The Iola Register, Oct. 29, 2022

Going strong at 90

By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register

At age 90, Merrill Hodg den’s schedule is somewhat flexible.

“I can meet with you Mon day, but 3 to 5 are my office hours,” he said that morning.

When our 2 o’clock inter view drifted past 3, Merrill said I could join him for his next appointment. We drove separately to his office. Inside were his longtime friends, Bob Jewell, David Ens minger, John Hillbrant and Steve Traw with others still to come. And yes, we were at McDonald’s.

Merrill served as Iola Fire Chief from 1980 to 1983. Since then, he’s continued to call Iola home, though his job as a safety inspector primarily for the nuclear power plant industry has taken him from coast to coast.

He retired at age 80.

“I was at a plant up in Ne braska and they threw me a big birthday party,” he said.

Halloween fun abounds

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Some spooky fun is in store for youngsters start ing Saturday with a number of activities for area young sters.

The Iola Public Library will host a Haunted Library Tour from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sat urday.

Children and families will gather in the library meeting room where there will be some simple games as they wait for their turn to go through the decorated library.

The path will take them through the sections of the library decorated with things like ghosts, a sea of black streamers, hanging balloon hands and fog. It will be a little spooky but not scary for ages 0-11.

Everyone gets candy as they finish and exit the front doors.

MEANWHILE, LaHarpe Health and Wellness is host ing its second annual Trunk or Treat from 5 to 7 p.m. Sat urday in front of LaHarpe City Hall.

Several folks will park their vehicles in front of City Hall, where youngsters can go from one to the other in a safe manner to get their treats.

THE FUN hits high gear Monday with the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce Trunk or Treat from 5:30 to 7 p.m. along Jackson Avenue on the courthouse square.

Trick-or-treaters, and the adults who will supply the candy, are invited to don their costumes for the occa sion.

HUMBOLDT’S G.A.L.S.FCE is teaming with the Humboldt Chamber of Com merce at 5:30 p.m. to host its annual Halloween Spook Pa rade.

Children in Halloween costumes from preschool to grade 5 are asked to gather at the corner of Seventh and Bridge streets.

The parade, led by the Humboldt Police and Fire Departments, will proceed to the south side of the city square where sacks of good ies will be distributed.

In case of inclement weather, treats will be hand ed out under the bandstand.

Physicians group talks about impact of ER change

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

It’s been four months since Allen County Regional Hos pital changed the way it pro vides emergency room ser vices, and members of a local physicians group that previ ously covered the ER are still adapting.

The Family Physicians, a lo cal family practice led by Drs. Timothy Spears and Frank Porter, provided ER coverage at the hospital from 2012 until July, when the Saint Luke’s Health System announced it would switch to Innova Emer gency Medical Association, a national group that specializ es in emergency care, particu larly at the rural level.

Saint Luke’s officials said the move was designed to at tract local patients by using board-certified physicians

who specialize in emergency medicine and critical care.

Before, Spears and three nurse practitioners had manned the ER. Spears had worked at the local ER for 25 years. He also has lost his ER

contract at Anderson Coun ty’s hospital in Garnett.

ER services were a major part of The Family Practice’s business model, and the loss has had a significant impact — financially, personally and

professionally.

Spears said he wanted to clear up any misconceptions the public may have about their departure. It’s only now, months later, that Spears feels comfortable discussing the

situation.

“This has really affected our practice, and a lot of our patients are upset. I want peo ple to understand what hap pened, and that it wasn’t a quality of care issue,” Spears said. “It’s been an adjustment. Any time there is change, there is uncertainty.”

THE HOSPITAL entered into a contract with Saint Luke’s in July 2020, just a few months into the pandemic. Under the arrangement, Saint Luke’s would take over man aging all hospital operations, including personnel.

It was a huge transition, during a time of upheaval caused by the COVID-19 virus.

Soon, the ER physicians started to hear rumors about plans to find new providers

From left, Bob Jewell, Merrill Hodgden, David Ensminger, John Hillbrant and Steve Traw conduct “office hours” at McDonald’s most afternoons from 3 to 5. REGISTER/SUSAN LYNN

Merrill Hodgden’s somewhat stern appearance belies his warm nature.See HODGDEN | Page A8

Dr. Tim Spears

From left, Stacy Kale, Ben Smith and Rebecca French.

As Artemis I launch nears, more Orions on horizon Court news

The Orion spacecraft could be on its first trip to the moon on the Ar temis I mission in less than a month, but teams at Kennedy Space Cen ter continue to prep the next capsules planned for human missions, the first of which could fly in just over 18 months.

Meanwhile Lockheed Martin, the capsule’s prime contractor for the first five Artemis flights won a new NASA con tract this month to build out another three space craft.

“This order includes spacecraft, mission planning and support, and takes us into the 2030s,” said Lisa Calla han, vice president and general manager for Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin.

“We’re on the eve of a historic launch kick ing off the Artemis era and this contract shows NASA is making longterm plans toward liv ing and working on the moon, while also having a forward focus on get ting humans to Mars.”

Artemis I is targeting its next launch attempt as early as Nov. 14. The flight will send the Space Launch System rocket topped with Orion from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-B on a weeks-long mission that will have it orbit the moon several times and fly farther than, and return to Earth faster than any previous hu man-rated spacecraft.

The extremes are meant to prove out the capsule’s safety for the planned Artemis II or bital flight with four hu mans on board as early as May 2024. This first mission will test out the heat shield on re-entry during which Orion will reach 24,500 mph and generate temperatures near 5,000 degrees.

Artemis III would fol low as early as 2025 that would ultimately send at least two humans, in cluding the first woman, to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972,

Public notices

NOTICE is hereby given that the 2022 November General Election Canvass will be held in the office of the Allen County Commis sion, Allen County Court house, 1 N. Washington, Iola, at 9:30 A.M. on Novem ber 15, 2022.

with the assist of a Hu man Landing System in the form of a lunar ver sion of SpaceX’s in-de velopment Starship that will rendezvous with Orion in orbit.

NASA’s plans are to fly at least one Artemis mission a year as it pur sues a continued human presence on the moon and prep for sending the first humans to Mars by 2040 under the latest NASA timeline.

The Artemis program was born out of the re mains of the canceled Constellation program from the 2000s that in cluded the Orion cap sule. The new program announced in 2012 was supposed to have seen its first launch by 2016, but has faced myriad delays and ballooning costs.

Originally project ed around $500 million per flight, costs are now expected to surpass

$4.1 billion per flight through the first four missions, according to NASA’s Office of the In spector General. That’s a combination of costs across the SLS, Orion and Exploration Ground Systems.

Lockheed Martin has been landing Ori on contracts in 3’s, and already flew a capsule in 2014 as part of a test Exploration Flight Test1, launching on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy from what was then Cape Canaveral Air Force Base for two orbits around the Earth and a splashdown land ing. Artemis I and II will fly the final two of the first three capsules.

In 2019, Lockheed Martin was awarded construction orders for the next three, the Ar temis III-V missions un der NASA’s Orion Pro duction and Operations Contract at a cost of $2.7

billion.

The new award an nounced Oct. 20 for Ar temis VI-VIII is valued at $1.99 billion, further ing the company’s stated goal to lower per launch costs from the initial three launches, which are estimated to be $1 billion per capsule. A lot of that future savings comes through planned reuse of components from mission to mis sion.

Lockheed Martin’s di rector of Orion produc tion Kelly DeFazio said in August that by the time Artemis V flies, the capsule could be reusing up to 5,000 parts. Plans for the Artemis VI flight call for the reuse of the pressure capsule from Artemis III as well as in terior elements includ ing flight computers, crew seats, switch pan els and other avionics.

“Lockheed Martin is committed to reduce the

Building near collapsed condo evacuated

MIAMI (AP) — Resi dents of a Miami Beach building on the same street where a condo minium collapse killed nearly 100 people were forced to evacuate on Thursday evening after officials determined the structure was unsafe and gave orders to leave.

Miami Beach spokes person Melissa Berthi er said around 4 p.m. Thursday that the city planned to post an un safe structure notice and order residents of the 14-story Port Royale building to vacate imme diately. Around 5 p.m., the condo board sent residents a mandato ry notice to vacate by 7 p.m., the Miami Herald reported.

Residents of the Port Royale said city of Mi ami Beach officials in formed them Wednesday that the building would need to be evacuated, but the notice to leave imme diately was not delivered until Thursday, WPLGTV reported.

A report from the building’s structural engineer prompted the evacuation notice of the 164-unit structure at 6969 Collins Avenue, which is in the process of under going a 50-year recertifi cation.

The site of the Cham plain Towers South con do building in Surfside, Florida, that collapsed in June 2021 and killed 98 people is also on Collins Avenue, about 1.3 miles

(2 kilometers) from the Port Royale.

The disaster at the 12-story oceanfront condo building in Surf side drew the largest non-hurricane emergen cy response in Florida history, including rescue crews from across the U.S. and as far away as Israel to help local teams search for victims.

Orion production con tract to deliver space craft 50% cheaper than we were from the early stages of the flight hard ware,” DeFazio said.

The company said in a press release that Ori on costs will fall another 30% for Artemis VI-VIII.

NASA has the option to order another six space craft through the exist ing contract.

The capsules for II and III are both at the Neil Armstrong Opera tions & Checkout Build ing at KSC. For Artemis II, the Orion capsule along with the service module provided by the European Space Agency, were recently powered on for the first time as teams ensure electrical and mechanical systems perform as designed.

The Artemis III cap sule is at the same site getting interior and exterior structures in stalled while the heat shield arrived on Oct. 18 from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Waterton, Col orado flying in on NA SA’s Super Guppy air craft. The Artemis III service module remains in Bremen, Germany as the ESA and contractor Airbus prep it for its trip to Florida.

Also at KSC are the three launch abort sys tem motors for the Arte mis II flight.

“Our team is ready for Orion’s first flight atop the Space Launch Sys tem rocket on Artemis I and working in par allel to support future Artemis missions to the moon,” said NASA Orion program man ager Howard Hu. “We are making significant progress on multiple Orion spacecraft in vari ous stages of production and assembly for Arte mis II, III and IV.”

Artemis IV capsule manufacturing is under way at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans with final welding expected to oc cur before the end of the year, and expected KSC arrival in early 2023.

“That’s going to put us exactly where we need to be,” said DeFazio. “Here at Kennedy Space Center with three space craft in flow at once.”

IOLA MUNICIPAL COURT

Judge Patti Boyd

Convicted as follows: Dallin X. Cox, Els more, no driver’s li cense, 41/30, $281

Jacob L. Keene, Iola, unlawfully hosting mi nors consuming alco hol, $1,275

Christopher L. Thorn, Chanute, parking viola tion, $125

Diversions: Alex R. Farmer, Hum boldt, reckless driving, $515

Pelosi’s husband attacked

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speak er Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was “violently assault ed” by an assailant who broke into their San Francisco home early Friday, and he is now in the hospi tal and expected to make a full recovery, her spokesman said.

Pelosi was not in the residence at the time. Spokesman Drew Hammill said the assailant is in cus tody and the motiva tion for the attack is under investigation.

“The Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical profession als involved, and re quest privacy at this time,” Hammill said in a statement.

Pelosi just re turned to Washing ton this week from a security conference in Europe.

While the cir cumstances of the attack are unclear, the incident raises additional questions about the safety of members of Con gress and their fam ilies as threats to lawmakers are at an all-time high almost two years after the violent Capitol in surrection.

Iola,

establishing a minimum house size

A complete copy of this ordinance is available at City Hall, 2 W Jackson, Iola, Kan sas or may be viewed on the City’s website at www.cityo fiola.com.

summary

been certified by Robert E.

Shannon Patterson, ALLEN COUNTY CLERK/ ELECTION

Taking shelter from from Hurricane Ian, NASA’s Artemis I is rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building Sept. 27 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. ORLANDO SENTINEL/JOE BURBANK/TNS

After abortion vote, Kansas lawmakers’ power back on ballot

By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press

Kan. (AP)

Kansas voters are being asked to reduce the authority of the gov ernor and other state officials and give legis lators a bigger say in how the state regulates businesses, protects the environment and pre serves residents’ health.

A proposed amend ment to the Kansas Con stitution on the Nov. 8 ballot would make it easier for the Republi can-controlled Legisla ture to overturn regu lations written by state agencies and boards — those under the control of the governor but also others in the executive branch of state govern ment. At issue are rules as varied as which shots are required for chil dren attending school and how often hotels must clean guest rooms.

Business groups and advocates of smaller government view the measure as reining in unelected bureaucrats. But in the fall cam paign’s final weeks, abortion rights advo cates have begun warn ing that it is another at tempted power grab by far-right legislators.

The November vote comes three months after voters over whelmingly rejected a proposed amendment to eliminate state con stitutional protections for abortion and give lawmakers authority to more tightly regulate or ban the procedure. Those who oppose the regulation amendment have repurposed the “vote no” yard signs from the abortion vote for their fall campaign.

“I’m saying it loud and clear: We need you to vote no on that amend ment,” Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said after casting an early ballot Tuesday. “It clearly is a violation of the sep aration of powers and would create chaos all across the state.”

Republican leaders hold veto-proof ma jorities in the House and Senate but have not always been able to override Kelly’s vetoes. Republicans pushed for the constitutional change after months of battling her over the coronavirus pandemic.

“When you are in a su permajority in the Leg islature, but you do not control the apparatus

Powerball rises to $825 million

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A massive lot tery jackpot got a little bigger Friday as the top Powerball prize climbed to an estimated $825 mil lion ahead of Saturday night’s drawing.

