Thursday, March 24, 2022
Locally owned since 1867
Allen County COVID-19 Case Count
Cases since 3/18 .....1 Total cases* ...........3,953 Deaths ..................48 *Since the start of the pandemic Sources: Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Departments, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Mobile COVID testing site now open By the Register staff
A mobile testing site for COVID-19 infections will be available in Humboldt through the rest of this week and perhaps for the next two weeks. The testing trailer is set up near the downtown park at the corner of South Eighth and New York streets in Humboldt, and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until Friday. It may also be open for the next two weeks. The trailer was brought to Allen County after the See TESTING | Page A3
iolaregister.com
Laundromat changes unfold By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Margaret Bennett is trading in her fabric softener for a paint brush. “It’s not gonna be very exciting,” Bennett promised of her retirement, which became official Tuesday after she and daughter Susie signed over Bennett’s Coin Laundry to Nicholas Crisp of Le Roy. “I’m going to be home mostly, painting fences and babysitting,” Bennett said, with one notable exception. “I want to go to Oklahoma to go to a casino. I am going to make my daughters loan me money so I can go to a casino, with no intention of ever paying them back.” Levity aside, Bennett said she’ll miss the day-to-day interaction with the laundromat’s customers, many of whom she’s known for multiple generations. “They’re happy for us,” Bennett said, “but sad at the same time.” Bennett started at the laundromat in 1968, working for her mother-in-law, Goldie Bennett, when it was still Acers Park Laundry. Prior to that, the business was owned by Sid and Ethel Pasley. Margaret took over in 1991. Susie joined the operation in 2003.
Margaret, left, and Susie Bennett have sold Bennett’s Coin Laundry to Nicholas Crisp of Le Roy, pictured at right. REGISTER/
TIM STAUFFER AND RICHARD LUKEN
CRISP, who has owned a laundromat in Burlington for the past five years, said a few changes are coming at Bennett’s, which will keep its name. Perhaps the largest difference is Crisp will not offer dry See LAUNDRY | Page A3
Iolans compete in Special Olympics
Senate passes trans-athlete ban with veto-proof majority
This slide from NextEra Energy shows what a monopole design will look like. SCREENSHOT
Transmission line project affects 58 local landowners By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
A transmission line project to connect power plant substations in Kansas and Missouri will affect nearly 60 Allen County landowners. NextEra Energy outlined their plans in virtual presentations Tuesday morning and afternoon, giving participants an opportunity to ask questions about the project. The transmission line is needed to provide more cost-effective and reliable energy by reducing congestion on existing power lines, Marcos Mora, NextEra’s executive director, said. Vol. 124, No. 121 Iola, KS $1.00
Reducing congestion typically provides savings in energy costs, as power is able to move more efficiently. The project is expected to save customers about $24 million in the first year, and another $377 million over the next 40 years. Building the transmission lines will benefit the local economy, as NextEra said they typically use material, vendors and labor from the local area as much as possible. That economic benefit is expected to be about $28 million in Kansas and $4 million in Missouri over the next 40 See LINE | Page A3
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans in the Kansas Senate have approved a ban on transgender athletes in girl’s and women’s school sports with enough votes to override an expected veto from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The 27-12 vote Tuesday sent the measure to the House. Conservatives had exactly the two-thirds majority they would need for a
veto override, with one Republican senator absent. LGBTQ-rights advocates argue that the bill represents discrimination and targets transgender youth who already are vulnerable to bullying and suicide. There’s no evidence that there are more than a handful of transgender students participating in extracurricular activities. But supporters of the bill
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Downtown Music Tour takes stage PAGE A2
See TRANS | Page A4
House rejects special ed funding effort By NOAH TABORDA Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas representatives went back and forth on an amendment Tuesday, ultimately rejecting an opportunity to fund state special education at the long-desired 92% mark. Public schools in Kansas cover the costs of special education out of their operational budgets and apply for reimbursement from the amount the Legislature appropriates for that year. State law provides that Kansas should pay 92% of excess costs of special education, but there is no enforcement mechanism or penalty should the Legislature do otherwise.
Rep. Nick Hoheisel said an amendment bringing Kansas toward 92% funding of special education would help mitigate many issues that special education programs, like the one attended by his daughter, who has autism, face on a daily basis. (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)
In recent years, per the Gannon school finance plan, the legislature has added $7.5 million each year, bringing the proposal for 2022 to $520,380,818 or about 70%.
While funding has increased each year, special education advocates argue that costs have also increased. Rep. Jarrod Ousley, D-MerSee BILL | Page A4
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