Sports: Iola squads struggle at Chanute See B1
The Weekender Saturday, January 30, 2016
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Bright lights, big hearts Extravaganza to benefit CASA By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
C-H-A-M-P Fifth-grader Randi Wilson of Humboldt Elementary School was named this year’s Allen County Spelling Bee champion after correctly spelling “tarantula.” Runner-up Ty Scharff, from Marmaton Valley Junior High, missed advancing to the next round after stumbling over “espadrille” (“As in,” said the event’s pronouncer, Iola senior Clara Wicoff, “Melinda put on her espadrilles and headed for the boardwalk.”) Former mayor Bill Shirley presented the trophy to Wilson, who will advance to the state spelling bee in Hays on March 5. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Crime by the numbers By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Jared Warner showered Iola Rotarians with statistics Thursday. With the aid of comprehensive graphs, Iola’s chief of police told of a busy 2015. Officers conducted 89 house searches, Warner said, adding, “It takes a lot of police work, sometimes as long as two months,” to put together enough potentially incriminating evi-
dence to convince a judge to issue a search warrant. During 2015 they investigated 54 house burglaries, 52 of vehicles, and 38 thefts from unoccupied buildings, mainly garages that were unlocked. Another 50 times they were summoned to deal with shoplifting, although it’s likely far more of those kinds of thefts occur than are noticed, Warner said. See CRIME | Page A3
YATES CENTER — When Aimee Daniels received a phone call from a stranger saying she wanted to do a fundraiser for CASA, her immediate reaction was that it was a prank call. “No one has ever volunteered to raise funds for us,” she said. But Megan Weber is not just anyone. Which makes two. Because neither is Daniels. WHILE THE spotlight the night of Feb. 6 will be directed on area dancers in sparkly costumes, the focus is on CASA. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates whose purpose is to help neglected or abused children who are removed from their homes and must then deal with the court and social services systems. To recognize CASA’s good deeds, Weber, owner of The Studio in Yates Center, has coordinated dance troupes from Iola, Chanute and Yates Center to put on an extravaganza of talent at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Yates Center High School. Performing a total of 19 acts will be those from Weber’s dance company as well as those from Spirit Nation, Iola, the Firestarters at Allen Community College, Brenda’s Dance of Chanute,
Aimee Daniels, left, and Megan Weber the Yates Center band and choir, and Miss Hay Capital. “My goal is to raise $1,500,” through ticket sales and outright gifts, Weber said. With one week to go, she’s more than halfway there. CASA, a nationwide organization, was started here in 2004 and serves the counties of Allen, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson, which comprise the 31st Judicial District. Its office is in the Allen County Courthouse.
Last year 180 area children were removed from their homes and considered child in need of care cases, Daniels said. These children are either placed in foster homes, the homes of relatives, or those close enough to be considered family. Volunteers stay with a child’s case until he or she is placed in a safe, permanent home. Typical responsibilities include meeting on a monthly basis with the child See CASA | Page A6
Drama rings true with IMS teens By SUSAN LYNN The Iola Register
Kansas Day crooners Iola Middle School fifth-graders gathered for their Kansas-themed winter concert Thursday night. Above, they sing. Below, left, Javin Franklin and Payton Houk await their cues to strum. At right, Travis Wanker and Jack White apply their mallets to a balafon, an African xylophony-sortof-thing. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
For once, you’d like to see the kids bored, distracted or even unruly only because the topic at hand did not concern them. Instead, you could hear a pin drop. Thursday, presentations at Iola Middle School on teen violence held the audience captive as they not only heard a personal, tragic story, but also learned how to identify “red flags” that signal a relationship is headed into unhealthy, if not dangerous, territory. FOR CHRISTIE Brungardt, the lessons have come too late. Her beautiful, successful, talented and intelligent daughter, Jana, was murdered in 2008 by an ex-boyfriend. Brungardt, a professor at Fort Hays State University, addressed fifth- and sixthgraders and then seventhand eighth-graders in two presentations about dating violence.
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 65
“Humility is attentive patience.”
— Simone Well, French philosopher 75 Cents
Christie Brungardt And lest you think these students are too young to hear about such things, sadly, statistics indicate about 25 percent of U.S. teens experience some form of violence in their everyday lives, be it in their homes, relationships, or among acquaintances. Violent behaviors start early with bullying, Brungardt said. “Bullies are mean because they can be,” Brungardt See VIOLENCE | Page A3
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