The Powerball jackpot ranks as the fifth-largest in U.S. history, though it’s good to keep in mind that it has grown so large because no one has hit all six numbers since Aug. 3. That’s 36 consec utive draws without a jackpot winner.

Why the extended winless streak? Because the odds of winning the jackpot are an abysmal one in 292.2 million. The long odds are designed to limit jackpot win ners, which in turn al lows the grand prize to grow so large.

of administrative regu lation, executive orders and administrative ac tions are going to be one of the most potent ways the executive can car ry out their policies,” said David Adkins, CEO of the Council of State Governments and a former Kansas state senator, who along with his group is not taking a position on the mea sure. “And so this is a pushback by the Legis lature.”

The Legislature has a joint committee that reviews regulations, but if lawmakers object to one, their most effective tactic is to raise a stink and push the agency to back off. They also can pass a bill overturning the rule, but the gover

nor can veto it.

“We can tell them that we don’t like what they’re doing,” said state Rep. Barbara Wasinger, a Republican from western Kansas and the joint commit tee’s vice chair. “And they can just look at you and say, ‘Don’t care.’”

November’s proposed amendment would al low the Legislature to nullify agency rules or parts of rules with a simple majority vote in both chambers, with no option for the governor to veto the move.

Kelly and fellow Dem ocrats have been the most vocal critics. State Treasurer Lynn Rogers said Wednesday that the measure would strip agencies of their inde

pendence from lawmak ers.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Re publican seeking to un seat Kelly in the Novem ber election, backs the measure even though it would apply to his office. Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s spokesperson said Thursday that he’s supporting it, because “it makes the most sense” for lawmakers to have that power over policy. Another state wide elected Republi can, Insurance Commis sioner Vicki Schmidt, hasn’t taken a public position.

While the measure would apply to a host of boards and commis sions, it’s not clear how it would effect the elect ed State Board of Edu cation, whose 10 elect ed members oversee the K-12 public school system. The Kansas Su preme Court decades ago ruled that the board can set policy on its own, without legislators’ per mission, yet lawmakers still enact education pol icy regularly. The board has not taken a position on the proposed amend ment.

Kansas law used to give the Legislature the power to revoke or re write agencies’ rules, but in 1984, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the practice vio lated the state consti

tution’s separation of powers.

In most states, legis lators review agencies’ regulations, but their power to block or repeal them varies widely. Ar kansas, Connecticut, Idaho, New Jersey and Nevada have provisions in their state constitu tions to allow the Legis lature to invalidate reg ulations.

In Colorado, agency rules are temporary un less lawmakers vote to extend them. In Illinois and Wisconsin, joint legislative committees can block rules, though in Wisconsin, enforcing the decisions can re quire court rulings.

In Kansas, clashes between legislators and agencies sometimes fo cus on fears that regu lators are too eager to extend their reach.

Early in 2020, lawmak ers expressed concern about an existing state health rule requiring beauty shops, nail sa lons and skin-care pro viders to have separate sinks for hand-washing and services for clients.

And a longstanding Kansas law exempting hair braiders from state regulation resulted from anger over a state board telling two wom en known as the Braid en Maidens that they couldn’t work the Kan sas City-area Renais sance Festival without a

license.

Supporters of the proposed amendment say lawmakers probably would use the new pow er sparingly, when agen cies clearly do some thing the Legislature didn’t intend. Business groups backing it say they don’t have particu lar regulations in mind.

But Democrats and other critics are uneasy, saying GOP lawmakers and business groups could target rules for controlling air and wa ter pollution or worker safety regulations.

And, with support from vaccine opponents, a few Republicans this year sought to strip the state health department of the power to revise its regulations to re quire new vaccines for children enrolling in school or day care. The proposed constitution al amendment would save them the trouble of passing such a law and getting past a gov ernor’s veto: They could instead work to nullify any additions to the de partment’s list of shots.

“It’s open season on the administration’s ability to run the gov ernment,” said Joan Wagnon, a former state revenue secretary and Kansas Democratic Party chair who helped form a new anti-amend ment group, Keep Kan sas Free.

A proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution on the Nov. 8 ballot would make it easier for the Re publican-controlled Legislature to overturn regula tions written by state agencies and boards under the control of the governor and others in the executive branch of state government. FILE PHOTO

‘Media literacy’ advocates push to create savvier news consumers

By JAMES RAINEY Los Angeles Times

The Instagram head line was pithy and alarming: “Head of Pfizer Research: Covid Vaccine is Female Ster ilization.” And the re port, from a murky source, could have had real-world consequenc es, coming in 2020, just as the U.S. rolled out the first vaccines to combat the coronavirus pan demic.

made the story a perfect tool for an educa tor trying to teach high school students how to separate fact from fic tion — a survival skill in a culture drowning in a tsunami of information.

Jamie Gregory told the 12th graders in her seventh-period journal ism class to examine the article. But, using lessons from a nonprofit called the News Literacy Project, they understood the best way to get to the truth was not to read deeply in the suspect story, but to check it by shifting away to other sources.

The teenagers soon found stories and aca demic studies debunk ing the sterilization claim. A Reuters story made clear that the for mer Pfizer scientist had drifted far from the sci entific mainstream on COVID-19. Research nev er corroborated rumors that the vaccine caused impotence in men or pla centa failure in women.

“They really had to do the work to figure it out for themselves,” said Gregory, a librarian and journalism teacher at Christ Church Epis copal School in Green ville, South Carolina. “It felt important that they had developed this skill. And it does make me feel hopeful going forward.”

GREGORY is one of a growing number of teachers, librarians, counselors and oth er educators who are teaching students me dia literacy — skills like discerning advertising from unpaid content, recognizing the differ ence between news and commentary and sepa rating unbiased sourc es from those with ties to industry or political groups.

“Media literacy is lit eracy in the 21st centu ry,” said Erin McNeill, founder and president of the nearly decade-old advocacy group Media Literacy Now. “There is this fire hose of infor mation coming at young people, and they have to know how to cope with it.”

Fifteen states now encourage some form of media literacy edu cation, compared with three in 2011, according to Media Literacy Now. Illinois last year became the first state to mandate such instruction, requir ing all high schoolers to

take a unit (still to be de fined) on issues like “the purpose of media mes sages and how they are constructed.”

California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin New som in 2018 directed the Department of Educa tion to create an online list of media literacy resources. Last month, state officials approved adding media literacy to the list of subjects eligi ble for funds for teacher training and instruc tional material.

But while the media literacy movement is growing, so is debate about exactly what the term means.

By its broadest defi nition, the concept sug gests that people who consume media (Amer ican 10- to 14-year-olds spend nearly eight hours a day consuming content on phones, com puters and televisions) should be better in formed about what they take in. That can mean learning about ad place ment in movies, sussing out the political roots of television shows and learning who’s behind a TikTok video.

“There are overt and hidden messages throughout media,” said Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, executive director of the National Assn. for Me dia Literacy Education. “They are in sports, in entertainment, in sit coms on TV, on film, not just the traditional news.”

In a class she teaches at Brooklyn College in New York, one focus for Lipkin is to get students to understand that what they see on their screens can have as much, or more, impact on their worldview as NPR or some other traditional news source.

“I can’t not talk about ‘black-ish’ in my class,” said Lipkin. “That is a very good example of a sitcom that is bringing deep and intense mes saging about race into our living rooms.”

Among the leading or ganizations in the field is the News Literacy Project, founded in 2008 by Alan Miller, a long time Los Angeles Times reporter whose career included a Pulitzer Prize-winning investiga tion into the dangers of

a military attack jet.

In the 14 years since it started, initially to help young people better cope with the information onslaught, the organi zation has shifted its fo cus to a menu of online video lessons, delivered under the brand name “Checkology.”

Miller said his belief in the need for the teach ing has only grown in the last several years, as broad segments of the American populace have been consumed by election denialism, glob al warming skepticism, COVID-19 conspiracy theories and what for mer President Donald Trump‘s aide Kellyanne Conway once notorious ly defended as “alterna tive facts.”

“We’ve lost any sense of a common narrative, of a shared reality,” Miller said. “We not only can’t agree on what the facts are, we can’t even agree on what a fact is.”

That threatens any chance of a well-in formed electorate, said Miller.

STUDIES have shown that well-meaning indi viduals across the po litical spectrum simply have trouble separating fact from fiction.

In what they billed as “the largest investiga tion of its kind,” Stan ford researchers last year assessed how 3,446 high school students interacted with infor mation on the internet. Two-thirds couldn’t dis tinguish news from ads on a popular website’s homepage. Virtually all of the students were hoodwinked by a web site that claimed to offer unbiased facts about cli mate science that were actually talking points from the fossil fuel in dustry.

Fortunately, the Stan ford group had other research that suggested the learning chasm can be bridged. Exposing high school students to the tools used by pro fessional fact checkers significantly improved their “ability to judge the credibility of digital content,” the research ers found.

One of the key skills, the study found, was what academics call “lat eral reading” — jump

ing away from a suspect article and opening new web tabs to find out more about the credibil ity of whoever produced the report. Groups like the News Literacy Proj ect are focused on bring ing that and other on line verification skills to middle school and high school students.

Among students’ fa vorite fact-checking tools: using Google and other sites to perform “reverse image” search es that can verify the true source of provoca tive photos that pop up every day on Instagram and TikTok.

At Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, one of 20 L.A. Unified schools that have got ten additional resources through the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools’ network, teacher Aldo Parral recently walked his students through a News Literacy Project lesson on forms of bias, sometimes fueled by a journalist’s race, back ground or ideology.

“They let you know what their opinion is, in stead of telling you the whole story, and they might not even know they are doing it,” said Adrian Castillo, a senior who plans to go into the Army after graduation. Castillo said he appre ciated the news literacy sessions for opening his eyes to all the ways in formation can be slant ed.

Parral and other teachers said the News Literacy Project’s les sons focus on how to gather and process ma terial without an obvi ous tilt to one political party or ideology.

The lessons poke holes in claims that the 2020 presidential elec tion was fraudulent, and they support the scien tific consensus that cli mate change is driven by human activity. But they also include findings likely to be more pleas ing to conservatives.

One recent item in the group’s emailed news letter for educators, for example, debunked an online list of books pur portedly banned by the state of Florida. (While some school districts had removed books, the state had taken no de cisive action.) Another

showed how a photo graph of Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz had been doctored to make it ap pear that Oz was kiss ing Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“You have to ques tion things and not just accept them on face value,” said Mel anie Lundquist, an El Segundo-based philan thropist who, along with her husband, has committed $10 million to support a major ex pansion of the News Literacy Project’s ef forts. “A society where no one questions things is not going to be a very strong society.”

“The misinforma tion crisis that faces our country feels like a very real threat,” added Lundquist, whose fami ly has also pledged $85 million to support 20 of the neediest public schools in Los Angeles.

Miller said the News Literacy Project wants to make a strong push to reach more adults because of the upcom ing midterm election and the looming contest for the White House in 2024.

ONE initiative the organization launched in October is “Ru morGuard.” The name is a double entendre — its online reports intend to knock down false news reports, while also urging citi zens to become part of a guard of informed citizens who tell their neighbors not to spread bad information.

“With RumorGuard, we are building a col lective effort to stop the spread of harmful content,” said Peter Ad ams, the News Literacy Project’s senior vice president of research and design.

The News Literacy Project reports that its lessons and platforms have reached more than 370,000 students nation ally with its Checkolo gy program since 2016. The bulk are in big cit ies such as New York and Chicago, but teach ers like Greenville’s Gregory have brought the learning to more conservative states, in cluding South Carolina, Alabama and Texas.

The last time the News Literacy Project surveyed its students, it found that those who had taken its Checkolo gy classes made marked improvements in skills such as identifying on line postings that did not include credible in formation. The survey of more than 10,000 stu dents found that young

people’s overall skepti cism was, if anything, too well developed. Only one-quarter of those who had taken ba sic Checkology courses correctly stated that not all information is designed to mislead.

A raft of other schools, universities and nonprofits have also waded into the work of teaching peo ple to discern and dis arm misinformation.

At Stony Brook Uni versity in New York, where Howard Schnei der, the former editor in chief of Long Island Newsday, started a journalism program in 2005, more than 11,000 students, mostly non journalists, have been through a media litera cy class.

At Webster Univer sity in St. Louis, Julie Smith, a pioneer in the field, tells teachers that prohibitions and omi nous warnings about online threats won’t reach young people raised as digital na tives. Instructors can only gain credibility with humor and by in voking real-world ex amples about informa tion gone wrong, she says.

“Because nobody likes to be fooled,” Smith said. “But we now live in a polariza tion-industrial com plex, where no one ever, ever, ever likes to admit they are wrong.”

“We see this from peo ple in public life, from celebrities, from insti tutions,” said Smith.

“So it’s no surprise we see it in students too. We need to model hon esty and a willingness to acknowledge what we don’t know.”

Over the last decade, Lipkin, the Brooklyn teacher and activist, has seen her media lit eracy umbrella group grow from fewer than 300 members to 7,000, most of them educa tors, from kindergarten through college.

The media educa tors intend to create a new generation, more mindful about what it consumes and projects via media. One young exemplar could be Mirudulaa Suginathan Yamini.

After completing many of the News Lit eracy Project’s courses, the 10th grader from Quincy, Massachusetts, says she feels a new re sponsibility.

“Our society has a value system, and you don’t want to degrade it by spreading misin formation,” she said. “I want to be part of a society that gets things right.”

