The Iola Register, Dec. 24, 2022

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Baby’s 1st Christmas

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Note: Paul Porter and Hayley Derryberry own the Shannon Building at 20 W. Jefferson Ave., which is being remodeled. Hayley owns and operates Derryberry Breadery. Paul owns and operates Big Square Media.

For Billie Jean Derryberry-Porter, the best Christmas memories are yet to come.

Billie Jean is the daughter of Iola business owners Paul Porter and Hayley Derryberry. She was born Nov. 3 and will be almost 2 months old her first Christmas.

As with any new baby, her parents are filled with ideas to create new traditions and forge memories she’ll cherish for a lifetime.

And as is fitting for the couple, those traditions will be anything but ordinary.

They’ll take their cues from German folklore, with a little horror on the side.

Among the many traditions they have mind, they planned to celebrate Krampus Night on Dec. 5 and the Feast of Saint Nicholas on Dec. 6.

According to German folklore, Krampus and Saint Nicholas work together. Saint Nicholas rewards good children while Krampus punishes the naughty on Dec. 5. On Dec. 6, children put their shoes out for Saint Nicholas to fill with treats.

Hayley wrote a thesis on German fear literature for children.

“There’s a tradition of

scaring children into behaving. I find it really fascinating,” she said.

She believes it’s important to educate children about fear in a way that is fun and educational. Both Paul and Hayley have backgrounds in theater and the movies, and created a short horror movie in 2012.

“Sometimes, the world is scary. Being afraid is an important part of the human

experience. For a moment, you can convince yourself magic is real,” Hayley said.

It’s all about symbolism: When the weather outside has turned dark and dreary, and the nights are getting longer, Christmas celebrates the light and the warmth inside.

“You appreciate the safety of the home when you think there’s a scary thing out-

Kansas lawmakers split votes

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall voted against the $1.7 trillion spending bill awaiting action by the U.S. House because it expanded the federal deficit and fueled inflation with wasteful spending.

Marshall said the measure

unwisely delivered $370 billion in handouts to clean energy, $47 billion in military, economic and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, $3.2 billion for processing illegal immigrants and $1.7 billion to enforce regulations eroding 2nd Amendment rights.

The Kansas Republican also objected to $212 million for the U.S. Department of

Justice to advance prosecution of defendants and investigate cases tied to the assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. The package would overhaul the 135-yearold law former President Donald Trump and his allies sought to exploit in an effort to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

Pawsitive reinforcement

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Chase Martin’s work colleagues can be temperamental at times.

That’s OK.

He realizes he often doesn’t know much about their backgrounds, or their upbringing.

Communication and patience are key. A firm but friendly word makes a world of difference, Martin notes.

It also helps that his colleagues — his “students” — are of the four-legged variety.

Martin has taken his lifetime of experience around animals and turned it into Chasin’ Tails, a dog obedience program for pet owners in Allen, Anderson and Neosho counties.

In just a few months time, and largely through word of mouth, Martin has carved out a niche among area dog lovers.

“It’s been picking up more and more every month,” Mar-

tin said. “A lot of my clients have been really good at recommending me to others.

“It’s been great because it really doesn’t feel like work,” he chuckled. “I enjoy it.”

MARTIN offers basic and advanced dog obedience, behavior training, problem-solving and advice for pet owners, and special training for aggressive animals.

But his centerpiece is what Martin describes as his “Puppy 101” training.

“The puppy program is for someone who has probably just gotten their dog, who may be a few months old,” Martin explained. “I’m gonna come to your home and show you the proper ways to kennel train, crate train, potty train, socialization with people, socialization with other animals, getting them accustomed to vet visits.”

The key to his success, Martin noted, is that he focus-

Historic winter blast batters US ahead of holiday travel

By BLOOMBERG NEWS/ TNS

A monstrous, once-in-a-decade winter storm is battering the U.S., bringing with it heavy snow, searing winds and dangerously low temperatures, while causing mayhem for travelers across the country at the peak of the holiday season.

As of early Friday, more than 200 million people — around 60% of the nation’s population — were under

some form of winter weather warning or advisory, according to the National Weather Service. Snow is set to blanket the Great Lakes region and parts of northern New York state and New England.

The storm is hitting the U.S. just as an estimated 112.7 million people are set to travel at least 50 miles through Jan.

2, according to automotive group AAA. The effects even threaten to disrupt the country’s exports of liquefied natural gas — which have been a lifeline for Europe as it battles a historic energy crisis.

“This is not like a snow day, you know, when you’re a kid. This is serious stuff,” President Joe Biden said in a

Thursday briefing, calling it “dangerous” and threatening.

“If you all have travel plans, leave now. Not a joke.”

More than 3,100 flights for Friday and Saturday have been canceled around the U.S., according to airline tracking service FlightAware.

Amtrak also canceled some

Paul Porter and Hayley Derryberry welcomed their first child, Billie Jean Derryberry-Porter, on Nov. 3. They want to start new Christmas traditions by honoring their heritage and interests. COURTESY PHOTO

Chase Martin has opened a dog obedience business, Chasin’ Tails. Here he is with his dog, Ghost. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Report: Inflation rate may be easing

WASHINGTON (AP)

— A measure of inflation closely watched by the Federal Reserve slowed last month, another sign that a long surge in consumer prices seems to be easing.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose 5.5% in November from a year earlier, down from a revised 6.1% increase in October and the smallest gain since October 2021. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was up 4.7% over the previous year. That was also the smallest increase since October 2021.

On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.1% from October to November after rising 0.4% the previous month. Core prices rose 0.2%.

Inflation, which began surging a year and a half ago as the economy bounced back from

2020’s coronavirus recession, still remains well above the 2% yearover-year growth the Fed wants to see.

The central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate seven times since March in an attempt to bring consumer prices under control.

Higher prices and borrowing costs may be taking a toll on American consumers. Their spending rose just 0.1% from October to November and didn’t rise at all after adjusting for higher prices.

“We expect a deceleration in household spending as the Fed hikes rates further in 2023,’’ Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a research note.

Americans’ after-tax income, however, rose 0.3% in November even after accounting for inflation.

Prairie Dell 4-Hers serenade seniors

Prairie Dell 4-H Club members went Christmas caroling at Heartland Meadows on Dec. 5, after which they hosted their regular monthly meeting.

Members also rang the Salvation Army bell at Iola Walmart Sunday.

During the meeting,

they voted to visit a dog groomer for their educational tour. Their next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 2 at the Southwind Extension office.

Members will make toilet paper roll bird feeders at the meeting. — Lizzy Michael, reporter

left, LeAnn Church, Lainey Church, Lola Church, Treyton Church, Lizzy Michael; and back from left, Luke Wicoff and Mary Sue Cox holding Ziggy. COURTESY OF TERRI KRETZMEIER

Ukraine president back in Kyiv, Russia keeps up attacks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)

— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded another defiant note on his return to his nation’s capital Friday following his wartime visit to the United States, saying his forces are “working toward victory” even as Russia warned that there would be no end to the war until it achieved its military aims.

Zelenskyy posted on his Telegram account that he’s in his Kyiv office following his U.S. trip that secured a new $1.8 billion military aid package, and pledged that “we’ll overcome everything.” The Ukrainian president also thanked the Netherlands for pledging up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.65 billion) for 2023, to help pay for military equipment and rebuild critical infrastructure.

Zelenksyy’s return comes amid relentless Russian artillery, rocket and mortar fire as well as airstrikes on the eastern and southern fronts and elsewhere in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the war would end at the negotiating table once the “special military operation” achieves “the goals that the Russian Federation has set,” adding that “a significant headway has been made on demilitarization of Ukraine.”

The Kremlin spokesman said no reported Ukrainian peace plan can succeed without taking into account “the realities of today that can’t be ignored” — a reference to Moscow’s demand that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, as well as other territorial gains.

At least six civilians were killed and 18 others were wounded in Russian attacks on eight regions in Ukraine’s south and east in the past 24 hours, according to Ukrainian officials.

In a regular Telegram update, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said Russian missiles destroyed a boarding school in the the eastern city of Kramatorsk, home of the Ukrainian army’s local headquarters.

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces fired multiple rocket launchers “more than 70 times” across Ukrainian territory overnight, while fierce battles raged around the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Bakhmut and Lyman in the neighboring Luhansk region as well as the front line between the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions bore the brunt of the Russian strikes, but didn’t specify to what degree.

As many as 61 Russian rocket, artillery and mortar fire attacks were launched in the Kherson region over the past 24 hours.

Kherson regional Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevych posted on Telegram that Russian forces attacked from dug-in positions on the right

bank of the Dnieper river, hitting educational institutions, apartment blocks and private homes. Tymoshenko said renewed Russian shelling on Kherson city Friday killed another person.

In the eastern Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukraine’s military said Russia launched six

missile strikes and as many air attacks on civilian targets, while Ukrainian forces repelled Russian ground attacks on or near 19 settlements in the north and east.

