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Downtown lights a little dimmer By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
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Square B 4-Hers earn awards PAGE A2
Boeing jets cleared to fly again PAGE A6
Downtown Iola won’t shine quite as brightly this holiday season due to a decision by local “elf,” Tracy Keagle, to forgo decorating the courthouse lawn with an array of colorfully lit trees and a giant snowman. Keagle has almost single-handedly orchestrated the elaborate display that has drawn passersby from afar these past several years. Keagle also instituted the tradition in Humboldt, which is on track to continue. The difference is that local volunteers and Humboldt city officials assumed responsibility for their lighting project. “Last year, I asked what I could do to help, and they
Holiday lights on the courthouse square in years past. FILE PHOTO just said, ‘Don’t worry. You’ve got other things to do. We got this,’” Keagle said Tuesday. THE ONGOING pandemic led to her decision to “stay dark” this year, she said.
As director of the nonprofit Humanity House, Keagle said her attention and energy has been focused on helping area families weather the effects of COVID-19, whether it be from illness or lost jobs.
College visits upended for seniors By TABITHA GRAHAM Iola Register intern
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the process for high school seniors to visit prospective colleges before committing to their future plans. Picking a college can be a daunting task. A senior might fall in love with its academics and activities, but also needs to consider the physical campus, such as how far they’ll need to walk, or run, to classes. “Seniors are at a disadvantage this year,” said Kelsey Johnson, counselor at Iola High School. Uncertainty is the word that best describes this year, she said. Seniors may be reluctant to visit a college because of the pandemic, and online Zoom visits do not capture the essence of a physical visit. Despite this, IHS seniors such as Hannah Gardner and Kailey Schinstock, keep applying.
“We spend all our time trying to keep people healthy, and doing what we can to keep people safe and warm and well,” Keagle said. “With this stupid virus going around, we just can’t do (the lights.)” Keagle said she had considered doing a smaller display this year that would have featured the Iola Area of Chamber of Commerce’s Santa House that’s placed each holiday season on the southeast corner of the square. But the Chamber will be using the house for Santa’s weekly visits, which Keagle had assumed would be called off, similar to the Humboldt Chamber’s decision, because of the pandemic. “It’s not that we don’t want the square lit up,” Keagle See LIGHTS | Page A5
City crews to pick up leaves By the Register Staff
Hannah Gardner, wearing a Florida State shirt. GARDNER, who hopes to study law, has applied to nine out-of-state colleges, including those in Florida, the Carolinas, Indiana, and Michigan. She has already been accepted to the University of Kansas
Kailey Schinstock.
and the University of Central Florida, and is waiting to hear from other schools. She has not visited any colleges yet, but she worries that she will have to quarantine after she visits even one of the
nine she has applied to. “I might have to do a virtual visit, which doesn’t give you the same effect. You want to see certain things, and they’re not going to show you everySee VISITS | Page A3
Iola city crews will pick up bagged leaves from the curbside starting Monday. The plan is to make one sweep through town to pick up the bags. Residents are not required to call ahead, but they must have the bags in place by Sunday evening. Only one sweep will be made through town. “It worked out well last year” doing it the three days prior to Thanksgiving, Iola Interim City Administrator Corey Schinstock told City Council members last week. City officials are eager to get the fallen foliage cleared away, because loose leaves are notorious for clogging storm water runoff lines and drainage whistles.
Commissioners debate what to do with remaining SPARK funds By TIM STAUFFER The Iola Register
For the second week in a row, county commissioners debated how best to spend unallocated SPARK funds awarded to Allen County. Earlier this summer, the county received $2.4 million from Kansas’s SPARK task force, which is responsible for distributing federal aid provided via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The vast majority of that money has been spent, but time is of the essence; if the remaining funds aren’t used by the end of the year, they must be returned to the federal government.
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Thrive CEO Lisse Regehr, left, and Becky Voorhies, Thrive’s director of health programs, review SPARK funding proposals with county commissioners. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER With that in mind, Thrive Allen County CEO Lisse Regehr approached commissioners Tuesday with what, she believes, is a “great way
to keep those federal dollars in our community.” Regehr recommended commissioners allocate $24,000 to buy three UVC cleaning and
disinfecting machines from Kneisley Manufacturing of Iola. The proposition arose, according to Regehr, after last week’s county commission meeting, when Regehr was approached by Mona Hull of Kids Kingdom, a childcare center in Iola. Hull asked Regehr if there was any way the county could help centers like Kids Kingdom sanitize their facilities and play areas. “Our local childcare centers have been hit particularly hard by COVID,” said Regehr, noting that many have had to either close temporarily or send teachers and students into quarantine. Regehr reported that Ron Hegeman, Kneisley’s COO,
has guaranteed the company could deliver three machines to The Growing Place of Humboldt, Kids Kingdom and Munchkinland and More, also of Iola, for $24,000. At $8,000 a machine, that’s a considerable discount from the standard price. “It’s a local product developed to protect against COVID,” Regehr told the Register. “The funding is there, and it’s just the right amount.” Commissioners, though, demurred. Both commissioners Jerry Daniels and Bruce Symes preferred to wait until a more complete account of expenditures and remaining funds could be provided by See COUNTY | Page A5
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