The Iola Register, Dec. 17, 2022

Bursting at the seams

Mental health center doubles staff; new facilities on tap

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Nathan Fawson knows a thing or two about trying to stretch a dollar.

For years, Fawson, executive director of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, has labored to help the center provide increasingly costly mental health services, doing so with an archaic fee system that never seemed to cover costs.

“We predominantly serve the Medicaid population,” Fawson explained. “Yet our Medicaid rates have not been

increased for nearly two decades.”

However, a pair of recent grants have been nothing less than a game-changer at SEKMHC.

Within the past two years,

Introducing the Griswolds of Iola

By MITCH and DONITA GARNER Special to The Iola Register

When you ask someone what brings on those feelings of the “magic of Christmas” many times they will talk about a favorite song or maybe the feeling they get in gathering with family. When it comes to Mitch Garner, Christmas lights are what brings about that feeling of Christmas.

When asked about what started his tradition of putting lights on anything that didn’t move, Mitch said it all began about 22 years ago.

Mitch grew up with his single mom, Edna Garner, his grandmother, Lena Conger, his twin brother Mike, who is currently a captain in the Army, and two adopted siblings.

Christmas didn’t mean that you got a lot, it just meant you ate well, had lots of friends and family over and laughed a lot.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

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GARNER

the organization has doubled its staff, with roughly 275 fulland part-time professionals servicing a six-county area. With such growth — and

Feds bring back free COVID tests

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is once again offering Americans the opportunity to order free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests from the federal government, a program that it had shuttered amid an ongoing stalemate with Congress over additional funding to address the virus.

The program will allow each household to order four free COVID-19 tests as part of the White House’s plans to try to tamp down the number of diagnoses this winter amid an increase in coronavirus, flu and RSV.

“While COVID-19 is not the disruptive force it once was, the virus continues to evolve, and cases are on the rise again as families are spending more time indoors and gathering for the holidays,” the White

By JENNIFER SHUTT Kansas Reflector See TESTS

New physician empowers patients with knowledge about sports injuries, obesity

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Doctors are teachers, in a way.

They educate patients about their diseases, how medications work and lifestyle changes that could improve their condition.

For Dr. Sam Wilcox, a new physician for the Allen Coun-

ty Regional Hospital’s family clinic, practicing medicine gives him a chance to enjoy the best of both worlds.

He always expected to become a teacher, as both parents are teachers. They’re also Kansas State University fans, so he attended K-State to study kinesiology with the intention of becoming a teacher.

His thinking started to

change, though, while student teaching.

“Students would get sick or have things come up and I realized that if people don’t have their health, they can’t pursue an education,” Wilcox said.

That’s when he started to study medicine and realized he could still teach, just in a

Note: Mitch Garner is Public Works director for Allen County. Donita Garner is the Child Advocacy Center coordinator at Hope Unlimited.

Edna Garner was a foster parent and day-care provider for over 30 years so the number of children in and out of her doors were quite large. She strived extra hard to help bring the magic of Christmas

back into the kids’ lives.

One year Grandma Lena decided to have Christmas at a house she owned out in the county near Piqua. Mitch was

told to hang a few strands of lights to create a festive atmosphere outside and to guide their friends and family to

The Garner family, from left, Mitch, William, Donita and Grace. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

See

Family physcian Dr. Sam Wilcox sees patients at the Iola Clinic at the Medical Arts Building, 826 E. Madison.

Nathan Fawson, executive director for Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN See

Holiday fun to fill Iola Public Library

Library programs continue in a festive vein next week, beginning with a free holiday movie suitable for all ages at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the meeting room next to the parking lot.

Refreshments will be served and there will be an optional gift exchange. Pre-registration is required. For more information, call 620-365-3262.

Sharon Moreland will guide crafters to make holiday art using watercolor and tape at 6 p.m. Thursday. Pre-registration and a $3 materials fee are required.

The program will be in the meeting room.

The library has declared Friday as Patron Appreciation Day and, in keeping with the season, will serve hot chocolate, coffee and munchies.

For Christmas, the library will close at noon Dec. 24 and reopen at 9 a.m. Dec. 27. On New Year’s Eve, the library will close at noon and reopen at 9 a.m. Jan. 2

Beginning Jan. 2, the library will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Unity Club hears talk about trees

The

Trees” by Peter Wohlleben about how trees communicate, feel and live in social networks.

Nine members were present for a short business meeting before Lee reviewed four books about trees.

The books were:

“The Golden Spruce” by John Vaillant, a true story of myth, madness and greed in the story of a sacred tree, a logger-turned-environmentalist and a shocking act of environmental protest in the woods of British Columbia.

In Stitches, the Monday night crochet class

the Iola Public

6:30 p.m.

KS colleges face $1.2 billion in deferred maintenance costs

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Restoring life safety and functional integrity to nearly 500 academic or research buildings on state university campuses in the Kansas Board of Regents system would cost an estimated $1.2 billion, officials said Thursday.

The Board of Regents annually reviews deployment of approximately $40 million earmarked for deferred maintenance at the public universities, but this new analysis incorporated an extra $45 million allocated by the Kansas Legislature to tackle the facilities backlog.

Lawmakers supplemented university building management budgets this year with grants of $35 million that must be matched with private money raised by the universities. In addition, the Legislature allocated $10 million for demolition of structures that outlived their usefulness.

Chad Bristow, director of facilities for the Board of Regents, said the $10 million appropriation, which included $700,000 for Washburn University in Topeka, enabled universities to get rid of buildings containing 377,000 square feet of space that otherwise would have required $52 million in renovations.

“This is going to help us. It’s great to spend $1 today to save $10 down the road,” said Jon Rolph, chairman of the Board of Regents.

Bristow said the

goal of the Board of Regents was to improve condition of 498 “mission critical” academic and research buildings from the current grade of “C” to a “B+.” University buildings included on this report card averaged 50 years of age. Assessments of these structures took into account significance, accessibility, functionality, space utilization as well as a metric capturing overall condition.

“The magnitude of resources needed to over-

come, let’s say, under investing in deferred maintenance over the decades is in the billions,” Bristow said.

Wint Winter, a member of the Board of Regents and a former state senator, said progress on campus building maintenance was tied to the Legislature’s ability to finance the work.

The 2023 Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly convene at the Capitol in January to begin debate on competing requests for a slice of the largest state budget surplus in

Kansas history.

“I don’t want to predict a significant problem,” Winter said, “but I think we ought to be practical and realize that our ability to get more funding from the Legislature is really the key to being able to hit these needs.”

Doug Girod, chancellor at the University of Kansas, said focus of the Board of Regents’ conversation was on the subset of core academic and research buildings. The bigger picture would include entirety of 1,147 buildings in use on state university campuses in Kansas, he said.

The replacement value of all buildings in the Board of Regents’ system was estimated to be greater than $7 billion, officials said.

“Restoring Faith: What trees teach us about the nature of God and His love for us” by Mathew Sleeth MD about Scripture lessons related to trees.

“Finding the Mother Tree” by Suzanne Simard, an interplay of personal narrative, scientific insights and revelations about the life of the forest.

“The Hidden Life of

Contact Us

302 S. Washington, Iola 620-365-2111

www.iolaregister.com

news@iolaregister.com

THE CLUB will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 at the conference room at St. John’s Catholic Church with hostess Linda Brocker. Kit McGuffin will have the program.

Kansas Board of Regents members Carl Ice and Jon Rolph listen during presentation of a report outlining the $1.2 billion cost of addressing maintenance shortcomings of 498 core academic and research buildings in the state university system. KANSAS REFLECTOR/TIM CARPENTER

Unity Club learned about trees during a presentation by Karen Lee at the meeting on Dec. 12 at the home of Ellen Thompson.

at

Library, continues this week at

Monday. The chess club will not meet next week. The library will be closed Monday, Dec. 26. COURTESY PHOTO

Report: World’s coal use creeps to new high in 2022

BERLIN (AP) — Coal use across the world is set to reach a new record this year amid persistently high demand for the heavily polluting fossil fuel, the International Energy Agency said Friday.

