The Iola Register, March 30, 2023

Powerful stories change lives

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Author Paul Griffin didn’t just ask Iola High School senior Jake Skahan to share his story. He coaxed it out of him.

It started with the usual “getting-to-know-you” chitchat in an auditorium filled with a couple hundred of Jake’s peers on a Tuesday morning.

“Jake, what’s your dream?” Griffin asked him.

“To be a physical therapist.”

“What are the steps to get there?”

Jake will attend the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth next fall on a football scholarship. The school has a good physical therapy program. After he graduates, he’d like to return to a small community, perhaps Iola, to establish his career and start a family.

“You’re killing it. You have it all mapped out,” Griffin said. The author, who spoke to

257: Empty building could become activity center

What would Iola schools do with an activity center that featured artificial turf inside a 4,000 square foot building?

Perhaps it could be an indoor playground, or give area sports teams or the high school marching band a place to practice during inclement weather.

USD 257 school board members and administrators will consider that question as

House advances budget amid objections over unchecked spending

By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Rep. Henry Helgerson appealed to his fellow House members’ sense of duty Tuesday as he asserted no more than “a handful of you” had actually read the 337-page budget proposal they were about to endorse.

Helgerson, an Eastborough Democrat, said lawmakers years ago would divide the state’s $16.6 billion spending blueprint into as many as eight separate appropriations bills, each of which could be examined in detail. Now, he said, the final plan will actually be crafted through negotiations between select House

maintenance director Aaron Cole seeks bids to renovate a former storage building near Iola Elementary School.

The district voted in August to buy the property on East Monroe for $35,000 from the Willard Horde trust.

Superintendent Stacey Fager said the district considered purchasing the property a few years ago when it bought the land across the street where the elementary school now sits. At the time, they didn’t have a use in mind.

When the property became available this fall, it seemed like a good idea to buy it, Fager said.

The property includes a 40 by 100 foot metal building on less than an acre of land.

Now, they’re working on a plan for the property. It makes sense to develop the area as some kind of indoor recreational facility.

“At this time of year, finding places to practice, especially during adverse weather

By VICKIE MOSS

exactly that: An

is a wonderful magician and hilarious comedian. It’s hard to do one individually, and he does them both well,” Dan Kays, director of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, said.

Clash Hutton, a freshman at Iola High School, from left, and Jake Skahan, a senior, listen as author Paul Griffin speaks as part of the Author Visit Program on Tuesday and Wednesday at area schools. Iola middle and high school students heard his presentation at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center on Tuesday morning. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Chipper Lowell will bring “The Chipper Experience” to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center Saturday.

Senate rescinds Iraq war authorization

WASHINGTON (AP)

— The Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the resolution that gave a green light for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, an effort to return a basic war power to Congress from the White House 20 years after an authorization many now say was a mistake.

Iraqi deaths are estimated in the hundreds of thousands, and nearly 5,000 U.S. troops were killed in the war after President George W. Bush’s administration falsely claimed that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass

destruction.

“This body rushed into a war,” said Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who has pushed for years to repeal the powers. The war has had “massive consequences,” Kaine said.

Senators voted 6630 to repeal the 2002 measure and also the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War. If passed by the House, the repeal would not be expected to affect any current military deployments. But lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back

congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments, and some lawmakers who voted for the Iraq War two decades ago now say that was a mistake.

“Americans want to see an end to endless Middle East wars,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, adding that passing the repeal “is a necessary step to putting these bitter conflicts squarely behind us.”

Supporters, including almost 20 Republican senators, say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that

Obituaries

LaFern McDonald

Iraq is now a strategic partner of the United States.

Opponents say the repeal could project weakness as the U.S. still faces conflict in the Middle East.

“Our terrorist enemies aren’t sunsetting their war against us,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is at home recovering from a fall earlier this month and missed the vote. “When we deploy our service members in harm’s way, we need to supply them with all the support and legal authorities that we can.”

House: Budget OK’d, with objections

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and Senate members.

As a result, lawmakers are not in a position to ask difficult questions about which state offices or employees are really necessary. The lack of transparency, he asserted, means the spending total continues to grow.

“You are losing your rights here in this body — the rights that are constitutionally given to you to look at and manage the budget, and to appropriate the funds,” Helgerson said. “You are giving them away.”

Helgerson found bipartisan support for his concerns as the House embarked on ambitious plans to take action on 21 bills throughout the day. Lawmakers are trying to make progress before adjourning April 6.

After a two-hour debate, House members set aside transparency concerns and advanced a budget bill that includes the transfer of $500 million to a rainy day fund, which would put the balance at $1.5 billion, and leaves the state with a $2.5 billion ending balance for the fiscal year that begins in July.

The bill makes adjustments to spending in the current fiscal year, including the removal of $53 million recommended by Gov. Laura Kelly to pay off water storage debt associated with Milford and Perry Lake reservoirs. The bill also outlines spending for fiscal year 2024. Public school funding would be handled in a separate bill.

Included in the House budget: $96 million to boost Medicaid rates for nursing facilities and $2 million for the state treasurer to establish an “alternative to abortion program” that promotes childbirth.

Not included: The governor’s $169.5 million request for a 5% raise for state employees or the judicial branch request for $16.3 million for a salary adjustment plan. Those items could be reconsidered in an omnibus bill when lawmakers return in May.

Rep. Stephen Owens, a Hesston Republican, proposed an amendment to block agencies from adding new full-time employees.

He joined Democrats in complaining that lawmakers don’t get time to dig into budgets before voting on them.

“We’re not taking the time that we need as an appropriation body to control spending,” Owens said. “It’s that simple. We talk about it. I bet you — the vast majority of the people in my party — campaigned to some extent on controlling state spending. I sure did. And then I get up here and I realize, man, we’re not really good at saying no.”

Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said lawmakers should be debating the budget rather than “sitting here like lemmings voting yes or voting no and heading off to lunch.”

He said he agreed with Owens about learning to say no, but not just on spending. Lawmakers also need to learn to say no to unwarranted tax breaks, he said. That includes tax breaks for those who have “the pull and friends in the Legislature to get themselves exempted,” he said.

“We need to learn how to say no to corporations who think that they somehow are deserving of tax breaks,” Carmichael said. “We need to learn how to say no to wealthy people who think that we ought to have quote flat

taxes or non-progressive taxes or even regressive taxes. It’s all part of the same mix.”

Rep. Trevor Jacobs, a Fort Scott Republican, said state agencies always want to expand, but lawmakers aren’t holding them accountable.

