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THE IOLA REGISTER Thursday, January 30, 2014
STICKER SHOCK
Cold weather culprit in higher Iola utility bills By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Gov. addresses high propane costs By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A recent spike in propane prices and short supplies for heating homes in Kansas have prompted Gov. Sam Brownback to temporarily ease trucking regulations and direct state officials to help poor families. Brownback announced Wednesday that he has ordered the state Department for Children and Families to give propane users priority in processing applications for an annual
program that helps poor families pay utility bills, and the department plans to increase the staff dedicated to processing applications. The governor also directed the department to reach out to poor families to ensure that they can continue to get propane. The governor issued executive orders suspending trucking regulations earlier this month, easing restrictions on operating hours and insurance and permitting requirements so that propane can be more readily delivered, particularly
from outside the state. And, during a Statehouse news conference, he urged Kansans to avoid makeshift solutions such as relying on stoves and grills to heat homes because of the dangers of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. “We’re going to be working through the system to make sure that people can get propane that they need,” Brownback said during the news conference. Amid short supplies, the
Utility bills arriving at Iola’s homes the past few days drew some double-takes. “Many were in the $400 to $500 range,” said City Clerk Roxanne Hutton. One was more, much more, but that was because the homeowner was trying to ensure that water pipes didn’t freeze during a particularly cold spell. “It was over $1,000 and got our attention,” Hutton said. Instead of letting a water faucet drip to prevent freezing, the resident turned on the hot water side and let it Carl Slaugh run full blast, which led to not only higher gas usage, in heating water, but also water usage. “You just want to let a faucet drip,” City Administrator Carl Slaugh said. “We had a few water pipes freeze up, but only a few,” Hutton said, recalling nights this week when the mercury dipped into single digits and early in the month when the overnight low tumbled to minus-nine.
See COSTS | Page A5
See SHOCK | Page A5
Churches sponsor youth conference By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Teen pregnancies, Miley “twerking” at award shows and random “hook ups” on prime time television are prominent images youth see on a daily basis. “It seems like in our society our envelope on sexual expression is being pushed,” said Becky Quinn, Christian education director at Iola First Baptist Church. “It’s devastating to me.” A little over a year ago
Swan pond
A swan has been taking up residence in Iola as of late. It’s particularly fond of a pond on North State Street. REGISTER/STEVEN SCHWARTZ
COUNTY COMMISSION
Highway work on tap for summer By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
At times this summer, highways 54 and 169 at the east edge of Iola will be a busy place. Darrin Petrowsky, Kansas Department of Transportation engineer, told Allen County commissioners Tuesday work to rebuild U.S. 54 from Iola to the east edge of LaHarpe would resume in early April, “sooner if the weather
looks like it’s going to be cooperative.” Work remaining on the highway is the bridge over Rock Creek, half a mile east of Iola, and the roadway through Gas. Meanwhile, a major rebuild of U.S. 169 will start about June 1. That will entail milling four inches of concrete paving from 1.3 miles south of U.S. 54 to south of Welda, in Anderson County. Pavement removed will be replaced with
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seven inches of asphalt overlay along with a three-inch overlay of shoulders. Petrowsky said a full-depth rebuild of U.S. 169 from Earlton, in Neosho County, into Allen County also was scheduled, but wouldn’t occur for five or six years. He said plans would be developed for that project after a committee, including several people in communities affected, helped with See WORK | Page A6
See YOUTH | Page A5
Ivory Coast leads unique elephant rescue DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — After being tranquilized and loaded onto trucks with cranes, elephants that have been squeezed out of their traditional habitat in Ivory Coast are being relocated by conservationists in what is reportedly the first such operation attempted in Africa’s forests. Ivory Coast is so enamored of elephants that its national soccer team is nicknamed after them. A tusker is prominently displayed on the national coat of arms.
“The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.” — Will Rogers 75 Cents
First Baptist Church, First Christian Church, RiverTree and Harvest Baptist came together and put on a purity c o n f e re n c e for young women in the area. “The conference went well, we Mason Wilson had about 60 girls last time,” Quinn said. “We felt
The country is even named after the ivory trade, underscoring how the giant mammals once proliferated in the West African nation. Ivory Coast has not conducted a recent census to determine how many forest elephants are left in the country, but conservationists estimate there only are a few hundred. In Central Africa, their populations have been devastated by poaching in recent years. See RESCUE | Page A6
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