Inside: IMS lists honor rolls See A2
2017 1867
Sports: All-area girls basketball players See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Trump budget slashes agencies for wall, defense By ANDREW TAYLOR The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump unveiled a $1.15 trillion budget today, a far-reaching overhaul of federal government spending that slashes many domestic programs to finance a significant increase in the military and make a down payment on a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Trump’s proposal seeks to upend Washington with cuts to long-promised campaign targets like foreign aid and the Environmental Protection Agency as well as strong congressional favorites such as medical research, help for homeless veterans and community development grants. “A budget that puts America first must make the safety of our people its number one priority — because without safety, there can be no prosperity,” Trump said in a message accompanying his proposed budget that was titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” The $54 billion boost for the military is the largest since President Ronald Reagan’s Pentagon buildup in
Kick Butts Day Iola’s high school and middle school students took a stand against tobacco use Wednesday as part of Kick Butts Day. Above, event organizer Colin Long, from left, a seventh-grader at IMS, visits with Iola High senior Alexis Heslop and Elizabeth Hopkins of the Allen County Community Action Team as part of a social media campaign against tobacco. Students were encouraged to post selfies online, declaring they wanted to “kick butts.” At left, high-schoolers Hunter Preston, left, and Natalie Seeley look through literature. Long was one of 10 students from across the state who worked on a Resist Tobacco Committee, which organized Kick Butts Day. He also led an effort to hang the number “45” around the middle school to denote the 45 people in the U.S. who die each day because of tobacco usage. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Judge blocks revised travel ban GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s revised t r av e l ban has suffered another federal court setback after Judge Derrick a judge in Watson Maryland rejected a revised measure that bans travel targeting six predominantly Muslim countries. Judge Theodore Chuang ruled Thursday in a case brought near the nation’s capital by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups representing immigrants, refugees and their families. The groups argued that the underlying rationale of the ban was to discriminate against Muslims, making it unconstitutional. Chuang granted a preliminary injunction nationwide basis. It was the latest ruling against Trump’s revised See BAN | Page A5
President Donald Trump the 1980s, promising immediate money for troop readiness, the fight against Islamic State militants and procurement of new ships, fighter jets and other weapons. The 10 percent Pentagon boost is financed by $54 billion in cuts to foreign aid and domestic agencies that had been protected by former President Barack Obama. The budget goes after the frequent targets of the party’s staunchest conservatives, eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, legal aid for the poor, low-income See BUDGET | Page A3
Change would make more eligible for McFadden Scholarships A proposed change to one of the most prominent scholarships available to Allen County high-schoolers could open the door to more students. A petition filed in District Court on behalf of the William Preston and McFadden Scholarship Fund would allow students to accrue community college credits and still be eligible. “A substantial change in the high school education process of concurrent classes … has disqualified a majority of students from being able to receive” a McFadden scholarship, the petition reads.
The petition will be heard April 25 by Magistrate Judge Tod Davis. The petition was filed by Iola attorney Chuck Apt, on behalf of First Option
Bank, trustee for the McFadden estate. The scholarship was established in 1989 from the will of Jack E. McFadden, who
wished to recognize students who excelled in academia and extracurricular activities. The scholarship is for students who wish to attend a Kansas Regents university, but bans those who have attended a community college previously. The six Regents universities are Pittsburg State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Wichita State, Kansas State and the University of Kansas. Petitioners claim the current educational atmosphere, particularly with the skyrocketing cost to attend a four-year See MCFADDEN | Page A5
Court justice tells lawmakers of need for more funding By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ top court official pitched legislators Wednesday on increasing pay for judicial branch employees and salaries for judges, a potentially hard sell with the state facing serious budget problems. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss devoted much of his annual State of the Judiciary address to arguing that court employees are underpaid. He said the problem is causing talented people to leave staff positions and even judgeships.
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 88
Nuss spoke to a joint session of the House and Senate at the Statehouse for the first time since 2012. It repre- Lawton Nuss sented a thaw in what recently had been a frosty attitude toward the state’s highest court from the Republican-controlled Legislature. Yet his message was blunt when he promoted the Supreme Court’s proposal to boost the judicial branch’s annual budget by $22 million,
or about 16 percent, largely to cover higher pay. He said nearly a third of the court system’s employees hold outside jobs to make ends meet and that all of its jobs pay below-market rates, some falling 22 percent short. “It is human nature for people to devote their time and money to those things that are most valuable to them,” Nuss said. “So all Kansans may want to ask themselves: What value do we place on the administration of justice in our state?” Nuss presented the address in writing in 2013 after then-Speaker Ray Merrick, a
“Too much of a good thing can be taxing.” — Mae West 75 Cents
GOP conservative, turned down the chief justice’s request to speak in the House chamber, saying the speech was “just another thing to take up time.” Nuss gave the next three addresses in the Supreme Court’s chamber, in the Judicial Center across the street from the Statehouse. New Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a conservative Olathe Republican, invited Nuss to speak again in the House chamber. Ryckman said he thinks it was important for lawmakers to “have a better understanding of what the See NUSS | Page A3
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