“We give tax cuts to corporations,” Jacobs said. “We give tax cuts to special interests. But we’re not paying our people and then we complain that we have vacancies.”

Lawmakers approved the Owens amendment on a 75-46 vote.

House Minority Leader Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat, secured support for an amendment to restore $54 million in annual funding to cities and counties to reduce local property tax rates.

The Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund was established in the 1930s, but lawmakers stopped funding it 20 years ago. Miller’s amendment would take effect in 2025.

Rep. Bill Clifford, a Garden City Republican, supported the chance for lawmakers “to do right with our

local units of government.”

“The No. 1 thing I hear about in western Kansas is property tax relief, and I’m excited that we get to vote on a tax bill today that actually gives some of that,” Clifford said.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, a Bunker Hill Republican who serves as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, challenged Miller’s amendment on a technicality but was overruled.

The Miller amendment survived on an 80-43 vote.

The Senate previously adopted a budget bill that features 3.25% spending cut and bans universities from making inquiries of faculty, students and contractors about diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Three members of both chambers will now meet to work out differences between the plans before lawmakers vote on the final product.

The House budget bill is inserted in Senate Bill 42, which originally authorized $22,983 in expenditures for claims against the state.

M. LaFern McDonald, 87, went to be with our Lord on Sunday, March 26, 2023.

LaFern was the only child born to Amos and Dorotha (Baker) Barnes on Jan. 31, 1936, in Iola. She was very proud that she was the fourth LaFern in an unbroken line of seven “LaFerns.”

She attended McKinley Elementary, Iola Junior and Senior High Schools, Westmar College in LaMars, Iowa, and St. Anthony’s School of Nursing in Denver.

LaFern was united in marriage to Dennis McDonald on June 12, 1955, in Iola. This union was blessed with five children. Dennis and LaFern dedicated 20 years to military life traveling to places such as Kansas, Virginia, Florida, Guam, California and Colorado before returning to Iola in 1973.

She was employed at Kress’s, the telephone office, Singer’s IGA, Guam country store, St. Anthony’s Hospital, Allen County Hospital and Mac’s Trophies. She played the piano for Calvary Methodist and Salem United Methodist Churches and was a wonderful prayer warrior. She was a member of the music club and sang in the Iola Christmas Vespers for many years. LaFern was a member of Sorosis Club and the Lioness Club, and enjoyed bowling in a league with her husband and family. LaFern was part of a Round Robin club that included former classmates that shared letters together. LaFern was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; daughter Carrie Dawn; son Michael Ray; daughter-in-law Debbie McDonald; and brotherin-law Martin Wright.

She is survived by her children, Deniece (Rodney) Edson, of Iola, Dr. J. David (Penny) McDonald, of Wichita, and Kelly McDonald, of Chanute; grandchildren, Nicole (Bill) King, Dennis (Emma) Edson, Aaron McDonald, Whitney McDonald and Taylor McDonald; great-grandchildren, Brenton and Danielle King, Ava Edson, Reed Wissman, Allie Bonhan, and Karma Moody; as well as many other family members and friends.

Family will greet friends 5-7 p.m., Tuesday, April 4, at The Venue, Feuerborn Family Funeral Service. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service chapel.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Salem Church, or Allen County Historical Society and can be left in the care of the funeral home at 1883 U.S. 54, Iola.

Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.

Bill Maier

William Glen (Bill) Maier, 63, of Iola, died Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Fredonia Regional Hospital.

Bill was born June 10, 1959, in Iola, to John H. Maier and Norma Jean (Kunkler) Maier.

Bill and Marilyn Lipps were married in Iola. She survives, as do sons, Josh (Kristen) Maier, Iola, Shane (Melissa Clay), LaHarpe, and John Maier, Iola; and two granddaughters, Kennedy and Libby Maier, Humboldt.

Cremation will take place and a service will be planned at a later date.

Memorials are suggested to the donor’s choice, and may be left at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 U.S. 54, Iola.

Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.

Judgeship interview schedules announced

CHANUTE — A schedule has been announced for interviews for a pair of district magistrate judge vacancies.

The 31st Judicial District Nominating Commission will convene at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 6, to interview nominees for the two vacancies, one in Allen County and the other for Neosho County.

Interviews will be at Chanute’s Judicial Center, 102 S. Lincoln St. One position was created by Judge Tod Davis’s appointment as a district judge. The other was among the new positions certified by the Kansas Supreme Court after state lawmakers approved funding to help meet the growing workload

within the judicial system. The committee will interview Melissa Dugan of Chanute at 9:30 a.m., followed by Iola attorney Chuck Apt at 10 o’clock. Yates Center’s

Zelda Schlotterbeck will be interviewed at 10:45 and Harry Edward Frock of Miami, Okla., at 11:15.

Author: The power of telling stories

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students from seven area schools this week as part of the Author Visit Program, then told his own story about working as an EMT in New York City. That 15year career started one morning when he was running along the East River and watched a plane flying erratically overhead. He came home and saw his wife standing in front of a television set.

It was Sept. 11, 2001, “and you know the rest.”

Like Jake, he wanted a job that would help others.

“So Jake, as you’re moving up the ladder, you’re going to be a director of physical therapy and I’m the guy who’s going to hire you,” Griffin continued. “I ask one question and I’ll know if you’re the one for the job. What’s your story?”

Jake talked about his younger brother, Mason, who has disabilities and special needs. Taking care of his brother shifted his perspective.

“You see the good inside people. You’re more optimistic,” Jake said. “It gives me that drive toward helping others.”

Griffin wasn’t done. He pushed further.

He told another story, about a 15-year-old orphan in Bogata, Colombia. She was one of 20 children who were about to age out of the orphanage to make room for younger children, and she had one chance to get adopted. On a website, she shared her story, a heart-wrenching tale of survival filled with specific details about how she sang to collect money for her family.

After he told her story, Griffin asked the audience to recall details. She found an old ski hat; people dropped coins into it as she sang. Why was the hat sad?

“The pink thread fell off,” someone called out the answer.

“Those details help you remember the story,” Griffin said.

Because of that story, Griffin and his wife adopted the girl. “That story” helped her get into a high school for students who are musically talented. She was recruited to college and given scholarships for

Vatican: Pope in hospital for scheduled tests

VATICAN CITY (AP)

— Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for some previously scheduled tests, slipping out of the Vatican after his general audience and before the busy start of Holy Week this Sunday.

The Vatican provided no details, including how long the 86-year-old pope would remain at the Gemelli hospital where he had intestinal surgery in 2021. But a statement from spokesman Matteo Bruni suggested Francis could remain at least overnight, since he only arrived in the afternoon.

singing.