Russian shelling overnight also struck a district hospital in the northeastern city of Volchansk, Kharkiv region, wounding five peo-

ple, according to local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov. Syniehubov posted on Telegram that the four men and one woman were all in “moderate condition.”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said several blasts tore through factory buildings housing Russian troops in the occupied city of Tokmak in the

southern Zaporizhzhia region late on Thursday, sparking a fire. The Center for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine didn’t immediately report on casualties or who was behind the blasts.

Earlier Friday, the Ukrainian mayor of the southern city of Melitopol said that a car used by Russian occupation forces exploded, although it’s unclear if anyone was hurt.

The reports came a day after a car bomb killed the Russia-appointed head of the village of Lyubymivka in the neighboring Kherson region, according to Russian and Ukrainian news reports. Ukrainian guerrillas have for months operated behind Russian lines in Ukraine’s occupied south and east, targeting Kremlin-installed officials, institutions and key infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.

Rev. Jocelyn Tupper of Wesley United Methodist Church

A man holds a cat in a house damaged by a missile attack on Dec. 5, 2022, in Vyshhorod, Ukraine. (JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGESTNS)

Dogs: Training

es on training the pet owners as much as the animals.

“I don’t want to slam those other places, but I’m not one of those where you drop off your dogs for two weeks and come back with a well-trained dog,” he said. “He may come back well-trained, but you didn’t build that bond. He’s gonna test your boundaries at some point.

“Here, you’re learning how to manage your dog, you’re building a bond,” Martin continued.

With that in mind, Martin notes all of his lessons are shaped by the animal and owner, and aren’t dictated by a calendar.

“With my puppy program, it’s done when it’s done,” he said. “I’m not saying, ‘Hey after 10 lessons, you’ll have a trained dog.’ But I’m confident in doing what I know. What you pay me, you’ll get in return with a well-behaved dog.”

The biggest failure many pet owners experience is not understanding what their dogs are telling them, Martin said.

“The biggest secret is patience,” he noted. “People will give up on their dog before it’s gotten a fair chance to perform how you want. For some it can take weeks or months.

The second key is learning how to communicate with your dog.

Animals can detect when their owners are agitated, and often respond accordingly.

“It sounds hippy dippy, but your dog will pick up your body language. If you’re feeling anxious or nervous, he’ll know it.”

Martin gleans from a lifetime of dog-handling as to what a dog is telling him.

“I feel like sometimes I can communicate with dogs better than I do with people,” he laughed.

MARTIN grew up on ranches in Colorado and Nebraska, and as a teenager trained golden retrievers as pheasant dogs.

“I read some stuff about the training,” he said. “That was an age when you couldn’t just go on YouTube and watch a video on how to train dogs.”

That led to his career in the Marines, where Martin was picked to work for five years as a certified canine handler. Among those five years was a memorable two-year stint with Allen, a Dutch shepherd trained to find explosives while Martin was stationed in Iraq.

The missions were frequently tense. Allen found dozens of improvised explosive devices. One time, the pair came under sniper fire.

It was a bond Martin learned to cherish, especially after his service ended.

“Him being over there doing what he was supposed to do made me feel good, even if he wasn’t still with me,” he said. “I knew his handler was taking care of him and vice versa. And he was good at finding explosives.”

After his military

The biggest secret is patience.

People will give up on their dog before it’s gotten a fair chance to perform how you want. For some it can take weeks or months.

— Chase Martin, Chasin’ Tails

service concluded, Martin found himself eager to work, but often struggling to find the right career. He worked for a spell at a car dealership; he sold cell phones for a while, and most recently worked for Iola’s code enforcement office. He also served briefly on the Iola City Council.

But it was with the code enforcement office that Martin’s love of animals was rekindled.

“I helped out with animal control a lot, and that’s when I remembered I was good at working with dogs, if that makes any sense,” he said. “It’s something that just seems natural with me.”

With his wife’s blessing, Martin launched Chasin’ Tails in mid2022. At about the same time, he adopted Ghost, a husky mix he found at an animal shelter in Independence.

“I saw her picture and boogied down there because I wanted a husky,” he said.

The bond was instantaneous. Martin worried Ghost would be leery of car rides.

“You never know if they’ll associate car rides with being dumped off,” he explained.

Within a month, Ghost was more than happy to jump in Martin’s vehicle for a 10hour car ride to Colorado and back.

And Ghost made a strong impact this fall when Martin took her to Iola Middle School for a “Passions Day” assembly.

“I got all sorts of letters from students thanking me for bringing Ghost,” he laughed. “They remembered her name, but forgot mine.”

All of the letters, he explained, were addressed to “Ghost owner.”

MARTIN understands some families may not need a fullscale puppy training breakdown. That’s why he’s eager to start up a socialization training session in the near future,where lessons are focused more on making sure animals get along well with others, or to keep them in line if the dog encounters another dog, or a passing jogger.

“I understand dog training’s expensive,” Martin said. “The group sessions would be more affordable for somebody who can’t afford one-on-one lessons.”

TO REACH Chasin’ Tails, call Martin at (620) 228-0953 or send an email to chasintailsdogtraining@gmail.com.

Votes: Marshall votes against funding

Continued from A1

Marshall’s criticism extended to congressional earmarks filling more than 4,000 pages of the bill, including spending for LGBTQ organizations. Overall, the legislation funded 7,200 earmarks valued at $15 billion.

“We are going to borrow another trillion dollars from our grandchildren,” Marshall said. “America is going to continue to print this money, the feds can keep raising interest rates, but they are just a tiger chasing its tail.”

Marshall split on the bill Thursday with Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, also of Kansas. The U.S. Senate voted 68-29 to forward the bipartisan legislation to the U.S. House. Moran backed the bill likely to be adopted by the U.S. House before the Friday deadline and quickly signed by President Joe Biden, but denounced the process of bundling what ought to be a dozen separate appropriations bill.

“I certainly decry the method by which the committee, the Senate, the Congress work in regard to appropriations bills. There is no reason — none — that we could not do as we are supposed to do,” Moran said. “We’d all be better off if we

broke this down into 12 separate parts that are now combined into this one large bill. We’d know much more about it.”

U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, who serves the 1st District covering much of western Kansas, said it was wrong for Democrats to push through an omnibus spending bill during the lame-duck period between the November election and the January transition to GOP leadership in the House.

“This is bad legislation passed in a dishonest, untimely way,” Mann said. “While Washington Democrats had control of the House, it was their responsibility to pass normal spending bills.

They never got their act together, so now we are stuck with this omnibus — a 4,155-page spending bill put together behind closed doors and with no input or oversight from House Republicans.”

He said manner in which this budget legislation was handled demonstrated why Republicans were able to take back control of the U.S. House.

The package funding the federal government through September included $850 billion in defense spending, which would equate to a 10% increase over the previous fiscal year, and $770 billion in nondefense spending for an 8% boost.

The appropriations package offered more

than $15 million for the construction of new U.S. Army barracks at Fort Riley, which serves the 1st Infantry Division.

“Already home to nearly 15,000 active duty servicemembers and the headquarters for the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley will soon have the opportunity to expand its capabilities,” Moran said. “By building new barracks, the base will have greater capacity for additional soldiers to be housed at Fort Riley and will be in a better position to compete for future opportunities.”

He applauded inclusion in the bill improvements in funding of health care and mental health services for U.S. veterans named in part for former U.S. Sen. Robert Dole, a Kansan seriously wounded during World War II in Italy.

“By closing the gaps in health care for rural veterans, protecting veterans’ right to seek care where they choose, investing in the treatment of prostate cancer, expanding homeless outreach programs and more, this legislation touches the lives of veterans in all different walks of life, from every corner of the country,” Moran said.

Jan. 6 panel unveils report, describes Trump ‘conspiracy’

WASHINGTON (AP)

— The House Jan. 6 committee’s final report asserts that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol, concluding an extraordinary 18-month investigation into the former president and the violent insurrection two years ago.

The 814-page report released Thursday comes after the panel interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses, held 10 hearings and obtained millions of pages of documents. The witnesses — ranging from many of Trump’s closest aides to law enforcement to some of the rioters themselves — detailed Trump’s actions in the weeks ahead of the insurrection and how his wide-ranging pressure campaign to overturn his defeat directly influenced those who brutally pushed past the police and smashed through the windows and doors of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, who many others followed,” reads the report. “None of the events of Janu-

ary 6th would have happened without him.”

The insurrection gravely threatened democracy and “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk,” the nine-member panel concluded.

In a foreword to the report, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the findings should be a “clarion call to all Americans: to vigilantly guard our Democracy and to give our vote only to those dutiful in their defense of our Constitution.”

The report’s eight chapters of findings tell the story largely as the panel’s hearings did this summer — describing the many facets of the remarkable plan that Trump and his advisers devised to try and void President Joe Biden’s victory. The lawmakers describe his pressure on states, federal officials, lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to game the system or break the law.

Trump’s repeated, false claims of widespread voter fraud resonated with his supporters, the committee said, and were amplified on social media, building on the distrust of government he had fostered for his four years in office. And he did little to stop them when they resorted to violence and stormed the Capitol.

