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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Monday, March 14, 2016
Tax changes proposed, but passage doubtful Separate measure targets libraries By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Members of the Kansas House Tax Committee will hear a measure today to remove income tax exemptions that benefit LLCs and lower the state sales tax on food from 6.5 percent to 2.6 percent. “It’s the right thing to do,”
said Kent Thompson, 9th District representative. Even so, he also thinks it’s unlikely to pass, if it reaches the House floor for debate.
Kent Thompson
He estimated more than half the 330,000 Kansas businesses, including farms, that benefit most from the 2012 income tax cuts are LLCs. The import is that being a limited liability corporation shelters personal assets from taxation. “There is no way to defend the 2012 tax cuts,” Thompson told the Register. “That’s why we are where we are,” with revenue 11 of the past 13 months failing to have met ex-
pectations and a budget that constantly has had expenditures cut to the detriment of schools, social programs and transportation. A simple majority of the 17 committee members is needed to send the measure to the full House for debate. Support for the measure could not be pinned down, Thompson said, adding that the state couldn’t afford either tax change in its present
financial condition. In February revenue totaled $54 million less than anticipated. An immediate step for correction, by Gov. Sam Brownback, was to cut funding for higher education by $17.4 million. “To you and me, $54 million is a lot of money, but in a $16 billion budget it can be handled,” Thompson said, though See THOMPSON | Page A4
Common Core repeal effort gains momentum By MELISSA HELLMANN The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — After years of controversy surrounding the Common Core standards for reading and math education, their Kansas supporters fear momentum is building this year for repeal. The House Education Committee approved a bill earlier this month that would prohibit school districts from aligning any materials, tests or programs to Common Core or any other nationwide curriculum. “Since last year it had no steam or momentum, and then all of a sudden it was passed out of the committee and on the agenda for a House debate,” said Brad Neuenswander, the state’s deputy education commissioner. “It’s a concern of ours because it still has some legs.” The standards were developed by a group of states with the goal of making sure students were ready for jobs or higher education after graduation. Common Core is optional for the states, and the Kansas State Board of Education adopted them in 2010. The standards call for
a classroom focus on analytical skills instead of rote memorization. The standards have caused criticism from the start, with opponents calling them a national mandate and arguing the curriculum is a one-sizefits-all approach to education. Supporters say they encourage rigorous standards throughout the state. One sign the bill may be being prepped for more serious consideration is that House leadership sent it back to the education committee to have one of the most-opposed aspects — provisions that would have banned Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams — removed. State board member Deena Horst said she sees that as a sign that the bill could be gaining traction, and it worries her. House Education ComSee REPEAL | Page A4
Crews from Environmental Restoration clear away dirt last week from a plot of land along South Street. A yearslong effort to remove lead-tainted soil from residential properties has resumed this month. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
EPA resumes soil cleanup project By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Work has resumed this month to remove lead-tainted soil from residential properties throughout Iola. Melinda Luetke, on-scene coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, noted more than 85 of the 350 targeted properties have been cleared as part of the remediation project’s first phase. “It’s been going very
well,” Luetke said. “Crews took a two-week break before we started back up (Feb. 29). We were expecting worse weather than we had, and it looks like the nice weather is going to hold.” Crews are removing the top 2 feet of soil from the properties contaminated with lead. The lead has been a part of Iola’s landscape since zinc and lead smelters were used in the early years of operation.
The industries are long gone, but their tailings remain — and remain a health hazard, according to Chris Whitley, EPA spokesman. A study more than 10 years ago found more than 130 properties surveyed in Iola — most near where the smelters operated in the east part of town — had unsafe levels of lead. Those studies were voluntary, in which samples were See SOIL | Page A4
Passenger train derails, sends 29 to hospitals By ROXANA HEGEMAN The Associated Press
CIMARRON, Kan. (AP) — At least 29 people were injured when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in rural southwest Kansas early today, authorities said. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it came off the tracks just after midnight about 20 miles west of Dodge City, Amtrak said in a statement. Kansas Highway Patrol communication specialist Patricia Munford said five train cars derailed. Grey County spokeswoman Ashley Rogers said no one has life-threatening injuries.
Close encounter A driver was arrested following a chain-reaction accident near the intersection of Third and Broadway streets in Iola early Saturday morning. Jason M. Trevino, Corpus Christi, Texas, was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. His car struck a parked SUV owned by Mitch Garner before careening into a minivan owned by Kerri Goodner in her driveway at 226 S. Third St. Striking the minivan likely prevented Trevino’s car from driving into the home, noted neighbor David Heiman, who was awakened by the commotion and snapped this photograph. There were no injuries. PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID HEIMAN
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 95
“An honest man is always a child.”
— Socrates 75 Cents
The rail company did not say how fast the train was traveling at the time of the derailment. Amtrak did not immediately return an Associated Press call seeking comment early today. Kelsey Wilson, 21, said was awoken when she felt the ride “getting really bumpy” and the train started to shake. Wilson, who was returning to Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, after spending spring break at home in Pueblo, Colorado, said her car disconnected from the one in front and that she hit her head as it overturned. Wilson said she escaped through the top of the flipped car then slid down See AMTRAK | Page A4
Hi: 78 Lo: 50 Iola, KS