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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Monday, June 23, 2014
Genoble undergoes special bone surgery By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
When word spread that eight-year-old Kayla Genoble had cancer it didn’t take long for the community to come together. Bake sales, bike rides and car washes were organized to help raise money for the Genoble family. Prayers and wishful thoughts were sent their way. Today Kayla will undergo a total femur replacement to remove the cancer in her bone. Kayla’s doctor has brought in a special implant from England. They will remove her bone from the hip to the knee and replace it with an implant that has magnets in it. This implant will grow as Kayla’s body grows. Michael Genoble, Kayla’s father, said they are at the
halfway point in Kayla’s treatment. “We go to the hospital Mondays through Thursdays for chemotherapy treatments,” he said. “Once she’s cleared from the hospital we’re able to come home for the weekend.” Not long after finding the tumor in Kayla’s leg in March, doctors found eight lesions on her lungs. A recent scan showed all of the lesions were gone. “The doctor was surprised that they were completely gone,” Genoble said. “I told them it’s because daddy prayed a lot.” Genoble said faith has been a large part for his family in this process. “I’ve always been religious but I would put Him on the back burner,” he said. “When this happened I put Him on the front burnSee GENOBLE | Page A2
Emporia hopes to build train depot EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Amtrak trains carrying passengers across Kansas haven’t stopped in Emporia since the old train station burned down in 1999, but a group of local leaders are hoping to change that. A group calling itself the Amtrak Task Force recently filed for nonprofit status with the secretary of state’s office and hopes to find a way to fund an impact study for a new train depot — a costly endeavor in itself, said Andrew McHenry, a local pastor who is a member of the task force. “We’re fighting the good fight,” said McHenry, the driving force behind the movement. “This is not something for the faint of heart, and it’s not going to happen easily.” The group’s goal is to help Emporia become a destination by bringing outsiders in, even if it’s on their way somewhere else, the Emporia Gazette reported. Cities like Newton, Dodge City and Garden City with similar populations to Em-
poria have Amtrak stops, McHenry said, and are better off for it. “The revenue of these towns starts to decline when they lost their railway stations,” McHenry said. “Everywhere Amtrak goes has a positive economic impact.” With international students at Emporia State University and a large population of senior citizens, the town has a high number of residents who can’t drive. The idea for a train station has been in the works for two years, but it’s still several years from getting off the ground. Since it would be built from scratch, the depot would need to conform to new Amtrak standards. “Putting together a rail station that meets modern criteria is not cheap,” said Casey Woods of Emporia Main Street. “You’ve got to match community needs with what the rail system wants, and whenever you add transportation and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) into the mix, there’s complications.”
Terry Lower, top, a teacher at Iola Middle School, expresses his frustration with a vote by Rep. Kent Thompson that included the denial of teachers’ tenure, at Saturday’s political forum. At right is Joe Hess, Iola resident, and above, Chad VanHouden, left, and Thompson. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN
Politicians push agendas By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Kent Thompson, incumbent for the District 9 House race, defended his voting record in his first stint as a Kansas legislator, and accused the media of overblowing the state’s fiscal state of affairs. “Things are not as dire as the media presents,” Thompson said. “Collections were strong the first part of the year. Admittedly, they have fallen off since.” Thompson was one of a slew of candidates who addressed a small crowd Saturday morning as part of a candidate forum sponsored by Allen County’s Farm Bureau association. Thompson said he feared
worse things would come out of this year’s legislative session, including lawmakers thumbing their noses at the state Supreme Court’s ruling that state schools are not adequately funded. “I was happy the Legislature didn’t push back or ignore the Supreme Court mandate,” he said. From the audience, Iola resident Joe Hess asked Rep. Thompson if he would favor the expansion of Medicaid to cover more Kansans who live below the federal poverty level. Thompson was noncommittal, saying he would need to study the matter further. “I know the expansion would be huge for hospitals, but I can’t say how I would vote for it,” he said.
Terry Lower, a teacher at Iola Middle School, told Thompson he was unhappy with the Legislature’s ruling to remove teacher tenure, which provided teachers with due process if they were fired. Thompson said he pushed back on the measure, but when it became clear the Senate would not approve additional school funding if the teacher tenure issue were dropped, he voted for the funding package. Hess, a former school administrator, said teachers now “are left hanging out in the cold,” with no one to come to their defense. Lower said the measure will allow administrators to let long-term teachers go in See FORUM | Page A4
Kerry urges political reform in Iraq in meeting BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today urged Iraq’s top Shiite leaders to give more government power to political opponents before a Sunni insurgency seizes more control across the country and sweeps away hopes for lasting peace. The closed-door meeting between Kerry and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was not expected to be friendly, given that officials in Washington have floated
suggestions that the Iraqi premier should resign as a necessary first step toward quelling the vicious uprising. Nor will it likely bring any immediate, tangible results, as al-Maliki has shown no sign of leaving and Iraqi officials have long listened to — but ultimately ignored — U.S. advice to avoid appearing controlled by the decadeold specter of an American occupation in Baghdad. Still, Kerry appeared en-
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couraged after the discussion with al-Maliki, which ran for a little over 90 minutes and was held in the same complex where an Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at former President George W, Bush as an insult in 2008. Walking to his motorcade after the meeting, Kerry said “that was good.” He was being escorted by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Kerry also met with the influential Shiite cleric, Ammar alHakim, and with Parliament
Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, the nation’s two highest-ranking Sunnis. Iraqi officials briefed on the Kerry’s talks with the Iraqi prime minister said al-Maliki urged the United States to target the militants’ positions in Iraq and neighboring Syria, citing training camps and convoys with airstrikes. The officials said Kerry responded by saying a great deal of care and caution must be taken before at-
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tacks are launched to avoid civilian casualties that could create the impression that Americans are attacking Sunnis. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. President Barack Obama, in a round of television interviews that aired Monday in the U.S., said al-Maliki and the Iraqi leadership faces a See IRAQ | Page A4
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