The Paris-based agency said in a new report that while coal use grew by only 1.2% in 2022, the increase pushed it to all all-time high of more than 8 billion metric tons, beating the previous record set in 2013.

“The world’s coal consumption will remain at similar levels in the following years in the absence of stronger efforts to accelerate the transition to clean energy,”

the agency said, noting that “robust demand” in emerging Asian economies would offset declining use in mature markets.

“This means coal will continue to be the global energy system’s largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions by far,” the IAE said.

The use of coal and other fossil fuels needs to be cut drastically to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) this century. Experts say the ambitious target, which governments agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate accord, will be hard to meet given that average temperatures worldwide

Tests: For COVID

Continued from A1

House wrote in a fact sheet about its efforts this winter.

The free COVID-19 test kits can be ordered through COVIDTests.gov or by calling 1-800-2320233 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Preparing for winter

The Biden administration’s winter preparedness plan focuses predominantly on vaccination, with proposals to hold pop-up clinics and work with governors to increase nursing home vaccination rates. Health officials also are calling on hospitals to offer patients a shot before discharging unvaccinated patients, or those who aren’t up-to-date on their boosters.

More than 267 million people, or 80% of the U.S. population, have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But those numbers decrease over time, with 229 million, or 69% completing the two-dose primary series. And just 42 million people have gotten the updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that public health officials approved in September, according to CDC data.

The weekly death total from COVID-19 has remained relatively steady since mid-April, when about 3,000 Americans were dying of the virus weekly. That number dipped a bit over the summer, but has stayed about the same throughout the fall and into winter. For the week of Dec. 7, another 2,981 people died of the virus, according to the CDC.

The Biden administration said its plan for the winter will continue focusing on the highest risk people, including “residents of nursing homes and other congregate care facilities, where we know vaccination rates remain too low.”

“This also includes older Americans, individuals who are immunocompromised, disabled individuals, and others who face a higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19,” the White House wrote in its fact sheet.

The Biden administration plans to send nursing home and long-term-care facility administrators a playbook for this winter. Public health officials also called on those facilities to take “concrete actions to ensure that every resident is educated on and offered an updated COVID-19 shot; that

every resident who tests positive for COVID-19 is evaluated and offered treatment; and that every facility is taking steps to improve its indoor air quality.”

have already risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times.

The IEA said higher prices for natural gas due to Russia’s war in Ukraine have led to increased reliance on coal for generating power.

“The world is close to a peak in fossil fuel use, with coal set to be the

first to decline, but we are not there yet,” Keisuke Sadamori, the agency’s director of energy markets and security, said.

Coal use is likely to decline as countries deploy more renewable energy sources, he said.

But China, the world’s biggest consumer of

coal, said recently that it plans to boost production through 2025 to avoid a repeat of last year’s power shortages. And in Europe, which is scrambling to replace Russian energy supplies following the invasion of Ukraine, somecountries have re-opened shuttered coal-fired power plants.

In an effort to curb growing coal use in emerging economies, South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam have signed investment agreements with rich partner countries over the past year that will help them boost efforts to shift to renewable sources such as wind and solar.

SEKMHC: Grants allow centers to expand in all six counties

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a new funding mechanism to help keep up with costs — the Southeast Kansas Mental Center is not only looking to build a new headquarters in Iola but also secure more spacious environs at all of its locations.

SEKMHC also has offices in Anderson, Linn, Bourbon, Neosho and Woodson counties.

“One goal is to renovate existing buildings to be more ADA compliant,” Fawson said.

“Finding contractors has been our greatest challenge.”

Plans are already in place to renovate a facility in Neosho County, and SEKMHC has spoken with an architect about plans for a new Iola building along U.S. 54 on the east edge of town. Iola’s current office is on South Sycamore Street.

As work proceeds, projects will be done with integrated care in mind, Fawson continued.

It’s been no secret, both for physical care and mental health care providers, that their patients often required treatment in both fields.

Fawson recalled working in a hospital in his early days, where physicians would note a large number of their patients suffered from mental health symptoms they were illequipped to treat.

“They traditionally would make referrals to mental health providers, but far too often, their patients would not receive that level of needed care,” Fawson said. “The same is true with my experience here. Their patients need help.

“There are numerous examples of how the clients we have served or clients they have served have benefitted from a more collaborative approach,” he said. “From a fund-

ing perspective, the outcomes of most interest are those of how our services can help lessen the expense of other services, such as inappropriate admissions to the hospital or emergency rooms.

“That is a driving financial force behind the CCBHC treatment model,” Fawson continued, referring to the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic designation SEKMHC earned earlier this year. In layman’s terms, a CCBHC takes a “whole-patient” view when treating a patient, including both physical and mental needs.

Thus, the importance of collaboration.

“With recognition that the more we as mental health providers can help support and stabilize individuals, the less likely they are to utilize higher level or expensive care, such as in-patient or emergency room care,” Fawson explained.

THE MENTAL Health Center has also included schools in its collaboration model.

About four years ago, SEKMHC was approached by Humboldt school officials to put a part-time therapist in schools there. A grant helped pay for the therapist.

“We naively believed we were already serving them well because we had case managers that would go in and out of the school supporting kids in need,” Fawson recalled. “But in very short order we learned this was a significant need and benefit to those kids to have a therapist on site, and a benefit to the teachers who were struggling in managing problematic child behavior.”

Without advertising their service, the Mental Health Center quickly was inundated by requests from other school districts.

Fast forward to this year, and SEKMHC has therapists in 12 school districts across its six counties, including those in Iola, Humboldt and Moran.

“The way we’ve approached the schools is not to tell them what it looks like, but first listen to them and hear what they need,” Fawson said. “And then we develop our personnel according to their needs. Along the way, we wished we could meet their needs more rapidly, because the needs are immediate. Unfortunately, because of therapist shortages, we’ve slowly offered them the support they need, in the form of part-time therapy.”

He noted the Mental Health Center needs more therapists for schools as well.

AS AN ASIDE, the Mental Health Center has looked beyond the state line to provide service.

Two wit, SEKMHC has two therapists who first worked in Kansas, but have later relocated to other states, New York and Georgia. One remains a full-time therapist; the other still works part time.

Telehealth has been a part of SEKMHC’s bag of tools since Janlin Taylor, a long-time local therapist, moved to Nevada about four years ago.

“Rather than accept her resignation, we creatively set up telehealth,” Fawson said. “She continued to serve her existing caseload, as well as bring in new client visits. That worked out very well.”

The experience served the Mental Health Center well when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country in the early years of 2020.

“It was a challenge,” Fawson said. “An advantage we may have had over others was that it remained our purpose to stay engaged, especially for kids enrolled in our community-based services. Even though it was in the form of tele-video, it was better than nothing.”

Even today, many clients now prefer telehealth appointments rather than in-person meetings.

“People no longer have to take off half a day to come see us in person, or however much time it takes to drive here and back, or to take off work,” he continued. “Now they can conveniently connect from wherever they’re at via our Zoom platform.”

IN 2017, the federal government — eager to see improvements in community-based mental services — introduced a grant opportunity for states to offer a new type of mental health care.

Through the grant, states would create what were described as community behavioral health clinics, involving a collaborative approach with medical professionals, such as primary care physicians.

Several states, including Missouri and Oklahoma, applied for the program, and were approved. Kansas withdrew its application not long before it was to be filed.

“We were saddened,” Fawson recalled. “It would have been a great opportunity to better serve our communities across the state.”

The results were striking.

Armed with new dollars, Kansas’s neighboring states suddenly had an advantage at attracting therapists, case managers and other mental-health providers.

“We had Kansas universities and colleges educating mental health professionals, who then were going to neighboring states, leaving our state with a shortage of providers,” Fawson noted.

Fast forward two years, to 2019, and the feds opened up the CCBHC grant opportunities, not only to individual states, but to any willing and able organization.

Hoping for a miracle, SEKMHC tossed its name in the hat.

