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SEK gets $1M grant to fight opioids By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
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The Pope gets a foosball table PAGE A2
Local 4-Hers do well at state event PAGE A2
Jobless claims low; hiring strengthens PAGE A3
To fight the ongoing opioid crisis — the addiction to high-powered prescription painkillers — a Southeast Kansas coalition will work to remove the barriers that keep someone from treatment. In large part, that translates to transportation, helping someone get to treatment or a job. It could also mean help paying for counseling and treatment programs. A $1 million federal grant will help area counties with those issues and more over the next three years. Thrive Allen County announced it has received a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program grant will provide about $333,000 a year to address opioid misuse in Allen, Wilson, Woodson, Coffey, Bourbon
Thrive Allen County staff discuss a $1 million federal grant they secured to help six counties in Southeast Kansas provide programs to address opioid misuse. From left, Deputy Director Jessica Thompson, CEO Lisse Regher and Director of Communications Kate Schroeder. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS and Neosho counties. It will begin Sept. 1. It is the largest grant in Thrive’s history, and will allow them to hire a Rural Health Coordinator to oversee the program. It also will allow Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center to hire a chemical dependency
case manager. THE GRANT includes several other important aspects and relies on the cooperation of numerous entities involved in addressing substance misuse. In fact, the groundwork for the grant was laid more than
three years ago. The Southeast Kansas Substance Misuse Coalition, representing those same six counties, was formed three years ago as part of a different grant. It includes about 25 representatives including police, judges, those in health See GRANT | Page A3
Kansas: 62 deaths from COVID-19 since Monday By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector
Taliban fighters patrol the capital of Kabul in commandeered police and military vehicles. (MARCUS YAM/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS)
Afghans protest Taliban rule KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan protesters defied the Taliban for a second day Thursday, waving their national flag in scattered demonstrations, and the fighters again responded violently as they faced down growing challenges to their rule. A U.N. official warned of dire food shortages and experts said the country was severely in need of cash
while noting that the Taliban are unlikely to enjoy the generous international aid that the civilian government they dethroned did. In light of these challenges, the Taliban have moved quickly to suppress any dissent, despite their promises that they have become more moderate since they last ruled Afghanistan with draconian laws. Many fear they will succeed in erasing two
decades of efforts to expand women’s and human rights and remake the country. On Thursday, a procession of cars and people near Kabul’s airport carried long black, red and green banners in honor of the Afghan flag — a banner that is becoming a symbol of defiance. At another protest in Nangarhar province, video posted online showed a bleeding See TALIBAN | Page A6
TOPEKA — Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, says the low rate of vaccination from COVID-19 and a lack of social distancing or wearing a face covering has allowed the delta variant to bring “so much of this country to its knees.” And this is only the beginning, he says. Kansas health officials on Wednesday reported 62 more deaths from the virus, along with 98 hospitalizations and 3,006 new cases, in the past two days. Data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment show emergency room visits associated with COVID-19 have spiked from mid-June levels, and just 29% of intensive care unit beds are available statewide. As of Tuesday, 27 children were hospitalized for COVID-19. The numbers of deaths and hospitalizations are trending well above where they were a year ago, and rapidly approaching the peaks from last winter. The highly conta-
Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System gious delta variant is behind the extraordinary damage. Stites, speaking at a daily news briefing, said Kansas is just starting to see the impact of delta, in part because it will take some time for the virus to ripple through the school system. The University of Kansas Health System was treating 54 patients for COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, including 16 in the intensive care unit and 10 on ventilators. Of the 54 total patients, 11 are vaccinated. “We’re all tired of COVID,” he said, “but you’ve got to See COVID | Page A6
Water cuts ordered for Southwest states as drought continues By SUMAN NAISHADHAM The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials on Monday declared the first-ever water shortage from a river that serves 40 million people in the West, triggering cuts to some Arizona farmers next year amid a gripping drought. Vol. 123, No. 201 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Water levels at the largest reservoir on the Colorado River — Lake Mead — have fallen to record lows. Along its perimeter, a white “bathtub ring” of minerals outlines where the high water line once stood, underscoring the acute water challenges for a region facing a growing population and a drought that
is being worsened by hotter, drier weather brought on by climate change. States, cities, farmers and others have diversified their water sources over the years, helping soften the blow of the upcoming cuts. But federal officials said Monday’s declaration makes clear that conditions have intensified faster
than scientists predicted in 2019, when some states in the Colorado River basin agreed to give up shares of water to maintain levels at Lake Mead. “The announcement today is a recognition that the hydrology that was planned for years ago — but we hoped we would never see — is here,” said Bureau of Reclamation
Commissioner Camille Touton. Lake Mead was formed by building the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. It is one of several man-made reservoirs that store water from the Colorado River, which supplies household water, irrigation for See WATER | Page A5
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