Tuesday, November 14, 2023
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Service: Relationships are rewards Sabetha ends Humboldt playoff run
By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Sgt. Lucas Hamlin told Saturday morning’s gathering that he joined the military at age 17 with one goal in mind, “to complete college.” “I didn’t grow up with money, I earned what I had at that time, and I knew how to put in the work to be successful,” the Marmaton Valley High School graduate said. That work ethic has been a good fit for the military. “I never went to college,” he said, but noted he has learned untold lessons in service to his country. HAMLIN, who serves with 891st Battalion Army National Guard as a medical readiness NCO, was keynote speaker for the Veterans Day ceremony on the Iola square, hosted by the local Veterans See VETERANS | Page A3
Republicans seek to avoid shutdown in two-tier plan WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his proposal on Saturday to avoid a partial government shutdown by extending government funding for some agencies and p r o g r a m s Speaker Mike until Jan. Johnson 19 and continuing funding for others until Feb. 2. The approach is unusual for a stopgap spending bill. Usually, lawmakers extend funding until a certain date for all programs. Johnson decided to go with the combination approach, addressing concerns from GOP lawmakers seeking to avoid being presented with a massive spending bill just before the holidays. “This two-step continuing resolution is a necessary bill to place House Republicans in the best position to fight for conservative victories,” Johnson said in a statement after speaking with GOP lawmakers in an afternoon conference call. “The bill will stop the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.” The bill excludes funding requested by President Joe Biden for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. border with Mexico. Johnson said separating Biden’s See SHUTDOWN | Page A3
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Coping with loss during holidays PAGE A4
Sgt. Lucas Hamlin visits with Lillian Orzechowski after Saturday’s Veterans Day service. “I would still be in a German labor camp if not for American soldiers,” Orzechowski told Hamlin, who delivered Saturday’s message. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN
Iceland evacuates town from threat of volcano PAGE A6
Iola native hits right note at Sabetha By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
SABETHA — Sabetha High School’s football stadium was crammed with football fans near and far for Friday’s Class 2A state quarterfinal showdown between Sabetha and Humboldt High. Sure, almost all of them were there to watch the football powers. (Spoiler alert: Sabetha wore down the Cubs in the second half to win 4918.) But Iolans Brian and Traci Plumlee were there to watch the band. More specifically, they were there to watch their son, the band instructor. Sabetha’s marching band is under the direction of Iola native Braden Plumlee. Plumlee, 24, is in his second year at Sabetha, and is in the midst of rebuilding its music program. With only 16 musicians, Plumlee’s squad relies upon some of the Blue Jays football players and cheerleaders to fill out their ensemble. Plumlee arrived at Sabetha in 2022, replacing a longtime band instructor who left with a group of about 35 members. “In the transition between getting a new teacher, they lost 27, and then they graduated a big senior class,” he
Braden Plumlee, at right, is the band director for Sabetha High School’s marching band. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
explained. But while the band is small in terms of numbers, Plumlee is pleased with their work. “I have a lot of really talented kids,” he said. “They have a good sound. Plus, we have a huge middle school group coming in, so we’ll be doing better in terms of numbers.” If there was any trepidation for Friday night’s performance, it’s that the band members hadn’t performed
for more than two weeks prior to the matchup. “We have our winter concert coming up, so they’re in concert band mode now,” Plumlee laughed. “We hadn’t done any marching band stuff up to tonight.” Plumlee, a 2022 Washburn University graduate, found a natural fit at Sabetha, which has another local tie. Former IHS band instructor Matt Kleopfer is from Hi-
awatha, just a stone’s throw from Sabetha. When Plumlee interviewed for the band director’s job, he stayed at the Kleopfer farm, just outside of town. In fact, one of the students under Plumlee’s tutelage is Kleopfer’s niece. “I like it here,” he said. “I was hoping to teach at a small school, like Iola’s, and this is a smaller, tight-knight community. People are really involved.”
Sen. Tim Scott abruptly ends 2024 presidential bid COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott abruptly announced late Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, a development that surprised his donors and stunned his campaign staff just two Tim Scott
months before the start of voting in Iowa’s leadoff GOP caucuses. The South Carolina senator, who entered the race in May with high hopes, made the surprise announcement on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy, one of his closest friends. The news was so unanticipated that one campaign worker told The Associ-
ated Press that campaign staff found out Scott was dropping out by watching the show. “I love America more today than I did on May 22,” Scott said Sunday. “But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate. I am suspending my campaign. I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me,
‘Not now, Tim.’” Scott’s impending departure comes as he and the rest of the GOP field have struggled in a race that has been dominated by former President Donald Trump. Despite four criminal indictments and a slew of other legal challenges, Trump continues to poll far ahead of his rivals, leading many in the party to See SCOTT | Page A6