Sports: Kansas State rallies to upset KU See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Elementaries could reshuffle grades BOE looks at ways to trim budget By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
With no choice but to cut their budgets, school administrators are considering creating attendance centers for district elementary schools. That was the news from Monday night’s USD 257
centers, said Brad Crusinbery, principal at Jefferson Elementary. Lincoln and Jefferson currently host kindergarten through fifth grade students and McKinley houses kindergarten through third grade. Administrators propose the district make McKinley preschool and kindergarten, Jefferson first through second grade and Lincoln third
Board of Education meeting. Moving to attendance centers could save the district about $200,000 by creating efficiencies by having same grade teachers in the same building. “There would be better staff development, better use of resources and no boundary issues,” with attendance
through fourth grade. Fifth grade would move to the middle school. Jack Stanley, Iola Middle School principal, said the school has space for fifth grade students and they would keep the students sectioned off from the other grade levels. USD 257 has boundaries set in place for elementary students. Students attend a
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
See GARDEN | Page A3
See 257 | Page A6
Panel approves liquor sales plan
City OKs water for community garden Owners of the Elm Creek Community Garden will pay much less for water service than they’ve done in years past. Iola City Council members approved Monday wiping the first $1,000 off the garden’s water bill this year, following a request from Val McLean, who owns the property. The Elm Creek Community Garden is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles and healthy eating. Since its inception, the garden has served as a model for other communities across the state, McLean noted. McLean, who also serves as the garden’s president and volunteer coordinator, told council members how
certain elementary school based on where they live in Iola. Crusinbery said families often don’t approve of the school they are assigned and request to move. Attendance centers would eliminate this issue completely. Inequalities of technology have been noted at the elementary schools. PTOs have
By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
Emergency crews tend to a trapped passenger Monday afternoon following a two-vehicle accident south of Humboldt on 1200 Street. Five were injured, including two young children. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Five injured in Humboldt wreck By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — A twovehicle accident sent five people, including two children, to the hospital Monday afternoon. The accident occurred on 1200 Street, about two miles south of Humboldt, when a
minivan driven by Carl R. Taylor, 55, Humboldt, struck the back of a car driven by Gary D. Ludlum, 63, Moran. Both vehicles were northbound and traveling at highway speed, the Kansas Highway Patrol reported. The collision sent both vehicles rolling into the east ditch. Ludlum’s car wound
up on its side; the minivan came to rest on its wheels. Taylor, the only passenger in his vehicle, was transported to Allen County Regional Hospital and later flown to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. Ludlum had three other See WRECK | Page A6
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Grocery stores in Kansas could start selling liquor, wine and full-strength beer starting in July 2018 under a proposal clearing a legislative committee Monday in a state once known as the home of saloon-smasher Carrie Nation. The bill approved by the House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee also would allow convenience stores to sell full-strength beer, starting in July 2018. The committee’s 10-7 vote sends the measure to the full House for debate. It’s a significant development for supporters of expanded alcohol sales in a state that enforced its own See LIQUOR | Page A3
House bill would eliminate Common Core curriculum By NICHOLAS CLAYTON The Associated Press
This railroad overpass on U.S. 54 between Iola and Yates Center will be closed to traffic starting Monday as crews replace the 79-year-old span. The new bridge is scheduled to open in October. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Y.C. railroad overpass to close Monday By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
YATES CENTER — Getting to Yates Center will be a bit more time consuming starting Monday, when a bridge replacement project begins along U.S. 54.
The Kansas Department of Transportation announced this week that a bridge spanning the Union Pacific Railroad 1½ miles east of Yates Center will be replaced. Work begins Monday, weather permitting, to replace the existing bridge
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 79
with a weathered steel span bridge. Crews also will raise the grade of the bridge and approach ramps. The work zone will remain closed until the new bridge is completed in the fall. See OVERPASS | Page A3
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas would repeal Common Core standards and overhaul public school guidelines under a bill that was discussed by a Kansas House panel Monday. The bill would bar any school district from adopting standards that would “cede any measure of control over any aspect of Kansas public education to any entity” outside the state, effectively banning the Common Core standards, which were developed by the National Governors Association and education associations and have been adopted by 44 states. The standards set benchmarks designed to raise reading and math skills, but do not provide a curriculum or spell out how students are taught. Frank Clark, a retired high school teacher from Manhat-
“If life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.
tan, testified to the House Education Committee that he opposed the standards’ “onesize-fits-all” approach and said they usurped the power of local school boards to set their own materials and priorities. Clark took issue with some of the books recommended by the Common Core standards, saying they “can only be described as legalized pornography.” Cristina García’s “Dreaming in Cuban” and Toni Morrison’s 1970 novel “The Bluest Eye” are among books recommended by Common Core that critics have See HOUSE | Page A6
Hi: 43 Lo: 23
— Ron White, comedian 75 Cents
Iola, KS