Playoff bound: Iola thumps Anderson County to secure postseason berth
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The Weekender Saturday, October 22, 2016
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Divided America: Whites speak out By MATT SEDENSKY The Associated Press
violence. “It happens across every socio-economic class,” said Sparks. “Sometimes it’s even worse for those in the middle- and upper classes,” Meiwes said, because they fear they have more to lose — including social standing — if they were to leave an abusive relationship. Abuse typically comes in three forms: physical, psychological, and financial. The latter is when one partner has control over a household’s assets and uses it as a means of control over others. “We see this a lot,” said Meiwes. “Money is power
DALLAS (AP) — The voices cascade into the studio, denouncing political hypocrisy and media bias and disappearing values. Hillary Clinton is a liar and a crook, they say; Donald Trump is presidential and successful. By the time the 16th caller reaches the air this day, the Rick Roberts show has reached an impassioned crescendo of anger and lamentation. Roberts, WBAP’s bearded, rodeo-roping, husky-voiced host, has heard enough, and he is primed with a message for his listeners. “I want my country back,” he begins. He repeats that sentence a half-dozen times in a 4?-minute rant that darts from fear of crime to outsourced jobs to political correctness. He pans soulless politicians and hasbeen celebrities and psychobabble hug-a-tree experts; he pines for a time when everyone spoke English and looked you in the eye and meant what they said. It’s a fervent soliloquy that dismisses transgender people and calls for faith to regain public footing and for economic opportunity to return. “I want America to be
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The women at Hope Unlimited include, front row from left, Michelle Meiwes, children’s services, and Dorothy Sparks, executive director. Back row from left, Lisa Chauncey, sexual assault victim’s advocate, Sharon Leedy, outreach advocate, and Donita Garner, child advocacy center coordinator. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN
Shelter gives voice to silent witnesses By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
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iving people hope for a life free from abuse is the primary purpose of Hope Unlimited, Iola’s shelter for victims of domestic and sexual abuse. The shelter, whose location is kept secret, is full year-round with a usual length of stay 60 days. Typically the clientele are women and children in a house that can accommodate up to 10, if they sleep dormitory style. “I wish we could say demand is down,” said Dorothy Sparks, director. “But in two years, we’ve not had an empty night.” In addition to its shelter,
Domestic Violence Awareness Month Misty Town, youth services manager of the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, will visit local schools Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss domestic violence and diversity issues with students and the public.
— 2-3 p.m., Tuesday, Humboldt High School — 7 p.m. Tuesday, Allen Community College, open to the public — 7 p.m. Wednesday, Neosho County Community College, open to the public. the downtown center at 8 N. Washington has seen an increased demand for its services. Last year, the center came to the aid of more than 500 men, women and children. For its first three months this year, the center received more than 150 calls to its hotline, 620-365-
7566. Sparks and Michelle Meiwes, children services coordinator, met with the Register to talk about October being Domestic Violence Awareness month. First, they dispensed with a common myth: Only the poor suffer from domestic
Feeding the hungry By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
The Kansas Food Bank: Helping the hungry since 1984. T h a t ’ s what Debi Kreutzman, community relations manager of Debi the organiza- Kreutzman tion, told Iola Rotarians Thursday — in more detail. At last count, 15.5 percent of Allen Countians were food insecure, or about 2,000 of the county’s 13,000 inhabitants. Of those, 19 percent don’t quality for any type of governmental assistance. The elderly, without statistical measure, are reluctant to ask for or accept help. “They made it on their own all of their lives and now they’re too proud to ask for food assistance,” See HUNGRY | Page A5
Ken Church, as Mark Twain during a presentation Tuesday at the Iola Public Library. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Twain’s tidbits shared with local audience By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
Death proved no snag to the man, Mark Twain, who made a special appearance at the Iola Public Library Tuesday night. Shuffling up to the podiumstage, wearing an all-white Stacy Adams suit, a satin cravat bundled under his chin, clutching a pipe and casting a quizzical look round the drab library conference room in which he’d found himself, the
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 248
literary celebrity of the Gilded Age — once a Missouri urchin by the name of Sam Clemens — turned toward the silver-headed crowd of about 15 and in a loud, reedy-raspy drawl — well, he let ‘em have it. Yarn after yarn, spun from the finest Pike County silk, Twain braided for his Iola fans a daisy chain of comic anecdotes and backwoods bon mots. Delivered in a raised voice and galloping cadence, his voice box
whirred like a turbine for dang near an hour. Twain paced the carpet in squeaky leather shoes. He roared and bellowed and yodeled and cooed, he wheezed and laughed and grunted and whooped; but then, on a dime, he’d drop into a whisper and the crowd would lean in to see what private fable this teller would recount next. He dabbed at his beaded brow with an old kerchief and paused at times to sip
“Voters quickly forget what a man says.” — Richard M. Nixon 75 Cents
from a cup (water, we presume). He twice ignored the monotonous trill of an audience members’ cell phone and only once reached into his pocket for a look at his notes. He used his mobile face and resonant timbre and gesticulating limbs to great effect, and for the duration of his lecture he held the Iola audience in the very cup of his hand. And so it was that, on this See TWAIN | Page A6
Hi: 72 Lo: 47 Iola, KS