Susan Lynn, editor/publisher Tim Stauffer, managing editor

Roosevelt High School government teacher Aldo Parral uses the News Literacy Project’s materials to teach his students how to read the news and sniff out what’s not true in Los Angeles. LOS ANGELES TIMES/GENAR MOLINA/TNS

Humboldt High alumni gather for reunion

HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt High School Alumni Biennial Re union was held Oct. 7-8 in the Humboldt Com munity Fieldhouse.

The reunion includ ed graduates who have been out of HHS for 40 years or more, ranging from the years of 1943 through 1982.

There were 440 at tending the Friday night and/or Saturday activ ities. Classmates from 20 states and Canada were “Welcomed Back to Humboldt” to catch up with old friends and classmates.

Day activities in cluded touring the high school and facilities and bus tours of Humboldt to see all the changes in their hometown.

Attending either day’s activities by class were:

1943 – Neil Hartwig, Humboldt, and guests Neil Jr. and Gail Hartwig

1946 — Darlene (Demer itt) Houk, Bartlesville, Okla., and guests Marta Houk and Darcie Shelton

1950 – Clyde Roush, Cha nute

1951 – Joan (Elliott) Sno dgrass; Bruce Snodgrass, Lawrence

1952 – Richard Barnett, Gravois Mills, Mo.; Joan (Fu gitt) Colvin, Chanute; Mary (Huffmaster) Hull, Hum boldt; Shirley (Reeder) King, Wichita, and guest Susan Ring

1953 – Donna (Ostrand er) Lower-Nord, Iola; Sylvia (Wulf) Boghardt, Chanute; Paul Zirjacks, Iola, and guest Frances Scearce

1954 – Marynard and Jeanice Cress, Humboldt; Hazel (Elliott) Robb, Hum boldt; Donald Snart, Tuttle, Okla., and guests Cameron and Laura Dobie

1955 – Betty (Bartlett) Fehr, Chanute; Joyce (Ed wards) Debrick, Olathe; Jean (Elliott) Lindsey, Humboldt; Patricia (Hilton) Friederich, Butler, Mo.; Wilma (Huff master) Beumeier, Stockton, Calif.; Dwight and Caroline Jackson, Lawrence; Charles and Mary Magill, Vinton, Iowa; Mary Frances (Tem ming) White, Humboldt; Ro land and Linda Thompson, Iola

1956 — Ellen (McVey) Hess, Lawrence; Edna (Men ke) and Jim Morris, Chanute; Jim Morelan, Campbell, Ca lif., and guest Alex Morelan; Duane and Wanda Pollman, Olathe; Lorel Watts, Nevada, Mo.; Roberta (Womack) and Bill Campbell and Bill, Yates Center; Dolores “Dodie” (Wulf) and Don Copley, Humboldt

1957 – Robert Hess, Law rence

1958 – Larry and Isabel Barlow and Isabel, Las Cru ces, N.M.; Courtney Moles, Clermont, Fla.; Mary Jo (Mo relan) Vaughan, Chanute;

Phil Wolford, Humboldt

1959 — Joyce (Baker) Weeks, Iola; Todd Cannon, Union Pier, MI and guests Joseph and Lucy Brucel and Leslie Cannon; Elaine (De bler) Wolford, Humboldt

1960 — Keith and Glo ria Beeman, Humboldt; Jan (Blattner) Campbell, Girard; Shirley (Leonard) and Ron Murcko, Humboldt; John and Gloria Ramirez, Inde pendence, Mo.; Max and Carol Rickerson, Chanute; Vaughn and Margaret Rine hart, Humboldt; John and Judy Snavely, Iola; Floyd and Sharlyn Thompson, La Harpe; Bob Wulf, Humboldt

1961 – Barry Adams, Cha nute; Dale Daniels, Hum boldt; DeAnna (DeMeritt) Gerber, Houston, Texas; Patsy (Goble) Gardner, Iola; Dan and Darlene Harwood, Owasso, Okla.; Bob Johnson, Humboldt; James McCoy, Belton, Mo.; Jerry Midden dorf, Humboldt; Beverly (Mintz) Johnson, Humboldt; Larry Nessel, Castle Rock, Colo.; Janice (Pollman) and Charles McCullough, Hum boldt; Jim and Nancy Red field, Lake St Louis, Mo.; Les Soloman, Williamsburg, Va. 1962 – Charles Barnett, Gardner, : Delores (Beeman) Mosley, Humboldt; Barbara (Chard) King, Great Bend, and guest Wendy Ernst; Judy (Elliott) Middendorf, Humboldt; Paul Finney, Humboldt; Mary (Foulke) McCullough, Humboldt; Lo ren and Janet Korte, Hum boldt; Carolyn (Rutledge) and Mel North, Humboldt; Marylyn (Rutledge) and Jack Ellis, Humboldt; Donna (Wil liams) Mayfield, Lawrence 1963 – Garry Daniels, Humboldt; Don Freeberg, Gardner; Connie (Leonard) Griffith, Chanute; James Mc Cullough, Humboldt; Suzan na (Shurtz) Adams, Chanute 1964 — Katherine (Al cox) Scott, Coffeyville, and guests Kaysha Scott and Maxine Scott; Margaret (Blattner) and Gary Cinotto, Olathe; Christina (Griffith) Tilman, Humboldt; Robert Jones, Lenexa; Judy (Magill) Daniels, Humboldt; Vickie (McCoy) McCracken, Paola, and guest Joyce Coy; Sue (Moore) and Dave Scantlin, Iola; Nelda (Pollman) and Jerry Moore, Humboldt; J.R. and Susy Searcy, Hanford, Calif..

1965 — Floyd Glen Boman of Bristow, Okla.; Virginia (Debler) and Don Hurt, Chanute; Paul Hotten stein, Chanute; Janis (Ingels) Stockebrand, Savonburg; Doug Leonard, Humboldt; Jolene (Lopeman) Lamons, Savonburg; Edward McCoy, Olathe; Sandra (Mintz) and Tom Hildinger, Humboldt; Peggy (Rinehart) Murrell, Neodesha; Tom Rutledge, Humboldt; James Woods, Humboldt 1966 — Linda (Barlow) Ames, Chanute; Wayne Bar nett, Iola; Alan Churchill,

Cambridge Ontario Cana da; Larry and Carol Craw ford, Iola; Edward Harner, Humboldt; Terry (Johnson) Broyles, Humboldt; Darrell Krone, Humboldt; Don ald and Mary Anne Lower, Humboldt; Linda (McCall) Leonard, Humboldt; James and Pamela Mueller, Mo ran; Pamela (Nessel) Bagley, Wichita; Lynn and Patrie Oliphant, Chanute; Ginger (Stange) Jensen, Wellington, Colo.; Bonnie (Stowe) and Dotson Bradbury, Pomona; Judy (Trammell) Henderson, Colony 1967 – David Broyles, Humboldt; LoEtta (Doty) and Paulo Bowyer, El Do rado Springs, Mo.; Phyllis (Ladd) and David Loomis, Iola; Phyllis (Mendoza) Pe rez, Humboldt; Karen (Mill er) King, Humboldt; Wayne Orth, Humboldt; Judy (Os trander) Rutledge, Hum boldt; DeAnna (Rutledge) Woods, Humboldt; Ron Soloman, Yates Center and guest Brenda Ybarra; Danny Stanley, Humboldt; Barba ra (Tebben) Munoz, Wichi ta1968 — Debby (Johnson) Daniels, Humboldt; Bill Klotzbach, Humboldt; Nan cy (Leonard) Weilert, Hum boldt; Lana (Lombard) Cle ments, Humboldt; Suzanna (McCall) Stanley, Humboldt; Linda (Morrison) and Steve Troxel, Iola; Shirley (Sny der) Ridge,Mapleton; Joyce (Thummel) Quick, Bel Aire, and guest Hilarie Mastan drea; Marcia (Tinkler) Klotz bach, Humboldt; John and Christy VanNice, Lenexa; Da vid Weilert, Humboldt; Allen Wilhite, Humboldt; Tim and Rosann Wood, Lenexa; Tom and Joan Wood, Winfield, 1969 – Larry Bartlett, Humboldt; Bob Clements, Humboldt; Pat (Dietrich) Wilhite, Humboldt; Everett Goble, Iola; Alan Hauser, Humboldt; Lowell John son, Merriam Woods, Mo.; Marcelle (Larson) Miller, Lolo, Mont.; Larry Ross, Moran; Craig and Sussie Sharp, Humboldt; Dennis Sherwood, Humboldt; Beth (Shurtz) Gilham, Chanute; Mary (Tylicki) Heath, Salina; Roger Williams, Shawnee, 1970 — Chris Bauer, Hum boldt; Carol (Cress) Bauer, Humboldt; Jerry and Donna Croisant, Elsmore; Marlene (Doty) Penn, Broken Arrow, Okla.; Beverly (Johnson) Wagner, Chanute; Kenny Miller, Humboldt; Randy Stanley, Humboldt; Wayne Yockey, Kansas City, Mo. 1971 – Roberta (Barton) Sanchez, Olathe; Helen (Boman) Roberts, Stark; Pau la (Brinkman) Rudiger, North Newton; Betty (Broyles) Bartlett, Humboldt; Chris and Terry Butts, Olathe; Randall and Sue Cartwright, Jayess, Miss.; Bethenia (Dick ey) Heiman, Scranton; Rick Henderson, Leawood; Philip and Gina Honeycutt, Iola; Liz Hottenstein, Humboldt and guest Faye Yockey; Rick

Irwin, Kearney, Mo.; Nancy (Johnson) Hegwald, Hum boldt; Mila (Lambright) and David Baker, Smyrna, Tenn; Lonnie Larson, Iola; Brenda (Massey) Hobbs, Humboldt; Susan (McIntyre) Scofield, Topeka; Max Michael, Iola; Bruce Mueller, Humboldt; Cindy (Purdom) and Bruce Dick, Thayer; David Sanchez, Olathe; Jean and Denice Squire, Westfield, Ind.; Ken dall Wood, Woodland Park, Colo.; Dick Works, Hum boldt; Ted and Karen Zuzzio, Baldwin City, 1972 — Marila Barnett, Chanute; Robert D. Boyd II, Chanute; Otis and Ruby Crawford, Humboldt; Loren Tim Elleman, Benedict; Mary (Harner) Mueller, Humboldt; J.L. Hegwald, Humboldt; Jim Jarred, Humboldt; Bel va Klingensmith, Chan ute; Eugene Lee, Midwest City, Okla.: Larry Mendoza, Humboldt; Craig Mintz, Humboldt; Mary (Morales) Tinsley, Fort Scott; Roger Morrison, Leawood, and guest Sandy Ellis; Tom and Diana Oliphant, Erie; Joyce (Pool) and Mike Allen, Cha nute; Patty (Rinehart) Millar, Chanute; Alex and Loretta Sanchez, Humboldt; Carla (Stanley) and Ken Hunt, Iola; Jill (Sterling) Beck, Sioux City, Iowa; Chuck Tilman, Ot tawa

1973 – Mai (Anderson) Davis, Hoffman Estates, IL and guest Wayne Anderson; Roy Baker, Richmond; Vir ginia (Ballenger) and Gary Coltrane, LaHarpe; Stephen Klotzbach, Abilene; Karen (Krout) Clounch, Humboldt; Cindy (Lassman) Pennie, Stillwater, Okla.; Nancy (Mill er) Overacker, Shawnee; Mark Pasley, El Dorado; Lee and Lisa Stroh, Mountain Home, Ark.; Karen (Thomp son) Sanchez, Santee, CA; Lorie (Wiles) Jarred, Hum boldt

1974 – Karen (Becannon) Mendoza, Humboldt; David Clements, Comanche, IA; Ann (Colvin) Finley, Chanute; Dan Cress, Oak Creek, WI; Nan (Davis) Kaufman, Hum boldt; Roxanna (Heider) Lee, Midwest City, Okla.; Philip Jarred, Chanute; Dan Julich, Humboldt; Alan Ladd, Atlan tic, IA; Ray and Cindy Ladd, Effingham; Tracey (Lam bright) and Larry Horton, Chanute; Jeanne Lassman, Quinter; Terry Lower, Iola; Patricia Michael, Humboldt; Tony Sanchez, Humboldt; Loretta (Thompson) Julich, Humboldt; Carolyn (Thum mel) Heenan, Chanute; Jeff Tilman, Humboldt

1975 — Joi (Anderson) and Craig Harris, Chan ute; Sue (Boman) Coultas, Iola; Doug Coltrane, Hum boldt; Mike Dillon, Hum boldt; Gloria (Giefer) Tilman, Humboldt; Marilyn (Ow ens) Bumstead, Humboldt; Debra (Sherwood) Torres, Lowell, AR; Cheryl (South) Coltrane, Humboldt; Julie (Tinkler) Goldberg, Wichita;

Cheryl (Tucker) Miller, Hum boldt; Cathy (Ysusi) and J.D. Baughn Humboldt

1976 – Charles Balleng er, Edmond, Okla.; Bill Bar ton,Humboldt; Sandra (Myer) Mintz, Humboldt

1977 – Lauren Baeten, To peka; Juanita Barton, Girard; Dale Boman, Iola; Stepha nie (Brock) Larson, Iola; Lori (Clements) Woods, Hum boldt; Roy Culbertson, Iola and guest Laura Roberts; Margy Dillon, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Cindy (Dooley) and John Scovill, Humboldt; Brian and Vikki Hegwald, Humboldt; James and Sari Hunt, Iola; Becky (Johnson) Stanley, Humboldt; Janice Klotzbach, Humboldt; Pat ti (McCormick) Whitcomb, Humboldt; Lydia (Mendoza) and John Baker, Iola; Curt Mueller, Humboldt; Kelly Nordt, Chanute; Lisa (Perez) Perez-Miller and Mike Miller, Pratt, and guest Joan Perez; Jean Ross, Humboldt; Paula (Stoll) Calvert, Winchester, Ky.; Gail (Clements) Tucker, Comanche, Iowa; Robert VanNice, Iola; Karen (Wei lert) Jarred, Chanute; Sharon (Weilert) Barton, Humboldt; Joe and Laura Weiner, Hum boldt; Kevin Wood, Kansas City, Mo.; John Works, Hum boldt

1978 – Michael Bailey, Olathe; Bill Griffith, Kansas City, Mo.; Tim Heenan, Cha nute; John Lassman, Law rence; Sally (Lassman) and Scott Manbeck, Humboldt; Darla (Laver) Sanchez, Hum boldt; April Moles, Houston, Texas; Connie (Stanley) Ro urk, Iola; Sheryl (Wrestler) Cassity, Marietta, Ga.

