Sports: Rec league in full swing See B1
The Weekender
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Saturday, June 28, 2014
ROTARY
Wheat ‘surprisingly good’ Market needs help By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
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Carla Nemecek, Southwind Extension District director, visits with Brian Regehr soon after he completes harvest of 80 acres of wheat north of Iola. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
rian Regehr finished combining 80 acres of wheat north of Iola a couple of days ago and noted it made better than 50 bushels an acre. While that isn’t at the top rung of yields this season, it’s nothing to sneeze at. The field, on a parcel of rocky upland, usually produces good wheat, Regehr continued. Wheat isn’t fond of a lot of moisture, and with its growing season early in the year before Kansas’ famed hot summer weather sets in, it can
Debbie Bearden told Iola Rotarians Thursday she is looking for help to enhance the Farmers Market experience in downtown Iola on Thursday evenings. She seeks entertainers, as well as people to read to children and to provide cooking demonstrations. “If you can think of someone, encourage them or tell me,” said Bearden, who represents Allen County Farm Bureau in sponsorship of the weekly event. Thrive Allen County is co-sponsor, with a role of making available fresh vegetables and fruit to prompt healthy eating in the county. This is the fifth year of the
See WHEAT | Page A4
Farmers Market on the Allen County Courthouse square. “The first year we had more than 60 vendors,” Bearden recalled, with numbers settling in at 35 to 45 the past four years. “We have about 20 signed up for the season,” with others coming now and again. Advantage this year is that “this spring has been a beautiful growing season,” she said, which should yield ample and varied vegetables and fruits well into summer. Also, vendors offer baked goods, crafts and even handmade toys. Bearden pointed out the market can be the starting point for a business. Stacy Mueller got her See MARKET | Page A4
Community support, prayers helps family stay strong By KAREN INGRAM The Iola Register
Chelsea Reno didn’t know what was wrong with her daughter, and it seemed like no one else did, either. For weeks, doctors had prescribed antibiotics and steroids and run test after test, and yet 4-year-old Cheyenne still complained that she could not breathe. “Chanute ER did a scan of her chest. There was no infection,” Reno said. “That’s when they sent us to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City.” Further tests finally gave an answer to her daughter’s distress, but it was not an infection. It was a tumor. “I was shocked,” said Robin Towne, Piqua, Cheyenne’s aunt. “We just thought it was normal childhood colds.” Cheyenne was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdomyo-
sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. According to sarcomahelp.org, there are only about 350 new cases diagnosed each year, usually in children under the age of 5. Cheyenne’s tumor was found inside her sinus cavity, pressing down on her mouth and rendering her blind in her left eye. It cannot be removed surgically. Doctors installed a feeding tube to help Cheyenne and placed a port in her chest to deliver chemotherapy. “Chemo requires a main vein,” Reno explained. “It burns up the small veins.” There were a number of delays in beginning her treatment. First, it was bad winter weather that kept the Reno family from making the long trek to Kansas City. Then, a series of infections caused by the feeding tube and port required additional surgeries. Cheyenne has had three surgeries, and the port has been moved to her neck. She has gone
Fireworks stand lights last show Gerry Diltz will light the fuse for one last fireworks extravaganza before putting away his punk for good. Diltz, who has capped each Independence Day holiday with a large fireworks show in Gas, said he no longer will shoot off fireworks after this year. “It’s just become so costprohibitive,” Diltz said. “We used to be able to cover the cost of the show by the money we earn from the stand. Now, that doesn’t come close.” Diltz operates Black Cat Fireworks along U.S. 54 in Gas. He started his July 4 show as a way to thank Steve and Adeline Holloway for use of their land for his fireworks stand. The show grew until Gas had one of the largest shows
around. Problem was, the costs for fireworks — particularly the high-powered works that require special licensing and insurance — have skyrocketed. “My costs have quadrupled,” Diltz said. “And they’re only going higher.” Diltz will continue to operate his stand, but will pack up his tent when the Fourth of July comes and goes. It will be a welcome change. Preparations for his show that usually lasts about 20 minutes begin months in advance when he orders the larger fireworks. This year, he and son Chad will begin setting up his shooting area early Friday afternoon, ensuring tubes are properly and safely aligned. The show will start after dusk Friday.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 171
through 16 weeks of chemo and will soon be starting on radiation. The total treatment will take about 54 weeks — just over a year. “It never stopped her in her tracks, that’s what surprised me,” Reno said. “Some days are bad, but she’s still smiling. We try to keep her smiling on a daily basis.” Most of the time, that is not a problem. Cheyenne is a bright, energetic child who loves to dance and play outdoors. She loves Thomas the Train and animals. She used to love to wear her hair in braids or ribbons, but when the chemo made it fall out, she just smiled and said “I look like papa, now,” Towne said. “I’ve learned how strong she is,” Towne said. “She’s a fighter.” Reno said she’s also quick to remind her doctors to wash See RENO | Page A4
Cheyenne Reno, front, and her mother Chelsea walk during the Relay for Life event earlier this month. REGISTER/KAYLA
BANZET
Club files new suit over coal plant By JOHN HANNA ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit Friday challenging Kansas’ latest move to allow construction of a $2.8 billion coal-fired power plant, partly because the state wouldn’t regulate the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental group also said in its filing with the state Court of Appeals that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment isn’t imposing adequate limits on other pollutants, including mercury, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. KDHE spokeswoman Sara Belfry said the agency believes the new plant would meet all federal and state airquality standards. Sunflower Electric Power Corp. wants to build the 895-megawatt facility next to an existing coal-fired plant
outside Holcomb in southwest Kansas. The company declined to comment on the Sierra Club’s filing because it was still reviewing the lawsuit. KDHE Secretary Robert Moser approved changes last month in a 2010 permit allowing the plant’s construction. The department said the changes set stricter air-quality standards to comply with a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last year in an earlier Sierra Club lawsuit, but environmentalists contend the changes are superficial. Amanda Goodin, an attorney for Earthjustice, which is representing the Sierra Club, said even with the changes approved by Moser, his department “basically spit out the exact same permit” as in 2010. “They’ve just done this very shoddy, slap-dash job,” Goodin said in an Associated Press interview before the lawsuit was filed.
“The starting point of all achievement is desire.” — Napoleon Hill, author 75 Cents
The new lawsuit also said the plant wouldn’t meet federal air-quality standards that the state is required to enforce, not only for greenhouse gases but for other pollutants. Moser approved the permit changes only three days before the federal Environmental Protection Agency outlined a new rule setting targets for states for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases, such as carbon dioxide, tied to global warming. The goal for Kansas is cutting such emissions by 23 percent from 2012 levels by 2030. The lawsuit said the new coal-fired plant would emit more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year — and the Sierra Club said Friday that the actual level will be millions of tons — making it far more difficult for Kansas to cut overall carbon emissions. But apart from the new See COAL | Page A3
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