to concerns of area citizens at a forum Monday night sponsored by Allen County Farm Bureau. Education came round and round again as Tyson and Thompson both said they were uncomfortable with the impending decision by the State Supreme Court as to what an adequate education costs these days. Neither said they thought schools were underfunded; nor were they amenable to being told by another branch of government, the judicial branch, what to do. “I haven’t seen one number that tells me what education should be funded at,” said Thompson, questioning the high See CONCERNS | Page A6
SCHWARTZ
STATE
Lawmakers start slow TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — In the early days of the state legislative session, lawmakers are picking and choosing topics to debate. A House committee is getting an update on hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas in the state and the potential connection to increased seismic activity. Officials of state agencies and the Kansas Geological Survey were scheduled to speak today to the House Energy and Environment Committee. Kansas has seen an increase in oil and gas exploration in southern counties as new technology allows extraction in difficult geological formations. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, involves high-pressure injections of liquid into underground rock to release trapped fossil fuels. Fracking has been suspected as a cause of increased seismic activity in parts of the U.S. that typically aren’t prone to earthquakes.
A FIRE-SAFETY proposal before the Legislature would ban sky candles, floating lanterns and other fire-fueled balloons that are a staple of Fourth of July celebrations. The House Local Government Committee scheduled a hearing for this afternoon on a bill that would prohibit what it describes as “unmanned aerial luminaries.” A person caught igniting one could be charged with a misdemeanor and fined up to $2,500.
All aflutter
A flock of geese take a break on a frozen lake in Allen County. REGISTER/PHYLLIS LUEDKE
See SLOW START | Page A2
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 59
“One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts.” — Samuel Johnson 75 Cents
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