The massive, damning report comes as Trump is running again for the presidency and also facing multiple federal investigations, including probes of his role in the insurrection and the presence of classified documents at his Florida estate. This week is particularly fraught for him, as a House committee is expected to release his tax returns after he has fought for years to keep them private. And Trump has been blamed by Republicans for a worse-than-expected showing in the midterm

elections, leaving him in his most politically vulnerable state since he won the 2016 election.

It is also a final act for House Democrats who are ceding power to Republicans in less than two weeks, and have spent much of their four years in power investigating Trump. Democrats impeached Trump twice, the second time a week after the insurrection. He was acquitted by the Senate both times. Other Democratic-led probes investigated his finances, his businesses, his foreign ties and his family.

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, voted against the mammoth $1.7 trillion federal budget bill and outlined a long list of expenditures he considered wasteful. His peer, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, voted for the bill awaiting action in the U.S. House. (KANSAS REFLECTOR SCREEN CAPTURE FROM U.S. SENATE YOUTUBE CHANNEL)

Migrants near US border face cold wait for key asylum ruling

EL PASO, Texas (AP)

— Hairdresser Grisel

Garcés survived a harrowing, four-month journey from her native Venezuela through tropical jungles, migrant detention centers in southern Mexico and then jolting railcar rides north toward the U.S. border.

Now on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande across from El Paso, Texas, she anxiously awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision on asylum restrictions expected to affect her and thousands of other migrants at crossings along some 1,900 miles of border from Texas to California. And she’s doing so while living outside as winter

temperatures plunge over much of the U.S. and across the border.

She told of fleeing economic hardship only to find more hardship, such as now shivering through temperatures that have fallen into the 20s (below -1 Celsius) at night, colder than she’s ever experienced.

“You just turn yourself over to God’s mercy,” said Garcés, who left a school-aged daughter behind, hoping to reach the U.S. with her husband.

Their savings exhausted, some days they don’t eat. And on Thursday, Garcés waited and watched as hundreds of migrants formed a

line to gradually pass through a gate in the border fence for processing by U.S. immigration officials. She fears immediate deportation under current asylum restrictions and doesn’t dare cross the shallow waters of the Rio Grande within view.

Dozens of migrants have been spending their nights on the concrete banks of the river, awaiting word of possible changes to the asylum restrictions put in place in March 2020. In El Paso, sidewalks serve as living quarters outside a bus station and a church for some migrants who can’t find space yet at an expanding network of

shelters underwritten by the city and religious groups.

In Ciudad Juárez, a group of Venezuelan migrants huddled under blankets beside a bonfire in a dirt alleyway.

“We’re from the coast (of Venezuela) with lots of sun and the cold affects us,” said 22-year-old Rafael Gonzalez, a native of La Guaira on the Caribbean coast. “The shelter here is very full. ... And that means it’s our turn to be here, having a little bonfire.”

Nearby, migrants from Venezuela and Central America sought refuge in a three-room shelter without beds, lying shoulder-to-shoul-

der among blankets on a concrete floor.

Pastor Elias Rodriguez of the Casa Nueva Voz ministry began repairing an abandoned building in recent weeks to open the shelter, after growing concerned about the emergence of a small “tent city” along the Rio Grande without even a water faucet.

“Outside there are people making fires, people waiting by the door because we only have 135 spaces,” Rodriguez said.

The Trump administration-era ban on asylum — Title 42 — was granted a brief extension by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts this week. It’s not

clear when the Supreme Court’s definitive decision will come. The Biden administration asked the court to lift the restrictions, but not before Christmas.

Under Title 42, authorities have expelled asylum-seekers inside the U.S. 2.5 million times, and turned away most people who requested asylum at the border, on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Title 42 applies to all nationalities but has most affected people from countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and, more recently, Venezuela.

Zimbabwe to have dark Christmas amid power cuts, high prices

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — To brighten the festive season, the mayor of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, recently switched on Christmas lights in the city center. But for many, the event was just a reminder of two things they crave but can’t get: electricity and a happy holiday spirit.

Not even Mayor Jacob Mafume seemed confident that the capital city will see a sparkling Christmas.

Zimbabweans traditionally use the endof-year holidays to travel to rural areas to spend time with their families but this year inflation is making the trek home a challenge. Paidamoyo Gutsai, a motor mechanic, said that for the past two years he failed to go to his rural home in the eastern Manicaland province due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Cold: Arctic air mass stalls travel

Continued from A1

trains in the Midwest and northern New England. Hundreds of thousands of power customers in states from New York to Texas were experiencing outages as of Friday morning, according to website PowerOutage.us.

The arctic front, expected to continue through the week, is perhaps most remarkable for its sheer size.

Snow, blizzard, freezes and flood warnings and advisories stretch from Washington state to Maine and down to the Gulf of Mexico. Frigid temperatures reach as far south as Texas.

“It is a really impressive system,” said Ashton Robinson Cook, a forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. “It is something that happens only every one or two decades.”

On Friday, the high temperature in Chicago is set to be around 0F, with a wind chill of -37F, according to the National Weather Service. Rain will hit New York through the morning and early afternoon, with wind gusts as high as 46 miles per hour.

Significant freezing rain is also possible in the Pacific Northwest.

Temperatures are set to moderate in the Northern Rockies and High Plains this weekend.

Extreme cold warnings also cover western Canada, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Across the country, winter storm warnings spread across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces. In Toronto, the country’s most populous city, forecasters have warned of a flash freeze, high

winds and up to 6 inches of snow by Saturday morning.

Thursday’s lowest recorded temperature in the 48 contiguous U.S. states was -50F in Montana, while Canada’s coldest was about -53C in Rabbit Kettle, Northwest Territories.

While New York and other East Coast cities won’t have to contend with snow, high winds coupled with a new moon — which affects tides — raise the risk of coastal flooding from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Maine.

Breakers as high as 15 feet could crash into the Long Island shoreline, and tides could rise 3 feet above normal high marks, the weather service said. People in flood-prone areas should hurry to protect their lives and property.

The cold had pushed

across the Plains into the Midwest and Texas and was likely to set nearly 80 records — mostly for low daily maximum temperatures — across the country, according to Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center.

Farmers are bracing for record cold that could cause machinery to break down, impact winter wheat growth and freeze livestock at a time of already historic food inflation.

In Texas, where the state’s electric grid was battered by cold early last year, the chill should peak through Saturday and start to moderate early next week, Chenard said. The snow from the storm won’t be that extreme for many places, though high winds will be a problem, he said.

“We do hope the electricity will remain during the time of the festive season,” he said at the lighting ceremony, which in past years has been marked by a cheery atmosphere. “At least today we have it (power) and we hope that as we go forward the lights will not go out.”

With the threat from COVID-19 receding, Zimbabwe has loosened restrictions on travel and gatherings. But a buoyant holiday mood is not lifting the country which is also coping with the world’s highest food inflation.

Globally, food prices have spiked as a result of the war in Ukraine and Zimbabweans are hard hit. The southern African nation of 15 million people has the world’s highest food inflation, at 321%, according to a World Bank food security update in December.

“This year it’s worse. Although I am allowed to travel and even hold a gathering, in reality, I can’t because I don’t have the money,” said the 41-year father of three, scanning the prices of food items in a supermarket. He steered clear of shelves with Christmas trees, decorations and lights.

Even if he could afford to buy twinkling lights, they require electricity and most households only get power between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. It would be akin to throwing money down the drain, he said.

Street vendors selling Christmas trees and decorations say customers are few.

“Sometimes I just sell a single Christmas tree a day. That money is just for bus fare to go back home,” said Eunice Pfavi, a vendor. “I can’t even save for my own Christmas treat. Just affording food for the day feels like an achievement.”

A person walks along the sidewalk near The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, as a major winter storm brings subzero temperatures across the United States. (JINTAK HAN/ZUMA PRESS/TNS)

~ Journalism that makes a difference

Christmas greetings say so much more

Perhaps because Christmas comes at the end of the year, I notice holiday greetings often include an annual recap, for which I’m very thankful since I’m generally bad at keeping tabs with distant family members and friends.

I find correspondences that detail trips, purchases, and accomplishments a little intimidating, but, like any family, it balances out. I’m relieved to be somewhere in the middle.

Many also use the holiday as an occasion to express their gratitude.

I used this column as a chance to review the Christmas greetings that local businesses ran in the Register this past month and found several themes.

For example: We are a family.

“From our family to yours!” - Cleaver Farm & Home

We are grateful.

“Thank you for letting us serve you.” - Iola Pharmacy We care.

“Be happy and safe this Christmas!” - Hope Unlimited

We are grateful.

“One of the joys of the holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you.”Decorator Supply

We are hopeful.

“We wish you a joyful Christmas season full of laughter and new memories with those you love.”Tramec Sloan

And we persevere.

“We’re rounding up our best wishes to thank you for being such good neighbors and dear friends to us the past 61 years.” - Bluestem Farm & Ranch Supply

ANYONE in business these days practices what the theologian Richard Rohr calls “radical humility and gratitude.”

Yes, we all work hard to provide a good product or service, but we also know there’s a huge element of grace involved in any success. A balanced ledger simply can’t adequately explain why things “go right.”