1979 — Gracie (Coro nado) and Rusty Newman, Humboldt; Donald Hauser, Humboldt; Joe Lee, How ard; Keith Nickell, Chanute; Christy Nordt, Chanute; Jes se VanNice, Iola; Tim Weilert, Chanute; Jerry Whitworth, Santa Monica, Calif.

1980 – Alisha (Brock) Mueller, Humboldt; Cole Herder, Humboldt; Roy Lam bright, Olathe, and guest Susan Hicks; Roger and Peg gy Lester, Mt. Vernon, Mo.; Denise Lott, Wichita; Lisa (Mueller) Grayson, Shawnee;

Karen (Ornelas) Riggs, Chel sea, OK; Sharon (Ornelas) Bauer, Humboldt; Patricia (Roberts) Mix, Troy, Mo.; Da vis Wrestler, Humboldt 1981 Marilyn (Barton) Bai ley, Olathe; Phillip Coronado, Humboldt; Robert and Mari lyn Dooley, Humboldt; Dea na (Elder) and Calvin Mor row, Humboldt; Bruce and Nina Ladd, Shawnee; LuAnn (Lee) Hauser, Humboldt; Te resa (Murcko) Nickell, Cha nute; Lutrecia (Reaves) and William Nading, Erie; Kim (Robb) and Daymon DeVad er, Holton; Micheal and Pam Setter, Humboldt; Vickie (Stanley) Weilert, Chanute; Rita (Vincent) Sanchez, Cha nute 1982 — Yvette (Boyd) and Bryant Tallant, Iola; Sheila (Cheney) VanNice, Iola; Cheryl (Clay) Ander son, Humboldt; Loretta (Ellison) Ozbun, Rose Hill; Don and Tammy Emerson, Granbury, Texas; Allen and Marsha Gean, Humboldt; Rhonda (Griffith) McMil lan, Chanute; Lisa (Korte) Wrestler, Humboldt; Brenda (Lee) Pond, Cape Fair, Mo., and guest Karen Allen; Jef fery Marquez, Humboldt; Kim (Murphy) Voth, Wichita; Jeanie (Nelson) Newman, Humboldt; Melinda (Setter) Herder, Humboldt; Carol (South) Wagner, Indepen dence, Mo., and guest Perry Allen; Tom and Melissa Tin kler, Humboldt; Michael and Lisa Weiner, Polk City, Fla.

Special Guests of the HHS Alumni Association: 2021 HHS Alumni Schol arship recipient: Thane Meadows and parents Terry and Shelly Meadows, Hum boldt, and guest Susana Black.

2022 HHS Alumni Schol arship Recipient: Abby Rine hart and parents Dean and Samantha Rinehart, Hum boldt

Humboldt USD 258 Su perintendent of Schools Dr. Amber Wheeler

The next HHS Biennial Reunion will be Oct. 11-12, 2024, which will include classes from the beginning of Humboldt High Schoo through 1984.

Jerry Lee Lewis dies

By HILLEL ITALIE The Associated Press

Jerry Lee Lewis, the untamable rock ‘n’ roll pioneer whose outra geous talent, energy and ego collided on such definitive records as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lot ta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and sustained a career otherwise upended by personal scandal, died Friday morning at 87.

The last survivor of a generation of

groundbreaking per formers that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Rich ard, Lewis died at home in Memphis, Tennessee, representa tive Zach Farnum said in a release.

Of all the rock reb els to emerge in the 1950s, few captured the new genre’s attraction and danger as unfor gettably as the Louisi ana-born piano player who called himself “The Killer.”

You can mess with Putin’s mind games by voting on Nov. 8

Russian President Vladi mir Putin is playing mind games with us.

On Thursday afternoon, Putin blamed “Western elites” for giving Ukraine unwarranted support in their valiant eight-month resistance to his attempted takeover.

Our values of fighting for democracy are “pretty strange,” he said.

This is from an individ ual who has ordered the slaughter of tens of thou sands of Ukrainians.

Then Putin goes off the deep end, saying his ver sion of elitism does not include Christians, with whom he said he feels a special kinship. That’s downright creepy.

AS HE’S DONE on the eve of every major U.S. election in the last 10 years, Putin is skillfully working to divide the U.S. populace by making people feel less than and aggrieved.

Putin is sewing these seeds of discontent be cause he wants to stop the U.S. Congress’s critical support for Ukraine’s fight for independence and sur vival.

Unfortunately, he’s see ing some success.

On the recent aid pack age to Ukraine, 57 Repub licans voted against it, including Jake LaTurner, our Congressional repre sentative, who closely iden tifies with former Presi dent Trump’s isolationist policies.

Then this week Rep. Kev in McCarthy, the top House Republican, said there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine if Republicans take control of the House this election.

Former Vice President Mike Pence chided Re publicans who questioned the value of supporting Ukraine and condemned their support for Putin, warning against “unprin cipled populism.”

To date, the United States has sent Ukraine about $66 billion, including military, economic and humanitari an support.

The defense depart ment’s annual budget is $800 billion.

It’s not what we lose by giving aid; but what we gain by supporting democ racy and stability in Eu

Susan Lynn Register editor

rope.

IN HIS 20 YEARS as president, Putin has be come increasingly insular and desperate.

He insists on his version of reality, surrounds him self with sycophants, and craves to impress by his ruthlessness.

Our response must be to challenge him at every turn.

So who, in Putin’s opin ion, are the elite?

Basically anyone willing to tell the truth.

Putin certainly doesn’t want everyday Russians reading national news sources, which is why he has blocked access to all major foreign news outlets.

Even those who have appeased Putin with their coverage are feeling threat ened. On Friday, it was dis closed that Russia’s equiv alent to Tucker Carlson of Fox News, Ksenia Sobchak, had fled to Lithuania to es cape possible persecution. Seems her obsequiousness was not deep enough.

EVEN HERE in the Unit ed States, we are being told by those anxious to control the narrative to not trust those skilled in conduct ing elections, who study viruses or who teach our children.

These “elitists,” they say, have ulterior motives.

In today’s world, to be a doctor, teacher, attorney or a professional of any sort, is becoming a pejorative term.

It’s this kind of bunk that is playing into the hands of strongmen like Putin who regard democracy as a threat to their power.

“We the people” have no place in their world, which is why we must insist here and in democracies across the world, that we do.

Participating in the Nov. 8 election — and having confidence in its outcome — is the first step in stand ing up to such despots.

Letter to the editor

Dear editor, Patrick Schmidt is smart, qualified, and committed to making life better for Kan sas families.

Patrick graduated from Tufts University with a major in international re lations and served as an in telligence officer in the U.S. Navy.

He understands the im portance of developing a 21st Century American economy. He understands the national security and economic challenges pre sented by China.

Patrick comes from a

modest middle class back ground and understands how hard raising a family can be. Unlike his opponent, he supports cutting taxes on working and middle class families by restoring the ex panded child tax credit.

Patrick understands that democracy is worth fighting for and can be destroyed by a culture of fear mongering, conspiracy theories, and po litical stunts.

Patrick Schmidt is the person we need as our Rep resentative in Congress.

Mike Bruner, Humboldt, Kan.

Candidates deserve close inspection

This election season, Gov. Laura Kelly and her allies have relentlessly worked to tie her opponent Derek Schmidt to former Gov. Sam Brownback, particularly the unpopular cuts to education funding.

Yet far more can be gleaned about Schmidt’s charac ter from his relationship with Kris Kobach. Why did Schmidt sit by and do noth ing while Kobach usurped the power of the Attorney Gener al’s office and then proceeded to handle lawsuits himself, using tactics later described as “antics”? What kind of re lationship will these two have if Schmidt wins the Gover norship and Kobach wins Schmidt’s old post as Attor ney General?

These — not the Gover nor’s tiresome refrain of “Brownback, Brownback, Brownback” — are the ques tions voters should be asking before casting their ballots.

Schmidt mostly stayed in his lane as Attorney General during the Brownback Gov ernorship. His formal, legal defense of the state’s tax and funding cuts was simply part of his office’s duties. It does not necessarily reflect sup port for Brownback’s policies. Schmidt’s relationship with Kobach is another matter, though.

Kobach served as Kansas Secretary of State during the first and second of Schmidt’s three terms as AG. During

Michael Smith Insight Kansas

that time, Schmidt sat back and did nothing while Kobach aggressively usurped the powers of the Attorney Gen eral’s office, transferring one of those powers to the Secre tary of State in an unprece dented move, unseen in any other state and unused since Kobach left office.

Voter fraud in the mod ern-day United States is rare. When evidence of it does sur face, it is typically referred to the state Attorney General or to federal authorities for investigation and, if neces sary, prosecution. Yet Kobach got the Kansas Legislature to grant his own office these extraordinary powers when they passed the SAFE Act in 2012.

Schmidt uttered nary a peep while these powers were yanked away from the AG, traditionally the state’s sec ond-most powerful executive office, after the governor.

Kobach also hogged the limelight, even defending the state personally when the Fish v Kobach and Bednasek v Kobach cases were heard before the Federal District Court in 2018.

This was highly unusual

— typically the Secretary of State would use staff attor neys or the Attorney Gener al’s office, or even contract with private attorneys to do this.

I was an expert witness for the plaintiffs in Bednasek, and Kobach took my deposi tion personally, another odd move. Schmidt’s office is just down the hall in the same building, but neither he nor the staff attorneys from his office were anywhere to be found that day.

Appointed by George W. Bush upon a recommendation from Brownback, Judge Julie Robinson ruled against the state and permanently stayed the SAFE Act’s proof-of-citi zenship requirement, which would have required that vot ers prove they are American citizens when registering to vote, typically by producing copies of their birth certifi cates.

She also ordered Kobach to take continuing educa tion courses or lose his law license. Derek Schmidt and his staff attorneys remained absent the entire time.

Schmidt shares Brown back’s party label and made a few rather general comments expressing support during Brownback’s governorship, but that’s about it. The real question voters should be asking is why he did so little to counter Kobach’s antics, and what this portends if both are elected this year.

A look back in t me.A look back in t me.

65 Years Ago October 1957

Self Service Grocery in Iola will be closed all day tomorrow because of the fu neral of H. Craig Graham, founder of the store. Gra ham was one of the pioneers of the serve-yourself tech nique of operating grocery stores — a method which is now all but universal. He opened the first store of that type in Southeast Kansas in 1922 when he set up his “Self Serve” store in Chan ute. He opened his Iola store two years later with the late George Young as his partner. His partner now is Joe Earl.

Henderson’s Home and Auto Store, which has been at 207 S. Washington for sev eral years, is opening in its new location on the north side of the square tomorrow. The store is now in the build ing formerly occupied by the Cut Rate Grocery which closed last summer.

Because of renewed inter est in Teen Town, the Vet erans of Foreign Wars and Auxiliary will sponsor the project for the remainder of this year. Glyndon Looker, VFW commander, said an average of 100 boys and girls have attended each of the three parties held since class es opened. The following stu dents were recently elected to the Teen Town board, Jon Shaffer, Mary Lilly, Linda Higginbotham, Judy Mollo han, Richard Boyer, Sharon Potter and Judy Anderson. Anderson.

Proposed plans for remod eling the Santa Fe depot at Iola are now being studied by the railroad’s officials, ac cording to G. B. Parks, local agent. The proposal includes dismantling the old freight depot and concentrating all operations in the passenger depot at the west end of Mad ison Avenue. This structure

would be completely remod eled with a more modern office, passenger waiting rooms and other facilities.

A dual City Service Pipe line project, providing em ployment for 150 to 170 men, will be in full swing in this area by the end of the week and continue until 1958. The job consists of laying 80 miles of 30-inch pipe from the Welda pumping station to Independence and remov ing two existing 16-inch lines between the two stations af ter the larger pipe is in oper ation. The R. H. Fulton Con struction Co. of Lubbock, Texas, has the contract. Lo cal headquarters for the firm have been opened in the 500 block of North State at the rear of the Davidson-Wood worth garage. A number of Fulton executives, foremen and personnel have been moved into Iola in the past two weeks and 30 to 40 more are expected.

Kansas GOP candidates say they will accept election results — with caveats

By RACHEL MIPRO Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Kansas Republican candidates on the November ballot say they will accept the results of the election whether they win or lose, though some have added caveats to this ac ceptance.

In Kansas, several lawmakers have called into question voter in tegrity, and election de niers forced a recount of votes in the August primary over the re jection of an abortion amendment to the Kan sas Constitution.

Election fraud has been a hot-button Re publican talking point since 2020, when for mer President Donald Trump promoted false claims of voting fraud before and after Presi dent Joe Biden won the election.

Though there has been no evidence to sup port Trump’s claims, his supporters both at local and national lev els have clung to the idea that elections are rigged. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and U.S. Reps. Jake LaTurner, Ron Es

tes and Tracey Mann voted to overturn the presidential election.

