NFL: KC Chiefs overtake Denver in extra period.
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THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Monday, November 28, 2016
Presidentelect levels unfounded accusation
Allen County Volunteer Fire Department members are, from left, Darrell Baughn, James Bagnall, Travis Baughn, Travis Bearden, Dan Rider, Terry Johnson, Byron McDonald and Brad Yoder. Not pictured are Luke Chenowith, Randy Slocum and Michael Lilly. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
RURAL RESCUE TEAM By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The newest tool in the Allen County Rural Fire Department fleet sets up the department to provide reliable service for decades to come. The department, which serves much of the county north and west of Iola, recently acquired a new 1996 Darley pumper truck on a Spartan chassis, replacing a 40-year old Pierce model that had begun to more than show its age. “We’re very happy to get it,” said Darrell Baughn, ACRFD fire chief. “From the time I started in 1981, I’d say we’re 100 times better equipped than we had been.”
“This will easily last us 20-plus years,” added Travis Baughn, the fire chief ’s son and another long-time member. The unit is equipped with a 1,000-gallon polyvinyl chloride water tank — twice the capacity as the old pumper truck’s — with foam capability to help extinguish such things as chemical fires. The truck also has a number of other bells and whistles, such as an extendable light fixture on top of the cab that can turn the darkest environs into simulated daylight. Even better: The department spent $29,500 for the truck. The newest models, for comparison, cost a cool
$200,000 or more.
onto the newer one. “It’s put together better than if it was built in a factory,” the fire chief boasts. “Travis and Dan would get ideas late at night and come out and work on it, then tell me about it later.” Because it has a water pump on board as well, the General can be used either to shuttle water to rural fire scenes, or pump water directly at the fire.
THE NEW (to them) pumper truck is one of several upgrades over the years for the volunteer fire department, which is stationed at the Storage and RV property on the west edge of Iola. A 5-ton 1997 AM General tanker truck came a few years ago from the Kansas Forestry Service through its military equipment surplus program. Travis Baughn and fellow firefighter Dan Rider did much of the work to convert the former personnel and cargo carrier into a grass and tanker rig by pulling the water tank, pump and other equipment from the old truck
TWO other vehicles round out the fleet. A 2006 Chevy flatbed pickup equipped with a 200-gallon tank came from Southern Star Gas Service. See ALLEN | Page A4
NEW YORK (AP) — With his return to New York, President-elect Donald Trump faces a pressing need to set more of the foundation blocks of his presidency in place by filling vacancies for secretary of state and other top posts. Distraction looms, however, much of it created by the presidentelect himself, whose extraordinary claims of Donald Trump widespread voter fraud during a 12-hour Twitter offensive on Sunday cast a shadow over the legitimacy of an election that he actually won. “I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump tweeted in the afternoon before alleging in an evening tweet “serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California.” Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions seeking evidence of the claims. The charges come amid a recount of presidential votes in up to three battleground states, an effort joined by Hillary Clinton despite decidedly tamped-down expectations that the election’s outcome will not change. Wisconsin election officials are expected to meet today to discuss a possible timeline for a recount of that state’s presidential votes; recounts are possible in Pennsylvania and Michigan as well. There’s been no evidence of widespread tampering or hacking that would change See TRUMP | Page A4
Trump’s infrastructure plan dwarfed by estimates of need By ELAINE POVICH Stateline.org — TNS
If President-elect Donald Trump is successful with his proposed $1 trillion, 10-year program to fix America’s disintegrating and inadequate infrastructure, the states have a list of critical projects ready for him. And while a $1 trillion could be a decent down payment, it’s not nearly enough. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that fixing all the roads, bridges, public transit, railroads, energy systems, schools, public parks, ports, airports, waste systems, levees, dams, drinking water facilities and hazardous waste installations in the 50 states and the District of Columbia would take $3.6 trillion by 2020. The civil engineers group ranked the states with a “report card” on their infrastructure. No state scored higher than a C-plus. The country overall scored a D-plus. That the nation’s dilapidated infrastructure appears high on the agenda of the
incoming president heartens many state officials. But they’re concerned about the financing. “The fact that (Trump) seems to go back to infrastructure as a priority, even when he’s not specifically asked about it, does lend itself to the belief that it is one of the bedrock priorities of the new administration,” said Joung Lee, policy director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. However, Lee said, a key part of dealing with infrastructure has to be on the “spending side,”: taxes to finance the work. Trump is less inclined to talk about that. Instead of tax increases, Trump has proposed a series of tax credits for infrastructure. He maintains that the money lost to the Treasury through the tax credits would be made up by increased personal income taxes paid by workers hired on the projects and by business taxes paid by the construction companies that hire them. University of California, Irvine, business school
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 23
professor Peter Navarro, a Trump adviser, estimated that every $200 billion in additional spending on infrastructure creates $88 billion more in wages and increases the nation’s gross domestic product by more than 1 percentage point. Navarro also said the Trump plan would provide
“maximum flexibility to the states” by streamlining permits and approvals. In a sentiment echoed by many state leaders, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, said in Providence that she would be happy to accept Trump’s proposal. “We can certainly use that money
Bridges needing repair
As of December 2015, 23 percent of the nation’s bridges were “functionally deficient” or obsolete. Although that does not mean they were unsafe, they were in need of repair. 0-20%
21-30%
31-40%
41-50%
Over 50% VT ME NH
WA ND
MT OR
ID WY
NV CA
MN WI
SD
AZ
CO
PA
IA
NE UT
IL MO
KS OK
NM
NY
MI OH
IN
KY
WV
TN AR
VA NC
SC
MA
RI CT NJ DE MD D.C.
MS AL GA TX
LA
23%
AK HI
FL
of bridges need repair in the U.S. (611,845 total bridges) Source: Pew Trusts, Federal Highway Administration Graphic: Tribune News Service
for airports, money for trains, train stations and train tracks, money for roads and bridges, money for Wi-Fi,” she said. Her spokesman, David Ortiz, amplified the statement but noted that for the program to be effective it would have to be financed by “more than just tax credits.” THE LAST TIME the federal government undertook a big transportation construction program was in 2009, during the recession, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the stimulus, was enacted. Its purpose was to build things and to put people back to work. The “back to work” piece seemed the most important, and state officials were told to provide a list of “shovel ready” projects that could be undertaken immediately to fulfill the workforce goals. Critics said that meant larger, more ambitious construction projects went by the wayside. In its final report on the effects of the stimulus, the See BRIDGES | Page A4
“We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.”
Hi: 62 Lo: 38
— Benjamin Franklin, diplomat, scientist, inventor, writer, Founding Dad 75 Cents
Iola, KS