I give part of the credit to the fact that we live in small towns and as such they can foster community — if we

Susan Lynn Register editor

make the effort.

What I’ve learned is that the more “human” I am, the more rewarding is life.

The more I come clean about my failures, missteps, and doubts, the less they seem to weigh me down.

We are meant to carry each others’ burdens.

OF ALL the Christmas letters I receive each year, my favorites are from my cousin, Cathy, the daughter of my Aunt Louise, my father’s sister.

“Dear Susie, “Well, another year has gone by. Good things happened this year. Lauren finally earned her Ph.D, which is a real relief. My grandson, Louis, turned 1. He got a little fussy at his party, but it was a good day. This doesn’t sound good, but for Rachel and Curtis it is. They have gotten divorced. Which is fine. All I ever want is for my kids to be happy and she is now. So that is good.”

Cathy could have just stuck with Lauren’s good news and omitted Rachel’s. In truth, I’d never have known the difference.

But Rachel’s news struck a chord with me and I love Cathy all the more for sharing her news.

RORH SAYS that people who “have had no inner struggles are invariably both superficial and uninteresting. We tend to endure them more than communicate with them, because they have little to communicate.”

It’s by owning up to and “making friends” with our mistakes and failures that we emerge as whole people. Not unscathed, but healed. And approachable.

Yes, this requires an element of courage. But the rewards are inestimable.

A look back in t me. A look back in t me.

74 Years Ago December 1948

Iola’s restroom for women and children was moved today from the Munger building on the west side of the square to the Litwin building on the East side of the square. The three front rooms of the building have been secured, providing spacious quarters with an abundance of light. The entrance is just south of Litwin’s Department Store. The restroom, which is sponsored by the Business and Professional Women’s Club, is one of the most appreciated services provided by the city. It was first opened by the BPW in 1937. ******

The important question of whether a person suspected of drunk driving is actually intoxicated can now be scientifically es-

tablished by Allen County peace officers. Dr. Gerald B. Pees, coroner and city health officer, is prepared to give a blood alcohol test which determines the amount of alcohol, if any, is in an individual’s bloodstream. If his blood contains .15 percent of alcohol, a man is considered by most authorities to be too intoxicated to drive safely. ******

The Iola fire barn will be transformed into Kris Kringle’s workshop next week. The firemen hope to be as busy as brownies repairing toys to be distributed on Christmas Day by the Salvation Army. Envoy Carl Amick is now collecting toys which have been discarded by Iola youngsters. These will be repaired and repainted and made as good as new by the firemen.

What’s truly worrying Zelenskyy

The scene couldn’t have been more dramatic.

Ten months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, when Western experts expected Kyiv to fall in three days, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood in his trademark military sweatshirt before a joint session of Congress Wednesday night. “Against all odds and doom-and-gloom scenarios,” he proclaimed, “Ukraine didn’t fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.”

Like Winston Churchill, who made a historic address to Congress in December 1941, asking for help to battle Adolf Hitler, the Ukrainian president traveled from the front lines to Washington, to convince U.S. leaders that their backing could enable Kyiv to defeat a dangerous tyrant. A tyrant who threatens the democratic West.

Yet, unlike Churchill, the Ukrainian leader insisted that Kyiv didn’t need U.S. troops, but only weapons for its fighters to defeat Vladimir Putin.

The audience cheered wildly and some even wept (though many GOP legislators were AWOL and some of the MAGA crowd kept their hands in their pockets). Most legislators knew they were in the presence of a true hero, a leader who delivered nightly messages to his people and presented medals in person to his troops. Unlike Putin, who makes remote speeches and rewards corrupt cronies.

Yet, despite the fervent applause, despite the effusive welcome by President Joe Biden and his commitment to continue aid, there was a worried undertone to Zelenskyy’s speech.

The Ukrainian leader was clearly concerned that, despite Biden’s words, the U.S. wouldn’t give Kyiv the weapons systems it most needs, and swiftly enough to save his country. “Your support is crucial,” he told Congress, “not just to stand in such a fight, but to get to the turning point on the battlefield.”

As Putin decimates Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, Zelenskyy would clearly like that “turning point” to come soon, before Moscow sends tens of thousands more recruits onto the battlefield in 2023.

Part of Zelenskyy’s problem is uncertainty about the impact of GOP control of the House of Representatives, where a growing number of Republicans are skeptical about giving more aid to Ukraine. Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warmly welcomed the Ukrainian president, it’s not clear how many of his flock share his views.

Rubin Philadelphia Inquirer/ TNS

MAGA isolationists show zero comprehension that Putin’s aggression and nuclear saber-rattling present a danger that goes far beyond Ukraine, potentially threatening our NATO allies and the United States. The crudest and dumbest version of MAGA thinking was Donald Trump Jr.’s Tuesday tweet, calling Zelenskyy an “ungrateful international welfare queen” for requesting more weapons from the White House.

To the contrary, Zelenskyy was spot on when he told Congress: “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

Biden clearly agreed, as he repeatedly made clear at a news conference with Zelenskyy earlier that day, pledging to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” He deserves full credit for including $45 billion in Ukraine aid in the omnibus spending bill making its way through Congress — and, hopefully, getting this long range funding through before the GOP-led House takes over.

And two cheers for the belated White House decision to approve one Patriot missile defense battery to protect against Russian ballistic missiles.

Yet — and this clearly was making Zelenskyy nervous — the White House always seems several steps behind the curve when it comes to giving Ukraine the weapons systems it needs when it needs them most.

For example, Ukrainians have been asking for Patriots since the war began to help protect city skies, but the White House refused lest it cause “escalation.” Now, that delivery has finally been promised, but only one battery will arrive, and not before February.

A single Patriot battery can protect only a part of a city, and is meant mainly to target ballistic missiles. Yet Iran, which has delivered hundreds of deadly drones to Russia to use against Ukraine, may soon be sending Moscow more of such missiles.

No wonder Zelenskyy said

frankly at the news conference: “We would like to get more Patriots. We are in a war.” He wasn’t being greedy, but was trying to preempt a future Russian attempt to destroy Kyiv, possibly with Iranian weapons.

“One terrorist has found the other,” he noted about Tehran’s tightening relationship with Moscow. You’d think that was a message that GOP legislators could understand.

And when the Ukrainian leader told Congress: “We have artillery, yes. Thank you. Is it enough? Honestly, not really,” he is not just a typical military commander who always wants more. He is a courageous leader waging an existential battle.

He needs more cannons and shells, along with tanks and planes, as soon as possible, to defeat the Russian army at the ongoing battle of Bakhmut in the Donbas. That could clear the way for a critical counteroffensive southward to cut Russia’s land bridge to Crimea.

EQUALLY KEY, when Zelenskyy has asked for long range missiles, known as ATACMS, to preempt Russia from further destroying urban heating and electrical systems, he’s been trying to help Ukrainians survive the winter. If the administration fears such missiles could cause Russian “escalation,” it could make a deal with Kyiv that ATACMS would only be fired at Russian missile bases in occupied territory, including Crimea, but not inside Russia proper.

I felt total sympathy for the Ukrainian journalist who plaintively asked at the news conference: “Can we make a long story short and give Ukraine all capabilities it needs and liberate all territories sooner rather than later?”

Biden responded that such a move might upset nervous NATO allies who “are not looking for a third World War.” But the longer this war drags on, the riskier it becomes. And if the West falters before Putin, his threats will only become more frequent.

“You can speed up our victory,” Zelenskyy urged Congress.

Just as Churchill’s courage, backed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s help, defeated German fascists, a victory for Ukraine against the Ruscists (as Ukraine calls Putin’s circle) would also be ours.

AARON BURDEN/UNSPLASH

Trudy

One terrorist has found another.

— Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Tehran’s tightening relationship with Moscow

side,” she noted.

Hayley has been interested in Swiss and German culture since she was a child, and her aunt, who was married to a man from the Alps, would send her Swiss chocolates. She earned a degree in German literature and has researched Krampus and the Nutcracker stories.

Paul is half-German. The couple also hosted a German exchange student, Charlie, last year. She’s returning for a visit this Christmas.

HAYLEY is most determined to start one Christmas tradition in particular.

She plans to read “The Nutcracker” in German.

The story takes place over three nights, so she plans to read one story to Billie Jean each night for three days.

She’ll start that new tradition this year, even though Billie Jean likely won’t remember.

“This is a good year for us to practice and figure out what works and what doesn’t,” Paul said.

They’ve talked about what other traditions they might want to introduce. Christmas

movies are always fun, they said. And there are so many to choose from.

Perhaps not surprisingly, they prefer some of the non-traditional, spookier Christmas movies such as “Gremlins” and “Rare Exports,” a Finnish Christmas horror movie.

When Hayley was a child, her father always chose “Little Women” to watch at Christmastime.

They also want to incorporate charitable giving into their traditions. Hayley said she knows of a family that asks each child to

choose a charity to give a donation.

“It’s important to remind children to be grateful for what they have and help those who have less, and it gives them that agency to decide which charity,” she said.

