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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Embracing her second chance By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
H
UMBOLDT — Second Chance Cafe, soon to open on Humboldt’s downtown square, is an icon of Laura and Justin Houk’s journey that includes a second chance at life and a second chance to live out their dreams. Laura grew up attending church and often admired fellow parishioners’ testimonies of religious and spiritual encounters that transformed their lives, but felt she had no story of her own to tell. That’s changed. It’s a “be careful what you wish for kind-of thing because now I have a pretty cool testimony,” Laura said. “I have grown and learned so much that I just want to follow where God is leading me.” That path, according to Laura, includes a cafe that will offer patrons burgers and sandwiches along with home-cooked meals, daily specials and 30-minute lunches. The details, much like Laura’s own life, are uncertain and yet to be worked out. The cafe will possibly stay open late on the evenings of local high school sporting
Lawmakers uncertain of school savings plan By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
Laura Houk and her husband, Justin events and, she said, they are contemplating pizza. The cafe’s location, a building at 812 Bridge St., is undergoing a transformation of its own. Laura is hopeful renovations will be completed in time for
the cafe to open in May. “I think they are far enough along,” she said. “If they keep rolling like they are, I am hoping it will be ready in the next couple of months.”
The cafe, like the last few years of Laura’s life, is a joint venture between her and Justin. It will include the contributions of three of See SAVED | Page A3
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators were skeptical of projected savings in education spending from Republican Gov. Sam Brownback as they did preliminary work Monday on a new formula for distributing state aid to public schools. Lawmakers in both parties questioned whether the state would quickly see savings from Brownback’s plans to create a single health insurance plan for the state’s 286 school districts and centralize some purchasing of supplies and services. Brownback’s budget plan proposals assume $47 million in savings for fiscal year 2018, which begins in July, and $89 million in fiscal 2019. Cost savings are an imporSee SCHOOLS | Page A3
Medicaid expansion likely a dead issue for 2017 By ALLISON KITE The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers tabled a bill Monday that would expand Medicaid, which could mean the bill is dead until next year. The House Health and Human Services Committee delayed a vote until April 3, after a deadline for bills to pass their chamber of origin. The expansion would have given health care coverage through KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, to between 100,000 and 200,000 adults who fall into a gap between the existing Medicaid program and subsi-
dized insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, according to various estimates. The expansion extends coverage to adults earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, about $16,000 for a single person. Sheldon Weisgrau, director of the Health Reform Research Project, called the move a “cop out” and said tabling it meant lawmakers avoided going “on the record as being opposed to Medicaid expansion.” Republican Committee Chair Daniel Hawkins, an opponent of expansion, said the bill was effectively dead. But Republican Vice Chair Susan
Concannon said she would ask House Speaker Ron Ryckman, Jr. to exempt the measure from deadlines. The vote comes as Congressional Republicans mull reforms to the Affordable Care Act that could phase out the expanded Medicaid coverage that had been completely funded and would still be almost entirely federally funded. Thirty-one states, not including Kansas, expanded Medicaid coverage. The measure also comes after federal officials in the Obama administration threatened financial sanctions against the state, saying
Monday’s hearing on a bill that would expand eligibility for Medicaid drew a crowd. The House Health and Human Services Committee voted to table the bill, essentially killing it for this session. KANSAS NEWS SERVICE/MEG WINGERTER
See MEDICAID | Page A3
Humboldt band kids Iola Reads looks at ‘Getting Life’ headed to Dollywood By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — The Pride of Humboldt Concert Band and Humboldt High School’s pop choir are performing at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., May 6, during the annual Music in the Park Festival. Members of the HHS band and the school’s choir typically travel to the annual festival every other year, according to Terry Meadows, music director. The festival is held at different locations. Two years ago band members traveled to Chicago. “This year we are combin-
ing middle school and high school, so seventh through 12th will go, Meadows said. The high school’s pop choir will also perform there. The Humboldt concert band will perform at Seymour High School, Seymour, Tenn., and the pop choir will See BAND | Page A6
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 81
The winter 2017 Iola Reads selection is “Getting Life” by Michael Morton. On Aug. 13, 1986, just one day after his 32nd, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple’s bed. Despite the lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed. He mourned his wife from a prison cell. He lost all contact with their son. Drawing on his recollections, court transcripts, and more than 1,000 pages of personal journals he wrote in prison, Morton recounts the reports about an unidentified van parked near his house that were never pur-
sued; the bandana with the killer’s DNA on it, that was never introduced in court; the call reporting the attempted use of his wife’s credit card, which was never followed up
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey 75 Cents
on; and ultimately, how he battled his way to become a free man once again, exonerated through the efforts of the Innocence Project, pro bono lawyer John Raley, and advances in DNA technology. Books are available at Iola Public Library, in USD 257 schools, and in various community locations. Readers are asked to pass on the book to someone else or return it to the location they got it from. hose who wish to keep their book are asked to make a donation of $2 or more to Iola Reads, c/o Iola Public Library. On Feb. 27, the Iola Reads Committee will host “Getting Life in Kansas,” featuring Jean Phillips and Floyd Bledsoe. Bledsoe, much like See READS | Page A6
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