Wednesday, June 22, 2022
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County forced to delay truck purchases By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
County officials may need to look farther afield or wait to find new vehicles because of supply chain issues. Mitch Garner, Allen County public works director, said he received no bids when he was looking for trucks from four area dealerships. That’s because of a lack of inventory, Garner said. “One of them said we may not be able to get them until next year,” Garner reported to county commissioners on Tuesday morning. He was looking for two halfton pickup trucks and two three-quarter ton trucks, either new or used. One of each is needed for his department, along with one of each for the road and bridge department. Garner said he and Mark
Biden will consider gas tax holiday REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that he will decide by the end of the week whether he would support a federal gasoline tax holiday, possibly saving U.S. consumers as much as 18.4 cents a gallon. “Yes, I’m considering it,” Biden told reporters after taking a walk along the beach near his vacation home in Delaware. “I hope to have a decision based on the data — I’m looking for by the end of the week.” The administration is increasingly looking for ways to spare the public from higher prices at the pump, which began to climb last year and surged after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Gas prices nationwide are averaging just under $5 a gallon, according to AAA. Biden said members of his team were to meet this week with CEOs of the major oil companies to discuss rising prices. Biden lashed out at oil companies, saying they are making excessive profits when people are feeling the crunch of skyrocketing costs at the pump and inflation. But Biden said he would not be meeting the oil executives himself. “I want an explanation for why they aren’t refining more oil,” Biden said. The Biden administration has already released oil from the U.S. strategic reserve and increased ethanol blending for the summer, in additional to sending a letter last week to oil refiners urging them to increase their refining capacity. Yet those efforts have yet to reduce price See GAS | Page A6
Public Works Director Mitch Garner hands a paper to Commissioner Bruce Symes at Tuesday’s meeting. Also shown is Commissioner David Lee, partially hidden. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS Griffeth, the road and bridge director, would drive the half-ton trucks. The others are needed at the landfill and quarry. Griffeth has been driving “a courtesy vehicle” typically
kept at the Allen County Regional Airport, but it has high miles. Garner sought bids from Twin Motors Ford of Iola, Sigg Motors of Iola, Jay Hatfield Chevrolet of Chanute
Cross country racers pass through Iola
and Shields Motor Company of Chanute. A letter from Twin Motors said they were unable to provide a bid: “Due to the overwhelming amount of vehicles on order, Ford Motor Company stopped taking orders for the 2022 model year.” The letter outlined delays for 2023 trucks as well. Garner said his budget for this year included funds for the trucks, but if he can’t find them he may need to push the purchases to next year. Commissioner David Lee asked if Garner had tried to purchase the vehicles individually, rather than as a group. Garner said he could try that. “We could get by just buying one at the moment,” he said. Garner also suggested he could check dealerships in the
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Nobel sold for record $103.5M to help Ukraine PAGE A3
Tribal leaders, feds re-establish Bears Ears Commission
See COUNTY | Page A4
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Cooling off at the library Iola Public Library’s Water Fun & Foam provided a welcome break from the heat for area children Monday afternoon. The event, part of the library’s Summer Reading Program, was held on the Flewharty Annex’s west lawn. Oceans of Possibilities, this year’s theme for summer reading, continues until July 29 and features a variety of programs for area youth. All events are free and open to the public. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER
Elizabeth Chriestenson, age 5, reacts after a successful run—and fall— on the slip and slide.
Lesa Cole, Youth Services librarian, tries to avoid getting soaked by Mary Frantz, age 7.
Lanie Mileham, age 8, has fun with the library’s improvised foam machine.
‘Everything is on fire’: Ukraine region weathers bombardment KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks laid down a curtain of fire Tuesday across areas of eastern Ukraine where pockets of resistance are denying Moscow full military control of the region, almost four months after the Kremlin unleashed an invasion. “Today everything that can
burn is on fire,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, told The Associated Press. Russia’s war has caused alarm over food supplies from Ukraine to the rest of the world and gas supplies from Russia, as well as raising questions about security in
Western Europe. The Russian military currently controls about 95% of the Luhansk region. But Moscow has struggled for weeks to overrun it completely, despite deploying additional troops and possessing a massive advantage in military assets. In the city of Sievierodo-
netsk, the hot spot of the fighting, Ukrainian defenders held on to the Azot chemical plant in the industrial outskirts. About 500 civilians are sheltering at the plant, and Haidai said the Russian forces are turning the area “into ruins.” “It is a sheer catastrophe,” See UKRAINE | Page A3
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