Sports: Iola teams open midseason tourney See B1
The Weekender Saturday, January 23, 2016
Locally owned since 1867
State’s violent origins recalled
BIDDING ADIEU
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 created Kansas and Nebraska territories and opened thousands of acres of fertile farmland to settlers and facilitated construction of a transcontinental railroad. The popular sovereignty segment of the act prompted anti- and pro-slavery sympathizers to pour into Kansas. The outcome, Grant Glenn told Iola Rotarians Thursday, was the historical period known as Bleeding Kansas.
Bob Chase is leaving his post at the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center at the end of the month. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Chase set to to retire from SEKMHC By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
After more than two decades leading the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, Robert Chase will retire as its executive director at the end of this month. Established in the 1960s — following on from a nationwide movement away from the mass institutionalization of the mentally ill and toward a more responsive, community-based approach — the center has grown to include six counties in this rural corner of Kansas and, according to Chase, today performs more than 1,200 mental health screenings per year. According to his colleagues at SEKMHC, including associate director Nathan Fawson,
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Chase’s reputation within the network of mental health facilities depends on an efficient management style and the consistent measure of empathy he brings to his interactions with both clients and staff. Chase has also been a strong advocate of viewing mental health in the context of any number of physical illnesses. “I don’t buy into the stigma. I talk about mental health like it’s diabetes. It’s a health problem. It’s holistic. It’s as complicated as cancer or anything else.” However, with the increasing pressure being placed on the state’s mental health system, the 72-year-old’s role as a vocal advocate for community-based mental health
Iola City Council to discuss lobbying Iola City Council members will be asked Monday to decide if the city should continue hiring a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm. A citizens advisory committee has been meeting since last summer, at the city’s urging, to determine if the relationship is worthwhile. Iola pays Van Scoyoc and Associates $45,000 annually for its lobbying services. Van Scoyoc assisted the city in receiving about $1.5 million in diverted FEMA assistance to rebuild the Iola Municipal Pool (the funds originally were slated to replace obsolete generators at Iola’s power plant.) City Administrator Carl Slaugh, however, contends federal cutbacks have blunted the firm’s effectiveness in recent years. He has recommended the city end its contract with Van Scoyoc, and use those funds for other city projects. Jerry Dreher, the advisory committee’s chairman, will be at Monday’s meeting to present the group’s recommendations. The Van Scoyoc topic coincides with other discussions Monday about potential capital improvement projects for 2016. OTHER topics for Monday’s council meeting are on proposed increases in electric and water rates, a crosswalk at Oak Street’s intersection with U.S. 54 and the city’s economic development contract. The 6 p.m. meeting will be at the New Community Building in Riverside Park. The public is invited.
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 60
and for the largely muted voices of the population it serves, has become more pronounced. Top of mind at the moment for Chase, and for the majority of his colleagues in the field, are the challenges facing Osawatomie State Hospital, which last year reduced its capacity from 206 beds to 146 to comply with demands from the federal government; the current refusal by state lawmakers to extend Medicaid; the continued stigma which attaches to mental illness; and the mostly indigestible recommendations coming out of Topeka that the already strapped mental health system continue to See CHASE | Page A6
Glenn, an attorney and president of the Topeka Rotary Club, has made it his avocational calling to study and illuminate the early history of Kansas. He spoke at the behest of Iola Rotarian Gary McIntosh, who came to know him in his research on Constitutional Hall in Topeka. Glenn spent a few minutes at the end of his presentation talking about the hall, which stands much as it did a century and a half ago, although a brick facade has replaced its original rock front. Efforts are being See STATE | Page A6
Lawmakers want boost in state hospital staffing By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas needs to increase the staffing at a state mental hospital that has lost its federal certification, legislators said Thursday, expressing frustration that the agency running the institution doesn’t yet have a specific budget plan. Tim Keck, the Department for Aging and Disability Services’ interim secretary, faced pointed
questions after telling the House and Senate health committees that the agency plans to seek federal recertification of Osawatomie State Hospital within the next six months. The committees had a joint meeting to receive an update on the hospital from department officials. Keck said the hospital stands to lose between $500,000 and $1 million a month because the federal See STAFFING | Page A6
Mustang band students qualify for state By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The latest feather in the cap for Iola High School’s music program came Jan. 9 in Salina, when students Bryan Gentry, senior, Tori Smith, junior, and Madison Carlin, sophomore, qualified for the State Band Festival. They’ll rehearse over a three-day stretch before performing at a concert Feb. 26 at the Regency II Convention Center in Wichita. Gentry did more than qualify. He earned the “first chair” or “principle” trumpet seat, meaning he was rated the best of the 110 or so trumpeters who auditioned. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” Gentry said. “I thought I did well, but I had no idea I’d get that kind of rating.” This is Gentry’s second consecutive year to qualify for the state band. Smith, meanwhile, earned seventh chair in the French horn. “I’m the kind of person who always thinks
Iola High School students, from left, Tori Smith, Bryan Gentry, Madison Carlin and Olivia Taylor have qualified for the upcoming State Music Festival in Wichita. Taylor will serve as an alternate performer. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN I did horribly,” Smith said with a wry smile. “I thought I didn’t make it. I’m pretty hard on myself.” Carlin, a sophomore, qualified in her first year of eligibility, earning 10th chair in trumpet. “I was both a little confident and nervous,” Carlin said. “I thought I did well, but I know I could do better. I let my nerves get the best of me.” Olivia Taylor, also a sophomore, is an al-
ternate participant in French horn. “This gives me something to look forward to for next year,” she said “I want to do better and qualify.” IHS music instructor Matt Kleopfer noted the three qualifiers and alternate are the most he’s had in the four years he’s been with the Iola program. “I look at that as spreading the culture,” Kleopfer said. “Instead of this being unusual, I
“You can’t blame gravity for falling in love.” — Albert Einstein 75 Cents
want this to be expected. We talked about that this morning with the middleschoolers.” Gentry said the newcomers are in for a treat when they arrive for the state festival. “These guys are crazy good,” Gentry said. “There are no weak spots anywhere.” THE STATE event is one of several to keep the See BAND | Page A6
Hi: 40 Lo: 28 Iola, KS