Inside: Honor roll students announced
2017 1867
See A2
Sports: Track athletes gear up for state meet
See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Thursday, May 25, 2017
Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Gov. hopeful pays visit to Iola By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Eighteen months out from the Nov. 6, 2018, general election, Carl Brewer was in Iola Tuesday to campaign for Kansas governor. A former two-term mayor of Wichita, Brewer is running for the Democratic nomination. Brewer asserts the wheels of the state’s proverbial “wagon” have fallen off and left its citizens stranded. “Six years of mismanagement will do that,” he said. “We not only have to put the wheels back on, but also pull the wagon in the right direction,” by making education the state’s No. 1 priority and “recapturing” money that was “given away through tax cuts and tax breaks.” Gov. Sam Brownback’s “race to zero” income tax model is criticized as having plunged the state in debt. The state budget is currently $900 million short of balancing for the next two budget years and its reserves have been drained. Brewer also is a fan of expanding Medicaid, recognizing the harm done from those lost dollars and services to the poor, the disabled and
The Kansas House debated a school funding plan for five hours Wednesday before passing a bill that many worry won’t pass state Supreme Court muster. SAM ZEFF/KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
House holds line on school funding By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
Former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, who has filed to seek the Democratic nomination for Kansas governor, was in Iola Tuesday. REGISTER/SARAH WEIDE public hospitals and mental health facilities. BREWER, 60, started his political career as a grassroots activist in his home-
town of Wichita as a union organizer in the meatpacking and aviation industries. Mediating came naturally to Brewer, who said he has a low boiling point.
anticipates exact numbers would be in by June. It’s going to be a total remodel, according to biology instructor Travis Robb. Included is the removal of an existing wall and opening up space to accommodate more students. New furnishings will include flexible rectangular tables and a gas island, he said. The college is also in the pre-planning phase of a new student center as part of the facility master plan, Counsil said. “We are hoping to break ground on the student center remodel in April 2018,” he said. The current student center was originally designed
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas blocked a move Wednesday to make a plan for increasing spending on public schools even more generous as some acknowledged that they don’t think they can raise taxes enough to pay for a greater amount of education funding. The House gave first-round approval to a plan to phase in a $280 million increase in aid to the state’s 286 local school districts over two years. The vote was 81-40 and advances the measure to another, final vote Thursday, with members expected to pass the bill and send it to the Senate. The plan is a response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in March that the state’s education funding is inadequate. The court didn’t set a figure for how much the state’s $4 billion in annual aid must rise, but attorneys representing school districts that sued the state have said a much larger increase is necessary. Democrats have taken the assessment to heart; GOP lawmakers disagree. The Supreme Court gave lawmakers until June 30 to pass a new school finance
See LABS | Page A3
See STATE | Page A5
As an African American, Brewer said he’s been tested more than once throughout his civic, civilian and miliSee BREWER | Page A5
Luxury labs figure into science equation By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
Allen Community College’s biology labs have undergone renovations. Travis Robb is the biology instructor. REGISTER/SHELLIE SMITLEY
School board member won’t seek re-election By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Tony Leavitt, president of the USD 257 Board of Education, told the Register he would not seek re-election this fall. Leavitt, a 1970 graduate of Iola High School, will complete his second four-year term in early January. The filing deadline for school and city elections, with the Legislative-ordered change of elections to November, is noon June 1.
Leavitt said he thought it was time for someone else to have the opportunity to serve on the board in position No. Tony Leavitt 4. He is retired from being plant manager of HerffJones, and his wife, Barbara, is retired from a long career at Allen Community College. They want to devote more See ELECTION | Page A3
Allen Community College is taking its science labs and student center to new dimensions. The college has hired Loyd Builders, Ottawa, to begin construction on a new physics lab this summer. The project involves conversion of the existing Campus Services-Mailroom to a physics lab, along with renovations that convert four classrooms into five offices, a conference room and two classrooms. The project comes with a price tag of a “few hundred thousand dollars.” “I am waiting on budget numbers for that,” Vice President of Finance and Operations, Brian Counsil said. He
Driver rescued following crash By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — Rescue crews responded to a wreck involving two vehicles Wednesday night in Humboldt’s downtown square. The motor vehicle accident involved a Ford Taurus driven by Leigha Habiger, Humboldt, and a pickup truck driven by Jason Julich, Humboldt. With Habiger were two juvenile passengers. Julich’s vehicle contained no See WRECK | Page A3
Leigha Habiger and two juvenile passengers, suffered minor injuries, in a two-vehicle accident in Humboldt Wednesday. Rescue crews had to cut off the car’s door to free Habiger. REGISTER/ SHELLIE SMITLEY
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 148
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Albert Einstein 75 Cents
Hi: 79 Lo: 64 Iola, KS