“She used that story to get herself a part in an opera. She’ll use that story to get into graduate school. That story, those details, changed her life.”

Griffin turned back to Jake and asked him to tell a story about his brother. In front of the entire school.

“I was about 9 years old,” Jake began. “I had a friend over. It was about 9 o’clock at night and we’re in my room and I hear these heavy footsteps running down the hallway. I look out and see my dad carrying my brother on his shoulder with my mom and my grandma running behind him. They say, ‘We’re going to the hospital.’

“Once they were gone, me and my friend were like, what do we do? We call my other grandparents and stay the night with them. The next day I hear my brother is in the hospital, having seizures. He was transferred to Children’s Mercy and stayed there over a week.

“I remember all that time, not knowing what’s going to happen to my brother, if I was even going to still have my brother. I’ve always had that in the back of my mind, worrying about that.”

IT NEVER gets old, seeing a kid figure out the power of their story, Griffin said. His presentation isn’t the typical author talk. He brings students from the audience to the stage and asks questions to teach them how to tell their own story, weaving anecdotes from his life as examples.

“It keeps it fresh, every time,” he said. “You never know what story is going to be told or who is going to tell it.”

He once received a note from a student who was considering bringing a gun to school and shooting classmates. He listened to a child tell about being raped by her mother’s boyfriend.

“By telling their story, they can flip the script and make something happen. They can make life-saving changes. They can get closer to their dream,” Griffin said.

His ability to draw a story out of the youth he meets goes back to

1989, after he graduated from college and took a job working with atrisk, incarcerated teens. He worked in the conflict resolution unit.

Not long after he started, his unit was asked to talk with students after a school shooting.

“It was mostly just firing questions until they came to the answer you hoped they were going to come to, which is ‘I don’t know why we were fighting.’ If you really drill down deep enough, they would come to the realization of ‘this is stupid.’”

Griffin would work with other groups and organizations, such as churches, to conduct similar workshops in juvenile detention centers. He continues to work with incarcerated and at-risk youth.

Now, as an award-winning author of young adult novels, he uses similar techniques to reach students across the nation.

“You see the kids light up when they figure it out. That never gets old for me, being witness to that, seeing somebody make a connection that could potentially change their life,” he said.

“There aren’t many ways I can think of to make a day more thrilling than seeing somebody make a change, because very few people do and it’s hard for all of us. We fall into patterns. Seeing a kid break a pattern… Yeah, I don’t get tired of that.”

DEB GREENWALL, or-

ganizer of the Author Visit Program, first saw Griffin’s presentation in 2019 at a children’s literature festival.

“He was so magical, how he gets these kids to tell their story,” she said.

She wanted to bring him to Iola, to speak to high school students in particular.

“The high school kids don’t get to hear author talks like the younger kids do. They’re so busy and it’s hard to pull them all together,” she said.

Griffin worked with the local program to make it happen. They started by visiting fourth- and fifth-graders at Iola Elementary School on Tuesday morning, then met with Iola middle and high schools students at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center before traveling to Yates Center to speak to fifth grade and middle school students.

That evening, Griffin signed books at Iola Public Library. He used that time to speak at length with some of the children who attended. The event drew perhaps the largest attendance at a book signing at least since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to staff.

On Wednesday, Griffin visited with fifth grade and middle school students at Humboldt, Crest and Marmaton Valley.

Funding for the Author Visit Program is provided by the Helen Gates Whitehead Trust.

“The Holy Father has been at Gemelli since this afternoon for some previously scheduled checkups,” read the one-line statement.

Francis is due to celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend, which begins a busy series of ceremonies at the Vatican the following week: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday on April 9.

The pope spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021 following surgery for an intestinal narrowing. He had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed.

He said soon after that he had recovered fully and could eat normally. But in a Jan. 24 interview with The Associated Press, Francis said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, had “returned.”

Francis has also been using a wheelchair for over a year for strained ligaments in his right knee, and then a small fracture in his knee. He has said the injury is healing, and he has been walking more with a cane of late.

He has said he resisted having surgery for the knee problems because he didn’t respond well to the general anesthesia during the 2021 intestinal surgery.

Author Paul Griffin tells a story to Gauge Murray of Yates Center. Murray heard Griffin speak at his school on Tuesday morning and insisted on coming to the Iola Public Library that evening to get his books signed. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Pope Francis reacts as he addresses the media Feb. 5. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES/TIZIANA FABI/TNS

NC scraps law requiring gun permits

RALEIGH, N.C.

(AP) — North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff, after the Republican-controlled state legislature on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto — a first since 2018.

The House voted 71-46 to enact the bill, which eliminates the longstanding permit system requiring sheriffs

to perform character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. The Senate overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in a party-line vote on Tuesday.

The permit repeal takes effect immediately. Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warned it allows more dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales, which do not require a background

Chipper: Bowlus

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check, and limits law enforcement’s ability to prevent them from committing violent crimes.

But bill supporters say the sheriff screening process is no longer necessary in light of significant updates to the national background check system, and that the permit requirement didn’t serve as a crime deterrent.

Although Republican seat gains in the midterm elections

gave them veto-proof margins in the Senate, they were one seat shy of a similar majority in the House.

Wednesday’s House vote tally showed three Democrats failed to vote on the override, creating enough of a margin to meet the constitutional requirement. Republicans needed at least one Democratic member to join them, or as few as two Democrats not to vote.

er-coaster of rapid-fire ad libs and razor-sharp wit.

“He’s been all over the world,” Kays said. “In his early years, Chipper was on Jay Leno quite a bit. He’s been on Comedy Central and Masters of Illusion. People will recognize him.”

The show includes quite a bit of audience engagement and is family-friendly, Kays said.

“Chipper is a great guy. He’s very humble. I enjoyed meeting him in New York earlier this year and was able to see him

live. This fits our community because he appeals to all ages,” Kays said.

He talked about the challenges of bringing audiences back to watching live performing arts shows after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want people to understand the quality of what’s coming to the Bowlus for the value of the ticket,” he said. “Even if you don’t know what the show is about, I promise it’s worth taking a chance. You’ll have a good time.”

Tickets are still available at bowluscenter.org

BOE: May convert empty building into activity center

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conditions, is extremely tough,” Fager said.

For example, the Iola High School softball team has only been able to practice outdoors three times in the past couple of weeks because of rain, and two of those times they had to play in a parking lot.

All of the schools have — or will have — new gym floors. The high school refinished its gym last year; the middle school gym will be redone this summer.