LaTurner, Estes and Mann are all up for re election on the Novem ber ballot. LaTurner said he would accept the results, but Estes and Mann have not re sponded to inquiries as to whether they would uphold Kansas election results if they lose.

Federal officials have announced plans to in stall oversight of the Kansas voting process.

A district election offi cer for the U.S. Attor ney’s Office in Kansas

will field Election Day complaints, voting rights concerns and election fraud issues.

A spokeswoman for the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office said the federal oversight is rou tine.

Gov. Laura Kelly said she was expecting some opposition from election deniers across the state.

“I’m sure that there will be scattered across the state of Kansas peo ple who won’t like the results and therefore not accept them in their own mind,” Kelly said Tuesday at the Shawnee County Election Office,

after casting her vote.

Republican guberna torial candidate Derek Schmidt also said he would accept the results of the election.

“Of course, once it’s certified, yes,” Schmidt said.

Independent guber natorial candidate Den nis Pyle said he wants a complete audit of elec tion results.

“Upon completion of a full forensic audit, I will accept the results when it is demonstrated no unlawful votes were cast. The people want to know their vote is secure and no vote has

been suppressed,” Pyle said in a statement.

Secretary of State Scott Schwab, the state’s top elections officer, has reiterated the security of the 2020 Kansas elec tions multiple times when other members of his party cast doubt over ballot accuracy.

Schwab is running against Democrat Jean na Repass for reelection to his position.

“Secretary Schwab and county election of ficials work hard to en sure trusted results, and all Kansans can trust the results of the election,” Schwab’s campaign said in a statement.

Kris Kobach, who held the Secretary of State’s Office from 20112019, pushed legislation that he said would in crease election security, including an unconsti tutional law requiring residents to prove their citizenship before reg istering to vote. The law cost the state $1.9 million in legal fees and prevented more than 30,000 eligible residents from voting.

Kobach is currently running for the Attorney General’s Office and has

said he will accept the results of the November election — as long as he did not see evidence of election fraud. Kobach faces Democrat Chris Mann in this year’s at torney general race.

“Yes, absolutely,” Kobach said. “Short of there being obvious fraud or something like that.”

Kobach didn’t speci fy what obvious fraud would look like.

Amanda Adkins, the Republican candidate challenging Democrat ic U.S. Rep. Sharice Da vids, said she believes in the Kansas election process.

“As Amanda has said before, she believes the Kansas election sys tem is strong. We look forward to watching the process play out to ensure every vote is counted accurately,” campaign spokesman Will Coup said in a state ment.

Other Republicans on the ballot, Kansas Rep. Steven Johnson, who is running for state treasurer, and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, didn’t re spond to Kansas Reflec tor inquiries.

Physicians: Change to hospital’s ER service impacts practice

Continued from A1

said he at tempted to speak with Saint Luke’s officials about the change, but did not feel as if it made a difference. He was concerned that patients would be less comfort able being seen by an outside group of physi cians.

“I really didn’t expect them to go through with it, because it didn’t seem logical to me,” Spears said.

His staff shared his concerns.

“We were all kind of bracing for impact. We knew it was com ing,” said Ben Smith, a nurse practitioner who worked in the ER and also oversees a health care clinic at the jail.

Rebecca French, a nurse practitioner spe cifically hired to work in the ER in 2007, said “There was nothing I could do but continue to practice as well as possi ble.”

Stacy Kale, a nurse practitioner who also operates Iola DERM 101, a dermatology clinic, joined The Family Phy sicians in 2015 and start ed working in the ER in 2019.

“We knew as soon as things settled down with the pandemic, we would be gone. But they couldn’t find a provid er, so we kept agreeing to continue to provide care,” Kale said. “COVID was awful, and at the same time we’re dealing with this and wondering what’s going to happen.”

ONCE the change be came official, it had an immediate effect on The Family Physicians prac tice. All of the providers needed to find ways to supplement their in come.

“How often are there openings in the emer gency room in this area? Not often,” Spears said.

All of them have fam ily in the area, and have put down roots. They don’t want to move.

French, who is also certified in family geri atrics and diabetes ed ucation, continues to work at The Family Physicians clinic. She’s also a college instructor and has picked up more classes to make up for the loss of income from covering the ER.

Kale had been cov ering the ER for only a short time when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The virus essentially shut down her dermatol ogy practice for months. Kale’s dermatology clin ic has never been her sole source of income.

She has taken a tempo rary position in Oswego, providing care two days a week at a clinic there. A hospital there closed in 2019 amid a financial scandal, but plans are to eventually reopen a fa cility; she hopes to find a place there.

The drive is one hour and 20 minutes. Her son is still in high school, and she doesn’t want to move.

Smith continues to oversee the jail’s health care clinic. He’s also been working at the ER at the Coffey County

Hospital in Burlington.

Smith is an Allen County native who grew up in Iola and Moran, and always wanted to practice medicine close to home. He worked as a nurse at ACRH and a local nursing home while continuing his education, and is also a member of the U.S. Air National Guard.

Smith joined The Family Physicians in 2019.

He worries he will have to find work else where now that his term in the ER has ended. It’s been disheartening, he said.

“It’s been tough. This has been my home my whole life. All my fam ily is here. I’m raising my kids here,” he said. “I don’t want to uproot, but what do you do?”

BOTH KALE and Smith started working in the ER at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a time of great uncertainty, particular ly for health care profes sionals facing a deadly new disease. At the time, there was no vaccine. Medical professions suited up, head to toe, in personal protective gear.

The ER, of course,

served as a front line in the war against the virus.

It cemented the bond between the physicians and nurses in the ER.

“It’s all life and death — literally,” Smith said. “You rely on the people around you to manage those situations, and that builds a big bond.”

Smith had worked as an ER nurse at ACRH before becoming a nurse practitioner.

“It’s challenging. You never know what’s com ing in the door. I really like the environment. And it was all I’ve ever known,” he said.

The ER sometimes serves as the only health care option for those without health insur ance. French said that’s part of what makes an ER so vital in a rural community.

“Every day, we see people come in who don’t have any other op tion,” French said.

French said she knew many of the patients who came in the ER.

“I would know im mediately their history, their medications, the types of things we’ve seen them for before. Those relationships were so important.”

Kale, on the other

hand, wasn’t sure what to expect when she first started working in the ER. She liked it immedi ately.

“I like being in new situations. I liked the demand it put on my knowledge. It was very challenging, and I like that,” she said.

“Emergency rooms are scary but when you go in there and see a friendly face, that gives people a level of com fort.”

French, with her lon ger history, said it was a challenging time, but she felt confident the team could get through the pandemic.

Smith nodded. “We told them, we’re here as long as you need us, but it made it difficult to look elsewhere. We didn’t want to bail on the community.”

Ironically, Spears be came chief of staff at the hospital in January. That responsibility ro tates among physicians, and it was simply his turn. Even so, he doesn’t have a vote in manage ment decisions.

“Saint Luke’s has done a lot of good things for us. They’ve brought in a lot of new equip ment,” he said.

Steve Schieber, Saint Luke’s Critical Access Region CEO, said the decision to staff the emergency department with physicians who are board-certified in emer gency medicine is part of the mission “to pro vide the highest quality care to the patients in our communities, with access to emergency medicine close to home being an essential com ponent … by enabling us to offer the community a more specialized level of emergency care.

“We remain deeply grateful for the commit ment, contribution, and years of service by Dr. Spears and Dr. Porter and for the care they continue to provide in the community,” Schie ber said.

Spears, however, wor ries many local resi dents may be driven to other communities, per haps some out of loyalty to the physicians who have provided their care for years.

“I want the hospital to be successful, and I don’t have anything against the new provid ers. I want to make sure our providers get the credit they deserve,” Spears said.

Voters fill out advanced ballots Oct. 25, 2022, at the Shawnee County Election Office in Topeka. (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)

fire chief

“I got to thinking that maybe it would be a good time to quit while I was still in good shape.”

Structure, compan ionship and faith are what keep Merrill fo cused on today.

That’s important, he said, “because my thoughts increasingly drift to the past.”

And just like yester day, Merrill can recall significant events.

It began when Merrill left home before gradu ating from high school in Kanopolis to join the Army.

There wasn’t much to keep him there.

“My dad had lost the farm during The De pression during the 1930s.”

“During those WPA days, he became a stone mason. He cut stone for more than a hundred bridges just in Ells worth County.”

As a youth, Merrill was hired out on farms across Western Kansas and Southeastern Colo rado.

The Army was Mer rill’s ticket to a different life. His first task was to get his general equiva lency degree. “I passed with flying colors,” he said.

Merrill was assigned to Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia.

Besides the Army, Merrill also wanted companionship of a dif ferent sort.

“I prayed to God for a wife,” he said, even though he was dating the preacher’s daughter. That very next Sunday a comely lass sidled up to Merrill who was the answer to his prayer.

She was 16; he was 19.

Though her name was Nora, Merrill called his wife Susie.

From the very mo ment Nora slid next to Merrill on that church pew, “I was taken with her,” he said, “And when I got home, I wanted to write her a letter.”

“I knew her last name, but not her first. So, I simply addressed the letter, ‘Suzy Q’ Mc Lamb. And it stuck.”

The two were mar ried 63 years, with her passing in 2017 at age 79.

Merrill served in the Army for “7 years, 5 months, and 14 days,” including time in Ko rea. His firstborn, Mer rill Jr., was born while Merrill was overseas. It was almost a year be fore he would hold his son.

His last stint with

the Army was at the presidential retreat Camp David outside of Fort Meade, Maryland where Merrill worked in communications.

“They wanted to keep me there, so they froze my rank as a sergeant,” he said.

Merrill figured he could beat the system by quitting, and then re-upping down at Fort Stewart, Georgia, where his wife had family.

“But they told me I’d end right back where I was,” he said.

Before his work in communications, Mer rill was a Mess Ser geant.

“I was a good cook. I still cook today,” he said, noting how he typically furnishes the meat for the monthly meals at Carlyle Presby terian Church.

He and his wife raised nine children, two of whom were adopted.

Merrill describes those years as “always fun.”

Shortly after his dis charge from the Army, Merrill brought his family to Kansas where he worked in securi ty for nuclear power plants before joining the El Dorado fire de partment. On the side, Merrill was both a student and teacher at Butler County Com munity College for its fire rescue and training program. From there he attended Wichita State University where he studied criminal sci ence.

The Hodgdens lived

in El Dorado for 20 years before moving to Iola in 1980 when Mer rill became fire chief, succeeding Tince Little.

From there, Merrill switched from work ing in fire protection to concentrating on safety, primarily for the nucle ar power plant industry ensuring they met fed eral safety standards and protocols.

The United States has almost 100 nuclear pow er reactors in 55 plants across 28 states. The majority are east of the Mississippi. The most recent was constructed in 2016. Two new are in the process of being constructed at a plant in Georgia, with startup planned in 2023.

And though Merrill regards its production as extremely clean and safe he doesn’t foresee the industry expanding its capacity to any large extent.

“I think we’re going to have nuclear power plants for quite a while and that they’ll be com plemented by wind and solar,” he said.

Today, nuclear power plants generate about 20% of the country’s electricity.

Though he was loath to discuss politics, Mer rill couldn’t help but say that from an envi ronmental perspective, he was glad the previ ous president was not re-elected.

“Those regulations are there for a reason — to protect us,” he said.

Initially, the nuclear power plants were in

tended to operate for 20-25 years. Today, most have had their lifetimes extended by decades with upgrades. Their average age is 40.

As a safety inspec tor, Merrill said, "I was the only person I knew of who began morning safety meetings with prayer.”

Merrill insists such sessions helped avert catastrophe on more than one occasion, re calling premonitions that never came to pass because of God’s inter vening hand.

For almost 30 years, Merrill's job as a safety inspector took him and Susie around the coun try, primarily on the East Coast and around the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. “All we needed was a suitcase and a Cadillac,” he said.

To his dying day, Merrill will defend the brand. “They float down the road.”

“Susie loved travel ing and staying in mo tels. Sometimes we’d rent an apartment if it

was a big job. We were in Winnsboro, S.C., for three years when I worked during an out age. It was a lot of fun.”

When he wasn’t at tending nuclear power plants, Merrill also in spected large industries such as paper mills and food processing plants including Frito Lay.

All that traveling only made Iola more at tractive, Merrill said.

“People back here complain about their taxes,” he said. “They don’t compare to the property taxes people pay elsewhere.”

His involvement with Masonic Lodge and Gideons has also been central to his life. With in his first year in Iola, he was named master of the local lodge.

For the last eight years, Merrill has reg ularly attended Carlyle Presbyterian Church, where Steve Traw is pastor.

Many of the church members belong to the McDonald “office” club, which has been meeting the past five years.

“It’s a Christian bunch,” Merrill said. The conversation can last several hours.

“It goes pretty fast. I learn a lot there.”

To keep the cama raderie, the men avoid politics.

SO, WHAT’S it like reaching 90?

"No different from 89,” Merrill said, but ac knowledged it’s a mile stone.

“Now I’m aiming for 100.”

A few more ques tions.

What’s with the beard and the hat?

The thick, manicured mass and the widebrimmed black hat proj ect a severe look, which belie his warm nature.

“I suppose it hear kens back to my Quaker roots,” he said. “When I retired at age 80, I de cided I was old enough to wear a beard.” And so he does.

Deaths of 8 investigated as murder-suicide

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) — The deaths of eight family members — including six children — found in a burning Oklahoma home are being investi gated as a murder-sui cide, with both adults considered suspects, au thorities said Friday.

