MeDALLION HUNT 2023
CLUE #3
FIND IT HERE! Saturday, October 14, 2023
Locally owned since 1867
Georgia Masterson
iolaregister.com
Kim Peterson
Gene Myrick
Masterson targets Health issues sideline Peterson: Unfinished business on Council city’s utility policy Myrick’s campaign By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola’s policies regarding past-due utility payments sparked Georgia Masterson to run for City Council. Masterson is co-founder and interim executive director of Humanity House, a non-profit that helps impoverished residents through a number of means, such as food or utility assistance. Well aware of the number of residents liv-
ing at or below the poverty level, Masterson long has championed a “promise-to-pay” utility bill provision in which a customer in arrears can stave off having their utilities disconnected by promising to pay the bill in full by an agreed-upon date. “The most heartbreaking example that I dealt with last winter was an elderly couple whose Social Security checks would be directly deposited at 3 that afternoon, See MASTERSON | Page A4
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A not-so-funny thing happened to Gene Myrick on the campaign trail. Myrick, who had previously served six years on the Iola City Council, had filed in June to regain a Council seat. Less than two weeks later, Myrick found himself hospitalized — including 10 days in intensive care — after a tick bite led to a nasty bout of Rocky Moun-
tain spotted fever. “Once that happened, I pretty much decided that, as badly as I want to be back on the City Council, my health is more important,” Myrick said. As such, he has done no campaigning in the runup to the Nov. 7 general election, and isn’t likely to do much more than see his name on the ballot. “I’m still feeling the effects” of the disease, Myrick said. “I just See MYRICK | Page A4
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Kim Peterson sees unfinished business on the Iola City Council. Since she took office 4½ years ago, Peterson points to several noteworthy city achievements, such as getting the Peerless Products plant in town and plans to expand the PrairieLand Partners dealership. On top of that, the city reached a new EMS contract with Allen
County and extended infrastructure for new development in the Cedarbrook addition. But it’s no time to rest on one’s laurels, she notes. Peterson is seeking another term to represent Iola’s Ward 3, which covers the southwest quadrant of town. She is being challenged by Georgia Masterson and Gene Myrick in the Nov. 7 general election. Peterson shared her view on a number of See PETERSON | Page A5
House mired in chaos over speaker WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House has been without a leader for more than a week after majority Republicans threw out Speaker Kevin McCarthy and refused to rally around his No. 2, Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise. Republicans were trying to regroup after Scalise abruptly withdrew his name from the running on Thursday evening, just one day after he had been nominated by the conference in a closed-door meeting. Scalise did not back anyone else, but many Republicans say they are supporting House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who narrowly lost the nomination See HOUSE | Page A8
Iola takes 2nd at League meet
PAGE B1 Vol. 125, No. 264 Iola, KS $1.00
Dawn Hueske, Kansas Department of Transportation’s assistant bureau chief, center, leads a breakout session with other KDOT staff at a Local Consult meeting at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center on Thursday morning. KDOT officials met with residents in southeast Kansas to discuss transportation priorities as part of IKE, the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS
SEK sounds off on transportation By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Truck drivers hauling material to and from Monarch Cement Co. in Humboldt face a particularly troublesome stretch of road on K-39 west of Chanute toward Fredonia. Kent Webber, president of Monarch, shared his concerns about the road at a special meeting organized by the Kansas Department of Transportation at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center on Thursday morning. KDOT officials met with more than 100 residents, county and city officials, business leaders and non-profit representatives to discuss projects under IKE, the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. K-39 is the primary west
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access to Chanute, Webber noted. KDOT has identified a 15-mile section between U.S. 400 and U.S. 75 as in need of reconstruction, at a projected cost of $64 million. But compared to other projects, engineers have scored the project as a relatively low need. Webber said the road needs “a tougher look.” It features curves, railroad tracks with a history of derailments, thick woods, a crossing over the Verdigris River and steep drop-offs with minimal shoulders. “We’re currently shipping about 32,000 truckloads annually out of Humboldt, and I assume Ashgrove at Chanute is doing the same,” Webber said. “This time of year, you’ll see up to 10 deer per mile dead on the side of the road.
Kent Webber, president of Humboldt’s Monarch Cement Co., talks about the need to improve a stretch of K-39 west of Chanute. Webber was one of many They come up off that dike and get hit. And you’ve got who shared concerns about semis stopping in the center various state roadways in of the road because there’s See KDOT | Page A7 nowhere to turn around.”
These next hints may be a red herring you see, not leading you to where but to how you get me. To find the where, pay close attention because through the years my view has changed. I’m right where I used to be presented before it was rearranged. 2023 Hunt sponsored by