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The Weekender Saturday, March 19, 2016
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Slaugh: Iola can grow from within By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Amid ongoing discussions about economic development, Iola City Administrator Carl Slaugh maintained Iola is well-purposed to grow its own. Slaugh commented at Friday’s See, Hear Iola session where he regularly gives updates about city affairs. Slaugh referred to a publication that he says lists ways the community can grow from within. The 2009 article, published by the Rural Sociological Society, “Rural Realities: Homegrown Responses to Economic Uncertainty in Rural America,” was given to Slaugh recently by local Republican activist Virginia Macha. The article lists three strategies small communities such as Iola can utilize: 1. Incorporating or capitalizing on distinctive characteristics of a particular location, such as natural resources, cultural heritage or other amenities. 2. Economic gardening — “growing your own” — utilizes a collaborative
Dispatcher Theresa Francis helped Madison Lee, left, and her sister, Alexis, understand the responsibilities of calling 911. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Mistake a learning experience By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Here’s a good lesson to parents: Make sure children understand that dialing 911 has implications. Madison Lee, six-year-old daughter of Kevin and Ladina Lee, LaHarpe, made the mistake earlier this month, and Angie Murphy, 911 director, turned it into a learning
experience after receiving an apologetic letter, hand-delivered, from the little girl. Madison, her sister, Alexis, 9, and mom were invited to the dispatch center Thursday afternoon to learn what dispatchers do and why it is important that 911 is a serious matter. When Madison dialed the emergency number, a dispatcher called back to make
sure nothing was amiss. That’s a protocol followed with all calls from children. Either a parent or adult in the household is contacted. If that doesn’t occur, dispatchers send an officer to check on the child. However, Murphy stressed several times to the two girls, “If ever you need to call about See 911 | Page A5
approach by having several community members form small groups to take requests from Carl Slaugh others wanting to start a business, then look at neighboring communities to find ways to turn those dreams from reality. A project in northeast Kansas revealed that 80 percent of Hiawatha’s growth over a three-year period “came from within,” Slaugh said. Even so, Hiawatha lost population from 2000 to 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. During those 10 years Hiawatha went from 3,462 to 3,172, a loss of 8.38 percent of its population. 3. Cultivating creativity and talent, and fostering an environment for people who use art and design. Communities also should take full advantage of higher education, through universities, community colleges trade See SLAUGH | Page A5
Kansas GOP lawmakers struggle with school funding By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are divided over the redistribution of education funds and are upset with the state Supreme Court for
threatening to shut down public schools if lawmakers don’t help poor districts, two committee meetings showed Thursday. The GOP-dominated Senate Ways and Means Committee approved a bill that would reallocate $38 million of the more than $4 billion in the
aid for the state’s 286 school districts for 2016-17. The plan from Chairman Ty Masterson would boost state aid for 100 districts but would cut it for 186, and the committee’s voice vote sent the measure to the Senate for debate, which may happen next week. In the House, strong criti-
cism from Republicans on the Appropriations Committee forced Chairman Ron Ryckman Jr. to drop his milder version of the plan, which would have reduced aid for 79 districts to help others. Several GOP members said they want lawmakers to take a different approach, suggesting Master-
son’s plan faces trouble in the House if it passes the Senate. Masterson, an Andover Republican, and Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, acknowledged that they didn’t much like their own proposals. But they said lawmakers must See GOP | Page A5
Area teen gets inauguration invite Family seeks clues on missing Iola man By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Family members are appealing for information to learn the whereabouts of Iolan Shawn Cook, who was last seen in Iola a week ago. Cook, 33, was described by Iola police as 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 140 pounds. He has brown hair, blue eyes and a goatee. He also sports several tattoos. The Iola Police Department posted his photo on its Facebook page in the hopes of obtaining more information. “We just want to know if he’s alive and OK,” his cousin, Shawnda Reade told the Register via telephone Friday. “It’s just so unlike him not to call a family member a couple of times a day.” Cook said a female acquaintance reportedly was the last to have seen him after giving him a ride to his house on South Kentucky Street last Saturday. Cook then failed to show up at home on Sunday — he lives with and cares for an ailing relative — and failed
Shawn Cook to call. “He calls his daughter every day, but nobody has heard from him since then,” Reade said. “He has vanished. We’re getting very worried.” Iola Police Chief Jared Warner said anybody with information can call IPD at (620) 365-4960.
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 99
Between his studies, sports, extracurricular activities and work with a local youth group, 13-year-old Gregory Hardwick seldom has time to catch his breath. That pace has quickened substantially this week after Hardwick, son of Tim and Sandy Hardwick of rural Colony, learned he has been invited to attend the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. Hardwick, a Crest Middle School eighth-grader, was invited on behalf of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, which he attended last summer. Hardwick was invited to partake in an inauguration leadership summit Jan. 18-22, 2017. As part of the summit, Hardwick will meet with Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin; women’s soccer legend and Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach, Democratic politiSee TEEN | Page A3
Gregory Hardwick, 13, has been invited to attend the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., next January.
“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” — Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet 75 Cents
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