“Our gym floors see a lot of usage this time of year with indoor practices. Having a facility like this would be so beneficial for that to keep usage off our floors and make them last a lot longer,” Fager said.

“It wouldn’t just be for athletics. We could see all kinds of activities utilized, even school functions during the day or maybe elementary physical education class. Maybe we could open it to the community for events as well.”

Board member Dan Willis said he thought the facility could also be useful for SAFE BASE, the after-school program. He was disappointed to see SAFE BASE activities in the gym displaced by basketball practices.

COLE sought preliminary cost estimates to turn the building into something the district can use.

It will need metal on the outside, including the roof, as well as a ceiling inside. A heating unit will be needed, but Cole doesn’t plan to add air conditioning. Overhead doors on the north and south sides could allow for a breeze to flow through the building on warmer days. The floor will be artificial turf, and the structure is set up well for that with concrete footings and a gravel and dirt floor.

The district likely would need to build an addition with restrooms or a small locker room type area. That means the district will need to add water, sewer and electric services.

Cole came up with a total of about $243,000.

He also explored the possibility of building a new metal building on the site, but found much of the same work would be needed and the cost would likely exceed the renovation.

The board was receptive to the idea but asked administrators

to come up with a more specific plan for use. They asked Cole to seek more specific cost estimates and contact the city for code requirements.

Willis said the district still has money left from constructing the new elementary school and other projects to put toward the renovation.

“It’s a lot of money,” Tony Leavitt, board member, said. “If we’re going to do it, let’s figure out how to use it. There’s got to be ways we haven’t thought about.”

Curriculum update

The board approved a new language arts curriculum.

Jenna Higginbotham, curriculum director, told board members teachers had been testing different programs to see what might work best.

Board members were most excited by changes at the high school. Instead of grade-based English classes, students could take a variety of classes based on reading level. Level 1 would be introductory classes, typical of what a freshman might take.

Classes would offer reading and writing skills.

High school teachers are also excited about the classes, Higginbotham said.

Exactly what classes will be offered depends

on student enrollment, but students have shown the most interest in introduction to writing, fiction writing, research writing, true crime and mythology.

“This is a big shift,” Higginbotham said. “It’s not just requesting money to buy the materials but also the buy-in from the entire district.”

Elementary and middle school students tested a program called “My Perspectives” and decided it would be a good fit.

Higginbotham asked the board to approve

$256,786 for all of the new programs. She hopes to use money from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II), a pandemic relief package aimed at reversing learning loss because of COVID-19. If approved, the district could be left with a bill of just $43,786.

IN OTHER news:

Graduation will return to the IHS gym. Starting with the COVID-modified 2020 graduation, the district

had outdoor graduation at the stadium while preparing the gym as a backup in the event of inclement weather.

Speaking of returning events, the PTO Carnival is back for the first time since COVID. It will be at IES on Saturday, April 15. The Regional Rural Technology Center is gearing up for next year and could possibly expand existing programs. One possibility is to offer an evening welding class, which would allow members

of the community to attend. A second instructor has been hired for next year’s automotive technology class. On the health side, Neosho County Community College will offer a phlebotomy class next year. Board member Robin Griffin-Lohman wanted to recognize elementary school staff who help keep traffic moving during morning and afternoon drop-off. She also gave a “shout out” to the IHS FFA for its success at recent competitions.

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Turning back child labor laws puts most vulnerable in peril

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE Los Angeles Times

Suddenly lawmakers in several states are rushing to relax child labor laws to make it easier for teenagers to work longer hours, later hours and more dangerous jobs.

In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law that scraps the requirement that 14- and 15-yearolds first obtain work papers before getting a job. Ohio’s state Senate voted overwhelmingly to let 14- and-15year-olds work until 9 p.m. on school days. In Minnesota, Republican lawmakers are pushing to let 16- and-17year-olds work on construction sites, and in Iowa, to let 16- and 17-year-olds serve alcoholic beverages in bars.

It’s hard to imagine a worse time to roll back restrictions on child labor, even as some lawmakers say these measures are needed because many businesses face difficulties finding enough workers. A recent New York Times report found children (some as young as 12) illegally working in factories, some supplying companies such as General Motors, Ford, Walmart, Target and Whole Foods.

In February, the U.S. Department of Labor slapped a $1.5 million fine on Packers Sanitation Services, a cleaning contractor that had illegally hired more than 100 workers age 13 to 17 to clean 13 meat-processing plants in eight states. These teens frequently worked overnight shifts, with some suffering injuries from using dangerous cleaning agents. The Labor Department says the child labor problem is growing; it found more than 3½ times as many minors employed illegally last year as in 2015. The official data may represent only a tiny share of such cases because reporting and enforcement are difficult, and companies often do whatever it takes to hide these violations.

ian Koch brothers and their network — sends a strong message to employers that hiring young teens is just fine. These legislative moves could further embolden employers to flout child labor regulations. There are numerous obstacles to effective enforcement of child labor law: Many teenagers use false IDs, Labor Department inspectors in many states say their offices are badly understaffed, and there’s a flood of unaccompanied immigrant teens crossing the border who are desperate to find jobs.

Sanders’ office argues that Arkansas laws — even with the new relaxed rules — remain plenty strong to provide adequate protection to young workers. (The new law’s backers said that getting work papers was too much of a hassle.) But some child welfare and labor advocates, perhaps remembering Lewis Hine’s early-20th century photos of children toiling in mines and factories, worry that the nation is moving backward on child labor laws that have been in place for generations.

Connie Ryan, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, told lawmakers, “Do you remember the images of children in manufacturing and other dangerous work from the early 1900s? There is a reason our society said that it is inappropriate to work in those conditions.”

Children as young as 13 were found to be hired illegally to clean meat-processing plants in eight states, frequently put on overnight shifts and suffering injuries from using dangerous cleaning agents and equipment.

Teenagers who do paid work for five, 10, 15 hours a week in safe jobs can have worthwhile experiences. They can learn responsibility, punctuality and other skills. But rolling back laws so that they can work six hours on school days or until 11 p.m. can have broader negative consequences. It’s important that teens have enough time for school, sports and other activities and enough time with friends and families and for sleep.

Our children are not safe

Nashville is grieving, broken and angry. Citizens feel powerless and we have so many questions about why the fatal shooting at The Covenant School on Monday happened.

There are no words that can adequately capture or assuage the grief, especially in this time of shock.

We are united in that we are not OK.

We are generally in agreement in that our best intentions and hearts must be in support of the victims and their families.

