Sports: Allen runners compete at nationals See B1
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Monday, November 16, 2015
France carries out raids; names suspects By LORI HINNANT and SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — French police raided 168 locations across the country and detained nearly two dozen people as authorities identified more members of a sleeper cell said to be behind the Paris attacks that killed 129 people. French and Belgian jihadis — and at least one potential Syrian member — were being implicated today in what was
More moderates removed from posts LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two Kansas lawmakers who voted against school funding changes have been removed from a Kansas House committee that oversees education. Republican Reps. Diana Dierks, of Salina, and John Ewy, of Jetmore, were notified this week that they had been taken off the committee, the Lawrence JournalWorld reports. Their successors voted in favor of the bill that replaced the state’s per-pupil formula for distributing aid to districts with stable “block grants” based on what districts received previously. The plan is to use the block grants for two years while the system for funding public schools is revamped. “I truly feel this is a sad day for Kansas education,” said Dierks, who was moved to the elections committee. “When I’m serving, I’m still serving the people of Kansas, and that’s how I vote.” Gov. Sam Brownback and some GOP legislators had argued that the old formula was too complicated, didn’t get enough dollars into classrooms and sometimes forced unanticipated increases in state aid. But lawmakers for four school districts suing the state over education funding said the changes adversely affected poor districts. Republican Rep. Willie Dove, of Bonner Springs, who voted in favor of the block grant bill, was also removed from the education committee and made vice chairman of the health committee. Republican House Speaker Ray Merrick, of Stilwell, who is in charge of assigning legislators to committees, made changes to the education committee as well as a health committee Wednesday. On the health committee, three members who supported Medicaid expanSee OUSTED | Page A4
Francois Hollande the worst attack on French soil since World War II. The mastermind is said to be a
Belgian national linked to thwarted earlier attacks on a train and a French church. With France under a state of emergency that gives police special powers, the hunt continued for members of the cell that carried out last Friday’s gun and bomb attacks. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said police arrested 23 people and recovered a Kalashnikov and other weapons during the overnight raids. Heavily armed Belgian po-
lice also launched a major operation in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, which authorities consider to be a focal point for extremists and fighters going to Syria from Belgium. Across France and throughout Europe, people paused for a minute’s silence at noon French time in memory of the victims. Overnight, France launched its heaviest airstrikes yet on the Islamic State group’s de-facto capi-
PRACTICE MAKES MOOLAH
tal in Syria, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said “we are at war” against terrorism. French authorities say Sunday night’s airstrikes destroyed a jihadi training camp and a munitions dump in the city of Raqqa, where Iraqi intelligence officials say the attacks on Paris were planned. Twelve aircraft including 10 fighter jets dropped a total of 20 bombs in the biggest air strikes since France extended See FRANCE | Page A4
Governor: Leave prisoners in Gitmo By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
Above, Iola Middle School students Dakotah Cox, left, and Elizabeth Baker participate Saturday in a band “practithon” on the courthouse square. At right, Allyson Hobbs plays the flute while sister Annika practices on the clarinet. Below is band instructor Matt Kleopfer. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Students raise bucks through practice By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
M
att Kleopfer wasn’t sure if practice made perfect Satur-
day. But it sure made a lot of money. Fifty-two Iola High School and Iola Middle School band members spent all day Saturday working on their musical skills during an
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 15
extended “practice-a-thon,” during which the students earned money through pledges. The longer the students played, the more money they raised. The event started at 8 a.m. Saturday on the Allen County Courthouse lawn, and ended with a “sudden death” jam session at 12:30 a.m. Sunday — 16½ hours in all. Of the original 52 partici-
pants, nine made it to the end. Unofficially, the students earned about $4,800 in pledges, although those numbers may change as others donate to the cause. Proceeds go to the individual band members to use for such things as trips to clinics or other band-related activities. The fledgling musicians See BAND | Page A4
“Adversity is the first path to truth.” — Lord Byron, British poet 75 Cents
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — With a White House report expected soon, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Friday that President Barack Obama should drop efforts to move detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and argued that the administration is already violating federal law by surveying potential prison sites. Brownback told The Associated Press during an exclusive interview that Guantanamo should continue to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely because the U.S. is in a war with terrorism “for some time to come.” He said moving prisoners from Guantanamo will compromise the nation’s security and harm its troops. “You really get into a series of problems, none of which work out well for the American people,” Brownback said at Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence. A U.S. Defense Department team surveyed the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in August in evaluating potential sites for housing Guantanamo detainees. Brownback said the post isn’t secure enough and that bringing detainees there will damage the international reputation of the Army’s command college there, which trains both American and foreign officers. The Republican governor said in August that Kansas would consider filing a lawsuit against the federal government if the Democratic president attempts to move detainees to his state. He said Friday that he’s asked the state’s attorney general to look into litigation. Brownback argues that surveying potential sites violates “well-known and notorious” language in annual defense spending measures against using See GITMO | Page A4
Hi: 60 Lo: 56 Iola, KS