“We felt we owed it to our organization and community to apply for it,” Fawson said.

That prayer was answered last year, when SEKMHC was awarded a pair of two-year grants, including another utilizing federal

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funds.

The news was nothing less than seismic.

“That allowed us to introduce new services and enhance our existing services in ways we never would have imagined we could under our prior funding model,” Fawson said.

Perhaps more importantly, state lawmakers saw the benefits of the new system — which sets funding on a cost-basis system vs. the old way of being reimbursed on a fee-for-service plan with Medicaid reimbursement, even though the reimbursement rates historically fell short of costs.

“Mental health centers were struggling more and more as time passed,” Fawson said. “It was another reason we wanted and needed a better service and funding model.”

On May 1 of this year, the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center became certified by the state as a CBHC, as state lawmakers approved the CCBHC funding system.

The results have been striking. Since receiving the grant funding, the Mental Health Center’s workforce doubled to 275. The organization also more than doubled its number of therapists (13 to 30).

“And we still would benefit from another 10,” Fawson said.

And because the state now has certified the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center as a community behavioral health clinic, it will continue to be a part of the improved funding model, even after the grants expire.

“The state recognizes ... we need to be working hand in hand with primary care physicians, dental services and the like. That has been our focus, in terms of how we can better achieve that.”

Doctor: Physician has special interest in sports injuries, obesity

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different way.

“It empowers patients to know what’s going on. A lot of suffering comes when people don’t understand what’s causing the disease or the pain. Not knowing is difficult.”

The difficult part, of course, was telling his family of K-State fanatics that he would be attending the University of Kansas School of Medicine at Wichita.

“Everybody understood,” he said, laughing.

Still, he tries to wear purple as often as he can.

WILCOX grew up in De Soto.

He met his wife, Liz, in graduate school. She received a master’s degree in public health and was working in the field until the couple welcomed their son, Sutton, now age 1½.

Wilcox completed his residency training over the summer at Northwest Washington Family Medicine Residency in Bremerton, Wash.

The couple knew they wanted to return to Kansas to be closer to family. They also were drawn by the challenges facing public health care in Southeast Kansas, and were impressed by efforts of organizations such as Thrive Allen County to address those concerns.

“We liked the trails

system. The new school. G&W Foods,” he said. “Our house is walking distance to downtown.”

He also was impressed that the ACRH facilities board agreed to remodel the Medical Arts Building at 826 E. Madison, where his office is located along with Dr. Brian Neely.

“It shows there’s a group that cares enough about the health of this community to invest money into trying to make things better,” he said.

He sees opportunities to help the community not just as a family physician but in numerous other ways.

Wilcox has special interest in sports medicine, diagnosing and

treating musculoskeletal injuries, and obesity. He looks forward to finding opportunities to help in those areas.

Again, it comes back to education.

“On the obesity side, keeping people moving is so important for their health,” he said.

“And with sports, there’s a connection that people form with their peers, their coaches, their trainers. I think COVID taught us how important these connections are.”

Because much of his training came during the COVID era, Wilcox has seen the impact of that disease on the way medicine is delivered. Telehealth services are much more common.

“Telemedicine and video visits became much more normal. It’s not great for everything, but for some things it’s a really nice tool,” he said.

The pandemic also pushed public health to the forefront of people’s minds, which Wilcox also sees as an advantage.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about how things are connected. In family medicine, you think about the whole person but you also

think about the whole family. You see how children affect the parents and vice versa. And you think beyond the family, to the city, the weather, the politics and how it all affects a person’s health. I enjoy all the different aspects of those connections and to me that’s the role of family medicine.”

FOR MORE information, call the Iola Clinic at the Medical Arts Building, 620-365-6933.

The Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center has outgrown its space at 304 N. Jefferson Ave. REGISTER/ RICHARD LUKEN

How Amazon is protecting Ukraine’s economy from Russia

By RUSS MITCHELL Los Angeles Times

Since Februrary, Amazon has been playing Santa Claus to the Ukraine, delivering planeloads of goods, including blankets, hygiene kits, diapers, food, and toys, for the war-torn nation and refugees in Poland and other parts of Europe.

But long term, what’s more important to Ukrainians than the gifts coming in is what’s going out: massive amounts of government, tax, banking and property data vulnerable to destruction and abuse should Russian invaders get their hands on it.

Since the day Russia launched its invasion Feb. 24, Amazon has been working closely with the Ukrainian government to download essential data and ferry it out of the country in suitcase-sized solid-state computer storage units called Snowball Edge, then funneling the data into Amazon’s cloud computing system.

“This is the most technologically advanced war in human history,” said Mykhailo Federov, Ukraine’s 31-year-old vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, referring not just to weapons, but data, too. “AWS’s leadership made a decision that saved the Ukrainian government and economy.”

Amazon’s Ukraine effort, including data transfer via the “Snowballs,” as they’re called, has cost about $75 million so far. Federov, speaking at a tech conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, called it “priceless.”

The data, 10 million gigabytes so far, represent “critical information infrastructure.

This is core for operation of the economy, of the tax system, of banks, and the government overall,” he said. The data also include property records whose safekeeping can help prevent theft of Ukrainian homes, businesses, and land.

Through history, in-

vaders have “come in and staged fake referendum and parceled out the land to their chums,” said Liam Maxwell, head of government transformation at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s highly profitable cloud computing arm. “That kind of thing has been happening since William the Conquerer.”

The Odessa Journal newspaper reported last June that residents of occupied Mariupol whose homes had been destroyed were being moved into the homes of citizens who had fled the area, and were being forced to locate those who left and pressure them to “cooperate” in some fashion with the Russians.

Maxwell, who’s based in London, had already been working with Ukraine for years when it became clear by January 2022 that Russia

planned to attack the country.

At the time, Ukrainian law required the majority of government data and certain private data to be housed on servers in Ukraine. In February, parliament changed that law to allow the information transfer. On Feb. 24, the day of the invasion, Maxwell met for lunch with Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko at the Ukraine Embassy in London.

They sketched out with pen and paper a list of the most essential data: the population register; land and property ownership records; tax payment records; bank records; education registries; anti-corruption databases, and more. The project involved 27 Ukrainian ministries, 18 Ukrainian universities, the country’s largest remote learning K–12 school serving

hundreds of thousands of displaced children, and dozens of other private sector companies including Ukraine’s largest private financial institution, PrivatBank.

The Snowball units, in their ruggedized gray containers, were flown from Dublin to Krakow in Poland. Then the Ukrainians “spirited these devices over the border into the Ukraine,” Maxwell said.

After the data downloads, much of the information is sent to the cloud over secure networks, and the Snowballs, loaded with up to 80 terabytes of encrypted data each, are shipped back to Amazon. For good reason, Maxwell doesn’t want to say where, but says “it’s a tense moment around the baggage carousel. Here’s government in a box, literally.”

Once it’s in the cloud and distributed around the world, everyone breathed easier. “You can’t take out the cloud with a cruise missile,” Maxwell said.

The mission required speed, organization,

and deep technical skill. Maxwell said Federov, “a man in a hurry,” ticked all the boxes.

Still, Amazon spent time training the Ukrainians on how the AWS system works. That free training has been extended to refugees in Poland and in other locations in Europe. There’s an upside for Amazon, in addition to recognition for its efforts: Maxwell notes that the program is equipping those refugees with crucial tech skills — and in the process expanding AWS’s talent base.

Amazon didn’t have to worry about its relationship with Russia on the Snowball project. It doesn’t have one. “We didn’t have anything to turn off there,” Maxwell said. “We had never invested there. It’s a point of principle.”

Since the project began, other countries have told Amazon they’re interested in out-of-the-country cloud backups of government data. Maxwell wouldn’t say which countries but noted keen interest from East Asia.

E15 ethanol blend might soon be available year-round

By CHRISTOPHER VONDRACEK Star Tribune/TNS

Carlisle Ford Runge at the University of Minnesota says he’s grown tired, even bored, with arguing against the expansion of the nation’s ethanol industry.

