Tuesday, April 20, 2021
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City unveils MoPac trail plans By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
With construction proceeding on the new Iola Elementary School, Iolans were given their first glimpse Monday of plans to extend the Missouri Pacific Trail to connect the school site to the rest of town. Iola Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock and representatives from Thrive Allen County were on hand for a 90-minute open housestyle meeting to show how the trail would connect along the old MoPac right of way. The trail stretches from the Prairie Spirit Trail on the west edge of town to the athletic fields north of Iola Middle School. The city, with assistance from Thrive, has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Sunflower Foundation to pay to extend the trail the six
Iola Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock talks about plans to extend the Missouri Pacific Trail to connect to the new Iola Elementary School. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN blocks or so to the elementary school site. Both entities are awaiting word on a $160,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism that would allow the trail to extend even farther east in order to connect to the eastern-
most neighborhoods in town. Lisse Regehr, Thrive executive director, explained the necessity to go beyond the school site. By extending the trail to the eastern city limits — it would reach the Sterling Six Cinemas and Super 8 Hotel
properties — it would allow residents to get to the new elementary school and points west. “There is no connection to that part of town” via trails, Regehr noted. In fact, youngsters have stacked pallets along the proposed trail route in two locations in order to cross a low-lying drainage ditch area. “It’s not safe at all,” Regehr said. “We’d really like to create a safe way for them to get across. I cringe at little kiddos trying to get across that.” Two pedestrian bridges will be added if the trail is extended further. Regehr said she hopes to hear by the end of the month whether the city will receive the KDWPT grant. SCHINSTOCK spoke with several residents who live See TRAIL | Page A6
Allen County COVID-19 Case Count
Current cases ............5 Total cases* ..............1,233 Deaths .....................18 *Since the start of the pandemic Sources: Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Fillies JV sqad earns split
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Iola High School band students march in a parade. The band is raising money to replenish its music fund, which was used to purchase drumline equipment. FILE PHOTO
Band fundraisers will fill the air Saturday Jim Smith, with his dog, Lou-Lou, talks about repairs he’s making to the Baby Barn building, focused especially on the roof. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG
Baby Barn beautified By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
Whoa, baby ... The beloved Baby Barn is getting some much-needed attention and care down at the Allen County fairgrounds. Jim Smith has been busy on the project for three weeks already, focused especially on replacing and repainting the many wood slats in the building’s ceiling. “We’re trying to save the building,” he said. “It’s rotten everywhere.” “Rotten, rotten.” “I’d been watching it for a few years,” Smith added. “I thought somebody ought to do something.” ACCORDING to Smith, “the main thing is replacing all the ‘baffle boards,’” the many rows of boards that form the octagonal rim. “They are all in horrible shape,” he said, “but I’m just gonna replace the worst of
Vol. 123 No. 118 Iola, KS 75 Cents
By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
The city will be alive with the sound of music Saturday as Iola Middle and High School band students take part in two tuneful fundraisers. Some of those notes, though, might not make your list of favorite things. For half the students, the goal is to keep playing. For the other half, you’ll want them to stop. The first fundraiser, for
Iola Middle School students, is a familiar site. It’s the return of the “Practice-A-Thon,” a music marathon at the courthouse bandstand. Students will begin playing at 8 a.m. Saturday and continue as long as they are able. In past years, they’ve played well into the next morning. Students collect pledges based on how long they play. For example, if students play 15 hours at a pledge of $10 per hour, they’d collect See BAND | Page A3
Jurors weigh Chauvin’s fate Jim Smith is replacing many of the boards at the Baby Barn building at the Allen County Fairgrounds. ’em for now.” Smith said he’s also checking all the brackets that hold everything in place. Some of the boards have to be replaced, but others can be resurrected. “I’m putting two coats of paint on each side to start off,” Smith said. He’s also replacing the impressive wood flagpole in the
building’s center (made from the limb of a cedar tree) with a 5-inch steel pipe. “When they put the roof on, they didn’t seal the hole,” Smith explained, so water has caused significant damage there over the years. “I’ve made four trips to the dump already with lumber,” he added. “It piles up in a See BARN | Page A6
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The jurors who sat quietly off-camera through three weeks of draining testimony in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in George Floyd’s death moved into the spotlight today, still out of sight but now in control of verdicts awaited by a skittish city. The jury of six white people and six people who are Black or multiracial was set for its first full day of deliberations. The jury, anonymous by order of the
judge and sequestered now until they reach a verdict, spent just a few hours on their task Monday after the day was mostly consumed by closing arguments in which prosecutors argued that Chauvin squeezed the life out of Floyd last May in a way that even a child knew was wrong. The defense contended that the now-fired white officer acted reasonably and that the 46-year-old Floyd See TRIAL | Page A3