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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Iolans will pay more for water, electricity By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iolans will pay more for water and electricity, City Council members decided Monday. Council members voted, 5-1, to increase water rates by 3 percent, effective Aug. 1, while raising meter fees for residential electric customers $2.50 a month. The increases are necessary, City Administrator Carl Slaugh said, because reserve funds for both utilities have shrunk dangerously low. The electric reserve fund — which ideally would have between $3 million and $6 million — is down to $1 million in the bank, Slaugh said. “For a fund with projected expenditures of … $1 million a month, that leaves little reserve to handle regular cash flow.” Slaugh cited a number of factors for the low reserves. For one, a cool summer and warm winter in 2014 meant customers bought less electricity, and thus brought less in revenue to city coffers. Additionally, the city increased transfers from the electric reserves to Iola’s general fund to cover a budget imbalance for the Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service. In addition to the meter fee hike, the city will increase peak demand electric rates for Iola’s two industrial customers, Gates Corporation and See UTILITIES | Page A3
Iola City Council members said Monday they support funding a traffic study around the old Allen County Hospital curve to determine if it needs to be revamped, but additional information is needed. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
City Council tackles IMS, hospital curve traffic By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A pair of streets on opposite sides of Iola Middle School will remain open to two-way traffic, but will come with tighter controls to keep the flow of traffic moving. At Monday night’s meeting, Iola City Council members approved measures to prevent motorists from stopping their cars to drop off or pick up students. The new controls will affect eastbound traffic on East Street and westbound cars on Jackson Avenue from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on school days. School and city officials fear adding fifth grades to the middle school in the fall — part of USD 257’s conversion
to grade-level attendance centers — will add to the traffic congestion. Council members visited at length with Police Chief Jared Warner about stepping up patrols once school starts. Officers will give parents advance warnings for a few weeks, but will likely crack down after an undisclosed grace period. “I would think we would give that a good shot, and enforce it eventually,” Warner said. “But one concern I have, more than one-way streets, is there’s no effective way to get kids across U.S. 54,” to get to the middle school. The closest crosswalks for IMS students to cross the highway are at Buckeye and
Kentucky streets, Warner said. Many students, however, are drawn to the old Allen County Hospital curve because of Casey’s convenience store. “Then, they’re running across the hospital curve, which is the worst part they could cross,” Warner said. Council members directed Warner and Schinstock to reach out to the Kansas Department of Transportation to determine if a crosswalk could be added on U.S. 54, perhaps at Oak Street, and if signage or a flashing signal could be added. “I think we’ll find out real quick if this motion works,” Councilman Jon Wells said. Schinstock said at least one
ramp will be needed at the Oak Street intersection, to remain accessible to disabled pedestrians. IN A RELATED matter, Council members agreed a traffic study is necessary to determine if, or how, U.S. 54 would change if a new grocery store or apartment complexes are added to the old Allen County Hospital site. But they tabled a decision on a proposal from Thrive Allen County asking the city to fund a $4,900 study until more information is available. The consensus was reached following a testy exchange between Thrive Executive Director David Toland and See TRAFFIC | Page A3
USD 257
Board OKs football stadium seating upgrades By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Mustang football fans will now be able to enjoy the game in comfort. USD 257 Board of Education members gave the go-ahead Monday night for Doug Kerr, Iola High School football coach, to pursue purchase of seat-back chairs for the stadium in Riverside Park. Kerr said after attending a football conference in Kentucky he and his coaching staff learned of ways to help raise funds for the IHS football program. He proposed the program purchase 100 21-inch wide raised back chairs for the stadium. The chairs will be in a reserved section for fans who pay an additional fee to sit there. “A normal ticket price to watch the game is $4. The reserved seating would charge $6,” Kerr said. The money will go to tasks such as painting the stadium and fixing spots on the field. Klein Lumber has offered to donate hardware necessary to install the chairs. The seats could be removed and installed in another stadium if the district chooses to
Storm’s a brewing
An approaching cluster of storms from the west filled the skies with dark, ominous clouds this morning. The storms brought torrential rains before giving way once again to hothouse conditions. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
State BOE to decide unlicensed teacher proposal WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A measure that would allow some Kansas school districts to hire unlicensed teachers to fill teaching positions is set to go before the state education board this week. Supporters of the measure, like the Coalition of Innovative School Districts which developed it, say that it would help address teacher shortages and hard-to-fill subject areas, The Wichita Eagle reported. But opponents say that opening classrooms to unlicensed teachers would be bad for students and a slippery slope for education.
The Kansas State Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposal today. The measure would apply to the state’s six innovative districts, which are Blue Valley, Concordia, Hugoton, Kansas City, Marysville and McPherson. The districts suggest a “specialized teaching certificate” for prospective hires who don’t have a teaching license. They would have to pass a background check and receive approval from local and state school boards and the coalition. Chairman Jim McNiece of the state board said most
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of what the coalition wants is already allowed as part of the state’s education policy. The state last year loosened teaching requirements for some subject areas, allowing districts to hire people with expertise in fields like science and math but with no education degree to teach those subjects in middle or high school. But president Mark Farr of the state’s largest teachers union said that unlike alternative certification programs — which allows people to teach under a provisional See BOE | Page A3
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
— Oprah Winfrey 75 Cents
build a new one in the future. The stadium, which was built in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project, has seen better days. When it rains, it pours, right into the stadium locker rooms and restrooms. “The locker room flooding is something we better look at soon for the health of our kids,” board member Buck Quincy said. Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn agreed there is much work to be done inside the stadium, which could cost the district thousands of dollars. Also, since the stadium is in a flood zone building a separate building for locker rooms might be tricky if not impossible. Scott Stanley, director of maintenance and operations, agreed. “When we flood and pump it out, we flood the rodeo grounds and that floods out Columbia Metal,” Stanley said. “I completely agree something does need to be done but where does the money come from to fix it? I can’t justify taking money from somewhere like attendance centers.” The board will discuss the See 257 | Page A3
Hi: 96 Lo: 75 Iola, KS