We mourn Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Hallie Scruggs, 9; William Kinney, 9; Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

The suspected shooter is a 28-year-old former student who was killed at the scene.

We commend first responders and law enforcement including Metro Nashville Police Department for a prompt response.

Mass shootings continue to rise

Thoughts and prayers are only a start because we must remain united and uncompromising that this type of tragedy must never

be acceptable. The United States has seen an escalation in mass shootings over the years and 2023 has seen more than 100 in fewer than 100 days.

The No. 1 cause of death for children in the United States is accidental or intentional killing by firearms, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Parents pray and hope that their children’s school will be among the safest places. That is the way it should be.

Typically, after school shootings, we have seen a push-pull for more or fewer gun restrictions that become a distraction to the needs of those victimized by gun violence.

The 2022 massacre in Uvalde, however, led to bipartisan federal regulations, uniting gun control advocates and law-abiding gun owners in Congress, to try to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Meaningful change can come through debate and action

It shouldn’t be wrong to talk about or even re-assess

laws that may not be working or prudent and that were passed even in spite of objections from law enforcement.

The number of firearms stolen from vehicles has skyrocketed over the years from 200 when the “guns in trunks” law was passed exactly a decade ago to 1,400 last year.

The permitless carry law of 2021 meant even law-abiding citizens were no longer exposed to valuable training about the law.

In the “You Might Be Right” podcast by former Tennessee Govs. Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam, Middle Tennessee-based writer David French advocated for “red flag laws,” that would allow for a court to remove firearms from people who are deemed violent to themselves or others.

We may not have the total answer right now, but we need our lawmakers to face the issue, debate solutions and take meaningful action for the sake of the public’s safety.

We cannot simply forget what happened at Covenant and move on.

— The Tennessean

The push to ease child labor regulations comes at a terrible time because U.S. schoolchildren moved backward academically during the pandemic. Many studies have found that students who work 20 or more hours a week are more likely to drop out of school and have their grades decline, not to mention that they’re often too exhausted to do schoolwork or stay awake in class.

Dropping out can lead to worse economic prospects. High school dropouts had median weekly earnings of just $626 in 2021, 23% below the $809 earned by high school graduates (without college). Workers with a bachelor’s degree earn $1,334 a week, more than double what high school dropouts earn.

All this speaks to the need to maintain child labor laws and step up enforcement. Unfortunately the move to ease such laws — an effort long backed by the libertar-

The U.S. faces a labor shortage, but we should be wary of trying to plug that hole with 14- and 15-year-olds. (Some of the very people who are pushing to let younger teens work longer and later are the same people opposed to letting in more immigrants who could fill some of those job vacancies.)

Hiring more 14- through 17-year-olds and letting them work longer hours might help some businesses in the short term. But it could shift these teens’ focus and energies away from school, making it more likely they will drop out and ultimately become lower-paid, less-productive workers. Such a decline in educational performance would not only be bad for these teenagers’ futures, but could also hurt America’s overall economy in the long run.

About the author: Steven Greenhouse, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, is the author of “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor.”

More transplants, more saved lives

It’s a now-taken-forgranted miracle that each year in these United States, more than 40,000 people have many healthy years added to their lives by getting new kidneys, livers, hearts and, in rare cases, lungs. That’s terrific, but the bureaucratic apparatus that connects people in need to organs isn’t nearly as efficient as it can be. Just in time, the Biden administration is moving to change that by opening up for bid the contract that’s been performed for decades by the United Network for Organ Sharing.

The UNOS and the regional procurement organizations that receive and distribute organs are run by well-meaning and committed professionals. But it’s been apparent for decades now that, given advances in medicine, technology and transportation, there’s got to be a smarter way to replace failing organs.

Even as the 40,000 num-

ber is worthy of celebration, 100,000 people are on the waitlist for a new lease on life, and some 12,000 every year die or become too sick to get a transplant while in the queue. Roughly 28,000 organs go unrecovered annually, often for banal reasons. One estimate is that a more efficient distribution of organs overall could save 25,000 lives per year. Inequities add insult to the injury that is inefficiency. A report released last year by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that “key components of the transplantation system — donor hospitals, organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network — suffer from significant

Even with its success, the organ transplant bureaucracy is leaving 100,000 on the waitlist for a new lease on life.

variations in performance, which often creates an inefficient and inequitable system. An individual’s chance of referral for transplant evaluation, being added to the waiting list, and receiving a transplant varies greatly based on race and ethnicity, gender, geographic location, socioeconomic status, disability status and immigration status.” To name just one, the wait for an organ for Black patients is on average a year longer than for white patients. Such inequities should hardly be surprising to a nation where the likelihood of maternal mortality varies sharply by race. But what’s unsurprising can also be unacceptable. Fix this system.

— New York Daily News

A parent walks with his daughter from Woodmont Baptist Church where children were reunited with their families after a mass shooting at The Covenant School on Monday in Nashville. Three students and three adults were killed by the shooter, a 28-year-old woman. The shooter was killed by police responding to the scene. (SETH HERALD/GETTY IMAGES/ TNS)

The Nashville Tennessean:

2023 NMRMC Medical Staff

Emergency Department

David Bohlender, MD, Brandon Haefke, MD

Brian Kueser, MD, Rebecca Watson, MD, Mark Wendt, DO

Family Medicine

Martin Dillow, MD, David Guernsey, MD

Bruce Lee, DO, Timothy Spears, DO, Matthew Strang, MD, Robert Thomen, MD, Sean Webb, MD

General Surgery

Yi Ying Law, MD, Matthew Leroy, MD, Charles VanHouden, MD

Pediatrics Greta McFarland, MD

Obstetrics/Gynecology, Dawne Lowden, MD

Cathy Mih-Taylor, MD

Orthopedic Surgergy (hand) Alexander Mih, MD

Radiology Kevin Hamm DO

Urology Jason Robinson MD and 27 specialty & visiting clinic physicians

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Sports Daily B

Iola slugs past Burlington

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Iola High baseball team hit their way to victory over Burlington on Tuesday night.

The Mustangs (3-0) attacked at the plate and hit three homers while the pitching was efficient enough to secure 17-8 and 8-4 victories. Landon Weide and Ben Kerr each hit home runs in the opening game before Tre Wilson smashed an inside-the-park homer in game two.

Game one

The Mustangs took a 2-run deficit heading into the bottom of the first inning as a challenge to overcome. And boy, did they. Iola responded with 10 runs across home plate.

