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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Thursday, November 13, 2014
‘Almost’ takes fresh look at love By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Buried under frosty snow, way up north is a small little town full of people who almost know about their love life. The Iola High School Theater Department will perform “Almost, Maine,” at 7 tonight and Friday at the Bow‘Almost, lus Fine Arts Center. Maine’ 7 o’clock The play is Tonight and described as Friday a modern ro——— mantic comBowlus Fine edy. It doesn’t Arts Center follow the ——— traditional free of charge structure of a play performance. Each scene has a new story and new characters. The one thing the characters have in common is the setting. The play takes place in Almost, Maine, a small town in northern Maine See ‘ALMOST’ | Page A5
Dave played by Garett Prall, left, ducks from being hit by a snow ball thrown by his friend Rhonda, played by Emma Piazza, in the Iola High School production of “Almost, Maine,” which runs tonight and Friday at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. At bottom left, Gayle, played by Trilby Bannister, points at all the love she gave Lendall, played by Sam Terhune in another scene. At bottom right, Sandrine, played by Caitie Venter, listens to Jimmy, played by Zach Cokely, talk about how he misses their relationship. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
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Quake shakes central Kansas
CONWAY SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 shook parts of Kansas and Oklahoma on Wednesday, the largest since a series of temblors began rattling Kansas a little more than a year ago. The quake’s epicenter was near the town of Conway Springs, about 25 miles southwest of Wichita, according to the U.S. Geological Survey said. It came at 3:40 p.m., less than a day after a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded near the southern Kansas town of Anthony. Kansas Emergency Management spokeswoman Sharon Watson said the only reported damage was from an uprooted tree that cracked a home’s foundation. No damage was reported in Oklahoma, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman at the state’s Department of Emergency Services. Just 15 miles from the epicenter, farmer Scott Van Allen was taking a break with a friend while remodeling his garage in Clearwater when the walls and ground began shaking. It was the first earthquake he could recall feeling. “It was a little spooky,” Van Allen said. In Oklahoma, Andrea Hutchison was in a state Senate committee room at the Capitol discussing See QUAKE | Page A5
Pipeline gets new life as lame duck begins By ANDREW TAYLOR The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A political gambit by an endangered Senate Democrat broke loose long-stalled legislation to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline as the lame-duck Congress returned to a Capitol where results of last week’s GOP blowout are still sinking in. The move by Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu came as some conservatives were spoiling to drag must-pass spending bills into their battle with President Barack Obama over his planned executive action on immigration, raising at least the possibility of a government shutdown next month or next year. Landrieu is an underdog to win a fourth term in a runoff next month with GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. She’s a sup-
Mary Landrieu porter of the Canada-to-Texas pipeline but was unable to win a vote on it, which has been a flash point in her race. Cassidy’s version recently passed the House and GOP leaders immediately scheduled another vote on it for today. The Keystone XL issue was an unexpected addition to a lame-duck agenda focused on keeping the government running past a Dec. 11 deadline. Preventing a government shutdown is a top priority of GOP leaders like House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell said the other big items for the
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lame-duck Congress are renewing expired tax breaks for businesses and individuals, more money to fight Ebola and renewing Obama’s authority to arm and train opposition to Islamic State militants in Syria, which expires next month. “This will require cooperation from both sides of the aisle, from both sides of the Rotunda and from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue,” McConnell said as the lameduck session opened. “The actions of the next few weeks could help set a positive tone for the work of the next Congress. It’s a tone that will depend largely on the administration’s willingness to respect the message sent last Tuesday.” Republicans and several moderate Democrats insist that construction of the KeySee PIPELINE | Page A5
Gay marriage a go in Kansas (or maybe not) By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As gay rights activists celebrate a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriages in Kansas, the court clerk in the most populous county won’t grant licenses to gay couples until a separate legal case is resolved before the state’s highest court. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s determination to defend the state’s gay-marriage ban remains a roadblock to same-sex weddings. He has the backing of Gov. Sam Brownback, a fellow Republican who pledged to work with Schmidt to preserve a provision in the state constitution against gay marriage that was approved
“I wear a necklace, cause I wanna know when I’m upside down.” — Mitch Hedberg, comedian 75 Cents
overwhelmingly by voters in 2005. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request Wednesday from Kansas to prevent gay and lesbian couples from marrying while the state fights the issue in court. Schmidt says that decision applies only in Douglas, a northeastern Kansas county, and Sedgwick, in south-central Kansas, where the court clerks are defendants. The American Civil Liberties Union contends the ruling applies in all 105 counties. The legal situation in Kansas is complicated by another case before the Kansas Supreme Court, which Schmidt filed last month. He persuaded the Kansas court to block marriage licenses for sameSee MARRIAGE | Page A5
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