Wrestling: Iola hosts Independence, Caney Valley See B1
The Weekender Saturday, January 28, 2017
Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Wind farms endorsed By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
With just three of 40 audience members expressing strong opposition, Allen County Planning Commission members gave 6-0 support to an agreement that would permit construction of wind farms in the county. The enabling document will be recommended to county commissioners for approval on Feb. 14, a major step in development of a wind farm by EDP Renewables in the area north of U.S. 54 in the east part of the county. The company recently completed and began operating a wind farm near Waverly, in Coffey County. A representative of NextEra, North Palm Beach, Fla.,
Allen County Planning Commission members, from left, Steve French, Denise Mentzer, Jim Wildschuetz and Keith Beeman, lead a discussion Thursday about a proposed wind farm in Allen County. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON Sam Massey, also attended Thursday night’s session. He spoke a few times, but gave no indication that company is immediately interested
in Allen County. Rorik Peterson, associate director of development for EDP, was on hand. He answered a number of questions and gave assur-
ance EDP is eager to comply and cooperate with whatever Allen County would require. He pointed out wind energy became a reality in California “in the late ’70s or early ’80s.” Wind turbines were erected in Kansas shortly after 2000. Planners listened carefully to comments from opponents Beth and John Wall, Iola, and Patti Boyd, rural Moran, and questions from from others, many of which Peterson and Massey rose to answer. Planners tweaked the agreement document, as they did at a meeting in November with the original offering from County Counselor Alan Weber. Points of See WIND | Page A3
ACC to host speaker on date rape Katie Koestner, one of the country’s foremost advocates for sexual assault victims, will be at Allen Community College Tuesday evening to speak about date rape. Koestner, who gained national prominence in 1991 when she appeared on the cov- Katie Koestner er of Time Magazine as a date rape victim, has since spoken publicly about the matter to more than 1 million students in the United States. (Her attack occurred when she was a college student; her assailant was never
Royalty Iola High School’s Isaiah Fawson and Taylor Stout were crowned 2016 Winter Homecoming King and Queen Friday, following the Fillies’ and Mustangs’ basketball games against Chanute. Iola’s girls won, while the boys fell short. See more on B1. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
See SPEAKER | Page A6
LaHarpe gets grant to upgrade electric grid By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
LAHARPE — The second time was a charm. One year after unsuccessfully trying for a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant, LaHarpe has learned its second application has been accepted by the state. Word was sent to LaHarpe from the gover nor’s office earlier this month about the grant, which will help pay for upgrades to LaHarpe’s electric grid. The grant, consisting of federal funds, will be administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce, and should cover roughly half of the citywide upgrades. Engineers in 2015 estimated a full upgrade to a “wye three-phase” electric system — done so by adding a neutral line to existing power poles, replacing all of the city’s aging transformers and replacing scores of aging poles and thousands of feet of other electric lines — would cost the city about $790,000. Having the added neutral line enables the city to more quickly and safely isolate portions of the system for repairs, and should eradicate LaHarpe’s notorious “brownouts,” in which customers receive only a trickle of electricity. Brownouts are particularly hard on electric motors for televisions, climate-control See GRANT | Page A6
Gas playground gets new device By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Brad Kress, left, and Steve Robb position a pumpkin ride so it may be bolted to a pivot in Fees Park, Gas. Driving the tractor is Pat Long. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 63
GAS — Steve Robb, sometimes affectionately referred to as MacGyver for his vast ability to create whatever is needed, added another piece of playground equipment to Fees Park this week. Robb, city superintendent, called a big orange ball made of small-dimension structural steel “a pumpkin ride.” The ride, with seats and a grab bar at top, is mounted on a wheel hub. Round and round it goes, secured by eight half-inch bolts. “We got eight bale rings, the ones they use to make bale feeders, at Cleaver’s (Chanute) and the hub at Ray’s (Metal Recycling Depot),” Robb said. Construction, with Brad Kress and Pat Long offering See PARK | Page A6
Bee happy Iola mayor Joel Wicoff presents the top trophy to this year’s Allen County Spelling Bee grand champion, Iola middleschooler Audrey Coltrane. A perennial top contestant at previous bees, Coltrane’s winning word on Friday was “holocaust.” Among the words that laid waste to her competitors were “aperture,” “treatise,” “laburnum,” “pearlescent,” “Dantean,” “prodigious,” “mandarin,” “hypotenuse,” “tremulous,” “bestial” and more. IMS schoolmate Cole Mathes earned runner-up honors. The county bee win earns Coltrane a ticket to the state spelling bee Feb. 25 at Fort Hays State University. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” — Bernard Williams, English philosopher (1929-2003) 75 Cents
Hi: 46 Lo: 32 Iola, KS