“It’s an article of faith [among politicians] in the Corn Belt,” said Runge, a professor of economics at the U, on Tuesday. “And it’s bipartisan.”

But power brokers’ desire to dramatically expand ethanol to fill gas tanks of the nation’s vehicles has once again galvanized attention in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a bill to peel back an ozone protection regulation, which currently prohibits summer sales of a high-blend of ethanol called E15.

Klobuchar called the move good for drivers and farmers alike, arguing the bill will “decrease prices at the pump, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

And just last week, U.S. House Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat whose district includes suburbs and farm country south of the metro area introduced a companion measure into the House, proposing to make the fuel blend available year-round.

The Environmental Protection Agency approved E15 for sales in 2011, but only a couple thousand stations across 30 states sell it, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center.

Moreover, the blend is approved only for engines manufactured after 2001, and it’s largely sold only between Sept. 16 and May 31, due to concerns under the Clean Air Act that the fuel produces more carcinogenic particles in the air.

But this year, the Biden Administration allowed year-round sales to assuage farm economy fears caused by the war in Ukraine’s impact on the world’s energy supply.

The measure, which has bipartisan cosponsors, including Minnesota Republicans Michelle Fischbach and Brad Finstad, would permanently open the fuel to a market during the nation’s busy warm-weather months.

“E15 creates opportunities for our family farmers, supports growth in rural America and lowers prices at the pump for Minnesotans,” Craig said in a statement.

In 2018, the Trump administration similarly sought to approve

year-round sales, downplaying environmental concerns about smog, when its EPA director allowed summertime E15. But a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., blocked that ruling, saying the EPA had overstepped its authority. Only Congress could make such a change.

Allowing higher ethanol blends in the summer has long been supported by agriculture lobbies. Last week, Craig announced support from a range of groups, including the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Renewable Fuel Association and Minnesota Farm Bureau, who said the measure will help rural economies, reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and limit air pollution.

In an April roundtable with Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., Gary Wertish, president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, echoed some of the same sentiments, scratching his chin at why E10 (a blend of 90%

gasoline and 10% ethanol) is allowable under the EPA’s regulations, but not, say, a blend of 10.5%.

“As a farmer, it’s hard understanding why E15 makes the smog issue in the summertime,” Wertish said in April. “We really need to push the EPA on that.”

The U.S. began encouraging the shift to gasoline-ethanol blends in the 1970s when the nation grappled with similar economic woes as today, including rampant inflation. Ethanol

blends were seen as a way to offer a domestic source to compete with international oil cartels in the face of rising fuel costs.

While most of the gasoline burned in light-duty vehicles today in the U.S. contains ethanol, very few gas stations carry E15.

Many critics of the ethanol industry argue the science hasn’t changed.

“Ethanol is one of the most greenwashed fuels ever,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, an environmental engineering professor at Stanford University. “Don’t claim you’re helping the climate. Don’t claim you’re helping air pollution.”

In a 2007 paper, Jacobson suggested that the use of E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) would lead to more hospitalizations in urban areas such as Los Angeles.

In an interview with the Star Tribune, Jacobson said the smarter move would be to expand consumers’ access to electric vehicles, which lack the fuel-burning emissions associated with the in-

ternal combustion engine. He also cast doubt on clean-air arguments about higher ethanol blends.

“There is little difference between ethanol and gasoline — they’re both bad for air pollution,” Jacobson said.

The industry has batted back such criticism, pointing to friendlier studies. According to a 2014 study from Life Cycle Associates, a California-based consulting firm, while E15 increases emissions of cancer-causing toxins, such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, it also displaces other toxins, such as the carcinogen benzene, compared with E10.

And with leaders of both political parties looking for a fix from Washington, it appears the nation’s gas pumps may soon be offering higher blends.

This past spring, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz joined other farm state governors in urging the Biden administration to extend year-round sales of E15. Just this month, the White House reportedly has taken up the request.

You can’t take out the cloud with a cruise missile.

— Liam Maxwell, Amazon Web Services

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Journalism that makes a difference

Respect for Marriage Act and its impact on Kansas

The Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) provides stronger federal safeguards for married same-sex couples in Kansas. Bipartisan majorities passed it through Congress and President Joe Biden recently signed it into law.

You might think that marriage is a settled debate. However, as recent politics shows, conservatives in the politics industry are prioritizing the culture war beyond just abortion, especially targeting transgender children and gay and lesbian Americans.

In our recent Kansas gubernatorial election, Republicans dedicated entire campaign advertisements to transgender students playing sports, hyping that issue above water, energy, or certain key economic matters.

In October, Republicans promoted a false British tabloid story about supposed taxpayer-funded drag shows in Kansas. On Twitter, Senator Roger Marshall used that story to validate homophobic stereotypes of gay people as sexual predators “grooming” children.

This past summer, conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged the court to “reconsider” past rulings that legalized contraception (Griswold), same-sex sexual relations (Lawrence), and same-sex marriage (Obergefell).

Patrick Miller Insight Kansas

so don’t expect conservatives to allow a marriage ban repeal vote anytime soon.

Kansas law also criminalizes sex between consenting same-sex adults, making it a misdemeanor punishable by six months incarceration.

The 2003 Lawrence decision makes this law unenforceable, but Kansas conservatives have repeatedly refused to repeal the law.

The RMA doesn’t address state laws regulating sex, but it does guarantee federal recognition to same-sex marriages. Simplifying things, it also clarifies that the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution requires that marriages in one state must be recognized in others, including same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, it gives explicit exemptions for religious non-profits that oppose samesex relationships.

Though it goes against the ideology of most Kansans today, the Kansas Constitution bans same-sex marriage. Don’t expect legislators to move to change that law.

How does the RMA fit into this mounting conservative emphasis on LGBT people?

And, what does that mean for gay and lesbian Kansans, especially the estimated 4,000 same-sex married couples in Kansas?

LET’S START with Kansas law.

The Kansas Constitution contains an unenforceable provision banning same-sex marriage. Much has changed since voters approved this in 2005. Young people, including young Republicans, generally support same-sex marriage in surveys, and no Kansans under roughly age 35 today voted on that ban.

Repealing this marriage ban requires the legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

Conservatives realize that most Kansans today support same-sex marriage — roughly 60-ish percent in most surveys since 2017. They know how you would vote on this,

So, what if Thomas prevails on marriage and sex, and Kansas changes no laws?

Kansas government could stop issuing marriage licenses to samesex couples and might try nullifying existing marriage licenses issued here.

Thanks to the RMA, though, same-sex couples willing and able to travel could marry in another state and Kansas would have to recognize those marriages. However, it would still be illegal for same-sex spouses to have sex in Kansas.

Most Kansans agree that the ideology of big government conservatism that desires to regulate marriage and sex among two consenting adults is outdated.

Conservative politicians are playing to a narrow strain of identity politics on the political right with their positions on these issues.

That political game comes at the expense of average gay and lesbian Kansans that these positions risk harming. If that’s not you, maybe it’s a friend or loved one. That’s not what most Kansans want in 2022, but it’s up to average Kansans to hold politicians accountable on that.

And so it begins: Pre-filed bills target Kansas courts, free speech

There’s an old joke about the Kansas Legislature: When I die, I want to die in the Capitol building, because nothing’s ever really dead under the dome.

It’s a commentary on zombie bills and the same ideas that keep coming back to life year after year, no matter how badly they stink up the place or how many times they get rejected.

This year, two of the dumbest ideas of the past few several years are already pre-filed as new bills for lawmakers to take up when they come back to session in January.

The award for most egregious waste of legislative resources and staff time goes to Rep. Brett Fairchild, R-St. John, for his House Bill 2001 — another misguided missile aimed at the Kansas Supreme Court. The bill would add “attempting to usurp the power of the legislative or executive branch of government” to the list of impeachable offenses for Supreme Court justices.

I first covered this turkey in 2016, when it passed the Senate by a single vote and died in the House. It was a bad idea then and it hasn’t improved with age.

