Sports: Iola teams defeat Central Heights See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
www.iolaregister.com
COUNTY COMMISSION
County weighs foundation request By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Allen County commissioners will decide in the next week or two whether to contribute about $30,000 to the Allen County Community Foundation. A delegation led by Susan Michael, foundation director, told commissioners Tuesday about that much was needed to qualify for a $50,000 grant from the Kansas Health Care Foundation, Wichita. County Counselor Alan Weber, a foundation board member, said the local foundation had attracted about $70,000 toward a goal of $100,000 needed by year’s end to qualify for a two-forone match — the $50,000 — from the Kansas Health Care Foundation. Also, coming the foundation’s way would be a $17,500 grant to help pay administrative costs and
$2,500 to train activists. “Actually we have more than $70,000” having come the foundation’s way this year, Weber continued, but some is for things other than health care and doesn’t meet the health care foundation’s criteria. The previous two years the county-wide foundation has had no problem raising $100,000 or more in contributions designated for health care. That’s because the foundation was the clearing house for donations made toward Allen County Regional Hospital. If the foundation fails to raise the $30,000 by year’s end, it would be difficult to maintain full-time staffing. Gary McIntosh, another foundation board member, said adequate staffing is important to the foundation’s See COUNTY | Page A4
Lincoln Elementary School kindergartners yell out a cheer this morning as part of a schoolwide canned food drive to benefit the Iola Community Pantry. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Lincoln raises bounty for pantry By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The December word of the month at Lincoln Elementary School is “generosity,” and there’s been plenty of it on display lately. Lincoln students have collected more than 1,000 items
KanCare changes a concern By DAVE RANNEY KHI news service
TOPEKA — Groups that advocate for Kansans with disabilities and for frail seniors say they will file objections to proposed changes in the waivers defining the state’s approach to Medicaid-funded services that help them live in community-based settings rather than in nursing homes. “There are service reductions built into the waivers, plain and simple,” said Sean Gatewood, interim director of the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition. “That’s a major concern, absolutely.” The Medicaid services at issue are provided under agreements with the federal government known as waivers that allow states to use alternative methods to pay for or deliver health care services. The proposed waiver changes, posted on the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services website last
CITY COUNCIL
No action by city A special meeting was held Tuesday night in the City Administrator’s office to discuss a proposed expansion of Gates Corporation. The meeting, conducted in executive session and closed to the press, lasted about 45 minutes. Afterward, no action was taken by councilmen and they adjourned.
Kristen Wienecke, left, lives with her parents, Steve and Kaye Wienecke, at their home Stanley. Medicaid pays Kaye about $2,100 a month to provide “day services” for her daughter. Photo by Dave Ranney
month, are subject to federal approval. The deadline for submitting public comment is Saturday. “The waivers were crafted without any input on the front end from stakeholders or from advocacy groups,” said Barb Conant, a spokesperson for Kansas Advocates for Better Care, a Lawrence-based orga-
nization that represents frail elders, particularly those living in nursing homes. “There were some public hearings back in November,” Conant said. “But they were after the fact, after the plan was drafted. So there’s a lot of concern about the intent of what’s proposed, how it would See MEDICAID | Page A4
they’ll donate Friday to the Iola Community Pantry. The idea’s genesis came from school counselor Judy McIntosh, who recalled a conversation with a student about his Thanksgiving Day meal. Distressed at the response — the family had potatoes to eat, but nothing else — McIntosh decided to lend a hand.
McIntosh’s husband, Gene, is pastor at Calvary United Methodist Church and a member of the Iola Area Ministerial Association, which operates the Community Pantry. After talking with her husband, McIntosh noted just how depleted the food reserves See FOOD | Page A4
Two dead in accident TOPEKA — Two people were killed in an accident that involved a Yates Center couple Tuesday. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Steven G. Galarneau, 62, Scranton, was westbound on a county road about 4½ miles north of Topeka and failed to yield at the road’s intersection with U.S. 75. His pickup was struck by a pickup driven by Leon J. Weber, 56, Yates Cen-
ter. Weber’s pickup struck Galarneau’s in the driver’s side door. Both Galarneau and a passenger in his vehicle, David N. Hilleland, 64, Topeka, were declared dead at the scene. Neither Weber nor a passenger in his pickup, Mary L. Weber, 55, Yates Center, were injured. All of the subjects were wearing seat belts, according to KHP.
KCC OKs rate increase WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Corporation Commission approved a rate increase for natural gas customers of Black Hills Energy. The Wichita Eagle reports the KCC on Tuesday approved an increase that will cost the average customer about $3 a year. The settlement gives
Black Hills an overall increase of $5.23 million. But customers were already paying about $4.5 million of that through special riders on their bills. The company applied for a $5.1 million net increase in April, which would have raised the average bill by $4.17 a month, or about $50 a year.
Kansas firm moves ahead on wind as rule is debated TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ largest electric company announced plans Tuesday to buy power from a wind farm under development to meet a state renewable-energy mandate, as legislators prepared for another debate over repealing the requirement. Westar Energy Inc. said it expects Cedar Bluffs in Ness and Trego counties in western Kansas to start generating power by the end of next year. Westar, based in Topeka, said tapping the new wind farm will increase its capacity to generate power from renewable resources by 200
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 38
megawatts, to 1,100 megawatts. Last year, Westar announced plans to purchase power from a new wind farm in north-central Oklahoma, starting in 2016. The company said by buying power from the Oklahoma and Cedar Bluff farms — which are being built by other companies — it will comply with a 2009 state law requiring wind and other renewable resources to provide 20 percent of each utility's peak generating electricity by 2020. Some conservatives in the Republican-dominated Leg-
“Things do not change; we change.”
islature still want to repeal the law after unsuccessful attempts during the past two years. GOP Gov. Sam Brownback said during an interview last week that he's open to phasing the rule out after lawmakers convene their next annual session Jan. 12. The law’s repeal has been pushed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity, the small-government group backed by billionaire political donors Charles and David Koch. Their company, Koch Industries Inc., with interests
— Henry David Thoreau
75 Cents
including energy, lobbied for repeal earlier this year. “That’ll be at the top of our agenda,” said Jeff Glendening, AFP’s state director. Critics of the renewableenergy rule argue that such mandates drive up the cost of electricity for consumers. They also contend the state shouldn’t pick winners and losers in markets. Supporters of the law counter that there’s no evidence it has contributed significantly to higher electric bills and warn that repealing it will See WIND | Page A4
Hi: 37 Lo: 30 Iola, KS