Sports: Red Devils down Neosho County See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Iola Council
City delays action on shut-off policy, rate hikes By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola City Council members agreed Monday to hold off on decisions regarding electric and water rate increases, and whether city policies regarding past-due bills should be changed. The consensus to wait on both came because more information was needed in one case (how adapting a
State puts off courts debate By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators put off a potentially charged debate over the grounds for removing justices from the state Supreme Court while advancing proposals Monday for combatting online “revenge porn” among adults and sexting by teenagers. The House approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution declaring that Kansas residents have the right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife, subject to “reasonable” laws and regulations. The Senate postponed a debate on a measure declaring that state Supreme Court justices can be impeached and removed from office for attempting to “usurp” the power of the Legislature and the executive branch of state government. It was included in a list of specific grounds for impeachment that also includes a breach of the public trust, personal misconduct and “wanton and reckless judicial behavior.” Here is a look at significant legislative developments Monday. JUDICIAL IMPEACHMENT
Senators stripped the proposed impeachment measure from a bill clarifying the Supreme Court’s authority to administer the judicial branch’s day-to-day operations. The Senate gave the narrower bill first-round approval on a voice vote, with a final vote today to determine whether it goes to the House. The Senate Judiciary See STATE | Page A3
“Cold Weather Rule” and potential payment installment plans for past-due bills would affect the budget) and more council members were needed on the other (utility rates.) The Council heard from Angela Murphy of Allen County Connectors, a group of local volunteers who assist local citizens in need find resources in order to make ends meet.
The Connectors asked the Council to ratify a Cold Weather Rule policy that prohibits the city in writing from disconnecting utilities because of past-due bills if the temperature is expected to dip below 34 degrees within the next 24 hours. Iola does that unofficially, City Clerk Roxanne Hutton noted, but residents are
Fundraiser to benefit garden By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola City Council members agreed Monday to spearhead a fundraising campaign to benefit the Elm Creek Community Garden. The unusual declaration came about largely because
See COUNCIL | Page A6
of bad timing for Iolan Val Mclean, who with wife Carolyn, donated the land for the community garden a decade ago. The two-square-block plot of land on South First Street is open to a wide range of See GARDEN | Page A6
Netflix adds to ‘Diggers’ reach By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Iolan George Wyant and his buddy Tim Saylor of National Geographic Channel “Diggers” fame, added another level of exposure this month. Netflix, the online movie and TV network, began airing their show last week. With more than 75 million subscribers, Netflix will provide about one-third of the 66 episodes that have aired over the past four years. Meanwhile, Wyant is unsure of the future of “Diggers,” which has he and Saylor discovering relics and coins of historical significance. “We’ll know more in a couple of months,” he said. If National Geographic doesn’t renew, “we hope to land a deal with another channel,” Wyant said, or maybe “have our own show on YouTube.” Both remain busy through a contract they have with Garrett, a Garland, Texas, manufacturer of metal detectors and accessories. They were in Las Vegas earlier this year at a trade show on behalf of the company, and have dates in Virginia (twice), Europe, Canada and perhaps Australia late this year. “‘Diggers’ is really popular in Europe,” Wyant said. “If you find something 500 years old and get excited about it, they laugh at you in Europe. They think of old as 1,000 years.” IF “DIGGERS” sounds like a fun way to make a living, it is, Wyant said. But allowed it’s also hard work. See DIGGERS | Page A3
“Diggers,” a show that stars Iolan George Wyant, now is available on Netflix. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Hospitals: Rejecting Medicaid expansion cost state $1B By JIM MCLEAN KHI News Service
Kansas’ rejection of Medicaid expansion has cost the state more than $1 billion, according to the association that represents the state’s hospitals. “This 10-figure sum represents a loss of nearly 11 Kansas taxpayer dollars every second since Jan. 1, 2014 — funds that go to the federal government to be spent in
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 80
other states for Medicaid expansion,” the Kansas Hospital Association, which keeps a running total of the amount on its website, said in a news release issued Monday. Since the start of 2014, when the main provisions of the Affordable Care Act took effect, 31 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid eligibility to all adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation. The annual income limits in expansion states are $16,242 for an individual and $33,465 for a family of four. In Kansas, only adults with dependent children are eligible for KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, and then only if their incomes are below 28 percent of the poverty level, which for a family of four is $9,216. Hospital officials say Medicaid expansion would pro-
“Television is chewing gum for the eyes.” — Frank Lloyd Wright 75 Cents
vide coverage to approximately 150,000 Kansans, many of whom are now uninsured, and generate additional federal dollars for providers hit hard by reductions in Medicare reimbursements triggered by the ACA and a budget-cutting formula that congressional conservatives demanded. But those arguments have so far failed to move the needle on the issue. So, this year, See MEDICAID | Page A2
Hi: 51 Lo: 32 Iola, KS