In fact, twice in the past six months, the voters of Kansas have rejected proposals to expand the Legislature’s power over the other two branches of government.

The first time was the August vote against the anti-abortion “Value them Both” amendment, that sought to override medical privacy rights that the Supreme Court justices had

Dion Lefler

Wichita Eagle

ruled are embedded in the Kansas Constitution.

The second was in November, when voters rejected Constitutional Amendment 1, which sought to allow the Legislature to override rules enacted by the governor and state regulatory agencies.

What part of “No” does this Legislature not get?

The part of this that would be funny, if it wasn’t so dangerous, is that every time legislators try a power grab, they claim they deserve authority over the other branches because they’re “closest to the people.”

If that’s true, why are they so dead set on overturning the will of the people?

ANOTHER previously rejected and ridiculously bad idea in pre-filed bills is Senate Bill 1, by Sen. Mark Steffen, R-Hutchinson. It seeks to regulate social media networks’ terms of service to prohibit the removal of any post that “provides political information or expression.”

It’s a response to complaints that social media platforms target conservatives for censorship.

I don’t know about you, but I get plenty of conservative content in my Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Steffen’s bill, if passed, would stop social media

platforms from blocking fake news, foreign propaganda, unfounded political attacks and dangerously bogus medical advice — as if we need more of any of that on social media.

You might remember Steffen, who came under investigation by the Board of Healing Arts for prescribing a medically worthless treatment for COVID-19 — and then held up redistricting until after the Senate passed a bill (that died in the House) to restrict the board’s authority on investigating unprofessional conduct.

Steffen tried to get his social media bill passed last year and it died in committee, which is better than it deserved.

Texas and Florida have passed similar laws (of course) and they’ve been tied up in court ever since.

Social media companies argue (correctly) that it violates the First Amendment to force private businesses to host reprehensible content that neither they nor their customers want.

Even the U.S. Supreme Court, as conservative-friendly as it is these days, sided with the companies. The High Court has blocked the Texas law from being implemented as it wends its way through lower courts.

So two things need to happen here: 1) the Kansas Legislature needs to quit trying to steal power from other branches of government and 2) Hard-line conservatives need to quit being such a bunch of whiny snowflakes and behave themselves on social media.

Garner: Lighting tradition became contest

where

festivities were located. The next year when Christmas was once again held in town (Iola), Mitch decided to decorate a few trees in the front yard. It got some attention being so close to Casey's convenience store.

Every year when the lights would go up the children who happened to be lucky enough to be in the foster care and day care were treated to the magical glow of Christmas. Putting up the tree and that wonderful anticipation of Christmas always began with digging out the lights and the Christmas tree.

In the years following while Mitch and his wife, Donita, have lived on South Third Street, Mitch decided to go full Griswold (from the “Chrismtas Vacation” movie) several years in a row with the assistance of his friends, Brian Ulrich and Steve Taylor. They were able to “stripe” the house with Christmas lights

front to back and were even featured in the Iola Register because of the Griswold similarity.

Soon the competition was on with Brian living down the road. They competed to see who could get their lights up first and who would have the most lights.

Any given Christmas you would find Brian, Steve and Mitch putting up each other’s lights.

Maybe even a few times they would prank each other and unplug a few lights.

Over the years things have changed. Mitch’s Grandma Lena passed away in 2012 and then his mother, Edna, died the following year in 2013.

The tradition of putting up the lights and decorating the yard has continued with the as-

sistance of their children Grace and William.

One addition to the holiday season is Mitch putting up a single strand of Christmas lights at the Highland Cemetery on the headstones of his mom and grandmother.

He also takes a can of their favorite soda to toast in the new holiday season and thinks of the wonderful holidays of the years past and how they taught him how to appreciate what you have whether you have a little or a lot — family and those who are your family at the moment — mean the most.

‘Suesspicious’ driver cited

PHOENIX (AP)

— The Grinch came early for an Arizona driver who tried to pass off an inflatable figure of the Dr. Seuss character as a passenger.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety says a state trooper last week noticed a car in a high-occupancy vehicle lane on Interstate 10 in Phoenix with a “Seusspicious-looking” green passenger.

While the gag may have caused the officer’s heart to grow, it did not stop the driver from getting cited for being in the HOV lane during a restricted time.

The agency, however, could not help but post a photo of the Grinch figure with the driver’s face blurred on its Twitter account.

Officials say they appreciate the “festive flair” but that the driver’s action was still illegal.

Continued from

Mitch Garner decorates the gravestones of his mother and grandmother, and takes a can of their favorite soda for an annual toast. COURTESY PHOTOS

The Garner house in all its festive glory.

Assembly Of God

1020 E. Carpenter, Iola

Pastor Paul Miller

Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. special service

St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church

202 S. Walnut, Iola

Deacon Oliver Bunker

Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. - holy eucharist will be served Christmas Day - 10 a.m. service

First Presbyterian Church

302 E. Madison, Iola

Rev. Dan Davis

Christmas Eve - 7 p.m., with special music and children’s service

Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service

Sunday Soups - noon, with special Christmas fare. All are invited.

Colony Christian Church

306 N. Maple St., Colony

Pastor Chase Riebel

Christmas Eve - 5 p.m. candlelight service Christmas Day - 10:45 a.m. service

Carlyle Presbyterian Church

29 Covert St., Carlyle

Pastor Steve Traw

Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service with special music from Pastor Traw’s extended family Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service, “Re ections on Christmas”

Faith Assembly of God

1019 N. 9th St., Humboldt

Pastor Cameron Carter Christmas Eve – 6 p.m. service Christmas Day – 10:30 a.m. service

Midpoint Baptist Church

3965 US Highway 54, Moran

Pastor Mathew Kalmeta Sunday, Dec. 18 - 10:30 a.m.,

Children’s Christmas play Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m., special Christmas service

Grace Lutheran Church 117 E. Miller Rd., Iola

Pastor Bruce Kristalyn Christmas Eve - 7 p.m. special service Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Harvest Baptist Church

2001 N. State St., Iola

Pastor Tony Godfrey Christmas Day - A family-style Christmas - 10:30 a.m.

First Baptist Church 118 N. 7th St., Humboldt

Pastor Jerry Neely Dec. 18 - Children’s Christmas program, 7 p.m. Dec. 23 - caroling at 3 p.m. to visit Arrowood Lane followed by visiting shut-ins

Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. candlelight communion service Christmas Day, 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 10:45 a.m. church service

Humboldt United Methodist Church 806 N. Ninth St., Humboldt Rev. Blake Stanwood Christmas Eve - 5 p.m. candlelight service at Big Creek Chapel, 22956 Lyon Rd., Chanute 7 p.m. candlelight service at Humboldt UMC Christmas Day - 10 a.m. joint service of the two churches.

St. Martin’s Catholic Church

1368 Xylan Rd., Piqua

Father David Michael Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

St. John’s Catholic Church

310 S. Je erson, Iola

Father David Michael Christmas Eve Service - 8 p.m.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church

105 E. Bell St., Yates Center

Father David Michael Christmas Day - 8:30 a.m. service

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

910 Amos St., Humboldt

Pastor Matthew Jennings Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. children’s service Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service

Waypoint Church 329 S. 1st St., Iola

Pastor David Sturgeon Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service Christmas Day - 11 a.m. service

Community Church of the Nazarene

1235 N. Walnut St., Iola

Pastor Kelly Klubek Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service Christmas Day - 10:45 a.m. service

Wesley United Methodist Church

301 E. Madison Ave., Iola

Rev. Jocelyn Tupper

Dec. 18 - Christmas Cantata, 5 p.m., followed by soup supper for all. Christmas Eve - 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. services Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service

First Baptist Church

801 N. Cottonwood, Iola

Pastor Travis Hoyt

Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Iola boys start fast in blowout over Prairie View

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

Iola High coach Luke Bycroft knew if his boys basketball team was going to have a chance at beating Prairie View on Thursday, they would need a good practice under their belts.

