Sports: Mustang wrestlers host matches tonight See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Thursday, January 14, 2016
www.iolaregister.com
Tech ed center planning hits high gear By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
MORAN — For more than a year, school officials in Allen County have pursued ways to better teach students they know probably aren’t going to college. The usual barriers — cost and logistics — often stood in the way of serving up additional vocational or technical education courses that could make a student more marketable directly out of high school. “We had very little idea about where we were going, or what we were doing,” Marmaton Valley-USD 256 Superintendent of Schools Ken McWhirter said. Enter Ray Maloney, owner of Ray’s Metal Depot in LaHarpe, and one of the region’s most avid backers of tech ed courses at the high school level. Maloney is in the midst of acquiring the old Diebolt Lumber property — papers have been signed — with the purpose of getting a regional technical education center off the ground. Maloney has offered two of the old lumber yards’ primary buildings to a group of seven area school districts (including Iola, Humboldt and Marmaton Valley) and three community colleges (Allen, Neosho and Fort Scott.) Suddenly, those original pie-in-the-sky discussions don’t seem so far-fetched, McWhirter said. Now the real work begins. “This happened all of a sudden,” McWhirter said Wednesday, at a meeting of administrators from several of the participating school districts and community colleges, as well as Maloney himself. “Now that we’ve got a place, we need to figure out what we’re going to do, and
Above, Ray Maloney, LaHarpe, speaks at a meeting of educators about plans to develop a technical education center at the old Diebolt Lumber offices in LaHarpe. At bottom left, Ken McWhirter, Marmaton Valley-USD 256 superintendent of schools, addresses the gathering of 16. At bottom right, Fort Scott Community College Dean of Instruction Regena Lance, right, speaks, while FSCC President Alysia Johnston listens. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
See TECH ED | Page A5
Budget proposal draws rebukes By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback drew strong criticism Wednesday from Democrats and advocates over his proposal to overhaul how some children’s programs are financed. His proposal to move tobacco settlement funds into the state’s main bank account — where it potentially could be
used on general government operations — was among dozens of measures outlined by budget director Shawn Sullivan. Brownback’s proposals are aimed at eliminating a projected $190 million shortfall in the state’s $16 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Here is a look at some of the See BUDGET | Page A2
GOP debate tonight Frozen spectacle Colony’s Phyllis Luedke snapped this spectacular image Wednesday of this unique ice creation, courtesy of the cold weater, wind and water draping the shorelines of John Redmond Reservoir north of Burlington.
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 54
WASHINGTON (AP) — A smaller cast of Republican presidential candidates returns to the main debate stage tonight, one of the last highprofile opportunities for the White House hopefuls to sway voters before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucus. The prime-time showdown
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw 75 Cents
in South Carolina will highlight a race that has cleaved into two distinct — and increasingly heated — contests. After months of civility toward rival Ted Cruz, frontrunner Donald Trump is aggressively targeting the Texan, See GOP | Page A2
Hi: 55 Lo: 31 Iola, KS