“I think giving is im-

Biden signs defense bill, repeals troop vaccine mandate

WASHINGTON (AP)

— President Joe Biden signed a nearly $858 billion defense spending bill into law Friday despite his opposition to a Republican-backed provision in the legislation that repeals the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for U.S. troops.

Biden had agreed with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s determination that lifting the mandate was not in the best interest of troops or the military, according to White House officials.

But ultimately, Biden decided to accept Republican demands to lift the vaccine requirement to win passage of the legislation.

Biden in a statement said he had issue with several aspects of the bill.

“The Act provides vital benefits and enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families, and includes critical authorities to support our country’s national defense, foreign affairs, and homeland security,”

Biden said. “While I am pleased to support these critical objectives, I note that certain provisions of the Act raise concerns.

The bill includes about $45 billion more for defense programs than Biden requested and roughly 10% more than last year’s bill as lawmakers look to account for inflation and boost the nation’s military competitiveness with China and Russia.

It includes a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers and the Defense Department’s civilian workforce.

The Senate passed the defense policy bill by a vote of 83-11. The measure also received broad bipartisan support in the House.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby last week reiterated Biden’s concerns about lifting the vaccine requirement but said the president would “judge this NDAA as a whole just like he has in the past.”

“Every single year,

the NDAA has things in it that we support, and it has things in it that we don’t support,” Kirby added.

The defense bill sets policy and provides a road map for future investments. Lawmakers will have to follow up with spending bills to bring many provisions to reality.

As of early this month, about 99% of the active-duty troops in the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps had been vaccinated, and 98% of the Army. Service members who are not vaccinated are not allowed to deploy, particularly sailors or Marines on ships.

There may be a few exceptions to that, based on religious or other exemptions and the duties of the service member.

The vaccination numbers for the Guard and Reserve are lower, but generally all are more than 90%.

Austin made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory last year, saying the shots were critical to maintaining military readiness and

the health of the force. Military leaders have argued that troops for decades have been required to get as many as 17 vaccines, particularly those who are deploying overseas.

The bill would require Austin to end the vaccine mandate “not later than 30 days” after the law is enacted.

The legislation, however, doesn’t end or address requirements for the other vaccines that troops must get. And it doesn’t specifically prohibit the military from preventing a non-vaccinated service member from participating in a specific mission or deployment. It’s unclear if Austin would allow vaccination status to be a consideration in those decisions, or leave it to the services and commanders to decide.

portant. That’s definitely something we want to instill in our children, a tradition of gratitude and giving back.”

IT’S FITTING that Billie Jean entered the world just before Christmas. It was during a Christmas visit in 2015 that convinced her parents to move closer to family in Iola, although it would take a few years to make that happen. They previously lived in Los Angeles and Charlotte, N.C.

Paul and Hayley moved here in 2020; this is just their second Christmas as Iola residents.

“That Christmas in 2015 planted the seed that

we could actually move back here,” Paul said. Most of his family lives here.

“We started thinking how nice it would be to be around family,” Hayley said. Most of her family lives in Florida and Tennessee, but her sister is planning to move to Iola with her daughter and will work for Hayley at Derryberry Breadery.

It’s also fitting their home is just down the street from where Paul’s grandparents lived when he was a child.

“I often think about how that’s where we had Christmas when I was growing up, and now here we are, almost 40 years later,” he said.

Billie Jean Derryberry-Porter, at right, slept through her first meeting with Santa Claus. Her cousin, Lynox, wasn’t happy about the event. COURTESY PHOTO

Paul Porter and Hayley Derryberry visited family in Iola for Christmas in 2015, above. That trip planted the seed that eventually led them to move here. COURTESY PHOTO

Assembly Of God

1020 E. Carpenter, Iola

Pastor Paul Miller

Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. special service

St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church

202 S. Walnut, Iola

Deacon Oliver Bunker

Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. - holy eucharist will be served Christmas Day - 10 a.m. service

First Presbyterian Church

302 E. Madison, Iola

Rev. Dan Davis

Christmas Eve - 7 p.m., with special music and children’s service

Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service Sunday Soups - noon, with special Christmas fare. All are invited.

Colony Christian Church

306 N. Maple St., Colony

Pastor Chase Riebel

Christmas Eve - 5 p.m. candlelight service Christmas Day - 10:45 a.m. service

Carlyle Presbyterian Church

29 Covert St., Carlyle

Pastor Steve Traw

Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service with special music from Pastor Traw’s extended family Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service, “Re ections on Christmas”

Faith Assembly of God

1019 N. 9th St., Humboldt

Pastor Cameron Carter Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Midpoint Baptist Church

3965 US Highway 54, Moran

Pastor Mathew Kalmeta

Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m., special Christmas service

Grace Lutheran Church

117 E. Miller Rd., Iola

Pastor Bruce Kristalyn Christmas Eve - 7 p.m. special service Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Harvest Baptist Church 2001 N. State St., Iola

Pastor Tony Godfrey Christmas Day - A family-style Christmas - 10:30 a.m.

First Baptist Church 118 N. 7th St., Humboldt

Pastor Jerry Neely Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. candlelight communion service Christmas Day, 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 10:45 a.m. church service

Humboldt United Methodist Church 806 N. Ninth St., Humboldt Rev. Blake Stanwood Christmas Eve - 5 p.m. candlelight service at Big Creek Chapel, 22956 Lyon Rd., Chanute 7 p.m. candlelight service at Humboldt UMC Christmas Day - 10 a.m. joint service of the two churches.

Rivertree Christian Church 301 W. Miller Rd., Iola Christmas Day - 10 a.m. service

First Christian Church 1608 Oregon Rd., Iola

Pastor Kenyon Kaehr Christmas Eve - 7 p.m. service Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Fellowship Regional Church 214 W. Madison Ave., Iola

Pastors Luke Bycroft and Jared Ellis Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

St. Martin’s Catholic Church 1368 Xylan Rd., Piqua

Father David Michael Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

St. John’s Catholic Church 310 S. Je erson, Iola

Father David Michael Christmas Eve Service - 8 p.m.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church

105 E. Bell St., Yates Center

Father David Michael Christmas Day - 8:30 a.m. service

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church 910 Amos St., Humboldt

Pastor Matthew Jennings Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. children’s service Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service

Waypoint Church

329 S. 1st St., Iola

Pastor David Sturgeon Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service Christmas Day - 11 a.m. service

Community Church of the Nazarene 1235 N. Walnut St., Iola

Pastor Kelly Klubek Christmas Eve - 6 p.m. service Christmas Day - 10:45 a.m. service

Wesley United Methodist Church

301 E. Madison Ave., Iola

Rev. Jocelyn Tupper

Christmas Eve - 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. services Christmas Day - 9:30 a.m. service

First Baptist Church

801 N. Cottonwood, Iola

Pastor Travis Hoyt Christmas Day - 10:30 a.m. service

Pair thrives on and o the eld

Humboldt seniors balance athletic accolades with academics

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

HUMBOLDT — There’s a good chance Humboldt High classmates Trey Sommer and Maddox Johnson have suited up together for the last time.

Football season ended in early November. Sommer’s focus is on basketball now, while Johnson recovers from knee surgery and sets his sights on the upcoming track and field season in the spring.

There’s a slight chance they’ll play baseball together in the summer, but that depends on how their upcoming endeavors go.

Both also still need to decide where they’re going to college, which could supersede any summer activities.

But that’s OK. The seniors have already made their peace if no such opportunity to play as teammates arises.

But what a ride it’s been.

Sommer and Johnson were mainstays for the past three years on the Cub football team, concluding this fall with a trip to the Class 2A state quarterfinals, where Humboldt bowed out to eventual state champion Nemaha Central, 44-20.

“We gave it all we had,” Johnson said. “Not much we could do about it.”

“You can’t be too disappointed in losing to the state champs,” Sommer said.

Only one other team — Class 3A power Holton — scored more points against the champion Thunder this

season.

The fall season marked the second straight year both Sommer and Johnson earned consensus first-team all-state honors in multiple positions.

Earning all-state honors is

a remarkable enough accomplishment for a single player to earn at a single position in a single year.

But as the postseason accolades kept rolling in, news of Sommer and Johnson’s acco-

Wilson li s KU in victory

By DAVID SMALE The Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Jalen Wilson scored 21 points and No. 4 Kansas overcame a frigid performance from 3-point range to beat Harvard 68-54 on Thursday night.

The Jayhawks (11-1) went 4 for 20 from behind the arc, with no player besides Gradey Dick hitting one until Wilson made one with just over a minute remaining. Wilson scored 11 points in the final 6:24.

“I was not pleased with Jalen tonight,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He didn’t guard his man and he didn’t move the ball. He kind of stood. But he’s a stud. He closed the game out the way winners close games out. There’s 35 minutes of game that’s really important, but the last five matter more than anything else. He played like an All-American in the last five minutes.”

Kevin McCullar added 14

Chiefs eying AFC’s playo bye, Seahawks a postseason berth

By DAVE SKRETTA The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) —

The Kansas City Chiefs can’t climb into first place in the AFC and secure that coveted first-round playoff bye with a win over Seattle on Saturday, nor can the Seahawks slip into the postseason by knocking off the West Division champs.