The Mustangs (3-3) practiced hard on Wednesday and showed up ready to play on Thursday when they took down the Buffalos of Prairie View, 61-41. The Iola girls (1-5) weren’t so fortunate in their matchup as they fell behind big in the second half in a 4029 loss.

Girls Basketball

The Iola girls kept it a close game in the first half but couldn’t hold on and make enough shots in the second in the 11-point loss to Prairie View.

The Mustang defense held tight in the first half, limiting the Buffalos to 15 points.

In the first quarter, Aysha Houk went for a pair of layups and a free throw. Kaysin Crusinbery also added a two-point basket.

“We make it a point that we can’t have just one person scoring for us, it has to be a team effort,” said Iola interim head coach Ali Peters. “We did a better job tonight getting the ball to our posts and they were able to turn

and make some moves. Our shots just weren’t falling. We had really good looks at the basket but they just weren’t going in.”

The Buffalos were led by Abby Kirkpatrick’s pair of early three-pointers in the first quarter, giving Prairie View a slight lead. Maddi Baker also went underneath for a layup and a free throw.

The Buffalos led 13-7 heading to the second quarter.

Iola got four points in the

second quarter from Houk and Keira Fawson and played great defense, limiting Prairie View to one basket, a two-pointer by Baker.

Iola trailed Prairie View at halftime, 15-11.

The Mustang defense hurt them in the third quarter when they allowed the Buffalos to score 13 points, including a pair of three’s delivered from KJ Gregg. Baker also added a pair of layups and Kally Stroup put up a

SCC girls prevail; boys fall to Hartford

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

HARTFORD — The Southern Coffey County High boys and girls had different outcomes at Hartford Thursday night.

The Lady Titans (4-2) played a complete game and hustled on both ends of the floor in a 54-41 victory over the Jaguars. The Titan boys (1-5) were dominated in all facets of the game in a 75-27 defeat to Hartford.

Girls Basketball

Southern Coffey County’s Josie Weers and Jalea True were the story of the night, each scoring in double figures to lead the Lady Titans.

True sparked the Southern Coffey scoring when she banked in a trio of layups while Weers went for a couple of layups and Ross Snovelle buried a three-pointer. Hartford was paced by Tobye Sull’s three-pointer and pair of layups. SCC led Hartford heading to the second, 1310.

Weers stepped outside for a three-pointer in the second quarter to go along with her pair of layups. True went underneath for a trio of layups and Snovelle added a two-point basket for the Lady Titans to extend their lead.

Hartford’s Sull sisters — Tobye and Sydney — com -

bined for a pair of three’s in the second quarter while Aubrey Finnerty scored a layup.

Southern Coffey led Hartford at halftime, 28-20.

Southern Coffey County came out firing in the second half as Weers knocked down a three, a two-pointer and a trio of free throws. Snovelle also chipped in with a three and True went underneath for a layup.

Hartford received their third quarter points from T. Sull hitting a pair of layups and a three as well as Keilee Finnerty with a pair of layups. The Lady Titans led the Jaguars heading to the fourth quarter, 41-32.

Weers couldn’t be stopped by Hartford in the fourth quarter when she was fouled and knocked down a trio of free throws as well as hitting a couple two-point baskets. True added a layup and a free throw and Karley Ohl also went in for a layup.

The Lady Titans held Hartford to only three shots from the floor in the fourth quarter as K. Finnerty nailed a three and S. Sull scored a pair of layups. Southern Coffey County’s defense helped them hang on for the 54-41 victory.

Weers led Southern Cof -

two-pointer to extend Prairie View’s advantage.

“We definitely had more momentum in the first half. I don’t think we necessarily backed off as much as they started making a lot of shots,” Peters said. “Unfortunately, our shots just weren’t falling on offense so it made it look like they were doing more than we were.”

Fawson went for a layup and Houk knocked down a couple free throws for the

only Iola points of the third quarter. Iola trailed Prairie View heading to the fourth, 28-15.

The Mustangs outscored the Buffalos, 14-12, in the fourth quarrer but it wasn’t enough. Houk was fouled and hit five free throws, Karington Hall hit a couple of two-pointers and a pair of free throws and Fawson went for another layup.

Prairie View attacked in the fourth with Kirkpatrick’s pair of layups and free throw and Stroup’s layup and pair of free throws. Iola finished the game behind Prairie View, 40-29.

Houk led the Mustangs with 14 points, followed by Hall and Fawson’s six points apiece.

Iola (9-11-17—29) (FG/3ptFT-F-TP): Houk 3-8-2-14, Hall 2-2-4-6, Fager 0-0-3-0, Clift 0-01-0, Fawson 3-0-1-6, Crusinbery 1-0-3-2, Curry 0-1-3-1.

Prairie View (10/4-8-16— 40) (FG/3pt)-FT-F-TP): Kirkpatrick 2/2-1-1-11, Allen 0-02-0, Baker 4-1-2-9, Bloodgood 1-3-3-5, Stroup 2-2-4-6, Gregg 0/2-1-1-7.

Boys Basketball

The Mustangs raced to an 11-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game behind the play of Landon Weide and Eli Adams and a tough defensive effort that forced a number

Humboldt Middle School girls and boys host Eureka

HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt Middle School boys and girls basketball teams matched up with Eureka on Thursday night.

The Cubs boys A team easily toppled Eureka, 50-22, while the boys B team slipped to the Tornadoes, 33-18. The girls A team lost to Eureka, 28-24, while the girls B team beat Eureka, 24-7.

Basketball

Girls

The Lady Cubs were led offensively by Jo Ellison’s 12 points and six rebounds while Lakyn Meadows scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Hadley Galloway also went for three points.

The Lady Cubs led the Tornadoes at halftime, 11-10.

Bailey Daniels also chipped in two points.

Eureka pulled away by four points to take the victory, 28-24.

“The inability to get back on defense and a lack of rebounding cost us this game. We definitely felt like it was one we should have won,” said Humboldt head coach Scott Brady.

The girls B team ran through Eureka, 24-7.

Daniels contributed six points, followed by Jordan Hencey and Kaydence Whitworth’s four points apiece.

Jetta Mathews, Nahla Jenkins, Carlie Weilert, Leah Carman and Hadley Galloway each went underneath

for two points apiece.

“I’m proud of them for the win but we have a lot we can do better on both ends of the floor,” Brady said.

Boys Basketball

The Humboldt boys A team took care of Eureka, 50-22.

The Cubs defense was solid, they shot the ball well, and were physical on the boards where they combined for 25 rebounds.

Collin Cook and Kreed Jones led Humboldt with 16 and 10 points, respectively.

Conner Newman and Thatcher Mueller added on eight and six points, respectively. Jones went three-of-four from three-point distance and Newman was perfect from the floor.

“We were much better on both sides of the ball tonight,” said Humboldt head coach Jeremy Weilert. “We were much more aggressive on the boards and we shot the ball much better. We are now 3-1 on the season.”

Cook also led on the board where he snatched nine rebounds, followed by Mueller’s four rebounds and Kage Daniels and Broc Ivy’s three rebounds apiece. Cook and Mueller also came up big on defense where they each snatched two steals.

Overall, Humboldt outrebounded Eureka, 25-13.

The Cubs Middle boys B

Iola High’s Mac Leonard (10) drives into the lane against Prairie View defenders in a 61-41 home victory over Prairie View on Thursday. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Southern Coffey County High’s Karley Ohl (23) goes against Crest’s McKenna Hammond (20) in a Dec. 1 matchup. REGISTER/ QUINN BURKITT

MV Junior High hosts Yates Center

MORAN — Marmaton Valley Junior High and Yates Center Middle School faced off on the hardwood, Wildcat Style, Thursday evening.

In boys play, Yates Center rolled to a 48-9 win in A team action, while Marmaton Valley prevailed 25-20 in B team play and 12-2 in the C team game.

“The B team had a gritty comeback,” Marmaton Valley head coach Byron Marshall said. “Our A team worked hard against a good Yates Center team.”

In girls play, Yates Center won, 23-13, in the A team matchup, while Marmaton Valley emerged with a 6-4 win in the B team contest.