The children, who ranged in age from 1 to 13, were the victims, Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berry hill said during a news conference. He did not provide their identities, ages or explain their relationships to one an other except to say they were family members believed to be living in the home. Police have not responded to calls and questions sent by email.

The causes of death are still under investiga tion but Broken Arrow Fire Department Chief Jeremy Moore said it doesn’t appear that any one died because of the fire. Guns were recov ered from the home, the police chief said.

“To arrive on scene yesterday and to see the looks on our first re sponders’ and firefight ers’ faces just absolutely broke my heart,” Moore said Friday.

Sara Abel, a spokes woman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explo sives, said the agency is assisting local police in tracing guns found in the home but she did not have any details about the type or num ber of firearms.

The fire was reported about 4 p.m. Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 13 miles southeast of Tulsa.

Crews who responded found two adults dead in the front of the house with injuries that “ap peared to be criminal in nature,” Moore said.

RAPID

YIN YOGA

John, Vance, Merrill Jr., and Aaron. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Cubs run over Cherryvale

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

CHERRYVALE — On Hum boldt High’s first snap on of fense Thursday, Cub standout Trey Sommer burst through the line of scrimmage and into the Cherryvale second ary, where he proceeded to drag multiple defenders across the goal line for a 26yard touchdown run.

It was a precursor of what was to come.

The Cubs dominated in about every way imaginable to start the Class 2A playoffs, churning up more than 400 yards of total offense in a 5313 win.

The victory propels the Cubs into the second round, where they will face a famil iar opponent in Osage City.

The Indians handed Hum boldt one of its two losses in the regular season, 42-34.

“You don’t always, espe cially in football, get an op portunity for a rematch,” Humboldt head coach Logan Wyrick said.

Ideally, the Cubs can repli cate their strong play along the line of scrimmage, which paved the way for one of the most dominant quarters of football you’ll ever see in these parts.

After ending the first half with an 8-yard touchdown run to extend Humboldt’s 2213 lead to 30-13 at the break, Sommer proceeded to score on runs of 50, 10 and 43 yards on the Cubs’ next three offen

sive snaps to start the third quarter.

The last run sent Sommer to the sidelines for the rest of the evening, having triggered a running clock for the bal ance of the game.

Unofficially, Sommer racked up 207 yards and six touchdowns on 20 carries. He also completed 3 of 4 passes for 78 yards, including a 40yard screen pass to Colton Slocum for another score.

Sophomore Blake Ellis, who had missed several games down the stretch be

fore getting back onto the field last week in the regular season finale, came on in the second half. He rushed for 34 yards and a 6-yard touch down, while completing 3 of 4 passes for 41 yards.

If anything, Humboldt’s of fense was a bit too explosive. Wyrick noted he had hoped to get a few more pass plays for Ellis.

But with an overabun dance of one-play drives, rep etition this week will have to come on the practice field.

“Ellis got a little work last

week,” Wyrick said. “It was good to get him back into the rotation, to where he was.”

CHERRYVALE showed some grit, especially in the first half.

Charger junior Steson Schafer followed Sommer’s early score with a 76-yard touchdown run. Schafer then hauled in receptions covering 19, 24 and 20 yards on a Char ger drive early in the second quarter, the last of which was good for a fourth-down touch down pass from quarterback

Jackson Knight to pull Cher ryvale within 22-13.

But the rest was all Hum boldt.

The Cubs marched 51 yards on their next drive, leading to Sommer’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1.8 seconds left in the half to push Humboldt ahead 30-13.

Slocum led the Humboldt receiving corps with 62 yards on two catches. Sam Hull had three catches for 51 yards.

Cole Mathes rushed for 53 yards on eight carries.

Knight completed 11 of 25 passes for 106 yards, whale Schaffer had 77 yards on five catches and 49 yards rushing for Cherryvale.

“We knew they had some big play ability, and they showed that a little bit,” Wyrick said. “We definitely needed to tackle a bit better in the first half. We had a cou ple of defensive breakdowns. It was good to come out (af ter halftime) and do what we wanted to do. They battled us.”

WITH THE opener out of the way, Humboldt can set its sights on Osage City and its all-everything senior quar terback Landon Boss.

“We were pretty beat up last time and definitely bat tled them,” Wyrick noted.

“We’re getting some guys back. We think we’re still healthy, but you never know until the next couple of days. They’re a very good team,

Crest tested late, tops Norwich

By QUINN BURKITT

The Iola Register

COLONY — The Crest High School football team used a valiant first half ef fort to take down Norwich in their eight-man 2A open ing round playoff game on Thursday, 60-40.

The Lancers (7-2; 1-0) jumped out to a 40-point 52-12 advantage midway through the second half which quick ly evaporated into a 12-point lead halfway through the fourth quarter. Norwich was able to take advantage of a pair of onside kick recover ies as well as a Crest fumble.

Crest put the game away when Holden Barker rushed in for a 20-yard touchdown to give his home team the 20-point victory.

Norwich began the scor ing on their opening drive of the night when Brayden Pauly rushed into the end zone from 35 yards away for the quick 6-0 Eagle advan tage.

Barker helped the Lancers respond immediately with an 11-yard touchdown run, followed up by a successful two-point conversion for the 8-6 Crest lead.

“His running style is fight ing,” said Crest head coach Nick McAnulty. “He’s one that you’re going to have to fight him for every inch be cause he’s going to fight and

keep his feet moving. Every thing he does, he’s planning on winning. I’ve never seen anyone with his type of run ning style because he wants the contact and he’s not try ing to avoid anybody.”

Lancer quarterback Ethan Godderz was able to connect with Stetson Setter on a 50yard touchdown down the away sideline on the next Crest drive to stretch the lead to 10 points, 16-6.

Godderz also found Karter Miller down the home side line for a 60-yard touchdown strike. Crest converted the two-point conversion and

took a comfortable 24-6 lead at the end of the first quar ter.

It was a similar sight in the second quarter as God derz fired a touchdown bul let to Setter down the side line again, this time for a 45-yard touchdown pass. The Lancers had a 32-6 advan tage after another successful two-point conversion.

Setter then stepped up defensively when he inter cepted a Norwich pass at the Lancer 11-yard line to keep the Eagles from driving too

Allen women shut out

Central to advance

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Allen Community Col lege women’s soccer team shut out Central Communi ty College in their Region VI semi-final match on Thurs day afternoon, 4-0.

The Lady Red Devils (12-4; 5-1) scored a lone first half goal before exploding for three goals in the second half. Jessica Allen also net ted three of Allen’s goals in the victory.

The scoring began seven minutes into the match when Jessica Allen found the back of the net on an unassisted

goal for the early 1-0 advan tage.

“We scored early but not as often as I’d like in the first half but it opened up things in the second half,” said Al len head coach Jeremy Mc Ginnis. “Jess probably could have had a couple more in the first half, it’s like she hits the harder shots than the eas ier ones.”

Allen led Central in shots in the first half, 8-5.

Kate Giblin got the Lady Red Devils on the board 10 minutes into the second half when she took an unassisted ball inside the box for the 2-0

Humboldt High’s Cole Mathes (15) carries the ball Thursday against Cherryvale, while aided by teammates Kyler Isbel (54), Sam Hull (17) and Trey Sommer (34). The Cubs won, 56-13. REGISTER/ RICHARD LUKEN

Crest’s Holden Barker (23) runs with the ball against Nor wich on Thursday. Barker finished his night rushing for three touchdowns. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Allen Lady Red Devil Autumn Wyatt (11) plays keep away with a Central defender on Thursday. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Brady, Gisele divorce

By LEANNE ITALIE The Associated Press

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have finalized their divorce, they announced Friday, ending the 13-year mar riage between two su perstars who respective ly reached the pinnacles of fashion and football.

Divorce documents were filed Friday in Glades County, Flor ida, a rural location near Lake Okeechobee, according to the court docket. It cites only that the marriage was “irre trievably broken” with no other details. Other documents are sealed and confidential.

Brady and Bündchen posted statements Fri day morning on Insta gram, each saying they had “amicably” reached the decision.

“The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had togeth er and only wish the best for Tom always,” Bündchen wrote.

Both said their pri

orities lay with their children and asked for privacy.

“We arrived at this decision to end our mar riage after much consid eration,” Brady wrote. “Doing so is, of course, painful and difficult, like it is for many peo ple who go through the same thing every day around the world.”

The divorce landed in the midst of Brady’s 23rd NFL season, and amid his first threegame losing streak in 20 years, just months after the seven-time Super Bowl champion put an end to his shortlived retirement. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback — who had long stated a desire to spend more time with Bündchen and his three children — announced his departure from the game in February, only to change his mind 40 days later.

“What more do you have to prove?” Bünd chen told her husband on the sidelines after his last, record-shat tering Super Bowl vic tory, as Brady himself recounted shortly after the win.

Pair of Lady Lancers take All-League

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Crest High School volleyball team had a pair of student-athletes earn Three-Rivers AllLeague honors follow ing the season in senior McKenna Hammond and junior Kayla Herm reck.

Hammond was named the September Athlete of the Month and took second-team All-League after her stellar season in which she led the Lady Lancers with 70 ace serves.

The senior also made 135 kills, six assists, 15 solo blocks and went 342for-373 from the serving line. She registered 261 digs and a serve receive passing rate of 77%.

“She really came on at the net the past cou ple of seasons and was someone we could count on for the serve. We will miss her next season,” said Crest head coach

Crest’s McKenna Hammond volleys a ball at Iola on Sept.10. REGISTER/QUINN BURKITT

Abigail Hermreck. “She was a six rotation player and a tremendous pass er.”

Hermreck took first team All-League unan

World Cup jerseys get mixed reviews

NEW YORK (AP)

— Puma, you’re all boxed in. Nike, what have you done to the U.S. and Canada? Adi das, you’re making a few style waves.

With millions at stake in retail sales, this year’s World Cup in Qatar has soccer fans playing rate the shirt — and what to buy. So far, there’s no runaway winner that just might earn icon status like the soldout-in-minutes bright green and chevron jer sey of Nigeria during the last tournament in 2018.

Which kits definite ly don’t dazzle in the eyes of some hardcore fans — and a few out spoken players? Ni ke’s effort for the U.S. team, which didn’t qualify four years ago. An enlarged, simple country crest sits at the center on white home shirts perceived as bland, as opposed to classic. Nike relocated its swoosh logo to both sleeves.

A blue graphic at the neck has led to mocking compari sons to the Stay Puft marshmallow man of “Ghostbusters” fame. And the U.S. away kit features icedyed black Rorschach blotches against royal blue.

“It’s ugly,” said 33-year-old fan Ryan Bender of the former.

“The away ones look like training jerseys.”

Bender is a lifelong soccer player, youth coach and jersey col

Cubs: Run over Cherryvale

from

run (Sommer run)

— Scha

20 yard pass from

(pass failed)

— Sommer

yard run (Sommer run)

Humboldt — Sommer

yard run (Sommer run)

Humboldt — Sommer

yard run (pass failed)

— Sommer

yard run (run failed)

Humboldt — Sommer 20-207, Mathes 8-53, Ellis 3-34, Slocum 2-1. Cher ryvale — Schafer 4-49, Elam 11-31, Knight 5-29, Scherlman 2-2, Erbe 1-0.

Passing Humboldt — Sommer 3-4-78, Ellis 3-4-41. Cher ryvale — Knight 11-25106.

lector in Los Angeles. He had few niceties in general for many of the kits of the big three outfitters: Nike (13 countries), Adi das (7) and Puma (6). That’s especially so for the array of front boxes, shields and oth er containers where numbers will go cour tesy of Puma on away kits for Senegal, Mo rocco, Uruguay and more.

There’s particular ire for Puma over the QR code-like symbol of Switzerland. The idea overall, Puma said, was to highlight player numbers. It has also been likened among the grumpy to the iPhone calendar icon.

“There’s a lot of lack of creativity there. And to be honest, a lot of them just look like jerseys you would find in a roadside shop,” Bender said of Puma’s kits.

While Bender has some favorites, and he isn’t alone when it comes to derision for the U.S. shirts, not ev erybody is a hater in the every-four-years World Cup sweep stakes over shirts. The top three companies are joined by six other brands with one coun try each. Nike, Puma and Adidas have made

imously after her team leading 312 kills and 34 solo blocks.

The junior Lady Lancer also notched 158 assists, 161 digs, went

186-for-219 at the serving line along with 52 ace serves.

“She was a six rota tion player and a force to be reckoned with at the net. As a setter, she made many off passes into good sets,” Herm reck said. “I am thrilled to hang on to her for an other season.”

Both Hammond and Hermreck were key con tributors in helping the Crest volleyball team earn their best team re cord of 27-7 since 1988.

Current assistant coach Tisha Hugg was the head coach and sopho more Delaney Ramsey’s mother was a senior on that 1988 squad.

“Both ladies were huge contributors to the successful season. Their leadership, work ethic, and determination will continue to lead them to success off the court as well. I am very proud of both ladies,” said Herm reck.

— Slocum

yard pass from Som mer (Hull run)

— Sommer

Humboldt — Ellis 6 yard run (run failed)

(unofficial)

Receiving Humboldt — Slocum 2-62, Hull 3-51, Page 1-6. Cherryvale — Schafer 5-77, Evenson 2-13, Raida 1-11, Elam 1-3, Ellis 1-1, Schierlman 1-0.

Iola bowls at Chanute

CHANUTE — The Iola High School unified bowling team met in Cha nute on Thursday, this time hosted by the Chan ute High School unified sports team. Iola also competed alongside Caney Valley.

