Offensive offense: Chiefs’ Reid downplays KC’s struggles.
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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Deadline extended for Osawatomie State Hospital bids By MEG WINGERTER KHI News Service
State officials will give potential contractors two extra weeks to submit bids to operate Osawatomie State Hospital but cautioned they might not receive any proposals they like. Tim Keck, interim secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, on Monday told the Legislature’s Special Committee on Larned and Osawatomie State Hospitals that the department will extend the deadline to submit bids from Dec. 29 to Jan. 10, to give private contractors time to ask more questions. The request for proposals would require a contractor to have at least 206 psychiatric beds available, but only 94 would need to be in the city of Osawatomie. It also suggests KDADS would look favorably on proposals that include new facilities, because most of the build-
String therapy Elizabeth Cunningham made her debut as director of the Iola Middle School and Iola High School string orchestras Monday evening at the Creitz Recital Hall in the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Above, the high school orchestra performs a medley of songs. At right, IMS students Ilennia Aguirre, left, and Landen Nading perform “Hunters Chorus,” on their cellos. Glen Cunningham accompanied the orchestras on piano. Tonight, the choirs of both the middle school and high schools perform in the main auditorium of the Bowlus, again under the direction of Miss Cunningham. Performance time is 7 p.m. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN
ings are more than 40 years old, Keck said. Federal officials cut Medicare payments to the hospital in December 2015 after an attack on an employee exposed security concerns. The hospital, one of two state-run facilities for Kansans with severe mental health issues, has to pass two inspections before payments would resume. Keck said he thought privatization was the only way forward for the hospiSee HOSPITAL | Page A3
Decision nears on grant to fund pedestrian bridge By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
South Washington Avenue
Supporters of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that would span Elm Creek along South Washington Avenue may learn by the end of January if the project will be funded. Damaris Kunkler, program director at Thrive Allen County, said Thursday
the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was in Iola recently for an on-site visit as part of Thrive’s application for a $197,000 KDWP grant. The visit followed Thrive’s pitch in Wichita earlier this month, in which advocates “painted a clear picture of what we wanted here,” Kunkler said. “They were impressed”
with Allen County’s proposal, Kunkler said. Kunkler spoke Thursday at the monthly Allen County Together meeting. Allen County Together is the committee borne from a series of countywide community conversations in the summer of 2015, in which each of Allen CounSee BRIDGE | Page A3
Probe continues in Berlin truck attack BERLIN (AP) — Germany must assume a truck plowing through a crowded Christmas market in Berlin was a “terrorist attack,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said today, while authorities expressed uncertainty over whether they had arrested the correct suspect. Twelve people were killed and nearly 50 others injured
when the truck drove into the popular Christmas market filled with tourists and locals outside the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church near Berlin’s Zoo station late Monday. Police detained an asylum-seeker from Pakistan shortly afterward, but he deSee ATTACK | Page A3
Friday’s trolley rides will take passengers on a tour of several elaborately decorated homes for Christmas. Among the houses on display are the Lyle Kern house in the 400 block of East Jackson Avenue, above, and the Mitch Garner home at the intersection of East Broadway and South Third streets. REGISTER/RICHARD
Turkey: Ambassador’s killer likely had partners ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish policeman who assassinated Russia’s ambassador was unlikely to have acted alone, a senior Turkish government official said today, as investigators from both countries hunted for clues as to who might have been behind the killing. Russian investigators arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara this morning and
headed to the art gallery where Ambassador Andrei Karlov was shot dead Monday evening by Mevlut Mert Altintas. The 22-year-old gunman, a member Ankara’s riot police squad, shouted slogans about the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo as he killed the envoy. The senior government official described the killing See TURKEY | Page A3
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 39
LUKEN
Molly Trolley lights tour Friday The Iola Area Chamber of Commerce will host a holiday trolley ride at 7 p.m. Friday. The ride will travel through several neighborhoods in town to catch a last glimpse
of the lavish Christmas decorations on display. Tickets must be purchased in advance for $7 apiece at the Chamber office. Passengers will meet in
“I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house.” — Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1917-2016 75 Cents
front of the Chamber office at 208 W. Madison Ave. The Chamber office is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 365-5252.
Hi: 37 Lo: 18 Iola, KS