“Our A team lost, but we are extremely proud of how we played tonight against a great team,” Marmaton Valley assistant coach Brenda Mills said.

IN BOYS play, Yates Center’s Mason Collins was a dominating force for the visitors, pouring in 20 points through three quarters, while teammate Evan McVey added 11. Ben Cook scored seven, Jake Howard added four, Gavin Busteed three, Jordan Bishop two and

Jeremiah Jones 1. Kris McVey scored four to lead the Marmaton Valley A team. Lane Lord had a 3-pointer and Colin Ard scored two.

Howard and Jones both scored six to pace the YC B team. Braxton Rutherford added four, Asher Arnold two and Kaidan Cuppy and Brogan McConaghie one apiece.

Truett Blevins led Marmaton Valley’s C team with four points.

Kooper Welch, Hunter Berntsen, Corbin Bowers and Jay Henry added two points each. McConaghie scored YC’s only C team bucket.

IN GIRLS play, Yates Center’s Mylin Tidd scored 11 points in the A team win. Cayten Cummings and Jayda Rice added six and four points, respectively. Austyn Olson added a field goal.

Marmaton Valley’s A team was led by Mahala Burris, who scored six. Andie Carr followed with four Emma Michael scored two and Addisyn Drake one.

Carr scored four and Michael two in the B team game for Marmaton Valley. Kaelynne Moore and Mirandi Sorenson both scored two points for Yates Center.

SCC: Girls prevail, boys fall to Hartford

Continued from B1

fey County with 26 points and 19 rebounds, followed by True’s 17 points and 15 rebounds. After six games, Weers is averaging 19.3 points and 13.7 rebounds per game this season.

Southern Coffey County (17/4-8-10—54) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Snovelle 1-2-1-2-9, Houston 0-0-1-0, Weers 7/2-6-2-26, Ohl 1-0-3-2, True 8-1-2-6.

Hartford (9/6-5-18— 41) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): K. Finnerty 2/1-2-4-9, Winde 0-1-5-1, S. Sull 2/2-0-0-10, T. Sull 4/3-25-19, A. Finnerty 1-0-4-2.

Basketball

Boys

The Titans were able to spread the ball more than they had early in the season and had numerous scorers but the defensive pressure was not enough, allowing Hartford to run away with a 75-27 victory.

Trey Winn dribbled in for a layup and AJ DeAnda sank a trio of free throws in the opening quarter for Southern Coffey County. Hartford

responded with nine points from Hayden Trester after he knocked down a three and went for another trio of twopoint buckets.

Duncan Baker also scored six points in the first quarter and Southern Coffey County trailed Hartford at the end of the first quarter, 24-5.

Titans Kaiden Boling and Thomas Nickel each went underneath for a layup while DeAnda hit four free throws. The Jaguars answered with Ali Smith going for eight points including a three and a pair of layups while Tysin Bulson and Trester each banked in a layup and a pair of free throws.

Southern Coffey County trailed Hartford at halftime, 43-16.

Nickel was the only Titan to touch the scoreboard in the third quarter when he drove in for a pair of layups and a free throw. Hartford’s Keenan Renfrow notched two layups and a pair of free throws and

Baker banked in a trio of two-pointers. SCC trailed at the end of the third, 64-21.

Southern Coffey County was put to bed in the fourth quarter when DeAnda hit a three, a two-pointer and a free throw for the only Titan points of the quarter.

The Jaguars capped the game with Ashton Goodman hitting a trio of two’s and Kevin Goza being good from threepoint distance to end the game at a final score of 75-27 in favor of Hartford.

Southern Coffey County (6/1-12-18—27) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Higdon 0-1-3-1, Winn 1-0-3-2, DeAnda 1/1-8-3-13, Bol-

ing 1-0-0-2, Newton 0-03-0, Glue 1-0-4-0, Nickel 3-3-2-9.

Hartford (24/4-12-20— 75) (FG/3pt.-FT-F-TP): Blankley 0/1-0-4-3, Smith 3/1-1-0-10, Goza 1/1-1-2-6, Goodman 3-0-4-6, Balson 3-2-3-8, Trester 5/1-4-0-17, Baker 6-0-1-12, Pohl 0-0-30, Wilson 1-1-0-3, Renfrow 2-4-2-8, Smith 1-0-1-2.

Above, Marmaton Valley Junior High’s Ethan Lawson (14) has his shot impeded by Yates Center defender Mason Collins Thursday. Below, Marmaton Valley’s Mary Burris dribbles while under duress from a Yates Center defender. PHOTOS BY HALIE LUKEN/MVHS

Humboldt: Middle hoops

Continued from B1

team lost to Eureka, 3318.

Humboldt had eight players score points but turned the ball over 20 times and shot only 23.3% from the floor.

Emmitt Carson and Owen Sicka led with three points apiece.

Bryer Grisier and Cy-

ler Mason went one-oftwo from the floor.

Humboldt outrebounded Eureka, 2518. Carson and Grisier each grabbed five rebounds while Cooper Peters snatched four and Zander Roudybush and Kolton Hanson each went up for three rebounds.

The 20 turnovers

hurt the Cubs immensely as Nathan Seibert and Grisier each tossed up four turnovers to give Eureka more possessions and chances at the hoop.

The Humboldt Middle School basketball teams return to action against Neodesha on Thursday, Jan. 5.

Las Vegas Bowl nearing

LAS VEGAS (AP)

— No. 17 Oregon State rolls into the Las Vegas Bowl off a victory over rival Oregon, with six wins in seven games and the chance to make school history.

Only two Beavers teams have reached double-digit wins, the first time in 2000 when

Jonathan Smith was the quarterback.

Now Smith is the Beavers’ coach and hopes to achieve 10 victories for the first time since 2006, which Oregon State (9-3) will reach if it beats Florida (6-6) on Saturday.

“That’s the No. 1 thing, get the 10th

win,” Oregon State right guard Brandon Kipper said. “We’ve talked about it all week. We’ve talked about it all season. Getting that 10th win is a big deal, especially in Oregon State history.”

Oregon State faces

FLINT HILLS TECHNICAL COLLEGE

AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY INSTRUCTOR

Flint Hills Technical College is seeking a highly motivated and innovative instructor for their expanding Automotive Technology program in LaHarpe, KS. This is an additional full-time position starting August 3, 2023. The program offers technical skills training for automotive repair and maintenance careers, while giving the instructor the opportunity to work in an ever-changing and exciting field. This full-time, 9-month position offers a competitive salary, commensurate with experience and education level, KPERS retirement plan, paid health insurance, as well as options for dental, vision, life, accident, cancer, and disability insurance. Enjoy holidays and summers off with a flexible workweek schedule.

The ideal candidate will have, or be willing to obtain, ASE certifications including A1-A8, G1, and L1, as well as experience working in an automotive service and repair shop. A minimum of an Associate Degree (or willing to obtain) in Automotive Technology, or a related field, plus either 2 years of related work experience or teaching in the automotive field, is required. The successful candidate needs to have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as be able to successfully complete a criminal background check. Bilingual applicants encouraged to apply.

Applications will be taken until the position is filled.

To apply, please go to my.fhtc.edu and click on the Careers tab, or feel free to provide a cover letter and resume via email to Sandy Weeks, Director of Human Resources at saweeks@fhtc.edu . Call 620.341.1384 for job details.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Flint Hills Technical College is an EEO employer.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Allen Community College is seeking an individual to assist with performing college-wide technical leadership along with advanced system development and technical duties on multiple platforms, systems or technologies.

Bachelor’s degree and four years of experience or equivalent technical certi cates

To apply by email submit cover letter, resume, and application (on website) to: Shellie Regehr, HR, Allen Community College, 1801 N. Cottonwood, Iola, KS 66749 hr@allencc.edu • EOE

COMPTROLLER

Excellent

Director of Talent Search Project Salary: $35,000 - $40,000

Director of Development Salary: $50,000 - $60,000

Assistant Director of Residence & Student Life Salary: $23,000 - $28,000

STARS Math Specialist Salary: $30,160 - $34,600

Safety Officer Part-time Minimum starting wage: $15.50 Assistant Spirit Coach Salary: $21,000

USD #256 ANNOUNCES BOARD VACANCY

Board of Education of USD 256, Marmaton Valley, announces a vacancy on the board for a resident living in the district.