The Iola White team finished with a leading 495 points out of the three Mustang teams. Mus tang Mason Silvey led with two spares and one strike, followed by Zach Pfaff’s four spares and two strikes and Steph Fees’s two spares and two strikes.

The Iola Gold team scored 488 points, led by Gavin Doolittle’s four spares and two strikes. Shaun McLaughlin knocked down two spares and one strike and Guilis

Pina also contributed in the win.

The Iola Blue team reg istered 425 points. Jaden Smith led the scoring with two spares and one strike alongside Marlee Westhoff’s two spares and one strike. Kaden Priddy also recorded one spare and one strike.

The Iola Special Olym pics team travels to Pitts burg for a traditional bowling event on Nov. 2 and also to be recognized as one of ESPN’S 2022 Honor Roll schools. The Mustangs will then hit the road to bowl at Cheney to compete in the KSHSAA regional tournament.

If Iola places in the top five at their regional meet, they will qualify for the state tournament in Topeka on Nov. 14.

IHS’s Unified Special Olympics team. PHOTO BY ANN B.

112 S. Washington Ave., Iola

Couple propose beach wedding as ‘vacation’

Dear Carolyn: My girlfriend of four years and I are in the prelimi nary stages of planning our wedding. We want a unique wedding, but nothing large or showy; we want our important family members there; and we want to make the decisions when it comes to most details.

We both have always dreamed of having our wedding on the beach. We moved to Florida one year ago so I could attend graduate school. We both come from a town in Michigan, where all her family and most of mine still live.

I would love to have family and friends come down for several days. Why have an ordinary wedding when we can really be creative and make this an especially memorable event for ev eryone involved?

There are problems, though. Her grandpar ents would not be able to attend (lack of mo bility), and mine prob ably wouldn’t, either.

Carolyn Hax

Tell Me About It

It would be a financial strain on my girlfriend’s family to come. Also, they would (strongly) prefer us to get married by a priest, to which I say, “No way.” We are both atheists.

To the money con cerns, I have two poten tial antidotes: Encour age people not to give a gift, and to treat them selves to a little vaca tion in Florida instead, and to pay for the wed ding ourselves, mean ing the only costs for everyone would be the flight, hotel and miscel laneous costs. I see an opportunity to have an extraordinary wedding. Is that selfish? What do you think we should do?

— J.

J.: Here’s what your guests hope you’ll do, even if they don’t

know it yet themselves: Add up flights, hotels, ground transportation, meals and every other cost that triples when you’re away from home, then compare that with the $50 to $100 most cost-conscious people would (rather gener ously) spend on your wedding gift. Then do some role-playing, and imagine you’re allotted two weeks of paid va cation from work. Now imagine you’re inclined to spend those weeks, I don’t know, puttering around in your garden, or snowshoeing, or loll ing at Paris cafes.

Now imagine a rela tive asking you to spend half your annual vaca tion allotment in Flor ida on his idea of your dream vacation — a “unique, creative and memorable” celebra tion of himself. I say this without bitterness; no close family member has forced me to choose between missing a fam ily milestone or pony ing up extra savings

Cancer treatment tied to osteoporosis

DEAR DR. ROACH:

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, and along with surgery, chemotherapy and radia tion, I have been taking 1 mg of anastrozole daily.

The bone mineral den sity of my left hip has not changed significantly. The bone density of my lum bar spine has decreased 6.3% compared to 2020.

Several of the doctors I’ve worked with are open to using natural hormone blockers. What would you recommend? — B.C.N.

ANSWER: Anastro zole is in the class of med icines called aromatase inhibitors (AIs), which block the body from making estrogen. AIs reduce estrogen levels by about 85%. In women with tumors —especially breast cancer — that are sensitive to estrogen, these medicines signifi cantly improve response

Dr. Keith Roach

To Your Good Health

rates compared with oth er medications, such as the tamoxifen that was often given before AIs were introduced. AIs are typically given after get ting treatment for breast cancer, such as surgery (often followed by che motherapy or radiation), and decrease the rate of recurrence by about 15%.

Diindolylmethane (DIM) does have some ability to block aroma tase and affect circu lating estrogen levels, which was found in a trial of women taking tamoxifen. It may have other potential benefits as well. However, since

AIs have been proven su perior to tamoxifen, and because the level of es trogen inhibition is very high with AIs, I recom mend strongly against using over-the-counter estrogen blockers like DIM instead of AIs. Side effects from AIs often limit the ability for people with breast cancer to take these ef fective medications. One of these is accelerated osteoporosis. Because loss of estrogen rou tinely causes bone loss, osteoporosis should be aggressively screened for and, if possible, pre vented through a combi nation of diet, exercise, calcium and probably vitamin D. Women with breast cancer on AIs should have bone densi ty levels checked before treatment and at inter vals afterward, such as every two years.

and personal time. But these two commodities are precious, and people don’t appreciate being asked to part with ei ther one just because a Midwestern backyard wedding doesn’t seem as special as the couple fancy themselves.

If you want to wed on the beach, then wed on the beach; it is your home now, after all, and your money. And, certainly, your atheism makes the priest issue a nonissue.

Just know that your dream will hurt some important family mem bers, no matter how you rationalize it. Not just grandparents, but also those who resent being asked to choose between paying dearly or miss ing out.

If the backdrop mat ters more than family presence, then elope and have a Michigan recep tion later. If family mat ters more, then save the beach for the honey moon. And if you want it all, then either be pre pared to pay for every one’s travel expenses, or learn this most valuable

ZITS

BEETLE BAILEY

by Mort Walker

BLONDIE

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote:

There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly lit front porch. —

MARVIN

HI AND LOIS

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

M H P K J I M K J H E J J T I G Y I M ‘ K M K W J B H P C Y I M C F I G J Q Y B L

A C Z P C H Z M P A H

P E I G J V G P T J G A K Y C B Y Z J . —

U M C Z J C I W B M Z J

Robert Brault

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

by Chris Browne FUNKY WINKERBEAN by Tom Batiuk

by Young and Drake

by Tom Armstrong

by Chance Browne

World Cup: Jerseys get mixed reviews ahead of Qatar

“The Nike and Puma kits are stunning,” said Aron Solomon, 55, in Montreal. “Nike did such a great job bring ing clean lines and just the right shade of col ors. Case in point is the Qatar home Jersey.”

He was referring to the host’s maroon kit with a serrated line of white triangles trim ming sleeves in a de sign evoking the coun try’s flag. Think shark’s teeth.

Denmark took a bite out of Qatar when it unveiled a black jersey to go with two other kits. The black shirts, with maker Hummel’s logo faded out, honor migrant workers who died during construc tion work for the tour nament.

As for his own coun try, Canada, Solomon is unbothered that the rejuvenated Les Rouges will take the pitch for their first World Cup appearance in 36 years wearing the same tem plate-based kits they’ve had since June 2021. The shirts are tradition al red and white with a

crest featuring a maple leaf.

Like a few U.S. play ers who speak publicly about their kits, Canada defender Sam Adekugbe is disappointed.

“I just feel like every team should get a new kit for the World Cup because it’s a symbol ic event. I don’t hate it, but I would have liked to have gotten a new kit, just because it’s some thing to cherish,” he told The Athletic.

Nike cites a different design cycle for Canada as the reason the coun try is going without.

Solomon has no love for Adidas-designed shirts, particularly the home jerseys of power house Germany, where he lived for four years. It features a fierce wide black vertical stripe down the center against a white background in homage to the country’s 1908 home shirt.

“It looks like they’re wearing a bib,” he said.

The Adidas shirts for four-time World Cup champs Germany, along with Argentina, Mexico and the other countries

Crest: Holds on late

Continued from

far down the field. The turnover proved costly as Barker scam pered into the end zone 29 yards out for the 32-point, 38-6 lead.

“We showed what we are capable of,” said McAnulty. “It was great to see us come out and start like that. They are a physical group of kids and you love to see that. That’s the way the game is supposed to be played. They want to hit people, they don’t take plays off.”

Norwich found the end zone before the half as Jace Gosch tiptoed in a 23-yard touchdown rush to cut the deficit to 38-12.

Just when the game was about to be sent to halftime, Crest’s Set ter returned the next kickoff 75 yards for yet another Lancer touch down and the 46-12 lead.

Crest kept up the at tack following halftime when Godderz found Setter for a 15-yard touchdown pass for the 52-12 lead. Godderz fin ished his playoff per formance throwing for four touchdowns and 217 passing yards while Setter hauled in three touchdown receptions and 153 receiving yards.

“Those guys are re ally good friends and I think that translates into this. Ethan has a big trust in Stetson that he’s going to throw the ball and Stetson’s going to win that bat tle,” McAnulty said.

“There’s lots of times Stetson’s going to win that battle and Ethan’s throwing the ball well right now. The O-line did a great job I thought too.”

Norwich got some momentum near the end of the third quar ter when Crest’s Set ter fumbled the ball around the Norwich 10yard line. The fumble resulted in a Norwich Tray Schroeder to Dax Rosenhagen five-yard touchdown strike with nine minutes left in the fourth.

Gosch found the end zone again on a nineyard touchdown catch

from Schroeder only a couple of minutes later, cutting the Crest lead to 26 points, 52-26.

Following two suc cessful onside kicks in a row, Norwich scored again to cut the Lancer lead to 20 points, 52-32. Schroeder found Pauly deep downfield for a 50-yard touchdown con nection for another Ea gle score.

“Ball security has been an issue. We fum bled right there going in. We had three fum bles last week,” McAn ulty said. “As it gets colder the ball starts squirting out a little bit more and we’ve got to make sure guys are holding on tight so we’ll be working on that for sure.”

Norwich went with one of their deep threats again as Gosch hauled in a 46-yard touchdown reception down the Eagle side line which slimmed the Crest lead to 12 points, 52-40. The 12-point dif ference is the closest Norwich got the rest of the night.

Barker finished off the game for Crest, rushing in for a 20-yard touchdown rush to give his Lancers a 20-point lead with three min utes remaining in reg ulation. Barker capped a day that saw him car ry in three touchdown rushes after coming back from an injury.

Karter Miller also caught one touchdown for 58 yards hauled in through the air. Setter went for a total of 308 total purpose yards to lead the Lancers offen sively in the win. God derz went for 314 total yards both through the air and on the ground.

Defensively, Avery Blaufass led the way with 14 total tackles and eight solo stops, followed by Setter’s 11 total tackles and nine solo stops. Setter had one interception and one fumble recovery and Ty Chambers deliv ered with a lone sack.

Crest faces Osborne in a second round eightman 2A playoff match up next Friday.

it outfitted, include the company’s signature triple-line trim on the shoulders in various col ors. Sort of like sporty epaulets.

Perhaps the most po larizing kit of the com petition is the away look for Mexico, which some consider too flashy and others think will endure like Nigeria’s shirts the last time around. The creamy white kit has an all-over red design of Mixtec art outlines in celebration of Mexico’s fighting spirit. There’s a nod on the inside back collar to the pre-Colum bian deity Quetzalcoatl (so named by the Az tecs), aka the Feathered Serpent.

“They’re my most favorite of the whole tournament,” said mega soccer fan Khloe Lewis, 27, in Somerville, Massa chusetts. “I like the pat tern and the contrast, but also that it’s inspired by historic, traditional Mexican design.”

As a hot topic, debate over World Cup kits of ten churns among fans yearning for a jersey identity of their own.

“Kits get to the emotions. They’re something that’s very close to people’s hearts and it makes them very, very vo cal about them,” said Mateo Kossman, a senior product man ager on the Adidas soccer apparel team

who worked on Mexico’s shirts.

Come Nov. 20, when the World Cup begins, soccer will dominate at the sports bar Das Beer Garden in Jupiter, Flori da. Growing up in Cara cas, 44-year-old co-own er Alex Marquez began playing the Beautiful Game in first grade. He roots for the U.S., Ven ezuela and Spain, the latter his parents’ home country.

Marquez is pleased with Spain’s classic home jersey in red from Adidas, worn with navy shorts and socks. The away kit — the aways being generally more adventurous — is an other story. It has light blue swirls with faint digital lines on a white background and the country’s bright red and yellow flag colors for the shoulder stripes in a grand show of dishar mony.

“It’s like the thing that goes around a ba by’s crib,” Marquez said of the swirls.

The blog Four On Four called the look exquisite, dubbing the wavy design a “geomet ric jellyfish pattern.”

Argentina switched it up, color wise, for its away shirts. Adidas rolled out a classic white and blue stripe home kit but veered for the first time in the country’s history to a vibrant pur ple for the away jersey.

It depicts the Sun of May and its long rays from the country’s flag, though the rays and a background design look like flames.

The purple is meant to represent gender equality. and overall diversity and inclusion. And the Adidas triple lines on the shoulders match!

How has the purple played among World Cup fans?

“Like everything we create, it’s important that the story is under stood and told,” said Andrew Dolan, an Adi das senior product man ager who worked on the Argentina shirts. “I think everyone appreci ates what we’re trying to do.”

At 10, Zain Ennaoui is a small fan with big opinions on soc cer shirts. Of the new purple for Argentina, which has some soccer buffs rattled, the Brook lyn fifth-grader said politely, “It’s good in its own way.”

Zain supports Mo rocco, where his dad is from, but he, too, loves Mexico’s away extrava ganza. He gets that most of the shirts among the 32 countries headed to Qatar have cultur al meaning. That said, South Korea’s away kit of many colors (black with yellow, blue and red brush strokes) is a tough sell for him, de

spite its nod to Taegeu kgi, the symbol on the country’s flag.

“It’s like someone thought it was a good idea to get a paint gun and spray it all over the place. It did not work,” Zain said.

