Sports: Fillies bump their way into 2nd place See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Monday, September 29, 2014
www.iolaregister.com
Saturday night’s variety show at the Bowlus include dancers from the Cooper Dance Studio, above, performing a scene from the musical “Newsies.” Susan Raines, executive director for the Bowlus, introduces Burt Bowlus, the oldest living Bowlus family member, above left. Tim and Becky Ahern, top right, sing a song from “Camelot.” The Iola Community Theatre cast of “Annie” sing “Hard Knock Life.” REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Alumni near, far flock to Bowlus 50th celebration By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
If conclusions can be drawn, it appears Iola has a disproportionate wealth of talent because of its Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Saturday night highlighted a fraction of that talent with performances of opera, dance, piano and violin, jazz and concert bands, gospel and classical music. From serene violin concer-
tos to an explosive interpretation of Lady Gaga, the entertainment ran the gamut. Opera’s famed tenor David Holloway, a native of Gas, was an especial delight when he shed all pretenses and led the audience in “The Hippopotamus Song,” a bawdy tune exalting the qualities of mud. The variety show featured the talent of area artists as the kickoff event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bowlus. Friday night, the Kansas
City Symphony performed. Both nights were sold out. Many of the artists began as students taking drama or music classes at the Bowlus. Some were in school or Iola Community Theatre plays. The superior performance venue also allows local dance companies to excel. In rededication ceremonies, local, county and state officials recognized the achievements of the Bowlus with official proclamations Saturday night.
Tony Leavitt, president of the USD 257 Board of Education, took the opportunity to express the board’s support of the Bowlus. “This Board of Education acting as Bowlus Trustees will continue to follow the intent of the will of Thomas H. Bowlus. We would like to leverage the opportunities this facility provides us. “In doing so, we will enhance the educational opportunities for the students of Iola, provide an introduction
to the arts for all students, and create the opportunities to those who have made a decision to take a lifelong path in the fine arts,” Leavitt said. Perhaps the most touching moment of the night was when Burt Bowlus, a now elderly nephew of benefactor Thomas H. Bowlus, recalled several visits to Iola as a youth and the impact his uncle’s legacy has made on him and his family. Several members of the Bowlus family attended Saturday night’s festivities.
Lawsuit could scramble Senate race TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A key contest in the fight for control of the Senate could turn on the outcome of an arcane legal argument Monday over whether Democrats must field a candidate against struggling Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. The case centers on whether a state election law requires Democrats to pick a new candidate after ex-nominee Chad Taylor withdrew earlier this month or whether the party can choose not to replace him. Some Democrats
pushed Taylor out, viewing independent candidate Greg Orman as the stronger rival for Roberts and hoping to avoid a split in the anti-Roberts vote that would help the GOP incumbent stay in office. Republicans need to gain six seats for a Senate majority, and the GOP has always counted on the 78-year-old Roberts winning in a state that has elected only Republicans to the chamber since 1932. Orman, a 45-year-old Olathe businessman, is running as a centrist — promis-
ing to caucus with whichever party has a majority and play kingmaker if neither does. Roberts has struggled after a bruising primary and questions about his residency in Kansas. Taylor had to petition the Kansas Supreme Court to force Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Roberts supporter, to remove the Democrat’s name from the Nov. 4 ballot. Minutes after the high court ruling, a disgruntled voter sued the Democratic See RACE | Page A4
OGALLALA AQUIFER
Acting: ‘It’s a hustle’ By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
As a youth, Neil Magnuson could picture his name in lights on a Broadway marquee. Now 37, Magnuson has a different yardstick for success. “Hitting it big means simply having the resources to do what I want,” he said. Magnuson was home over the weekend to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of
the Bowlus Fine Arts Center where he served as master of ceremonies for the Saturday night variety show. Since graduating from Iola High School in 1995, he has lived primarily in New York City where he works as an actor/bartender. “It’s a hustle,” he said of the theater world. “A professor once said if you can do something else, go do it,” he recalled of when he See MAGNUSON | Page A4
Farmers hesitate to conserve LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Farmers have been resistant to using a two-year-old law that allows them to form groups that can require deep reductions in irrigation from the diminishing and endangered Ogallala Aquifer. The hope was that if enough Western Kansas farmers pared their water use by at least 20 percent, the aquifer’s lifespan could be extended, the Lawrence Journal-World reports. But so far, only one group of 110 farmers, who own 99 square miles in Sheridan and Thomas counties near Colby, has
formed. “We had expectations of it catching on like wildfire,” said Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office. “In Topeka we would have liked to see more flurry over this. It’s going to be a slower process than we thought.” A second group of farmers also attempted to create a so-called LEMA, or Local Enhanced Management Area, in Wichita, Scott, Lane, Greeley and Wallace. In that area, the aquifer is so shallow that some farmers already don’t have enough water pressure left to irrigate.
Quote of the day
“Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.”
Vol. 116, No. 235
75 Cents
— Arthur Conan Doyle, physician
Farmers were told that if they agreed to a reduction the state would enforce action against those who overpump. But when a vote of farmers in those counties was held this spring, the water reduction proposal won a simple majority, but not the two-thirds majority that the farmers decided it needed to pass. Now farmers who want to conserve are planning more meetings, possibly redrawing boundaries of LEMAs and considering another vote, See OGALLALA | Page A4
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