Sports: Recreation baseball, softball action continues See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Council delays decision on IMS traffic By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola City Council members will wait until July 13 before deciding whether to alter the flow of traffic around Iola Middle School. The Council tabled a decision on making portions of East and Jackson streets oneway thoroughfares, seeking additional public comment and discuss other options. The Council heard from Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock, who recommended making East Street a westbound-only lane from First to Cottonwood streets, while making Jack-
Free swimming, disc golf Wednesday The Iola Municipal Pool is offering a free day of swimming for patrons on Wednesday. The pool opens at 1 p.m. and closes at 7 p.m. The USD 257 free summer food program will begin serving meals at 11:30 a.m. in the Little Theater inside the Iola Recreation Building in Riverside Park. The lunch is free for children ages 1 to 18. Dancing in the park will begin at 12:30 until the pool opens. There will be prizes given out that day at lunch including balls, jump ropes and water toys. MEANWHILE A grand opening for Iola’s new Elm Creek Disc Golf Course will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Organizers will serve free hot dogs to those in attendance. Other prizes, such as free discs, will be given away on a limited basis. The public is invited.
son Avenue an eastboundonly thoroughfare over the same stretch. Schinstock pointed to an engineer’s traffic study earlier this spring — ordered after USD 257’s decision to utilize grade-level attendance centers starting this fall — counted 3,600 cars passing in front of IMS over a three-day stretch. The district will add roughly 100 fifth-graders and seven to 10 teachers to the IMS campus in the fall. “We know there will be an increase in traffic,” Schinstock said. Parking near the street likely won’t change much, Schinstock noted, but hav-
ing one-way traffic would eliminate parents dropping off their children on opposite sides of the street — thus eliminating what he considered one of the largest safety hazards facing kids and pedestrians. Switching to one-way streets likely won’t be popular, Schinstock concluded, “but I think it’s necessary.” Schinstock offered two options for the Council to consider; one-ways from First to Cottonwood, about four blocks, or one-ways from First to Colborn, just three blocks.
Infrastructure costs likely to play role in 2016 budget
See ONE-WAY | Page A3
See BUDGET | Page A3
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
As Iola City Council members continue to discuss the city’s 2016 budget, they’ll need to be aware of potential expenditures dealing with growth. City Administrator Carl Slaugh addressed some of those issues Monday, including a pending request from David Toland, hired by the
city as its economic developer. Toland spoke earlier this month about an effort to bring a grocery store to the site of the old Allen County Hospital, and potential traffic flow changes along U.S. 54 at the old hospital curve. Any changes would necessitate a traffic study, Toland said then, floating the idea
Fundraising efforts continue for youth By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
As the odds against Cheyenne Reno continue to mount, Chelsea Reno finds solace from an unexpected source of inspiration. That’s Cheyenne. “That’s the thing,” Chelsea said. “She is always in such a great spirit. She’s always happy.” Cheyenne Reno, 5, is battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that started with a tumor in her sinus cavity. She was diagnosed in early 2014. The tumor is inoperable, rendering the young Piqua girl blind in one eye. News grew more distressing in late May, when doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., found the cancer had spread to Cheyenne’s legs. Cheyenne can no longer walk. “She’s in a wheelchair,” said Chelsea, speaking over the weekend at a large rummage sale on her daughter’s behalf in Humboldt. “She can’t use the bathroom by herself.” The ongoing medical issues have pinched the Reno family financially. Both Chelsea and Justin Reno — Cheyenne’s father —
Friends are raising funds for 5-year-old Cheyenne Reno, who is battling a rare form of cancer that has rendered her blind in one eye and confines her to a wheelchair. COURTESY PHOTO have essentially quit working to care for their daughter, and to transport her to the hospital in Kansas City for weekly treatments. The spreading cancer prompted a new round of chemotherapy. “We’re trying to find a dime
here, a penny there,” Chelsea said. “That’s why we had the rummage sale.” The Renos are anxiously awaiting word whether Cheyenne can be treated at a children’s hospital in Dallas, where a specialist in rhabdomyosarcoma could see Chey-
USD 257 school board approves PTO reorganization By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Don Snavely, left, and Mark Burris were recognized at the USD 257 school board meeting Monday. The outgoing members have served for several years on the board. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 160
The Parent Teachers Organization will come under one umbrella for the new school year. When the school district switched to attendance centers in March, parents thought it best to combine the three elementary school PTOs to one — Iola PTO. Becky Nilges, a local grant writer, has assisted parents organize the new PTO since May, including making it a non-profit organization. One detail is to have a permanent address for Iola PTO. Parent Jennifer Coltrane and Nilges approached USD 257 board members at their meeting Monday night to ask
if the district office could serve as such, to which board members agreed. “To have charitable donations you have to be incorporated,” Coltrane added. The board asked high school principal Stacey Fager to look into how the district’s Booster Club was founded in hopes this would answer other questions facing the new PTO. The Booster Club and the PTO are separate entities. The board then passed a resolution acknowledging the Iola PTO. SCOTT Stanley, director of maintenance and operations, proposed a bid to purchase See BOE | Page A6
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” — Martin Luther King Jr. 75 Cents
enne. “As far as her cancer is advancing, I’m scared of what they’ll do,” Chelsea said. She noted doctors in Kansas City recently found lesions on Cheyenne’s lungs, See RENO | Page A6
S.C. governor: Confederate flag a symbol of racism, hatred CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s governor declared Monday that the Confederate flag should be removed from the Statehouse grounds as she acknowledged that its use as a symbol of hatred by the man accused of killing nine black church members has made it too divisive to display in such a public space. Gov. Nikki Haley’s aboutface comes just days after See FLAG | Page A6
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