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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Monday, November 17, 2014
Clearing proceeds for Lehigh trail
Obama calls ISIS beheading ‘pure evil’
By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
One affirmation of the value Iola places in its burgeoning network of trails can be found in the handful of volunteers who turned up last Saturday in below-freezing temperatures to continue work on the area’s newest project. The Lehigh Portland Rail Trail will go from Elm Creek Park, on South Washington Avenue, then cut east along the south side of the creek, where it will continue on a gradual rise above the north side of the quarry, which was created more than a century prior by the former Lehigh Portland Cement Company. From there it will travel east and connect to the opposite trailhead at South Kentucky. The main trail, tracing the steep shelf of limestone overlooking the scenic quarry and running, in total, for about
BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has beheaded Peter Kassig, releasing a video Sunday showing a masked militant standing over the severed head of a man it said was the former U.S. Army Rangerturned-aid worker, who was seized while delivering relief supplies in Syria last year. President Barack Obama confirmed Kassig’s slaying after a U.S. review of the video, which also showed the mass beheadings of a dozen Syrian soldiers. The 26-year-old Kassig, who founded an aid group to help Syrians caught in their country’s brutal civil war, “was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group that the world rightly associates with inhumanity,” Obama said in a statement. He denounced the extremist
From left, David Toland, Don Burns and Randy Rasa work Saturday morning to clear land for a new rail trail. REGISTER/RICK
DANLEY
a mile and a half, will offer impressive views of what is now Elks Lake. (Note: while trailside views of the lake are free of charge and open to the public, recreational use of its water continues to be
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reserved for Elks members only.) Unlike the Southwind and Prairie Spirit trails, however, the Lehigh will offer up to six See TRAIL | Page A4
group, which he said “revels in the slaughter of innocents, including Muslims, and is bent only on sowing death and destruction.” The slain hostage’s parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, said they were “heartbroken” by their son’s killing, but “incredibly proud” of his humanitarian work. Kassig “lost his life as a result of his love for the Syrian people and his desire to ease their suffering,” the parents said in a statement from Indianapolis, where a vigil was held Sunday for the slain American. His parents attended the vigil. With Kassig’s death, the Islamic State group has killed five Westerners it was holding. American journalists See ISIS | Page A4
Iola battalion to fight Ebola epidemic in Africa TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — About 170 Kansas National Guard from a battalion based in Iola will deploy next year to west Africa to help fight Ebola. The state announced Sunday that soldiers from the 891st Engineer Battalion Headquarters will help build medical facilities in west Africa. They will leave next spring and be deployed for about six months, with the possibility of serving up to a year. It’s part of a national ef-
fort called Operation United Assistance. Kansas Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanell says the state will do all it can to ensure the soldiers’ safety. That will include training in protocols and preventative measures against the deadly disease. The soldiers will begin training next month in Kansas and will receive more training at their mobilization station before they go to west Africa.
Saturday success Proceeds from a 50-family rummage sale on Saturday at the Iola Middle School topped $2,700. The funds will help pay for the Iola High School Marching Mustangs to perform at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio in January. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Demand for quake insurance grows
Snow what? Iolans Henry, foreground, and Luke Wicoff didn’t let a little snow and cold weather dampen their fun Sunday afternoon as they defied Mother Nature by donning bathing trunks to soak up what little warmth the afternoon sun provided. This photo was snapped by the boys’ father, Iola Mayor Joel Wicoff. The weeklong cold snap may finally break by mid-week, forecasters said, with temperatures expected to reach the still-belownormal 40-degree range on Wednesday. COURTESY PHOTO
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 16
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas insurance agencies say they’ve been flooded with queries about earthquake coverage after Wednesday’s 4.8 magnitude temblor. “We have been getting calls all day,” Matt Woodall, who works at a Wichita insurance office, said a day after the quake. “I haven’t had too many people ask about earthquake insurance before.” Because Kansas doesn’t have a history of earthquake losses, the price and deductibles are low compared to more quake-prone places like California, The Wichita Eagle reported. The Kansas Insurance Department, citing statistics from the Insurance Information Institute, said only about 7 percent of homeowners in the Midwest carry quake insurance. Traditionally, earthquakes
have been relatively infrequent in Kansas. But after dozens of them rocked the state this year, with Wednesday’s the largest, more equipment is being brought in to explore what is happening. The rise in quakes in Kansas and other states has raised suspicions that the shaking might be connected to the oil and gas drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, especially the wells in which the industry disposes of its wastewater. But a panel commissioned by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said in a report earlier this fall that there wasn’t enough evidence to link the Kansas quakes to oil and gas exploration. Earthquake insurance “is almost a no-brainer, especially with these tremors we’re having,” said Chock Chapple, owner of the Chapple Insur-
“The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” — Aristotle Onassis 75 Cents
ance Group in Wichita. Adding it to a standard homeowners’ policy would cost $35 to $100 a year for a $100,000 house, according to quotes obtained by The Eagle from local insurance agents Thursday. In Kansas, the insurance is available with deductibles of 2 and 5 percent of the covered amount — $2,000 or $5,000 on a $100,000 house. According to the state Insurance Department, some companies have waiting periods of 30 to 60 days after a quake before people can buy quake insurance. But Chapple said most companies have a much shorter moratorium on sales of one to three days after a quake in Kansas. On Thursday, his company insured a $500,000 See QUAKE | Page A4
Hi: 31 Lo: 13 Iola, KS