President Obama visits Kansas
Sports: Red Devils beat Labette Cardinals See B1
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THE IOLA REGISTER Thursday, January 22, 2015
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Filing deadline noon Tuesday
Children’s advocates criticize budget plan
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Deadline to file for positions on city and school governing boards is drawing near, noon Tuesday. School candidates must file at the Allen County clerk’s office. Those seeking election to Humboldt and Iola councils must file at their city clerk’s office; all other city candidates may file either at the county or city clerks’ offices. A number have filed, but several positions remain without candidates, County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said, also noting that this may be the last time for spring elections. For several years efforts have surfaced in the Legislature to put all elections in the fall, partly as a means to save money. If that occurs, Riebel anticipates all elections will become partisan, meaning candidates will have to declare a party or file as an independent. It also likely would mean that all elections would move to even-numbered years, when fall elections are. With this year’s elections, a primary will be on March 3 if
Iola firefighters work at 321 S. Second Street Wednesday afternoon. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Fire starts at hot water tank By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Tim Thyer has seen plenty of house fires in his day, but never had he seen one quite like the one he arrived at Wednesday. Iola firefighters were called to Gary Wells’ home, 321 S. Second St., Wednesday afternoon after a fire burned through a wall. Thyer, Iola fire chief, said the fire apparently started near a hot water tank. There was no electric wiring, loose clothing or other
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debris near the tank. “There was maybe an inch between the water heater and the wall,” Thyer said. “Maybe there was some dust or cobwebs that ignited. “I’ll let the insurance investigators look at it to see what they think the cause is,” he concluded. “I’ve never seen one like this.” The fire burned through an exterior wall before a passing neighbor spotted smoke coming from the house. The fire was contained to the small wall section, although extensive smoke dam-
age was evident throughout the house, Thyer said. “The Police Department already had the fire pretty much knocked down by the time we got there,” Thyer said. “It didn’t take long to put it out.” The heat from the fire was enough to make the tank’s metal surface buckle, Thyer said. Laminate flooring below also started to pucker. Wells, retired employee from Iola’s Gas, Water and Wastewater Department, was not home at the time of the fire. There were no injuries.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Children’s advocates pushed back Wednesday against the governor’s efforts to take nearly $32 million away from a fund set up to finance early education programs, saying the move would weaken the fund’s longterm sustainability and could lead to severe cuts. The Kansas Endowment for Youth Fund was established as a long-term reserve to provide funding for early education programs in 1999. But it has been repeatedly tapped by lawmakers for other purposes, and the latest cut could threaten programs like early autism diagnosis and grants for preschool education, said Shannon Cotsoradis, CEO of the Kansas Action for Children. “It jeopardizes a long tradition of investing early in Kansas. For every $1 invested in early education, at least $7 down the road are saved in further cost from grade retention, crime and other public assistance,” Cotsoradis told the committee. Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed transferring $31.8 See ADVOCATES | Page A5
Chief justice wants to divert IT TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court wants legislators to take money meant for the new electronic filing system and use it on judicial-branch salaries instead so courts won’t have to be closed any additional days before the end of the fiscal year, Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said Wednesday. Nuss told reporters after the annual State of the Judiciary address that a shortfall in revenues from court fees will leave the judicial branch at least $2.5 million short of what it needs to cover operating costs through June.
He said employee furloughs, which force court offices to shut down, are possible if the hole isn’t plugged. The judicial branch hasn’t yet touched the $3.1 million Lawton Nuss legislators set aside last year to begin building a new, statewide efiling system. Nuss said the justices are asking lawmakers to divert the funds to court operations now and replace the e-filing funds later. Nuss’ 30-minute address
touched on several initiatives designed to make court operations more efficient — including the e-filing project — but didn’t directly reference on the judicial branch’s budget problems. The chief justice also didn’t respond to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s call to change how Supreme Court justices are selected, but later described the current system, in which an attorney-led commission screens applicants, as “excellent.” “I was afraid I was turnSee NUSS | Page A5
House GOP drops vote on abortion bill
Compact bike Gas native David Holloway stopped by The Register while visiting family in the area. The New York-based opera singer took the opportunity to show off his fold up bicycle. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 59
WASHINGTON (AP) — With thousands of antiabortion protesters in town, Republicans are ready to push legislation through the House designed to please them. But it’s not the bill an embarrassed GOP was hoping for. Republican leaders had planned House passage today of legislation criminalizing most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, an act that would have defied a White House veto threat.
But late Wednesday they abruptly postponed that confrontation indefinitely after concluding they were short of votes. Instead, the House will vote on legislation barring taxpayer funding of abortions — a prohibition that’s already largely in place. Republicans say the bill will tighten the restrictions and make sure no funds flow to abortions under President Barack Obama’s health care law.
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— Pablo Picasso
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The GOP reversal coincides with today’s annual March for Life protesting the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision legalizing abortion. It also came with GOP leaders eager to showcase the ability by the new Republican-led Congress to govern efficiently and avoid gridlock. “I don’t see it as a failure. I see it as a victory in the process for getting legislation right,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a sponsor of See BILL | Page A5
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