It’s a toss up on which look for the U.S. is more roundly despised by critics. The soccer-ob sessed site Footy Head lines rated Canada’s tragedy at the bottom among Nike’s efforts. The U.S. shirts were sec ond to last.

“It looks like you’d wear it to a Grateful Dead concert,” said Kent Gethmann, 38, in Spencer, Iowa, of the blue and black away shirt.

That, the idea of lend ing street life to World Cup wear, might just be the point.

“I’d rock it,” Brandon Williams said of the same U.S. kit.

He’s a Los Angeles menswear stylist for celebrities and star ath letes, though no soccer players yet.

“I’d wear it oversized with some hoochie dad dy shorts (they’re re ally short), some clean white Nike Air Force Ones and a backward snapback,” Williams said. “I’d throw a sweat er over my shoulders like Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and I’m ready for Sun day brunch.”

Allen: Women shut out Central

second half lead.

Allen’s second and third goals came with 16 and 12 minutes re maining in regulation, respectively. Both the goals were unassist ed and gave Allen her 15th goal of the season and fourth multi-goal match of the year as well.

“It’s one of those things where she can strike a ball really well

and anytime she has a window she can hit it from distance, she can get past people, she’s really technical and she distributes the ball well,” said McGinnis.

“She definitely had a game for sure, we did a great job of feeding her the ball. They just couldn’t handle it and she got the hat trick.”

The home team got behind Allen’s three shots on goal and six

total shots while Au tumn Wyatt and Giblin ripped two total shots apiece.

“It’s great. It puts me in a great position to go forward and take things to the next lev el,” McGinnis said. “We are now at seven wins in a row so I always tell the girls ‘you want to be peaking at this time of the year’ and they’re definitely peaking and it’s looking really

good.”

The Lady Red Devils led the Lady Raiders in shots, 13-7, and shots on goal, 7-4.

Allen goalkeeper Daniela Gonzalez had a good day in goal af ter coming up with the clean sheet and saving six Central shots on goal.

The Allen Lady Red Devils hit the road to play at Pratt on Sunday at 2 p.m.

the team that makes it happen:

Iola Register since 2018. Her position as marketing manager draws on both her professional and academic experiences. Before joining the Register, Violeta worked in marketing in Kansas City for the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and for H&R Block headquarters, working in the Latino marketing department. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Communications and a Master of Arts degree in Marketing.

She loves to read, travel and learn something new every day. She and her husband Tim have two children, Lucas and Sofia.

Photo by April Kroenke Photography

Soggy finish

Season ends for area schools

Southern Coffey County High’s inaugu ral foray into six-man football came to an end Thursday with a 73-24 loss to Burrton to open the state playoffs.

The defeat ends the Titans’ season at 1-8. Burrton advances to take on Wetmore in

the second round.

Elsewhere, Yates Center High dropped a 66-60 thriller to Ma ranatha Academy as the season ended for both teams. Neither qualified for the eight man-I playoffs.

The Wildcats end with a 1-8 record.

Wilson to start

HARROW, England (AP) — Broncos quar terback Russell Wil son will start Denver’s game against the Jack sonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium af ter practicing Friday with “no limitations,” coach Nathaniel Hack ett said.

Wilson was held out of last Sunday’s 16-9 loss to the New York Jets because of a strained hamstring.

“We built a game plan around him for this week to be able to be creative and do dif ferent things to be able to protect him and at the same time take advantage of differ ent things the defense might give us,” Hack ett said.

Wilson was listed as a full participant in practice at the Harrow School outside London after being limited the prior two days.

Brett Rypien filled in for Wilson last week and threw for 225 yards

and one interception as the Broncos lost their fourth straight game.

Wilson said this week that he could have played against the Jets.

“Russell is always going to think he can go, that’s what you love about the guy,” Hack ett said. “For us we wanted to be sure we gave him time — time to be able to get his mind right, his body right, everything. Be ing out here watching him throw, watching him move in the pock et, you felt a lot more comfortable than last week.”

Wilson is off to the worst start of his 11year career, complet ing 58.6% of his passes with five touchdowns and three intercep tions.

He has missed just four games as a pro. On Wednesday, he said he was “ready to roll” on Sunday.

High school football scores

Her ington 0 Trego 50, Sublette 26 Wichita County 66, La Crosse 0

Class 8-Man DII Axtell 68, Pike Valley 8 Bucklin 32, Stafford 30 Crest 60, Norwich 40 Dighton 51, South Cen tral 0 Frankfort 48, St. John’s Beloit-Tipton 28 Hanover 62, Lakeside 14 Hodgeman County 58, South Barber 28 Hutchinson Central Christian 52, Marmaton Valley 6 Minneola 68, Kinsley 50 Osborne 56, Linn 6 Sylvan-Lucas 30, St. Francis 22 Thunder Ridge 62, Wil son 0 Victoria 68, Wheat land-Grinnell 0 Wallace County 48, Cen tral Plains 0 Class 6-Man Burrton 73, Southern Coffey County 24. Tescott 55, Chetopa 6

Ravens knock off Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 238 yards and two second-half touchdowns to lead the Baltimore Ravens to a come-frombehind 27-22 victory over Tom Brady and the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thurs day night.

The Bucs (3-5) lost for the fifth time in six games following a 2-0 start, and the 45-yardold Brady finds himself riding a three-game los ing streak for the first time since 2002 — his first season as a fulltime starter with the New England Patriots.

Jackson beat the sev en-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for the second time in as many career meetings, directing TD drives of 77, 80 and 85 yards af

ter Baltimore sputtered early and trailed 10-3 at halftime.

The Ravens rushed for 233 yards, while Jackson completed 27 of 38 passes without an interception, including TD throws of 5 yards to Kenyon Drake and 10 yards to Isaiah Likely in the third quarter.

Baltimore scored on its first four possessions after halftime, with Jus tin Tucker booting a 30yard field goal to make it 27-16 with a little over two minutes remaining.

Brady threw an 8-yard TD pass to Julio Jones with 49 seconds remaining, finishing 26 of 44 for 325 yards with out an interception. He was sacked three times.

Leonard Fournette scored on a 1-yard run, and Mike Evans had six

receptions for 123 yards for the Bucs.

Fournette’s TD was the first the Bucs have scored in the opening quarter this season. Brady spoke earlier in the week about how helpful it can be to play with a lead, however the offense did little to build on the early advantage after Ryan Succop’s 31yard field goal made it 10-3.

The Ravens, mean while, wasted a couple opportunities take con trol early, settling for a 22-yard field goal after recovering a fumble at the Bucs 6 on a punt re turn and coming away with no points when Jackson threw incom plete into end zone on 4th-and-3 from the Tam pa Bay 10 late in the sec ond quarter.

Marmaton Valley High’s football season came

an end Thursday with the Wildcats falling to Hutchinson’s Central Christian High, 52-6, in the first round of the Kansas Eight Man-II playoffs. A steady downpour made life a bit messier for players and spectators alike. Above, Wildcat defenders Bryce Ensminger (55) and Daniel Fewins (65) take on Cougar blockers in a play. Below at left, Marmaton Valley’s Cesar Morales blocks a Central Christian defender. At lower right, Wildcat quarterback Brayden Lawson carries the ball in the rain. Statistics from the game were unavailable by press time. Central Christian advances to take on unbeaten Axtell, the state’s top-ranked eight man-II squad. PHOTOS BY HALIE LUKEN/MVHS

Blaney crew chief returns in time for critical playo race

By JENNA FRYER The Associated Press

Ryan Blaney gets his crew chief back for the most important weekend of his NASCAR season after an untimely suspension. The first task for Jonathan Hassler? Get his driver a strong starting spot in the last race to qualify for the championship.

There are three spots up for grab at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday race, and Joey Logano is the only driver qualified for next week’s winner-take-all final four at Phoenix Raceway.

Seven drivers are vying for the final three positions and

starting position will be critical. The spring stop at the paperclip-shaped 0.526-mile short track was a passing nightmare with only five lead changes and four cautions — two of which were for stage breaks.

“Yeah, passing was a little bit of an issue in the spring,” Blaney said. “Qualifying is going to be huge, trying to set yourself up. It’s super hard to pass the leader from second or third, and I just think qualifying is going to be super important.”

Blaney was one of four drivers to lead, but his Ford was out front for a measly five laps in a race dominated

by winner William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. They combined to lead all but six of the 403 laps.

Denny Hamlin, Blaney, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline headed into Sunday, with Bell and Briscoe essentially needing a victory to make the final four. Ross Chastain, Elliott and Byron are above the cutline, and only 32 points separate Chastain in second from Blaney in sixth.

Blaney is hopeful a June test at Martinsville helped Goodyear develop a better-performing tire that will make this weekend’s race

RACING THIS WEEK

more competitive. He also noted that “it’s going to be warmer this weekend than it was in the spring.”

And if the product isn’t any better? Well, Blaney predicts the remaining playoff drivers will get desperate toward the end of the race for every possible position.

“If you get some cautions toward the end of this thing, then pandemonium ensues,” Blaney said. “You’ve seen that, especially in this race, when its the last chance for guys to get into the (finale). If they’re in position, they’re going to be aggressive.

“Almost always if you get cautions at the end of one of

these playoff races, at short tracks, you’re going to have some pretty hard racing and a bunch of contact. So tighten your belts and hope you are on the giving end of it and not the receiving end.”

As for the return of Hassler — one of many crew chiefs to receive four-race suspensions this season for loose wheels on the new Next Gen car — Blaney hopes it gets him into victory lane for his first points-paying win this season. He won the All-Star race but it didn’t count in the standings, where he’s hovered in the top three almost the entire season.

Trucks bonus quote: “We certainly have momentum on our side winning two of the last three. I can’t really say who the favorite is and who isn’t. But I really like my chances going to Phoenix.” - Miami winner Ty Majeski, who heads to the Championship in two weeks on a hot steeak

Larson relishes role of spolier at Miami

Larson has led

hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form.

Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race’s 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger was third with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Roush-FenwayKeselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. It is the 2012 series champion Keselowski’s first Topfive finish since becoming co-owner of the organization this season.

The win was 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson’s third of the year and 19th of his career – but the first at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval after a pair of previous near-misses. He led a race best 132 laps in 2016, but finished runner-up. He led 145 laps in 2017 and finished third.

“No matter what team I’ve been with, things haven’t worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today,’’ Larson said.

The 30-year-old Californian was eliminated from the Playoffs in the last round, so Chastain was the top-finishing championship contender with only one race – next week at Martinsville, Va. – to set the four driver Championship field for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix.

Only two Playoff drivers finished in the Top-10 Sunday at Homestead: Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who was seventh in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (finished 11th), Sunday’s polesitter William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Ryan Blaney (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) were still running on the lead lap at the checkered flag. The eighth Playoff-eligible driver, Chase Briscoe, finished last (36th) after making contact with the wall on lap 160.

Hamlin (four laps), Bell (four laps) and Byron (33 laps) all spent time leading the field before various setbacks.

Team Penske’s Logano is the only Playoff driver who has already earned his position in the Championship race thanks to a victory at Las Vegas a week ago. Chastain, Elliott and Byron now complete the Top-four driver ranking.

Hamlin sits in fifth place, five points below Byron. Blaney is 18 points below the cutline, Bell, 33 back and Briscoe now essentially in a must-win situation, trailing by 44 points.

With his victory, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet is eligible for the owner’s title.

While Larson dominated the laps-led category and even paced the field by more than 9-seconds at one point late in the race, he had to earn this trophy after a late-race caution flag.

Martin Truex Jr. had taken the lead after a caution

period with 46 laps remaining and pulled away to a nearly 2-second lead when the final yellow flag flew again with 23 laps remaining.

As the field pitted, Larson’s Chevy was right behind Truex’s Toyota and it appeared Truex was going to miss his pit box when Larson’s car bumped Truex’s car from behind. The contact spun Truex, whose team was still able to service the car, but he fell outside the Top-10 initially before racing back up to a sixth-place finish.

“I was just going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I got into the back of him, ‘’ Larson explained of the incident. “My team said he was late getting into his stall. I don’t know. If it was my fault I’m sorry, but I don’t think it was. It’s hard to see on this pit road. … hate that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat.”

Truex, who is still racing for his first victory of 2022, was obviously disappointed in the outcome, but could only shake his head at the circumstances.

“It’s really hard to see through these windshields with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it,’’ Truex said. “I did see my box late for sure, so I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Larson) there.

“Partly on me, I didn’t expect to get turned around and glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just tough, just disappointing to have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. I hate it for my team.

“It’s been one of those years.”

The final race to set the Championship 4 is at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Xfinity 500. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman is the defending race winner, but won’t be competing while recovering from concussion-like symptoms. His teammate Byron won at Martinsville earlier this season.

CUP PLAYOFFS XFINITY 500

Martinsville Speedway 2 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC

Nicknames: “Half Mile Of Mayhem,” “The Paperclip,” “The Augusta National of Race Tracks.”

Location: 340 Speedway Road, Ridgeway, VA

Capacity: 44,000-65,000 (depending on stands/ con guration)

History: At 0.526 miles (847 m) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the rst paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by partners H. Clay Earles, Henry Lawrence and Sam Rice.[2] It is also the only race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

CUP WATCH

The Championship 4 will be set Sunday with at Martinsville.

WHO IT FAVORS: William Byron. In the spring he led 212 of 403 laps to take the checkered flag at Martinsville for his second win of the year. The victory was no fluke for Byron as he scored back-to-back top- ve nishes on the 0.526mile short track before. With just a ve-point advantage after Homestead, Byron will need to run just as well to clinch his rst Championship 4 berth.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Valvoline Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday (Jared East/Getty Images)