Sports: Iola runners gear up for fall sports season See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Iola dials up tighter cell phone laws for motorists By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iolans should get in the habit of setting their cell phones aside when they get behind the wheel, City Council members said. While details still need to be ironed out, the Council directed staffers to work with Iola’s police chief to draft tighter cell phone controls for motor-
ists. Monday’s discussion came at the urging of Councilman Aaron Franklin, who lives along U.S. 54. Franklin said he frequently observes passing motorists, estimating as many as 40 percent “have something in their hand,” such as cell phones. Franklin said the city has two options: — To be proactive, and if
an accident occurs because of a distracted cell phone user, “then we can still say we did everything we could,” Franklin said. — Do nothing, and then have to explain to a mother why the city did not do more to prevent distracted drivers. “We’re promoting a healthy, proactive community,” FrankSee PHONES | Page A3
Property taxes on the rise Already faced with higher water and electric bills, Iolans will be asked to pay more in property taxes to support the city’s 2016 budget. City Council members voted, 5-2, Monday to schedule an Aug. 10 hearing to spell out Iola’s spending plan for the
upcoming fiscal year. If approved, the budget will incorporate an ad valorem tax levy increase of more than 2 mills. Spending for next year will be nearly static. Iola’s general fund levy for 2016 was See BUDGET | Page A3
Law enforcement decries state hospital admissions freeze By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
OSAWATOMIE — A crowd of roughly 50 gathered at Memorial Hall Monday to discuss the fallout from the recently instituted freeze on patient admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital. In late-June, the psychiatric hospital — which services 36 counties, and comprises a catchment area stretching from Wichita to the state’s eastern border — reduced its number of available patient beds from 206 to 146 after commencing a series of building renovations required by federal inspectors. Monday’s meeting centered on the strain the moratorium — as well as the state’s consistently lackluster mental health funding — is creating on local law enforcement and community mental health experts who too often find themselves without a reliable treatment option for the mentally ill individuals who end up in their custody. Sen. Molly Baumgardner as well as Representatives Jene Vickrey and Kevin Jones — all from affected districts in the state — also participated in t he forum. The first speaker, however, was Bill Rein, chief counsel for the Kansas Department of Aging and Disabilities Services, the agency that oversees Osawatomie State Hospital. Rein updated the audience on the status of the renovation, which
he claimed was “slightly ahead” of the scheduled October due date. While acknowledging that the current freeze has created a backup in the system that forces a burden onto law enforcement that they’re not usually trained to deal with, Rein disputed the rumor that patients linger long on the waiting list prior to being admitted into OSH. “Our average wait for a bed is 23 hours. And 80 percent of the patients on the waiting list are admitted within two days. “I can say in all honesty, from the depths of my heart and experience, that things have gone pretty well under the moratorium.” But he acknowledged that his isn’t the majority view. “I mean, I don’t mind people being mad at me. And I don’t mind hearing angry voices. What I mind is if we stop communicating.” The speakers after Rein, though not obviously angry, sustained a message of measured dissent, starting with law enforcement. A
POLICE
Looking Sharp
Danielle Sharp, above, leads her steer around the ring during the senior division of steer showmanship Monday night at the Allen County Fair. Sharp won grand champion in senior showmanship. Josie Plumlee, left, and Hannah Andersen perform a cover of “Viva La Vida,” by Coldplay at the Allen County Fair Talent Show. The girls won second place in the show. Brandon McKarnin, below right, races through poles at the open Shodeo event. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
OFFICER
since the early 1980s, Ottawa Police Chief Dennis Butler recalled the halcyon years when the local mental health system was “stable, reliable and predictable” — when an officer, having taken a potentially dangerous individual into custody, had the means to “get that person the help they needed [instead of] having to sit on them for hours or having to release them or being faced See HOSPITALS | Page A6
Former Iolans killed in accident TULSA — Former Iolans Brandon Allen and Amanda Rose were killed Saturday morning after the motorcycle they were riding collided head-on with a car that had been driving the wrong way on U.S. 75 near Tulsa. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 2006 Honda Civic was southbound in the northbound lane just after 3 a.m. Saturday, when it collided with Allen’s northbound
Brandon Allen
Amanda Rose
motorcycle. Rose’s family members told the Register the pair were headed home from work when the accident occurred. Both Allen and Rose were
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 184
declared dead at the scene, as was an occupant in the car, Misty D. Thirion, Collinsville, Okla. After the accident, officers arrested Christian J. Loiler, 21, Collinsville, for allegedly driving the car. He was booked into the Tulsa Jail Sunday on three counts of first-degree manslaughter, causing great bodily injury while driving See WRECK | Page A3
Scientists warn of arms race with artificial intelligence By DANICA KIRKA The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — Scientists and tech experts — including Prof. Stephen Hawking and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak — warned today of a global arms race with weapons using artificial intelligence. In an open letter with
“People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.” — John C. Maxwell, American clergyman 75 Cents
hundreds of signatories, the experts argued that if any major military power pushes ahead with development of autonomous weapons, “a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the See AI | Page A3
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