But a loss for either of them? That might ruin both of their chances.

The Chiefs, who are tied with the Bills at 11-3 for the conference’s best record, could be out of the hunt for the top seed if they fall at Arrowhead Stadium. Buffalo has the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of its win earlier this season.

The playoff hopes of the Seahawks, who are 7-7 and have lost four of their last five, are hanging by a thread.

“The guys know. They’ve been though this so they understand it,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team

has hosted the past four AFC title games. “The only thing I have to say is we’ve got a

quarter of the season left and very important games, so we’ve got to take care of our

business, and that’s where our focus has got to be.”

The Chiefs have been

squeaking by the past few weeks, hardly looking like the juggernaut that’s been to two of the past three Super Bowls. They lost at Cincinnati, barely held on against downtrodden Denver and needed overtime last week to beat one-win Houston and maintain their hopes of the No. 1 seed.

The biggest issues for Kansas City have been self-inflicted: The Chiefs had 10 penalties for more than 100 yards against the Texans, and they have committed at least one turnover in nine consecutive games.

“The biggest thing,” said Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is riding a streak of 20 consecutive completions, “is that you just focus on getting better as a team. You want to be playing your best football as you get to the playoffs, and we have stuff we need to clean up. That will be important this week.”

The Seahawks have things

lades became almost routine. Johnson earned his accolades on both the offensive and defensive lines. Sommer — perhaps the liv-

Humboldt High seniors Trey Sommer, left, and Maddox Johnson both have earned rst-team all-state honors for consecutive years on the football eld, while also excelling in other athletic and academic pursuits throughout high school. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Jalen Wilson

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) jumps over Atlanta Falcons defensive back Casey Hayward (29) in s Sept. 22 game. Metcalf will be a focal point for the Seahawks Saturday against kansas City. GETTY IMAGES/STEPH CHMBERSTNS

Pair: Humboldt High seniors earn athletic, academic honors

ing embodiment of the term “jack of all trades” — earned his honors as running back, linebacker and punter.

They did so despite each suffering injuries that would have sidelined their seasons.

Johnson suffered a torn meniscus in his knee in the season-opener, which required surgery almost immediately after the Nov. 11 loss to Nemaha Central.

Sommer, meanwhile, played through a dislocated right shoulder that he hurt in week 5.

“Early on, there was concern that I’d have to have reconstructive surgery,” Sommer said.

But subsequent examinations revealed minimal structural damage.

In fact, Sommer played without missing a game, and even started at quarterback for the rest of the season after starter Blake Ellis was sidelined.

Neither so much as flinched when given the choice of taking a step back. Neither missed a game, even amid the aches and pains.

“There’s a difference between being hurt and

injured,” Sommer explained. “It’s a mentality thing.”

“We’re willing to push through with whatever it takes,” Johnson agreed.

Now, that chapter has closed.

With Sommer and Johnson leading the way, Humboldt won a pair of regional football championships in their four years at IHS — winning five playoff games in all — and racked up a 29-12 record.

They became team leaders as Humboldt rebuilt its squad almost from scratch in the fall of 2020, after heavy losses to graduation that year, and a rash of injuries that sidelined more than half of the inexperienced roster.

“We realized then we knew we had to be better,” Johnson recalled. “We pushed everybody to work harder, and we were able to come together as a team.”

THE STORY of Johnson and Sommer’s success goes far beyond the gridiron.

Both are honors students sporting 4.0 gradepoint averages, intent on pursuing degrees in medicine of some sort.

But those decisions will be made later.

The pair met as 5-yearolds, both transplants from other parts of the state.

Johnson moved with his family to Humboldt from Hugoton when he was a toddler. Sommer did the same with his mother and stepfather from Garnett not long after.

Outside of school, they found themselves on the same T-ball teams, then basketball, and finally football.

A bond quickly developed. Perhaps it helped that both had fathers -— Johnson’s dad Bob Johnson II and Sommer’s stepfather Joshua Werstler, who coached

them through their early years.

Both youths found themselves highly driven individuals willing — almost eager — to improve, every time out.

“We were used to constructive criticism,” Johnson chuckled.

That upbringing fed an internal desire to thrive in other pursuits, including classwork.

Mostly, they learned the value of hard work, Sommer noted.

“You put in the work, and it usually pays off,” he said.

Their baseball ex-

ploits are a prime example. Through elementary and middle school, Johnson and Sommer were anchors on Big Train, a traveling youth squad that played the best teams from across the Midwest.

At one point, Big Train was the topranked 9-year-old team in the country, despite playing almost exclusively against some of the bigger academy squads in Kansas. And the squad consistently finished in the top five in the state, The roster sported

a veritable who’s who of baseball standouts from the area, nearly all of whom have become stars in high school and college, including Iola’s Jarrett Herrmann, Brandon McKarnin, Carter Hutton and Eli Adams, Crest’s Ethan Godderz and Holden Barker, Humboldt’s Sam Hull and Gavin and Logan Page, as well as Jamon Beck, who now stars at Spring Hill.

To further illustrate his passion, Sommer is reminded of the past

Maddox Johnson, left, and Trey Sommer as T-ball teammates at top and high school football teammates below. PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOB JOHNSON II

Big Train, a 9-and-under traveling baseball team was one of the top youth squads in the country for seven years. Luminaries include, from left, Ethan Goodderz, Colony, Aiden Johnson, Humboldt, Holden Barker (on knee), Colony, Brandon McKarnin, Iola, Gavin Page (sitting), Humboldt, Jack White, Colony, Carter Hutton, Iola, Maddox Johnson, Humboldt, Trey Sommer (on knee), Humboldt, Eli Adams, Iola, and Jamon Beck, formerly of Humboldt and now of Spring Hill.

Chiefs: Upcoming foe in desperate bid for playo berth

Continued from B1

to clean up, too. More important, they desperately need to get healthy.

Wide receiver Tyler Lockett is out with an injury while running back Kenneth Walker III continues to deal with a sore ankle.

“Let’s just start with this game. We’ve got to play really sharp foot-

ball across the board,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “We have to take advantage of all the opportunities that we get. We’ve got to catch the interceptions, we’ve got to stay onsides and not give them things. We have to make them have to work and play a championship-style game.

“If we can do that,”

Carroll said, “now we are getting to our capabilities.”

BROKEN LOCKETT

Lockett will miss just the second game of his long career due to injury after breaking a bone in his left hand last week against San Francisco; he had surgery to stabilize it this week and hopes to return this sea-

son.

Lockett and DK Metcalf have been a dangerous tandem, the former with 78 catches and eight TDs and the latter with 79 and six. And while Marquise Goodwin has been a nice addition, and former first-rounder Laquon Treadwell could see some snaps, Lockett’s absence is go-

ing to mean Metcalf gets more attention.

“It’s always going to be strange whenever Tyler is not playing, or somebody has been there for so long and not playing,” Metcalf said. “It’s just another challenge along the way that we’ve got to overcome.”

HARDMAN BACK?

The Chiefs expect wide

receiver Mecole Hardman to play for the first time since Week 9, when he landed on injured reserve with an abdominal problem. He had scored in three straight games with five TDs total before getting hurt.

“Yeah, there’s a good chance,” Reid said. “We’ll see if we can’t get him in there a little bit.”

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Assistant Spirit Coach Salary: $21,000

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COMPTROLLER

submit cover letter, resume and application (on website) to: Shellie Regehr, HR, Allen Community College, 1801 N. Cottonwood, Iola, KS 66749 hr@allencc.edu • EOE

9-month position offers a competitive salary, commensurate with experience and education level, KPERS retirement plan, paid health insurance, as well as options for dental, vision, life, accident, cancer, and disability insurance. Enjoy holidays and summers off with a flexible workweek schedule.

The ideal candidate will have, or be willing to obtain, ASE certifications including A1-A8, G1, and L1, as well as experience working in an automotive service and repair shop. A minimum of an Associate Degree (or willing to obtain) in Automotive Technology, or a related field, plus either 2 years of related work experience or teaching in the automotive field, is required. The successful candidate needs to have excellent verbal and written communication skills, as well as be able to successfully complete a criminal background check. Bilingual applicants encouraged to apply.

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To apply, please go to my.fhtc.edu and click on the Careers tab, or feel free to provide a cover letter and resume via email to Sandy Weeks, Director of Human Resources at saweeks@fhtc.edu . Call 620.341.1384 for job details.

Applications

USD #256 ANNOUNCES BOARD VACANCY

Board of Education of USD 256, Marmaton Valley, announces a vacancy on the board for a resident living in the district. This position may be lled by board appointment. Applicants should notify the district o ce by written letter of interest no later than January 20, 2023. This o ce will be placed on the ballot for election in November of 2025. The appointee will serve the remainder of the term until December 31, 2025.

Jaguars continue playo push with win over Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence leaped for a touchdown and the Jacksonville Jaguars continued their push toward the playoffs with their third straight victory, 19-3 over an embarrassed Zach Wilson and the New York Jets on a rainy, windy Thursday night.

