Thursday, September 24, 2020
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Few students infected, but dozens quarantined By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Only a few cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in area schools, though those events have led to the quarantine of dozens of others in an effort to slow the spread of infection. So far, those efforts seem to be working. Of the students who have been sent home because of contact with an infected person, none have be-
Crest wins both volleyball matches
come ill. The Iola school district, which includes Gas and LaHarpe, has reported the most infections and quarantines. Two students at Iola Middle
School and one at Jefferson Elementary School became infected with COVID-19, and those in close contact — such as teachers or classmates — were sent home for a twoweek quarantine. A handful of students remain quarantined in the Iola district, but are expected to return to school at the end of the week, Superintendent Stacey Fager said. The Iola district had up to See SCHOOLS | Page A3
IHS football canceled 2 weeks By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola High School football will not compete for the next two weeks due to youths’ exposure to COVID-19 by a player from Wellsville High School who has tested positive to the virus.
The two teams competed last Friday. All varsity players who suited up for the Mustangs against Wellsville were placed under quarantine through Oct. 2. That means both this week’s games against FronSee GAMES | Page A3
Making a case for kids
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Missouri governor has COVID-19 PAGE A2
Mourners pay their respects to Ginsburg PAGE A6
State reports clusters of COVID cases By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment released a retooled list Wednesday of site-specific COVID-19 clusters that identified outbreaks of five cases or more occurring within the previous 14 days. The original format for the KDHE report launched Sept. 9 defined clusters as businesses with at least 20 cases or as events and groups linked to five cases or more. It also included outbreaks that added as few as one new case within the prior 28 days. Those thresholds were questioned by journalists as insufficient and denounced by businesses as excessive. In response, KDHE eliminated the distinction for purposes of this report — setting the benchmark in the new version at five regardless of locale. “Somebody, let’s say, has eight cases today and then a week from now to have it down to four or less and then to no longer be on the list,” said Lee Norman, See CLUSTERS | Page A5
Vol. 122, No. 231 Iola, KS 75 Cents
Chief Judge Daniel D. Creitz, of the 31st Judicial District, swears in new CASA advocates, from left, Leaha K. Young, Marie Roth, Aaron Martin and Shawn Johns Sept. 10 at the Allen County District Court. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS
New CASA advocates complete training By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Ever since Marie Roth first learned about CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) as part of a college internship in Indiana in 2011, she has wanted to be an advocate. Roth and other new advocates were sworn in at Allen County District Court earlier this month. She’ll soon be ready to take on her first case. Roth’s first experience with the program came while studying communications as an undergraduate. A professor asked students to take on a volunteer project, and she helped with a fundraiser for CASA. “It introduced us to the foster care system,” Roth said. “I hadn’t had any experience with foster care, and it was eye-opening. CASA advocates make sure a child doesn’t
Marie Roth, a new CASA advocate, said she first learned about the program in college and has wanted to volunteer for years. get lost in the system, and has somebody to look out for them.” CASA is a nation-wide program that matches trained volunteers, appointed by the court, to work with children who have been abused or neglected. The advocates inter-
view everyone involved with the child to provide information to help the judge decide what steps to take in the best interest of the child. CASA of the 31st Judicial District serves Allen, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson counties.
Roth said she connected with CASA because her mother was adopted. Roth and her husband, Timothy, who is pastor at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Humboldt, want to be involved with adoption at some point in the future. The couple moved to Humboldt about four years ago, and briefly became foster parents. They welcomed a foster child into their home for about six months, and had a couple of temporary placements before they left the program. “We saw the good days, the bad days, the ugly days,” Marie Roth said. “We saw how the children grew with love and consistency. As an advocate, I will understand the struggles of foster parents. I also know that sometimes, case workers have to make difficult decisions.” Roth learned about the 31st See CASA | Page A5
Anger over Breonna Taylor spills into America’s streets LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Anger, frustration and sadness over the decision not to charge Kentucky police officers for Breonna Taylor’s death poured into America’s streets as protesters lashed out at a criminal justice system they say is stacked against Black people. Violence seized the demonstrations in her hometown of Louisville as gunfire rang out and wounded two police officers. Activists, celebrities and
everyday Americans have been calling for charges since Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers after one of them was shot while bursting into her home during a narcotics investigation in March. The officers had a no-knock warrant but the investigation showed they announced themselves before entering, said state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a See CHARGES | Page A5
Protesters gather in front of the Breonna Taylor memorial in Jefferson Square Park on Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
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