“Knowing that your team is capable of battling back, it’s a good feeling. Any time we’re having meaningful at bats and making meaningful plays it prepares us well,” said Iola head coach Levi Ashmore. “I liked that they got out early. I want our guys to be able to handle adversity,”

“We can’t control who’s in the other dugout but we can control how we play,” Ashmore added.

Brandon McKarnin got the start on the mound for Iola and served up a two-run homer to Trenton Davidson in the first inning for the early 2-0 deficit.

McKarnin, a senior, immediately redeemed himself at the plate when he smacked a two-run double

to right field to knot the game at 2-2. Landon Weide then rocketed his home run down the left field line for a couple more runs and the quick 4-2 advantage. Iola’s Korbin Cloud put the finishing touches on the first inning when he smashed a two-run double to right field for a 12-2 lead heading to the second inning.

“We have a bunch of competitive kids who know how to play the game,” said Ashmore. “My message to them is always just to have competitive at bats, swing at good pitches, hand the bat to the next guy and put some pressure on them on

the bases.” Burlington brought the game within four runs in the top of the fourth inning after Landen Ernst drove in four runs to make it a 12-8 ballgame. The Mustangs didn’t wait long to widen the margin again when they plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 14-8 lead.

The runs came on a Carter Hutton RBI single to first base before Kerr whacked a two-run homer in the sixth and Wilson ripped an RBI double to center in the sixth as well.

The Mustangs tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim a

Mustangs battered by Wildcats

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Iola High softball team fought tooth and nail against Burlington but was unsuccessful in their pair of matchups at home on Tuesday night.

The Mustangs (0-4) made it a tied game in the second inning and a threerun game in the fifth but couldn’t withstand Burlington’s late offensive run while falling in game one, 15-7. Iola was then shut out in their second game, 15-0.

17-8 victory.

Weide, McKarnin and Kerr each drove in a team-high three runs for Iola while Wilson had four hits and McKarnin smacked three hits.

Jarrett Herrmann, Weide and Wilson each scored a team-high three runs.

McKarnin lasted two innings on the mound, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out four Burlington batters. Grady Dougherty came on in relief in the third inning and allowed six runs on three hits before Mac Leonard pitched a scoreless final two innings.

See MUSTANGS | Page B3

Local track teams meet in Uniontown

UNIONTOWN — Humboldt, Marmaton Valley and Crest competed at the Uniontown Invitational track meet on Tuesday.

Crest secured first place as a team on the girls side while the Marmaton Valley boys earned first place as a team for the first time in over six years. Humboldt’s girls finished in third place as a team while Marmaton Valley’s girls came in fourth place.

On the boys side, Crest finished in second place and Humboldt secured seventh.

The schools had various athletes compete in a total of 38 events, separated into field events, preliminaries and finals.

In the girls high jump, Humboldt’s Laney Hull finished in third place with a 4-feet, 8-inch jump. Crest’s Josie Walter finished in fourth at 4’6” and Marmaton Valley’s Kaitlyn Drake came in sixth at 4’6” while Piper Barney finished in seventh with a jump of 4’6”. Crest’s Kaelin Nilges came in 10th at 4’4”.

In the boys high jump, Marmaton Valley’s Todd Stephenson finished in seventh

with a jump of 5 feet.

“It is good to get out and compete and get back into the swing of things,” said Humboldt head coach Eric Carlson. “I was pleased with the way our kids performed and more pleased with the way they competed. We have quite a few inexperienced kids at all grade levels. I felt everyone met or exceeded my expectations for the first meet of the year.”

In the girls long jump, Marmaton Valley’s Janae Granere earned first place with a jump of 16 feet, .75 inches with teammate Barney coming in second place with a jump of 14’ 1.5”. Crest’s Kinley Edgerton and Brinley McGhee finished in fifth and sixth place with jumps of 13’ 6.75” and 12’ 10.25”, respectively. Drake came in 10th place for the Wildcats with a jump of 12’ 1.25”.

In the boys long jump, Crest’s Ethan Godderz secured first place at 19 feet, 1.75 inches while his teammate, McGhee, came in second place with a jump of 18’ 6”. Humboldt’s Trey Sommer placed fourth with a long jump of 18’.25”. Crest’s Jerry

See TRACK | Page B4

Game one Iola head coach Chris Weide turned to his reliable starting pitcher, Elza Clift, to pitch both games of the doubleheader with Burlington. She allowed only two runs in the first inning before the Mustangs knotted it up in the bottom of the first.

Aysha Houk and Clift each reached base in the bottom of the first inning and later scored on a pair of RBI fielder’s choices by Jadyn Kaufman and Harper Desmarteau.

“I felt like we were a bit more aggressive tonight. We had some more confident swings,” said Weide. “The deeper into the season we get, they will get more live at bats and become more comfortable. Just being more confident and comfortable at the plate is key.”

After Burlington brought another runner around to score in the top of the second, Iola’s Reese Curry smacked an RBI single to center field to knot the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the second. The Mustangs were held scoreless until a four-run fifth inning.

Iola allowed three runs in the top of the fourth inning when Burlington’s Hannah Sides and Carlee Cole touched home plate to make it a 6-3 Wildcat lead.

“Elza pitched really well tonight. She threw a ton of strikes and battled through some tough situations,” Weide said. “Defensively, it’s a lack of focus sometimes. We make a mistake and have trouble letting it go. We carry it over to the next inning or the next play.”

After Burlington scored four runs in the top of the fifth for a 10-3 lead, Iola plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a three-run game. Alana Mader, Clift, Curry and Desmarteau all scored to cut into the deficit and make it a 10-7 game.

That was all the offensive firepower the Mustangs could come up with as Burlington added on five more runs in the top of the seventh for the 15-7 final.

Iola finished with 11 total hits, led by Houk’s

See IOLA | Page B3

Iola’s Brandon McKarnin rounds third and heads for home plate against Burlington. REGISTER/ QUINN BURKITT

Rodriguez came in seventh with a jump of 17’ 11.5”. Marmaton Valley’s Stephenson took 10th place in the long jump with a jump

of 17’2”. Humboldt’s Asher Hart came in 13th place at a 16’ 2.75” jump and Cub Caleb Gunderman came in 17th

Marmaton Valley’s Brayden Lawson. PHOTO BY: HALIE LUKEN

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Yates Center begins season flat against Northeast

YATES CENTER —

The Yates Center High baseball team took a couple of sluggish losses in their season opener against Northeast on Monday.

The Wildcats (0-2) allowed their pitching to get the best of them in a 19-5 loss in game one. Northeast then continued their offensive stomping and cruised to a 24-6 win over the Wildcats in game two.

