Monday, December 14, 2020
Locally owned since 1867
Iola loses to Osage City
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Kansas COVID deaths accelerate PAGE A2
iolaregister.com
COVID-19 vaccine shipments begin PORTAGE, Michigan (AP) — The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000. The rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, the first to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, ushers in the biggest vaccination effort in U.S. history — one that health officials hope the American public will embrace, even
FedEx and UPS trucks back into the loading dock at Pfizer Global Supply in Portage, Mich., Sunday. TNS photo as some have voiced initial skepticism or worry. Shots are expected to be given to health care workers and nurs-
ing home residents beginning Monday. Quick transport is key for the vaccine, especially since
this one must be stored at extremely low temperatures — about 94 degrees below zero. Early Sunday, workers at Pfizer — dressed in fluorescent yellow clothing, hard hats and gloves — wasted no time as they packed vials into boxes. They scanned the packages and then placed them into freezer cases with dry ice. The vaccines were then taken from Pfizer’s Portage, Michigan, facility to Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, where the See VACCINE | Page A2
Rage against the machine Trevor Hoag
Goal: Fill new library
Just Prairie Outside of my house, the soil remediation crew tore into the earth, seeking to remove harmful chemicals born of Iola’s industrial age. The grinding sound was like some enormous angry insect, that horrible repetitious drone that every worker knows can be carried with them into their dreams. LeHigh Portland Cement Company, I’m sure, was one of those places, where one carried its rhythm long after their workshift ended. IN 1900, Iola Portland Cement Company was the largest plant of its kind in the United States. From 1900 to 1903, it was also the single largest employer in Allen County, and so had the honor of naming the factory’s housing settlement in honor of one of its own: S.H. Bassett, an official who worked there. Not much of Bassett remains today, save a few foundations and “shotgun” style
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Enormous silos tower overhead at Lehigh Portland Cement Co. At one time, a brightly illuminated sign ran across the top of them.
Evergreen trees have reclaimed much of the land surrounding structures at the Lehigh Portland Cement Company. REGISTER/ TREVOR HOAG
houses, which earn their name since it is almost impossible to detect an individual from out of a group. The house-rows were all
jammed together along the narrow streets, and the scene somewhat resembled an Old West boom town.
LIKE with all boom towns, this one had its trouble, one of the most notable being continuous racial strife accompanied by violence. According to Daniel Fitzgerald, “in Bassett the black employees lived in a segregated section, and occasional outbreaks of racial strife shattered the tranquility of the community.” He adds: “such incidents were not unique as they occurred in many communities where industries hired black and foreign labor in order to cut employment costs.” See LEHIGH | Page A4
A new fundraiser has started to help fill the library with books once the new Iola Elementary School is built. Volunteers with the USD 257 Endowment Association have launched Project Bookshelf, with the aim of buying assorted books for readers at varying grade levels, explained organizer Becky Nilges. While the district intends to continue using the books from the three elementary school libraries that will close when the new elementary is built, Nilges noted there is still a significant need. She recalled a conversation with a school librarian about three years ago at a Parent-Teacher Organization. The library didn’t necessarily need different books, Nilges explained, but rather additional copies of the same See LIBRARY | Page A4
Agencies hacked
Planetary alignment will bring a ‘Christmas Star’
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. government agencies were ordered to scour their networks for malware and disconnect potentially compromised servers after authorities learned that the Treasury and Commerce departments were hacked in a monthslong global cyber-espionage campaign discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm learned it had been breached. In a rare emergency directive issued late Sunday, the Department of Home-
By now you may have been seeing articles about the “Christmas Star” that will be visible on the evening of Dec. 21. Some reports are saying this will be the same star the Three Wise Men followed. Some scholars suggest the Christmas Star was not a bright new star that was leading the wise men but rather a conjunction of two or three planets in the night sky and that the Wise Men were following, or watching. A planetary conjunction is when two or more planets
See HACKED | Page A2
See STARS | Page A2
By MIKE MYER Special to The Iola Register
A star map of the night sky as will be seen on Dec. 21 shows the alignment of Saturn and Jupiter that will create a bright “Christmas star” on the southwest horizon. NASA/JPL/TNS
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