Sports: Humboldt CC advances to state See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Regehr ‘thrives’ back home By RICK DANLEY The Iola Register
Campaign stop Democratic candidate for governor Rep. Paul Davis made a stop on the Iola square this morning to meet with local voters. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Thrive Allen County, recently in receipt of its largest grant to date, has a staff that is much smaller than its impact in the region might suggest. The engine room of the group’s downtown office is made up of a snug collection of four desks, at which you can usually find Damaris Kunkler (program director), John Robertson (grant writer), and Georgia Masterson (head of Circles of Allen County). On Oct. 1 Thrive turned over the fourth desk to its newest employee, Lisse Re-
Lisse Regehr gehr. Regehr, a native Iolan who has lived and worked in
CITY COUNCIL
Council prioritizes improvement projects By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A list of prioritized capital improvement projects could well change if local voters approve construction of new elementary and high schools at the north edge of town, Iola City Council members said Monday. The council reviewed Iola’s capital improvement project list at their meeting Monday night. Council members are mindful of the upcoming election Nov. 4 to decide on the schools. If the vote passes, the city will likely put the proposed extension of North Cottonwood Street high on its list,
Councilman Jon Wells said. City Administrator Carl Slaugh has pegged the Cottonwood extension at about $600,000, not including design costs or land acquisition. The city has a stake in the upcoming election as well, because one of the funding mechanisms, a half-cent sales tax increase, would be equally split between USD 257 and the city. Slaugh estimated both entities would earn about $300,000 annually from the hike. Iola traditionally has used sales tax revenues in the past for street projects. Slaugh discussed other items on the city’s capital See COUNCIL | Page A3
Iola City Council members Beverly Franklin, foreground, and Donald Becker were among the council members congratulating Iola High Fillies volleyball players for earning a berth in the upcoming Class 4A-II State Volleyball Tournament, the team’s first first state appearance in 12 years. The players are, from left, Kyra Moore, Toni Macha and Emma Piazza. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Minneapolis-St. Paul for the last 11 years, was hired as See REGEHR | Page A6
Local inmate found dead Joshua A. Cagle, 28, was found dead in an Allen County Jail cell Saturday. Cagle was arrested Friday night and taken to the jail, said Sheriff Bryan Murphy. “The Kansas Bureau of Investigation was contacted and is conducting an investigation into the death,” Murphy said. “At this time there is no speculation of foul play” An autopsy was ordered. Murphy did not comment on cause of death, or the reason for Cagle’s incarceration.
Board OKs tower to be atop Bowlus
Journalist tells of life-changing illness
By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Andy Marso tells of his near-death experience and his arduous climb back to a much different life in his book “Worth the Pain: How Meningitis Nearly Killed Me — Then Changed My Life for the Better.” Marso was about to graduate from the University of Kansas in 2004 when he contracted the deadly disease. Instead of leading his journalism school class down the hill, he would be fighting for his life. The disease ravaged his body with deadly toxins. He was in the hospital for four months, much of it to undergo a painful procedure called debridement to remove dead tissue from his hands and feet. Today, Marso, a reporter, types with one thumb and a protruding nub of what is left on his other hand. He lost his fingers and the front half of both his feet. Marso will talk about his recovery and his decision to write about it at Saturday’s
Bowlus trustees gave LaHarpe Telephone permission to erect a tower atop the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. USD 257 board members gave the go ahead to New Wave Broadband, a division of the LaHarpe business, at their meeting Monday afternoon. At a Sept. 22 meeting David Lee of LaHarpe Telephone presented the idea of placing the tower atop the Bowlus. At that meeting Bowlus trustees said they would feel more comfortable if Lee and Bowlus executive director Susan Raines would work out an insurance agreement first. Lee’s father, Harry Lee, owner of the company, and Raines checked into the insurance and liability. “If something were to happen to the tower his company would cover it and what isn’t covered will be insured by our company,” Raines said.
Lee said the tower will provide fixed wireless internet service to a range of five to six miles. The tower will be 12 to 20 feet tall. New Wave is putting up another tower on the water tower on Miller Road. Lee said he would like to have it up by the end of November or early December. IOLA students will help observe Veterans Day this November. Veterans Day activities at the schools have been minimal in the past. Students will be given flags from donors which they will place around the town square for people to see at the parade. “This is something worth celebrating and acknowledging,” Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn said. The last forum about building new schools will be at McKinley Elementary School at 7 p.m. Thursday. School officials will be on hand to answer any questions before the election on Nov. 4.
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 3
By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Iola Reading Festival on the campus of Allen Community College. In a phone conversation Monday, Marso said writing of the ordeal “was draining at times, but also therapeutic. I would sit at the computer with tears streaming down my face.” It wasn’t until Marso began writing about the painful debridement treatments that his recurring nightmares of going to “the tank” — the sterile room where Marso was lowered into a big metal tub for the procedures — began to stop. “I had nightmares for months about that,” he said. “Once I put it on paper, they stopped.” Marso explains the procedures in such detail it made this reader queasy. Marso laughed. “I had a lot more, but my editors had me cut it,” he said. THESE DAYS Marso works at the Kansas Health Institute as a reporter. Before that he worked at the Topeka
“Never mistake activity for achievement.” — John Wooden 75 Cents
Andy Marso Capital-Journal covering the state Legislature for several years. “This gives me the opportunity to do more in-depth reporting and research,” he said of the post at KHI, which he assumed in August. It also ties in with his efforts to promote awareness of bacterial meningitis and the importance of students, especially, getting the vaccine. He’s a frequent speaker at public health symposiums. See MARSO | Page A6
Hi: 68 Lo: 41 Iola, KS