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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Rains bog start of wheat harvest By ROXANA HEGEMAN The Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The winter wheat harvest has gotten off to a soggy start in Kansas. A few spots in south-central and southeast Kansas had very limited harvest activity last week, including as far north as Salina in central Kansas where at least one farmer was cutting wheat, said Aaron Harries, marketing director for the industry group Kansas Wheat. “It’s ready, but I don’t know of any harvest going on anywhere today,” Harries said Monday.
That is because heavy rains across much of the state in recent days have brought the fledgling harvest to a screeching halt. About 2 percent had been harvested in Kansas as of Sunday, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday. That is about the same amount of wheat that had been cut at this time a year ago, another harvest plagued by untimely rains. But harvest activity is lagging behind the 18 percent that would be normal for this time. The agency also reported that 20 percent of the wheat in
the state was now mature, a figure behind both the 26 percent at this time a year ago and well behind the 40 percent average. Scott Van Allen is among the handful of Kansas growers to who started cutting his acres last week. He got three good harvest days before a storm system brought 3 inches of rain to his farm near Clearwater in south-central Kansas. He has cut 500 acres and has nearly 2,000 more acres to go. He credits the plentiful rain in May for making this an expected average, if not slightly See WHEAT | Page A6
Attorney with local ties disbarred By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Rustin Rankin, a Fredonia attorney who worked as assistant Allen County attorney several years ago, has been disbarred from practicing law. The penalty was handed down Friday by the Kansas Supreme Court, at the urging of Alexander Walczak, the Court’s deputy disciplinary administrator. The disbarment centers on Rankin’s relationship and former business partnership with an elderly widow. The woman, whose name was not released in the high
court’s ruling, had become friends with Rankin after he assisted her with a real estate transaction in 2006. The friendship grew, and Rankin became her attorney in 2007. The two entered a business relationship in 2009, forming Madden Ventures LLC, a real estate company. Rankin testified previously he had stopped providing legal services to the woman in 2009, although records showed he continued to deposit funds and write checks on her behalf from his attorney trust account until sometime in 2012. Additionally, records showed five transfers worth
a combined $60,000 from Madden LLC to Rankin’s law office in 2010. Rankin alleged the transfers were not payments for legal services; but rather to pay various bills on the woman’s behalf as her friend and business partner. The partnership effectively ended in 2012 when the woman notified Rankin that she was contacting a separate accountant to audit Madden LLC’s financial dealings. Shortly thereafter, Rankin turned himself in to the Supreme Court’s disciplinary administrator. Rankin said relatively lit-
Mud bath
Monday afternoon’s storms that dumped .3 inches of rain in the Iola area gave 3-year-old Ember Skie Friend a prime opportunity to cake her arms and legs with mud. The muddy fun began after Friend dumped water that had accumulated in a well in her tricycle, her parents said. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
See RANKIN | Page A6
Lawmaker endures session despite diagnosis of Parkinson’s By JIM MCLEAN KHI News Service
The last thing Rep. Pete DeGraaf needed last week was more stress in his life. But only a day after a doctor confirmed what DeGraaf had long suspected — that he was suffering from Parkinson’s
disease — he was back at the Capitol for the final stressfilled stretch of the longest legislative session in Kansas history. Asked why during an interview in his small Statehouse office with his wife, Karen, at his side, DeGraaf ’s answer was simple.
“I enjoy being a legislator,” he said. But if DeGraaf, a conservative Republican from Mulvane, wants to continue serving, he will need to work at managing the stress that is a byproduct of the job. A growing body of research suggests that it plays a role in causing
Parkinson’s disease and exacerbates its debilitating symptoms. “While we don’t know the exact mechanism for this, it does appear that many patients describe worsening of symptoms, including tremor, slowness and difficulty walking when in stressful
situations,” says a resource document produced by the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center, a Californiabased nonprofit organization focused on clinical care and research. DeGraaf, a former Air Force See PARKINSON’S | Page A6
Galena officials indicted GALENA, Kan. (AP) — Five Galena City Council members, the city’s mayor and a former council member have been charged in a grand jury indictment accusing them of misusing public funds — accusations the city’s attorney called baseless. City Attorney Kevin Cure on Sunday issued a statement announcing that Mayor Dale Oblesby, council members Paul Allen, Lance Nichols, Ashley Qualls, Todd Martin and Josh Reed, and former council member Linda Watkins are named in the felony indictment handed down last week. The officials are accused of paying $100,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by Galena
Celestial sights
Passing thunderstorms, followed by partially clearing skies, gave a brilliant colorful hue to the eastern skies over Allen County Monday evening. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 157
“Wit is the lowest form of humor.”
— Alexander Pope, British poet 75 Cents
See GALENA | Page A3
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