The second matchup

between last year’s first two draft picks — Lawrence at No. 1 and Wilson No. 2 — wasn’t even close.

Lawrence finished 20 of 31 for 229 yards and ran for 51 yards and the score on seven carries for the Jaguars (7-8), who moved within onehalf game of skidding Tennessee in the AFC South. Jacksonville

would win the division title with victories in its final two games — including the season finale against the Titans.

While Lawrence sliced through the Jets’ normally strong defense, Wilson couldn’t get anything going and was booed frequently — all the way to the bench. Chris Streveler, elevated from the practice squad

before the game, replaced Wilson late in the third quarter.

Wilson went 9 of 18 for 82 yards with an interception and a dismal 41.9 rating for the Jets (7-8), whose playoff hopes took a devastating hit with their fourth straight loss. That’s the worst skid under second-year coach Robert Saleh.

PIXABAY.COM

Partner says ‘no thanks’ to helping with housework

Adapted from an online discussion.

Hi Carolyn: I find it so frustrating when my partner will not do his share of the housework, saying that if I want the house clean, then I should do it myself. This happens even when his family is going to visit.

Do you think the frequent complaints from women about a gender imbalance in doing housework are because our culture has expectations that a woman should keep a nice home, but seems to have lower expectations for men?

I assume my partner’s mother will see a messy home as my responsibility. We all pay the price for archaic and sexist beliefs about housekeeping — but how do we get past it? Is it fair for me to tell his family that he didn’t want to help with cleaning, and I did not have time to do it all?

— Houseworked Houseworked: The culture carries a lot of blame, as do parents for not rearing boys and girls to be equally attentive to housekeeping chores, as do

CRYPTOQUOTES

Carolyn Hax

outrageous domestic imbalances until people are done, done, done putting up with them, and answering to them — “tell his family”? wha? — and all the lame excuses churned out to defend them.

So. Are you?

the individual adults those boys and girls become for going along with these expectations instead of living in defiance of them — as does this essay, which sent me to my fainting couch (wapo.st/3Ex91tJ) — haha, just kidding, I was furious, yet he was at least trying! — and I’m sure we could find all kinds of culprits. But the needle/wettowel pile isn’t moving until we insist that it move. For one, stop partnering with people who don’t carry their weight. If you get faked out somehow or they quit on you once partnered, then leave them for it. Say why.

Because you blew by those exit ramps, try this one: “Clean up your crap or I’m calling your family to cancel, and I will say why. I am not your freaking housekeeper.”

“If you want it clean, then you clean it” is so breathtakingly infantile and disrespectful that it warrants a breakup on its (de)merits alone. Plus, tidying for guests is baseline grace. We won’t be done with

Re: Cleaning: I cringed at “infantile.” I am the woman half of my marriage, and my husband was raised by a control-freak mother who tolerated nothing out of place. The man cannot relax unless everything is clean and in its place. He gets upset when the house, in a very reasonable state, is “out of order.” We are often asked: “Is your house always this clean?” It is very difficult at times to live with this behavior, and I often resort to thinking, “If you want it cleaner than this, then it is on you to manage it.”

I don’t think my reaction is infantile or disrespectful, and putting the onus on him at some point is only fair.

— The Woman Half The Woman Half: Different facts get different answers.

The issue isn’t the neat-freakiness, per se; it’s whether the person with an issue — whatever it may be — admits and manages the baggage, or stubbornly resists admitting there’s an issue. (That’s not

uncommon for people raised in an anxious, perfectionist environment.) So the onus is on him to either treat the anxiety or carry the housekeeping burden of untreated anxiety. If your husband won’t take this responsibility, if instead he dumps the anxiety on you, then that’s what needs attention — not the specifics of who bleaches the house.

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote: There is no winter without snow, no spring without sunshine, and no happiness without companions. — Korean proverb

ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker

D M H Q V S F E

H L V R T N S H L ,

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

by Chris Browne FUNKY WINKERBEAN

by Tom Batiuk

BLONDIE

by Young and Drake

MARVIN

by Tom Armstrong

HI AND LOIS

by Chance Browne

Honor: Seniors

Continued from B2

two American Legion baseball seasons, when pivotal zone and state tournament games held potential schedule conflicts with his animal exhibits at the Allen County Fair.

Rather than pick one or the other, Sommer simply did both. In late July, he traveled each morning to Topeka, played a game or two, then returned to Iola’s Riverside Park to show his livestock that evening at the fair, only to repeat the process the next day.

“It was fun,” he said.

Oh, and don’t forget basketball. While Johnson had hung up his basketball sneakers after playing with Sommer and his other Humboldt teammates in middle school, Sommer kept at it. As a junior, Sommer earned honorable mention all-state honors on the hardwood, and is leading the undefeated Cubs in scoring this season at 18 points per game.

Do they have a favorite sport?

If Johnson had his druthers, he’d probably focus on track and field. He qualified for state last spring in the javelin and shot put, and competed in state as a junior in the discus throw.

“I’d really like to medal in one or more event at state this year,” he said.

Sommer admits he carries no favorite.

“Depends on the year,” he laughed.

BUT EVEN now, with their respective trophy cases filled, their athletic exploits consistently take a back seat to their school work.

Homework assignments almost always were done before leaving school for the day, in order to focus on practices or games in the evening.

Even with loaded courses, both have maintained all-A’s, a streak they have no intention of seeing end as seniors.

Both must decide in the coming months where they’ll attend college.

Sommer has received scholarship offers to several schools in the state, to play both football and baseball. His decision may hinge on where he can best pursue a veterinary science degree.

Sommer may dabble in track and field, or maybe even football, while he studies biology. Although pursuing a biology degree for a medical career may take precedence, he acknowledges. He’s considering either the University of Kansas or Rice University in Texas for now.

Academic success has become second nature for both.

“Our goal is a 4.0”

grade-point average,” Johnson said. “It’s just work ethic, really, and that transfers over from sports and coaches. If you get your schoolwork done, you don’t have to worry about it after games. Time management is a big part of it.”

“Most of the time we’re able to get our homework done at school,” Sommer noted.

BOTH Sommer and Johnson are quick to point at the support of their teammates, and their coaches. In fact, 11 Humboldt football players earned some sort of individual postseason honor this fall, and the HHS family is blessed with long-time, successful coaches across the board.

Logan Wyrick has coached the football team through its past two core graduating classes, consistently placing the Cubs among the elite programs in the Tri-Valley League.

David Taylor in basketball, Mike Miller in baseball and Eric Carlson in track and field, likewise, have become elder statesmen in their respective sports across southeast Kansas.

Johnson noted he’ll hear from his other coaches, even when other sports aren’t in season.

“They make all the difference,” Sommer said. “They know what they’re talking about, and they want their athletes to be great. They hold you accountable.”

Shockers fend o Texas Southern

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jaron

Jr.

shooting (1 for 4 from distance) for the Shockers (7-5). James Rojas scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. Jaykwon Walton shot 3 for 10 (0 for 3 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4

from the free throw line to finish with 10 points.

Davon Barnes finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Tigers (3-9). Joirdon Karl Nicholas

added 12 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks for Texas Southern. In addition, PJ Henry had nine points.

Wichita State led Texas Southern at the half, 32-22.

Josiah D’ Albini Nickolas Kinder Joel Wicoff

Steven French - Mayor Carl Slaugh Nicholas Lohman

Kim Peterson Joelle Shallah Mark Peters

Trey Sommer, left, and Maddox Johnson also played youth basketball together. COURTESY OF BOB JOHNSON II

Pierre

scored 18 points off of the bench to lead Wichita State past Texas Southern 65-56 on Thursday night. Pierre was 8-of-13

Pitcher reinstated after abuse suspension cut short

NEW YORK (AP) — Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent arbitrator, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season.

The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on April 29 for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually abused her last year, an accusation the pitcher denied.

The players’ association filed a grievance on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner, and a three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman started hearing the case on May 23.

Scheinman upheld a 194-game suspension rather than Manfred’s intended 324-game penalty but reinstated Bauer immediately, assigning 50 games to cover part of the lengthy time Bauer was put on administrative leave while MLB investigated during the 2021 season and early this year.

“Can’t wait to see y’all out at a stadium soon!” Bauer wrote on Twitter.

Bauer will lose more than $37 million in salary for the final 144 games of last season and for the first 50 games of next season, through May 23. The lost salary next year is effectively a clawback from part of his administrative leave, when he continued to receive pay.

MLB said Scheinman affirmed that Bauer violated the domestic violence policy.

“While we believe a longer suspension was warranted, MLB will abide by the neutral arbitrator’s decision, which upholds baseball’s longest-ever active player suspension for sexual assault or domestic violence,” MLB said in a statement. “We understand this process was difficult for the witnesses involved and we thank them for their participation.”

While Scheinman issued his award to the parties, a full written decision is not expected until later. The panel included MLB Deputy Commissioner Dan

Halem and union assistant general counsel Bob Lenaghan.

