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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Location, location, location Flood plain, utilities lead to proposed school site
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
to include ample ground surrounding the buildings to keep bus and car traffic separate, while also allowing for practice athletic and band fields for the high school. — 2. The area had to be somewhere in or near Iola, but not in the flood plain. Having the Neosho River west of town, Elm Creek to the south and Coon Creek cutting a large swath through the middle of Iola, potential building projects in those areas are limited. — 3. The site had to have access to utilities, with a heavy preference the utilities be provided by Iola. Because the city has a stake in the vote in the form of splitting proceeds from a half-cent sales tax with the school district, board members wanted Iola as the utility provider. — 4. The land had to be spacious enough to avoid any emi-
The proposed site for new schools remains a sticking point for opponents. It took years for USD 257 Board of Education members to find what they considered the best site for new elementary and high schools in Iola, Board President Tony Leavitt said this week. Voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether to support a new elementary school and high school. Leavitt broke down the board’s thought process in a Tuesday interview. There were several criteria the land had to meet, he said. — 1. It had to be large enough. Using a formula set by educational planners, the district wanted at least 19 acres for the elementary school; and at least 64 acres for the high school. The large area was necessary
nent domain issues. One suggestion, to build a new school at the existing Iola High School site, was discarded because it would have required condemning 19 neighboring houses. Likewise, expanding any of the three existing elementaries, Lincoln, Jefferson and McKinley, would include removing houses as well. (Lincoln and McKinley also are near flood plains, throwing another wrench into the plans.) “Condemning properties and removing houses would have been the kiss of death,” Leavitt said. “We would be starting with two strikes against us already.” — 5. Perhaps most importantly, there had to be a willing seller for land. The district has an option to purchase the land north of Oregon Road on both sides of the See SITE | Page A4
The blue denotes the floodplain in Iola.
‘Letters’ moving depiction of war By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
Day on the farm The Kansas Farm Bureau put together a Fall Agriculture Day for area schools Tuesday. First-graders from Iola, Humboldt Yates Center and Marmaton Valley visited the Allen Community College Farm to learn about how agriculture works. ACC agriculture students and area FFAs helped instruct students. Activities included learning how to rope and how to make horse feed. Above, Yates Center students Harley Hoag, Charity Jones, Eli Hess and Eryn Gilchrist run through a hay bale maze on the Allen farm. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
The lights in the Bowlus auditorium dimmed just after 7 p.m. on Tuesday for the Griffin Theatre Company’s production of “Letters Home,” a play inspired by the real-life correspondence exchanged between soldiers and their families during our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Set against a black backdrop, the stage design for the Chicago-based company’s production was minimal: a spotlight hovered downstage, into which each actor, dressed in military fatigues, entered in turn to deliver their letter in the form of a dramatic monologue. A projector screen behind the soldier displayed their name, rank, unit and age. The play, entirely without plot, accumulates its emotional power by allowing the audience to eavesdrop on the private admissions of these 10 young men and women,
Aaron Latterell, foreground, Kiki Layne perform ‘Letters Home’ Tuesday night at the Bowlus. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN none of whom are older than 30. When we meet Staff sergeant Aaron White, for example, he is writing to his wife and newborn daughter, Bri-
anna. He is full of optimism for his mission in Kuwait and flush with the pride of recent fatherhood. He remembers See LETTERS | Page A4
Brownback, Davis spar in last debate Biz Expo gives preview WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback assailed Democratic challenger Paul Davis Tuesday as a liberal who would appoint Kansas Supreme Court justices overly sympathetic to violent criminals, and Davis accused the Republican incumbent of trying to exploit a high-profile Wichita murder case to boost his re-election chances. The confrontation during their fourth and final debate came on the same day Brownback’s campaign released a television ad referencing brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr, whose death sentences for a quadruple homi-
cide were vacated by the state Supreme Court in July. The Carr brothers were convicted of killing four people at close range in December 2000 at a Wichita soccer field. Brownback has long sought more power to directly appoint justices rather than use a longstanding merit system in which a committee comprised of lawyers and members of the public send up suggestions. The system was changed during his administration to give him more power over appointments to the Kansas Court of Appeals, but it takes a constitutional amendment to give
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 253
him similar authority to appoint justices to the Kansas Supreme Court. “It matters what judges you appoint and whether they stick with the law and constitution or they rewrite it, this is important it hasn’t been discussed much in this campaign, but it critical on how you move forward in this state,” Brownback said during the debate. “I will appoint judges that stay within the bounds of the law and the constitution.” Davis told reporters after the debate that he believes See DEBATE | Page A4
of holiday specials
About 25 vendors will flood the Recreation Building in Riverside Park Saturday for Iola’s annual Business Expo. The event — “Sneak a Peek into the Holidays” — will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with lunch served by Allen County Animal Rescue Foundation. Iola Area Chamber of Commerce Director Shelia Lampe said a drawing for $250 in Expo Bucks will be a feature, with the bucks redeemable at Chamber businesses. Lampe said the Expo was moved to late October to per-
“They’re only truly great who are truly good”
— George Chapman
75 Cents
mit vendors to showcase holiday merchandise and deals. “We think it will help everyone have a great holiday shopping season,” she said. Set up for the Expo will start Friday.
Hi: 75 Lo: 58 Iola, KS