Game one

The Vikings opened up the game by scoring two runs in the first with the Wildcats responding with three runs. Northeast then scored one more run in the second, two runs in the fourth, five in the fifth and nine in the sixth inning.

Jacob Meigs started at pitcher for Yates Center, lasting 3.1 in-

nings, allowing five runs on eight hits and struck out two Northeast batters. Jayston Rice came on in relief, pitching the next 1.2 frames and served up another five runs on three hits.

“Both games were competitive earlier,” said Yates Center head coach Jarrod McVey. “We showed a few signs of the hard work we have been doing and I was proud of the boys for battling, but unfortunately we just didn’t execute a lot of things well. We will continue to work hard to get better day in and day out as a team.”

Cannon Cavender and Rice each drove in a team-high two runs for Yates Center. Cavender led at the plate after collecting two hits and scoring three runs.

Game two

It didn’t get any prettier for the Wildcats in the second game. Northeast scored in every inning, including a nine-run fourth inning, for a 24-6 victory over the Wildcats.

Cavender started on the mound and allowed five runs through 1.1 innings before Emmitt Brittain allowed six runs to score through 1.1 innings. Blake Morrison took the ball in the middle of the second inning and served up nine runs on four hits to Northeast.

The Wildcats were led at the plate by Emmit George’s three RBIs and two hits. Miegs also had good at bats and drove in two runs while knocking one hit.

Yates Center travels to Pleasanton on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Royals’ Sherman optimistic about new ballpark, current team

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

(AP) — The first thing that Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman thinks about when he wakes up each morning is how the club, stuck in what seems like an interminable rebuild, will play on that particular day.

Not where they will play four or five years down the road.

Yet given the modest expectations for a team that lost nearly 100 games a year ago, it makes sense many Royals fans are just as interested — quite possibly more so — in the plans for a downtown ballpark than whether infielder Bobby Witt Jr.

can double down on his brilliant rookie season or pitcher Brady Singer can truly become a staff ace.

That’s why Sherman’s second thought probably moves to the downtown ballpark, too.

“This is a huge decision, and I look at it as maybe the most important decision we’ll make as long as we have the privilege of stewarding this team,” Sherman said before the Royals held a final workout Wednesday ahead of opening day. “I’m probably as anxious as you to get moving on that, but it’s a complicated process.”

The Royals have called Kauffman Stadium home since the sister to Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, opened 50 years ago next month.

And while most stadiums are replaced because they have become outdated, the unique, space-aged look of Kauffman Stadium — built during an era in which teams trended toward impersonal, multisport concrete donuts for their homes — remains beloved by Royals fans and visitors alike.

See KANSAS | Page B4

Iola: Softball fights but falls

Continued from B1

hits and Clift, Curry, Kaufman and Desmarteau each knocked two hits. Houk and Clift each scored a teamhigh two runs.

Game two

It was all Burlington in the second game.

The Wildcats waited

until the fifth inning to break through for a score, plating four runs in the fifth, three runs in the sixth inning and eight runs in the seventh. “We have to stop the four- or five-out innings where we make a couple errors and give them free outs,” said Weide. “It puts you in

a hole that’s hard to climb out of.”

Iola couldn’t get anything started offensively, producing only three hits all game. They were a Clift single in the first and a Houk single and Curry double in the sixth.

Iola hosts Chanute on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Yates Center’s Molly Proper throws to first base in a game last season.

REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Lady Cats outdueled

YATES CENTER —

The Yates Center High softball team ran into a red hot Northeast team on Monday and dropped a couple of games, 14-2 and 13-3.

Northeast, based in Arma, is coming off a Three Rivers League championship title season when they went 18-2 a year ago and returned nearly all of their starting players. It was an eye-opening season opener for a Yates Center squad who is also expected to finish very well this season.

Game one

The Yates Center Wildcats scratched one run across the plate in the first inning and another in the bottom of the fourth to bring the score to 9-2. Yates Center’s Kinley Morrison started in the pitcher’s circle.

Northeast got on the

board in the top of the first when Lexi Yarnell scored on a Shelby Underwood reach on error for the early 1-0 advantage.

Callyn Miller got on base and later scored on an Emma Grogg RBI groundout to give Yates Center an early run and knot the game at 1-1.

The third and fourth innings hurt the Wildcats most when the Vikings plated eight runs between the two innings for a 9-1 lead.

Northeast’s Ciara Neville put the final touches on the big fourth inning by scoring the ninth run of the game.

“Our girls played well. We had one inning each game that got away from us,” said Yates Center head coach Scott Grogg.

“With a lot of young girls in new positions we will continue to improve. I’m not wor-

ried about where we will end up. We have a great group of young ladies.”

Grogg then reached base on an error and scored a few batters later to make it a 9-2 game.

The Vikings brought five more runs home in the fifth inning for the 14-2 Wildcat loss.

Game two The Wildcats were then taken down in their second game by 13-3.

Molly Proper scored the opening run in the first inning before Grogg scored in the third inning and Proper came around to score again in the bottom of the sixth inning. Northeast jumped all over Yates Center’s pitcher, Proper, but not until later in the game.

See YATES | Page B4

Mustangs: Come alive at plate

Continued from B1

Game two Another rough start in game two seemed to light a match under the Mustangs. A four-run second inning sparked by a Tre Wilson three-run triple gave the Mustangs a 5-3 lead.

“It’s fireworks when Tre gets up to the plate,” said Ashmore. “He puts together good at bats every time he’s up. He is also playing awesome in center field. He’s a complete

player, a competitive kid who really understands the game.”

The Mustangs brought three more runs across in the bottom of the fourth inning for the extended 8-3 lead. That would be all Iola needed to secure the victory as Burlington scored one run in the bottom of the fifth for the 8-4 final.

Wilson drove in a team-high three runs while McKarnin drove in another two runs.

Wilson, McKarnin and Cloud each knocked two hits. Leonard started on the mound and pitched three innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Sophomore Gavin Jones impressed out of the bullpen when he threw four innings of hitless baseball with only one run allowed. Jones also struck out four Wildcats. Iola plays host to Chanute on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Kansas: City Royals set sail in new season

Continued from B3

The problem is that despite numerous renovations over the years, the very concrete holding the ballpark together has begun to crumble in places. The cost simply to repair and maintain the ballpark has become prohibitive.

