Inside: Landscaping tips shared
2017 1867
See A4
Sports: IHS football, volleyball, basketball coaches hired See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
CHILDREN AMONG VICTIMS City discusses
Bowlus support
By JILL LAWLESS and GREGORY KATZ The Associated Press
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up as young concert-goers left a show by the American singer Ariana Grande in the northern English city of Manchester, killing at least 22 people, some wearing the star’s trademark kitten ears and holding pink balloons as they fled. Teenage screams filled the arena just after the explosion Monday night, which also killed the attacker and injured dozens. British Prime Minister Theresa May said Manchester had fallen victim to “a callous terrorist attack.” “We struggle to comprehend the warped and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a scene to cherish but as an opportunity for carnage,” she said. Greater Manchester Police announced today that they had arrested a 23-year-old man in the south of the city in connection with the attack. The attack sparked a nightlong search for loved-ones — parents for the children they had accompanied or had been waiting to pick up, and friends for each other after groups were scattered by the blast. Twitter and Facebook were filled with appeals for the missing. There was no immediate
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A normally routine matter — disbursing tourism and convention funds — turned into a discussion about how Iola is supporting the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. City Council members approved Monday doling out a combined $62,500 to various groups, including the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce, Buster Keaton Celebration and Iola Rotary. Included in the list was
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The city’s purchasing policy often has Iola City Council members weighing suppor ting local businesses versus giving Sid Fleming taxpayers the biggest bang for their buck. On Monday, the Council
An injured concert-goer is helped by police and emergency responders Monday at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, following a suicide attack that killed 22. LONDON NEWS
PICTURES/JOEL GOODMAN/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
claim of responsibility for the bombing, which took place at the end of the concert when the audience was streaming toward the exits. Witnesses said they saw bolts and other bits of metal, indicating the bomb may have contained
shrapnel intended to maximize injuries. Public transport shut down, and taxis offered to give stranded people free rides home, while residents opened See MANCHESTER | Page A6
By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
activities and games as well as a free lunch from noon to 1 p.m. Meals at all sites are available weekdays free of charge for any person 18 and under. Last year, the summer food service program served a total of 13,068 meals. For the program’s full 2017 schedule, which runs through Aug. 10, visit the district website or Facebook page or call Food Service Coordinator Kathy Koehn at 620-365-4700. of surrounding towns in an effort to get solid food into the bellies of the area’s lowincome children. Each week
this summer, the program will host a “Fun Fridays” event at Riverside Park. The event will feature various
WITH THE STUDENTS of USD 257 gone for the summer, See 257 | Page A6
Kansas lawmakers struggle to find budget fix By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators marked the fifth anniversary of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax-cutting experiment Monday by drafting and then rejecting a new plan for undoing much of the policy in order to fix the state budget and provide more money for public schools. The House voted 68-53 against a plan that would have raised $1.2 billion over two years by boosting income tax rates and eliminating an exemption for more than 330,000 farmers and busi-
See BOWLUS | Page A3
Council talks purchases
M.A.R.V., summer meals program set to resume USD 257’s standout summer food service program — which now includes the popular roving “chow bus,” M.A.R.V. — returns May 30. The program has added three new sites to its roster, which now includes — in addition to the high school cafeteria and the two elementary schools — the Iola swimming pool, the public library, Wesley United Methodist Church, and more. Plus, the district’s brightly colored Meals and Reading Vehicle will make its usual tour through a handful
a $20,000 disbursement to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Council members Jon Wells and Aaron Franklin noted this was the second consecutive year Iola has given tourism funding to the Bowlus, on top of $30,000 from its general fund. “I completely support the idea of supporting the Bow-
ness owners. The H o u s e and Senate neKANSAS NEWS SERg o t i a VICE FILE PHOTO tors who drafted the plan will have to resume their talks. The proposal split both parties. Some minority Democrats criticized the plan for not being enough. Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $887 million through June 2019 and the state Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate. But some conservative Re-
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 146
publicans assailed the proposed tax increases as likely to damage the state’s economy and hurt small businesses and working-class families. “The direction from the debate wasn’t fully clear,” said House Taxation Committee Chairman Steven Johnson, a moderate Assaria Republican. “What’s the delicate balance to the right or left that picks folks up without losing the others?” Rep. Kent Thompson, RLaHarpe, who represents Iola, voted in favor of the tax bill, as did Rep. Adam Lusk, D-Frontenac, who represents the eastern portions of Allen
County. Meanwhile, conservative Republicans outlined a new plan for keeping Brownback’s biggest political legacy — past income tax cuts — intact for another year. They argued that Kansas can fix its budget problems by restraining spending, and more than two dozen of them had a Statehouse news conference ahead of the tax talks. “The approaches so far have all been spend more, raise more taxes,” said Republican Sen. Ty Masterson, of Andover, who outlined conservatives’ plan. “It’s like See STATE | Page A3
“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.”
— Katherine Hepburn 75 Cents
discussed revising the purchasing policy, at the behest of City Administrator Sid Fleming. “We want guidelines to know when you prefer local, so we can align ourselves with that,” Fleming said. The city traditionally seeks out low bids for bigticket purchases, but will pick a slightly higher cost if the vendor is local. Problem is, the purchasing policy allows too much See PURCHASES | Page A3
Humboldt approves longer school days By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — USD 258 school board members voted unanimously Monday to add 15 minutes per day to the school calendar, and Kay Lewis to add a new English teacher to their faculty list. Beginning this fall, school will begin at 7:55 a.m. and end at 3:25 p.m. for students attending in the Humboldt school district. The added 15 minutes per day will be divided between the second, fourth, sixth and seventh periods for middle school and high school students. Elementary teachers will use the additional time at the end of the school day for math intervention, according to Superintendent Kay Lewis. The district will try the new schedule for a year, and See HUMBOLDT | Page A3
Hi: 67 Lo: 47 Iola, KS