Tuesday, June 15, 2021
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Gov. seeks disaster extension By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly prepared to issue directives rescinding seven executive orders tied to COVID-19 before a meeting Tuesday of top legislative leaders considering the governor’s request to extend the state’s disaster emergency declaration to July 15 as part of a plan to wind down extraordinary measures by Aug. 30. Kelly submitted a letter to the Legislative Coordinating Council, which includes House and Senate leaders of both parties, a timeline for concluding the emergency response to the pandemic under the Kansas Emergency Man-
More rural ranchers battle CAFOs By ALLISON KITE Kansas Reflector
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeff Jones has lived on his family’s land east of Columbia, Missouri, his entire life. Some of the family’s farms are more than 150 years old. And Jones, who raises cattle and grows row crops, has no intentions of going anywhere. But after years of fighting, his community is home to a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO, that can raise as many as 10,000 hogs at any given time. The facility, which opened in 2019, houses the animals in barns built over concrete pits to store manure for months at a time. Jones and CAFO critics consider them a health hazard — or at least a nuisance. One of the most common complaints is the stench from hog manure and dead animals. “I’m farmer to the bone. My nose is tough. This is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Jones said of the Callaway Farrowing CAFO. “This is like breathing straight ammonia. It’ll make your eyes water.” Jones is part of Friends of Responsible Agriculture and said he fought the Callaway CAFO “tooth and nail.” But the CAFO permit went all the way up to the Western District Court of Appeals, where it was upheld. Some rural communities in northwest Missouri have successfully fought off CAFOs. One facility proposed for Livingston County withdrew its permit request earlier this year after opposition and a lawsuit from neighbors. In 2019, the Valley Oaks Steak Company southeast of Kansas City, announced it would See CAFOS | Page A3
Vol. 123 No. 156 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Gov. Laura Kelly has offered a plan to the Legislative Coordinating Council, composed of House and Senate leaders, ending the state disaster declaration on COVID-19 by Aug. 30. (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)
agement Act. She proposed the LCC extend for another 30 days the state disaster declaration, but indicated her intention was to seek more extensions so the emergency apparatus could be dismantled piece by piece during the next 2½ months. She said state government had concentrated emergency operations to vaccination efforts, logistical support to local communities, return of state agencies to normal operations and securing federal financial support for the work. COVID-19 remained a threat if vaccination rates continued to dwindle, she said, but Kansans expected a responsible standing down of the state See DISASTER | Page A3
Author relects on home run chase
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Biden pushes plan to fight terror PAGE A6
Denying president communion a sham PAGE A4
New super looks forward By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — How do educators learn and move forward from COVID-19? It’s a question at the forefront of Amber Wheeler’s mind, as she prepares to take the helm as Humboldt USD 258’s new superintendent. As the Thayer native put it, “it’s about taking what we’ve learned and asking: how do we come out of this?” Especially when it comes to making sure students’ learning is still on track. Indeed, “if we just go back to the way it was before COVID ever happened, then we wasted a year,” Wheeler said. “That’s going to be our first big look, then. … How do we take what was positive and build on it?” SO WHAT all have we learned? According to Wheeler, “we are so much better now with kids who have a medical condition where they’re going to have to be out for an extended period of time.” “We’re going to know
Amber Wheeler is the new superintendent for Humboldt USD 258. She holds a master’s degree from Pittsburg State University and a doctorate from the University of Arkansas. (REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG)
how to handle those things because we’ve done it,” she said. Wheeler also noted how “we utilized technology to do things we’ve never done
before. How can we continue that in our classrooms?” Educators have likewise learned that COVID-related absences have affected not just academics, but social
and emotional skills as well. Wheeler averred, however, she thought smaller schools like Humboldt were better See USD 258 | Page A6
Council critical of recent road repairs By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola City Council members are less than impressed with a recent round of street improvements. Mill and overlay projects overseen by Heckert Construction, Pittsburg, were discussed at length Monday by Council members, who complained about the quality of the work, and the manner in which the work was accomplished. North State Street’s resurfacing drew most of the Council’s ire. Councilman Ron Ballard
said he’s fielded several complaints from residents on “the mess that was made while the work was done.” The new asphalt surface has several rough and uneven spots, he noted, that will worsen quickly as it ages. “I think it’s worse than it was before,” Councilman Gene Myrick added. “I’m very, very disappointed in the job that they did.” Both Myrick and Ballard encouraged the city to either withhold part of the $627,000 payment, and ask the comSee IOLA | Page A6
North State Street in Iola. The Iola City Council was not impressed with recent resurfacing work done there. (RICHARD LUKEN)