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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Forum cordial despite dearth of good news By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Monday night’s legislative forum was almost a good time. Among the good-sized crowd were lots of smiles, warm handshakes, and hearty thumps on the back. No matter the topic, most shook their heads in strong agreement. Trouble was, the news just stank. “I’m sorry to be all doom and gloom, but that’s how it is in Topeka,” said Rep. Kent Thompson, who serves the 9th district. Other legislators were Rep. Adam Lusker, D-Frontenac, and Sen. Caryn Tyons, RParker, as well as Allen County commissioners Jerry Daniels and Tom Williams. For the better part of two hours the three legislators were refreshingly honest about their struggles of serving in Topeka. “It boils down to people’s expectations of what they want from their government,” Thompson said. “If that includes good schools, prisons, hospitals, highways and social services, then we’ve got to be willing to pay for them. “As it is, it’s the goal of ultra-conservatives to starve
From left, Representatives Kent Thompson and Adam Lusker, and state Sen. Caryn Tyson, give their initial impressions of the 2016 legislative session at a forum Monday night in the basement of Community National Bank. BOB JOHNSON/The Iola Register us of these things and Gov. Brownback has been very clear he’s going to die by the sword with his policies. “If we don’t have any expectations of state government, then sure, we can cut the budget more.” Members of the audience expressed their concerns not only about the current budget, which is projected to be $190 million in arrears for
the fiscal year beginning July 1, but also about future cuts mentioned in an efficiency study that was commissioned by the legislature. “Are we going to see more?” asked Tony Leavitt, president of the local board of education. Without raising taxes, none of the legislators could see any other way to paint themselves out of the corner.
Projects and programs targeted in the efficiency study are Iola’s Department for Children and Families office, some of the services of Tri-Valley Developmental Services, the Health Homes program for the mentally ill and a health insurance plan for state employees that shifts more of the burden on employees. “This is not the Kansas I
grew up in,” said John Masterson, president of Allen Community College. “The people who are least able to fight for themselves are the ones being squeezed out vital services.” Rep. Lusker said political decisions in Topeka “follow the money.” Consolidating the DCF offices in El Dorado, for examSee FORUM | Page A6
Utility bill help available WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The state will begin accepting applications this week for the energy assistance program. The Kansas Department for Children and Families will start accepting applications today for its annual Low Income Energy Assistance Program to help qualifying households pay winter heating bills. “The frigid temperatures are here, and many families are struggling to stay warm,” said DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore. “We have LIEAP staff trained
and ready to begin processing applications, so families can afford to heat their homes.” The agency says the primary groups assisted are people with disabilities, older adults and families with children. Income eligibility requirements are 130 percent of the federal poverty level. Applicants also have to be responsible for direct payment of their heating bills to qualify. Applicants must demonSee HELP | Page A2
President Obama participates in a community service project at Leckie Elementary School in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and in honor of Dr. King’s life and legacy on Monday in Washington, D.C. ABACA PRESS/OLIVIER DOULIERY/TNS
Overtime levels ‘appalling’
Leaders reflect on King’s legacy
LARNED, Kan. (AP) — Employees at one of Kansas’ state mental hospitals are racking up significant overtime hours, internal reports show. The Topeka Capital-Journal obtained four weeks of overtime data for Larned State Hospital’s nursing department covering much of December. An analysis by the newspaper showed that more than half of the approximately 400 employees in the west-central Kansas hospital’s nursing department worked overtime during those weeks. Each week, at least 50 workers accumulated more than 20 hours of overtime and some more than 40 hours. “It’s absolutely appalling, but it’s not anything I haven’t heard before,” said Rebecca Proctor, director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, which has
By JEFFREY COLLINS The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — For the first time in 17 years, civil rights leaders gathered Monday at the South Carolina Statehouse to pay homage to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. without the Confederate flag casting a long shadow over them. The banner was taken down over the summer after police said a young white man who had posed for photos with a rebel flag shot nine black church members to death during a Bible study in Charleston. After the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Republican Gov. Nikki Haley reversed course and made it
a priority for lawmakers to pass legislation to remove the flag. “Isn’t this a great day? It’s so nice to be standing here and not looking at that flag,” said Ezell Pittman, who attended most of the King Day anti-flag rallies since they started in 2000. “I always had faith it would come down. I hate it took what it did, but was real happy to see it go.” Across the country, the 30th anniversary of the holiday to honor the civil rights leader assassinated in 1968 was remembered in different ways. In Michigan, people delivered bottled water to residents of Flint amid the city’s drinking water crisis. In Atlanta, an overflow crowd listened as to the nation’s housing secre-
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 57
tary talk about the 50th anniversary of King’s visit to Chicago to launch a campaign for fair housing. Rallies against police brutality in Minnesota and California briefly shut down traffic on two bridges. South Carolina NAACP President Lonnie Randolph said the flag’s removal was tangible evidence the state cares about civil rights when pushed hard enough. But he warned there would be other fights ahead. “I promise you, the people that gather in this building — your building — will do something this year to cause us to return to ensure freedom, justice and equality is made possible for all people,” Randolph See KING | Page A3
“If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” — Edgar Allan Poe 75 Cents
legislative proposals to try to improve working conditions at state hospitals. One calls for minimum staffing requirements. Tim Keck, the newly named interim secretary of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services, which oversees state hospitals, acknowledged the problem during a meeting this past week with workers. According to an audio recording obtained by The CapitalJournal, Keck unveiled a preliminary plan to cut the nursing vacancy rate, which he said is 40 percent, to 18 percent. Cutting the rate by that percentage would involve hiring 89 new workers, Keck told employees. The department confirmed the meeting took place and that Keck inSee OT | Page A2
Hi: 31 Lo: 19 Iola, KS