620-223-2380.

Berlin hotel’s aquarium bursts, unleashing mayhem

BERLIN (AP) —

A huge 50-foot high aquarium in Berlin burst, spilling debris, water and hundreds of tropical fish out of the AquaDom tourist attraction in the heart of the German capital early Friday.

Police said parts of the building, which

also contains a hotel, cafes and a chocolate store, were damaged as 264,000 gallons of water poured from the aquarium shortly before 6 a.m. Berlin’s fire service said two people were slightly injured.

The company that owns the AquaDom, Union Investment Real

Estate, said in a statement Friday afternoon that the reasons for the incident were “still unclear.”

Mayor Franziska Giffey said the tank had unleashed a “veritable tsunami” of water but the early morning timing had prevented far more in-

juries.

“Despite all the destruction, we were still very lucky,” she said. “We would have had terrible human damage” had the aquarium burst even an hour later, once more people were awake and in the hotel and the surrounding area, she said.

Iola: Boys start fast to defeat Prairie View

of contested shots and turnovers.

“We came out and had a really good mindset of how we were going to attack defensively,” said Iola head coach Luke Bycroft. “They’re young, so we knew getting into our press would speed them up early, get some turnovers and get our offense running a bit and it did. We had a great practice yesterday. It helped a lot leading into the game today and really set the tone.”

Weide struck early with nine points in the first quarter, including a three and a trio of two-point baskets. Mac Leonard also found his shot when he knocked down a pair of three’s and Cortland Carson went underneath for a pair of layups.

Iola held Prairie View in check early, holding the Buffaloes to only four points in the opening quarter. Garrett Pinkerton went for a layup for the only points from the floor in the quarter.

Heading into the second quarter, Iola led Prairie View, 27-4.

Mustang Ben Kerr went under for a layup while Leonard hit a couple of free throws to pace the team in the second quarter. Prairie View’s Parker Schwarz hit a couple of layups and Kooper Konitzer stepped outside for a three pointer.

Iola led Prairie View at halftime, 31-18.

The Mustangs kept their intensity in the second half. Eli Adams knocked down a three and went for a couple of layups. Weide went for a trio of layups and Hurst scored a pair of two-point baskets in the third quarter.

“They’ve learned to get into really good positions,” Bycroft said. “We like to be really aggressive. Landon especially, his best attribute is his head for the game and

his understanding. Eli’s best attribute is his 9,000 miles per hour speed.”

Justin Fleer helped the Buffaloes bring the game closer when he went in for a layup and hit five free throws to lead his team’s scoring in the third. Gabe Murillo hit a trey and Konitzer and Pinkerton each dribbled underneath for layups. Iola led heading to the fourth, 48-34.

Iola’s Grady Dougherty finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter when he banked in a pair of layups. Hurst also hit a trio of free throws and Leonard hit a two-point basket to help the Mustangs pull away by 20 points late.

The Mustang defense held Prairie View to only a few baskets in the final quarter when Mason Mitzner hit a threepointer and Joseph Sramek and Murillo each went for layups.

Iola pulled away to grab the 61-41 victory.

“Prairie View is a physical team and they are built for football,”

said Bycroft. “They play this style all the time, they always have big bodies. It’s more controlled around the basket physically but it is a physical game and they make it a challenge rebounding.”

Weide led the Iola scoring attack with 17 points, hitting seven two-point baskets and a three. Adams and Leonard each finished with 10 points, combining for a trio of three’s. Hurst was solid underneath the basket and put up nine points, including a trio of two-pointers.

Iola has the rest of the year off and will pick back up when they tipoff at Fort Scott on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m.

Iola (21/4-7-14—61) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Weide 7/1-0-2-17, Adams 3/1-1-3-10, Hurst 3-3-1-9, Leonard 1-2-2-1-10, Carson 2-1-3-5, Dougherty 3-0-3-6, Maier 1-0-1-2.

Prairie View (13/3-1015—41) (FG/3pt-FT-FTP): Mitzner 1/1-1-4-6, Konitzer 1/1-1-4-6, Murillo 1/1-0-1-5, Sramek 2-0-0-4, Fleer 1-6-0-8,

Pinkerton 3-0-3-6, Schwarz 4-2-2-6.

Freshmen Boys

The Iola freshmen boys team knocked off Prairie View, 41-24.

Mustang Nick Bauer led the scoring charge with 16 points, including five two-point baskets and a pair of three’s. Jayden Beene and Easton Weseloh also chipped in six points apiece. Beene dribbled into the lane for a trio of layups.

Iola’s defense was stout and kept Prairie View in check. The Buffalo’s leading scorer was J. McGuire who finished with eight points. J. Law also chipped in five points.

Iola (15/2-5-14—41) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Bauer 5/2-0-2-16, Coffield 0-10-1, Kelley 2-0-3-4, Beene 3-0-2-6, Weseloh 2-2-1-6, Jones 1-0-0-2, Stevens 0-2-3-2, Tatman 3-0-2-4.

Prairie View (8-8-13— 24) (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Pate 1-0-3-2, Williams 0-0-1-0, McGure 4-0-2-8, Law 0-5-1-5, Bennett 1-02-2, Allen 1-2-2-4, Kline 1-1-0-3.

BLONDIE

MARVIN

HI AND LOIS

ZITS

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY

by Mort Walker

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

by Chris Browne FUNKY WINKERBEAN by Tom Batiuk

by Young and Drake

by Tom Armstrong

by Chance Browne

Iola’s Keira Fawson REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Las Vegas: Bowl pits No. 17 Oregon State and Florida

Florida quarterback

Jack Miller, who will make his first start of the season. Just a few weeks ago, he was No. 3 on the depth chart.

But starter Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL draft and backup Jalen Kitna was arrested on child-pornography charges and released from the program.

However, Miller might not be a typical No. 3. He was a touted transfer from Ohio State and likely No.

2 QB, but reportedly broke his thumb in preseason.

“You see a little different look in his eye,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “He’s excited about the opportunity to play, and he’s worked hard. He’s got the respect of his teammates.

I’m excited to watch him play.”

LAS VEGAS BOWL EXPERIENCE

It’s Florida’s first appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl, but not the first for wide receiver Ricky Pearsall.

He played for Arizo-

na State in last year’s game, catching four passes for 65 yards in a 20-13 loss to Wisconsin.

Pearsall said he shared his experiences with his Florida teammates.

“It’s Vegas, so it speaks for itself,” Pearsall said. “I feel like they do a really good job here with everybody on staff creating a good bowl environment. And, obviously, the stadium is beautiful.”

Pearsall leads the Gators with 596 yards and five touchdowns receiving. His 29 catches are tied for second on the

team.

STICKING AROUND Kipper considered stepping away from Oregon State after last season. He’d been there five years and earned his degree.

But the Beavers lost 24-13 to Utah State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl, and Kipper knew he had to return.

“I knew there was still unfinished business here,” Kipper said. “I really wanted to see this program make a full change before I left. So I felt coming back one more year, I had

the opportunity to contribute to that, to really leave an impact on the school. It was a very clear and easy choice to make.”

NOT SITTING OUT

Many players who declare for the NFL draft skip bowl games so they can prepare and lessen the chances of injury.

That’s not what Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. chose. He said it wasn’t a difficult decision to play in this game despite receiving a second-round grade by scouts.

“We earned the right

to play in this bowl game, and so I felt it was right for me to play one last game with my teammates and my brothers,” Dexter said.

A BIG DEAL

Oregon State has rewarded Smith with an new contract that takes him through the 2028 season. He will receive an annual guaranteed salary of $4.85 million beginning March 1, with the deal increasing by $100,000 each year.

The school also committed to additional money for assistant coaches.