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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
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Monday, March 28, 2016
Toll rises in Easter attack By SHASHANK BENGALI Los Angeles Times
LAHORE, Pakistan (TNS) — A bomb ripped through a public park packed with families celebrating Easter in the Pakistani city of Lahore Sunday, killing at least 65 people and wounding more than 250 others, most of them women and children, officials said. A suicide bomber set off an explosive vest packed with ball bearings in a parking lot near amusement park rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, located in a mostly residential neighborhood of western Lahore. A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, which it said was aimed at Christians celebrating the Easter holiday. Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, has a small Christian minority. Officials said they had not confirmed that Christians were the target. The bloodshed overwhelmed rescue agencies in Pakistan’s second-largest city. Victims jammed Lahore’s hospitals, spilling into the corridors where doctors and medical staff raced to treat them. Many more victims arrived at medical facilities in taxis or motorized rickshaws because ambulances were full. Pakistani security offiSee ATTACK | Page A4
Happy hunting Scores of youngsters scoured LaHarpe City Park for candy-filled eggs and other confectionary delights Saturday at the LaHarpe PRIDE Easter Hunt. While rainy weather dumped more than a half-inch of rain earlier in the day, the skies cleared and grounds dried enough for a delightful afternoon. Forecasts call for chances of rain to return Wednesday. PHOTO BY MADISON LUKEN
Thompson: Much remains undone in Topeka By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
While on a five-week break, Rep. Kent Thompson will keep in the know with what occurs in Topeka — particularly state finances. The regular session came to a halt last Thursday afternoon, with a school finance bill passed on the 67th day of the Legislature’s regular 90-day session. Senators and representatives return on April 27 to wrap up this year’s business. “Between now and then I’ll closely monitor state revenues,” said Thompson, including forecasts that tax income for March will fall short of estimates. February’s income was $54 million short. That led Gov. Sam Brownback to slice $17.4 million from higher education funding, and make overtures about other means necessary to make budget, none of which include eliminating tax breaks. If March revenues fall short, Thompson thinks the state’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Group — a con-
I didn’t want to see schools closed on June 30 ... However, I have very serious concerns about the process and reservations about the court accepting the solution. — Rep. Kent Thompson, R-LaHarpe
sortium of highly placed economists — will lower estimated revenues for the remainder of fiscal 2016 as well as 2017. What then? “Good question,” Thompson said. According to Thompson, some leaders are frustrated to the point they would gladly leave the problem at the doorstep of Gov. Sam Brownback. Trouble is, his likely remedy would be to further cut essential programs and services in his zeal to maintain the 2012 tax cuts. All services, from education to highways to social services, have been cut to the bone, Thompson allowed. “We can’t do that,” Thompson said in concession to reality. “It is the Legislature’s
responsibility to provide funding for state services and agencies.” THAT LEADS to the education funding plan the two chambers adopted. “I voted in support of the measure (it passed the House in resounding fashion),” Thompson said, although he did not support block grant funding that replaced the school finance plan that had been in place for better than 20 years. “The only problem with school finance as it has been for years, is that it was under-funded.” His support for what essentially is redistributing school revenue to give poorer districts more money was because of the Kansas Supreme
Snow, rain help, but wildfires still burning KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Firefighters grappling with the biggest wildfire in Kansas history got a welcomed Easter assist from pre-dawn snowfall over the hardest-hit area, though the looming prospect of flame-fanning winds threatened to undermine the effort. The National Weather Service said about a half an inch of precipitation in the form of rain and snow fell early Sunday southwest of Wichita in Barber County, which accounts for 427 of the 620 square miles scorched during the blaze that began Tuesday in Oklahoma before spreading into Kansas. Forestry officials in both states said Sunday the fires had been 45 percent contained, including roughly onethird of the blaze in Barber County. But shifting, stiffer winds were expected, potentially reigniting hot spots or extending flames beyond the fire line. Around south-
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, right, addresses the media along with Kansas Adjutant General Lee Tafanelli over the weekend about progress against a series of wildfires that continue to burn in south-central Kansas. KANSAS ADJUTANT GENERAL OFFICE PHOTO central Kansas, winds today could gust to 15 to 25 mph, then increase to 30 to 45 mph Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Brad Ketcham said. Any chance of precipitation in that area could come Tuesday night, “but it looks like that will be very isolat-
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 105
ed, very scattered,” Ketcham said. “We’re preparing for another couple of critical fire days,” said Hannah Anderson, an Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman. “It’s going to need something more significant to put it out. The conditions are just extremely dry.”
While crediting the Kansas snowfall for quenching dry, vulnerable prairie grass, native cedar trees abundant around Barber County caught much of that precipitation on their branches and left possible hot spots beneath them parched and at risk of rekindling, Kansas Forest Service spokeswoman Shawna Hartman said. The precipitation also likely offered little firesuppressing benefit in the area’s drainages and sloping canyons, she said. Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Kansas National Guard remained on the scene Sunday, a day after they arrived equipped with buckets ultimately used to dump nearly 44,880 gallons of water onto the flames, the forest service said. Those machines also helped identify any hardto-reach areas that had reignited. Six homes have been deSee FIRES | Page A2
“I know not age, nor weariness nor defeat.” — Rose Kennedy 75 Cents
Court’s ruling that block grant funding was inequitable. “I didn’t want to see schools closed on June 30,” a provision of the court’s ruling if equity wasn’t met, “and I thought the court might rule on the bill (just passed) before the veto session starts (April 27),” Thompson said. “However, I have very serious concerns about the process and reservations about the court accepting the solution” the legislation proposed, he said. Looming is yet another decision of the Supreme Court, which hasn’t been mentioned often. “Still to come is a ruling on financial adequacy,” Thompson cautioned, which could throw Brownback’s and the Legislature’s efforts to balance the state’s budget on a roller coaster ride. The justices pegged equity shortfall at $54 million. Adequacy shortfall will be much more, Thompson predicted. Meanwhile, Thompson said he found it peculiar that the final bill meant to satisfy the Court’s equity issue came See THOMPSON | Page A4
Grocery store plans to be discussed Iolans with questions concerning construction of the G&W Foods grocery store at the old Allen County Hospital site are welcome to a town hall meeting April 5 hosted by David Toland of Thrive Allen County. Thrive is contracted by the city, Allen County and Iola Industries as an economic development agent. Toland will speak at the Townhouse Apartment meeting room from 7 to 9 p.m. Organizers also have invited Iola Industries representatives to speak. The public is invited.
Hi: 67 Lo: 42 Iola, KS