“While we are pleased that Mr. Bauer has been reinstated immediately, we disagree that any discipline should have been imposed,” Bauer’s representatives, Jon Fetterolf, Shawn Holley and

Rachel Luba, said in a statement. “That said, Mr. Bauer looks forward to his return to the field, where his goal remains to help his team win a World Series.”

The players’ association declined comment on Scheinman’s decision.

Bauer was never charged with a crime. His accuser sought but was denied a restraining order against him, and Los Angeles prosecutors said in February there was insufficient evidence to prove the woman’s accusations beyond a reasonable doubt.

Bauer, who hasn’t played since the allegations surfaced and MLB began investigating, repeatedly has said that everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual.

An email sent after business hours Thursday seeking comment from the woman’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, wasn’t immediately returned.

Bauer sued his accuser in federal court, a move that came less than three months after prosecutors decid-

ed not to file criminal charges against the pitcher. Bauer named the woman and one of her attorneys, Niranjan Fred Thiagarajah, as defendants in the lawsuit.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.

The lawsuit said that “the damage to Mr. Bauer has been extreme” after the woman alleged that he had choked her into unconsciousness, punched her repeatedly and had anal sex with her without her consent during two sexual encounters last year.

The pitcher has said the two engaged in rough sex at his Pasadena home at her suggestion and followed guidelines they agreed to in advance.

Another woman, from Columbus, Ohio, told The Washington Post that Bauer repeatedly choked her without her consent and sexually assaulted her over the course of a years-long relationship. Bauer, in a statement through his

representatives, said their relationship was “casual and wholly consensual.”

The suspension will cost Bauer $37,594,233 from his $102 million, three-year contract: $28,131,868 of his $32 million salary in 2022 and $9,462,365 of his $32 million salary in 2023.

Under Major League Rule 2, Bauer will not count against the Dodgers’ player limits for 14 days, giving the team until Jan. 6 to decide whether to cut ties. If the Dodgers jettison Bauer, they would remain responsible for the roughly $22.6 million he is owed next season and he would be free to sign with any club.

“We have just been informed of the arbitrator’s ruling and will comment as soon as practical,” the Dodgers said in a statement.

The money not paid to Bauer will be reflected on the Dodgers’ luxury tax payroll, cutting the amount of tax they must pay this year and are projected to pay in 2023.

Trevor Bauer last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2021 for the Los Angeles Dodgers before his lengthy suspension tied to domestic abuse and sexual assault allegations. GETTY IMAGES/MEG OLIPHANT/TNS

KU: Adams reaches 1,000 career points in win over Harvard

points and Dick had 11, going 3 for 7 behind the arc. KJ Adams had 10.

Wilson reached the 1,000-point plateau with his 16th point. He knew he needed to take charge late in the game.

“Down the stretch I was trying to be aggressive and attack the paint,” he said. “As a leader, I was not in a very good mood. They got way too comfortable shooting the ball. A lot of that was because of my defense. I felt like I owed it to my team to be as aggressive as I could

to win the game.”

Chris Ledlum had 17 points for Harvard (8-5).

Evan Nelson scored 10.

“I thought (Ledlum) was the best player in the game until the end,” Self said.

Kansas stretched the lead to 11 points early in the second half, but Harvard would not go away.

The Crimson trailed by four points when Dajuan Harris stole an inbounds pass and fed it to Dick, who drained a 3-pointer.

The Crimson were 4 of 11 from behind the arc in the second half.

Wilson finally gave

the Jayhawks a comfortable lead with a pair of buckets to extend the lead to 55-46. Then he blocked a dunk attempt by Ledlum.

“I thought (Harvard) played well,” Self said. “We had a couple of chances to stretch it out and deliver at least a standing-8 count, maybe not a knockout blow. But they responded every time.

“The key to having great seasons isn’t winning when you play great. It’s winning when you don’t play great. This team did exactly what it’s supposed to do

on a night when they didn’t make shots.”

Harvard hung with Kansas through most of the first half. The score was tied at 20-all at the final media timeout of the first half. The Jayhawks did not hit a 3-point field goal until 2:20 remained in the first half, missing their first nine tries.

Dick, the Jayhawks’ second-leading scorer coming in with 15.8 points per game, didn’t score until hitting a pair of free throws at the 5:07 mark.

Neither team shot particularly well in the first half. Kansas raised

their shooting percentage late to 44.8%. Harvard finished at 34.6%.

At one stretch late in the half, each team missed eight out of nine shots.

Kansas concluded the half on a 16-3 run to take a 32-23 lead into the locker room. Harvard scored just six points in the final 10:13.

THE TAKEAWAY

Harvard: The Crimson were not intimidated by the raucous crowd at Allen Fieldhouse. Every time Kansas stretched the lead, Harvard responded. Kansas: Kansas will go as far as Jalen Wilson

goes. A starter but not the star on last season’s national championship team, he is the leader in every way.

UP NEXT Harvard: The Crimson will conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule with a road contest at Maine on Wednesday before opening up Ivy League play on the road at Princeton on New Year’s Eve.

Kansas: The Jayhawks have nine days off before opening Big 12 action on New Year’s Eve with an afternoon game against Oklahoma State.

For the young and young-at-heart

LEGO Speed Champions 1970 Ferrari 512 M

LEGO’s Ferrari 512 M captures the look of the iconic race car. Kids can recreate the car’s sleek lines, brick by brick, then pop the Ferrari driver behind the wheel for epic racing fun! This mini version of the 1970 Ferrari 512 M is perfect for display and exciting race action.

• Available at LEGO.com, $19.99

NASCAR Track Cornhole Game Set

Flyer Extreme Drift Go-Kart Experience the thrill of racing right at home with Flyer’s Extreme Drift Go-Kart. This 36-volt battery powered car, designed for children 13 and older, has a low center of gravity, high grip front tires and slick rear wheels for ultimate drifting action. With three forward speed settings and a top speed of 11 MPH, this go-kart is Radio Flyer’s fastest yet. For added safety, the go-kart automatically stops once the pedal is released, with a racing flag for added visibility, a seat belt and a parent-controlled speed lock.

• Available at Walmart and other retailers, $398.99

Hot Wheels Action Ultra Hots Wild Drive Drag Race track set

Young race enthusiasts can face off against a friend—or foe—side-by-side on this epic six-foot-long track, compete with a fair-start gate, dual loops and a potentially wreckcausing cross zone where cars could crash before crossing the finish line. The set includes two 1:64 scale Hot Wheels cars to begin racing right away.

• Available at Target and other retailers, $35.99

Hot Wheels 50-car pack

Looking to start or supplement a Hot Wheels

Celebrate your NASCAR fandom with this cornhole game set! Complete cornhole bag set included, which are made of quality Duck Cloth canvas material and filled with whole corn kernels.

• Available at nascar.com, $239.99

Stomp Rocket Dueling Stomp Racers

Your favorite junior racers can speed to the finish line with the power of air. Two racecars, each decked out in exciting racing stickers, is launched into competition with a huge stomp on the air pumps. See who can get their car to the finish line first. Set up your own obstacle course and let the imagination roll!

• Available at Camp.com, $29.99

Ryan Blaney is making a list and checking it twice

After a few enjoyable weeks in the off-season, Ryan Blaney is eager to return to racing. Because he’s not scheduled for any offseason testing, however, the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford won’t be back in his car until February.

That doesn’t mean Blaney can’t work on ways to improve from a season where he qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on points and finished eighth in the final standings.

“I make a list at the end of the year,” Blaney said. “OK, what did we do well? What did we struggle with? And like what are your goals to get better? What do you really want to improve?

collection?

Maybe you need some stocking stuffers. Whether you’re looking to jumpstart the interest of a future racing enthusiast or need an interesting collection of the unofficial original fidget toy, check out this set from Hot Wheels, which includes 50 different cars.

• Available at Target and other retailers, $62.99

NASCAR Tracks 2023 Wall Calendar Tour 12 thrilling tracks of NASCAR—including fun facts about each location—with this 12-month, 12-inch-by-12-inch calendar. Tracks include Daytona International, Auto Club Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, Darlington Raceway, HomesteadMiami Speedway, Michigan International, ISM Raceway in Phoenix , Kansas Speedway, Richmond International, and Chicagoland.

• Available at Calendars.com, $15.99

“Me and (crew chief) Jonathan (Hassler) sat down and went through our list of notes, and like where do we want to get better and improve at, and what did we do well and can still build off of?

“That stuff to me is always really helpful. You look back on the year, and you’re like, ‘Well, we screwed up in this situation. Let’s jot that down and let’s try to figure out a different way. If that comes up again, let’s change it.’”

One race Blaney would like to change is the season-opening Daytona 500, where he had a chance to win on the last lap but finished fourth as rookie teammate Austin Cindric took the checkered flag.

“The one that stings the most is the 500, because we’ve been so close to that that thing for years,” Blaney said. “That one stings the most, but I try to get over that stuff really quick.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and JTG Daugherty Racing have unveiled their Daytona 500 paint scheme, drumming up anticipation for NASCAR’s 75th anniversary season and 65th running of the “Great American Race.”

8 AWESOME GIFTS