So with the decision essentially made for them to build an entirely new stadium, the Royals revealed plans to build an entire development in the same mold of The Battery Atlanta, where the Braves built Truist Park, and the Ballpark Village in St. Louis, where the new Busch Stadium is

merely the centerpiece of a whole entertainment district. No site has been secured, but several of the most promising are in downtown Kansas City, where the Power & Light District along with T-Mobile Center have spearheaded a successful era of urban renewal.

Sherman has said that private funds would cover the majority of the stadium cost and the entire village, each carrying a price tag of about $1 billion.

But if any public funding will be used, as it was to build and maintain Kauffman Stadium, then it would

need to be voted upon, and the earliest that it could show up on a ballot would be August.

“You look at Atlanta, they took some raw ground — they started with 85 acres — and that has been a complete home run,” said Sherman, who purchased the Royals in August 2019, shortly before the pandemic wreaked havoc on team finances.

“This is one of the reasons we want to do this: That’s helped the Braves become more competitive,” Sherman said of the vast potential for increased revenue for one of the smallest-market teams

YC: Softball

Continued from B3

in baseball. “They have locked up and extended the core of their future, and the Braves are in a great position from a baseball standpoint.”

So perhaps the first two thoughts Sherman has each day — about performance and the future — are one and the same.

When it comes to the team itself, the Royals were largely quiet throughout the winter, though that was by design.

Rather than spending heavily on free agents that might help them win a few more games, they decided to stay the course with a promising young ros-

Track: Athletes sprint into new season

Continued from B1

place with a jump of 14’ 1”.

In the girls triple jump, Marmaton Valley’s Granere placed first with a jump of 33 feet, 8.5 inches while Piper Barney came in second place with a 33’ 1.75” jump. Humboldt’s Morgan Sterling placed third with a jump of 29’1.50”. Marmaton Valley’s Kylah Sanders placed fifth with a jump of 25’ 6.25”.

The boys triple jump saw Godderz secure first place for Crest with a 40 feet, 9-inch jump.

Marmaton Valley’s Stephenson placed fourth at 33’ 8” and Humboldt’s Byron Westbrook came in sixth place with a jump of 29’ 8.75”.

In the girls discus, Crest’s Delaney Ramsey secured third place with a throw of 77’ 1.50”.

Marmaton Valley’s Elizabeth Lewis took ninth with a throw of 60’ 8” and LesLeigh Cary took 11th with a 54’ 6” throw.

For the boys discus throw, Marmaton Valley’s Evan Kent got first place with a throw of 117’ 9” and Bryce Ensminger claimed third place with a throw of 85’ 2.50”. Humboldt’s Tanner King came in fifth place with a throw of 74’ 8.50”.

In the girls javelin throw, Humboldt’s Haviland got first place with a 100’ 2” mark and Lady Cub Assya Goforth claimed sixth with a throw of 75’ 10”.

For the boys javelin throw, Marmaton Valley’s Ensminger took second place and team-

mate Brayden Lawson took third with marks of 120’ 7” and 115 feet, respectively.

In the girls shot put, Humboldt’s Haviland came in third with a 28’ 9.75” mark while Crest’s Delaney Ramsey finished in fifth with a mark of 26’ 8”.

In the boys shot put, Marmaton Valley’s Kent came in first with a 41’ 2.25” mark and teammate Ensminger finished in third place with a 35’ 1.50” throw. Lawson rounded out the top five places with a mark of 34’ 4.75”.

In the boys 110 meter hurdles, Crest’s Ryan West came in fifth place with a 20.39-second mark. Humboldt’s Maxtyn Mueller, Cooper Gillespie and Gunner Stone rounded out the top eight with times of 20.89, 26.21 and 29.19, respectively.

For the girls 100 meter dash, Humboldt’s Sterling finished in eighth with a 14.90 time and Marmaton Valley’s Sanders came in ninth with a 14.97 time.

On the boys side in the 100-meter dash, Crest’s Brenton Edgerton came in first with a 11.91 time. Marmaton Valley’s Jaedon Granere took second place with a 12.05 time and Humboldt’s Sommer took fourth place with a 12.36 time. Crest’s McGhee, a 12.5 time, finished in sixth and teammate Levi Prasko finished in 10th with a time of 13.03.

In the boys 200 meter dash, Crest’s Rodriguez came in second place

with a 24.21-second mark and Prasko came in fourth place with a mark of 24.69. Granere, with a 24.75 mark, finished in fifth for Marmaton Valley and Sommer took sixth with a 25.70 mark. Crest’s Ryan West placed in ninth with a 26.45 mark.

Crest’s girls won the girls 4x800 meter relay race with a time of 12 minutes, 32:47 seconds. The Lancer boys finished in third in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 10:43.72.

In the girls 100 meter hurdles, Humboldt’s Hull finished in first with a time of 17.93 seconds while Crest’s Mia Coleman came in second with a time of 18.28.

In the girls 1600 meter run, Crest’s Josie Walter took first place with a 5:59.01 time. On the boys side, Marmaton Valley’s Vincente Brum took fifth and Zach Allee secured sixth with times of 5:53.95 and 5:58.77, respectively.

In the girls 4x100 meter relay, the Crest girls took home first with a time of 55.95 while Humboldt placed in fourth with a 59.56 time. Crest’s boys also secured first in the boys 4x100 meter relay with a 48.02 time. Humboldt’s boys came in fourth at 56.70.

In the boys 400 meter dash, Marmaton Valley’s Granere got third place with a 58.93 time and Crest’s Elijah Taylor snagged fifth place with a time of 59.93. Lancer teammate, Rodriguez,

came in sixth with a time of 1:01:03.

In the girls 300 meter hurdles, Humboldt’s Hull grabbed first with a 56:64 time and Marmaton Valley’s Isabelle Bernsten got fourth with a time of 1:08.49.

In the girls 800 meter run, Crest’s Peyton Schmidt and Walter secured first and second place, respectively, with times of 2:44.80 and 2:48.48. Humboldt’s Skylar Hottenstein got third place and Havenstein took fourth with times of 2:56.48 and 3:02.48, respectively.

Crest’s Aubrey Allen came in fifth place with a time of 3:04.29.

In the girls 200 meter dash, Marmaton Valley’s Sanders got second place with a time of 31.27. On the boys side, Humboldt’s Sommer took first with a 25.09 time and Marmaton Valley’s Granere took third place with a time of 25.21.

In the girls 3200 meter run, Crest’s Schmidt and Aubrey Allen took first and second place with times of 13:02.27 and 14:11.57, respectively. Marmaton Valley’s Sophia Heim got fourth place with a time of 16:48.40. Crest’s Gunner Ellington came in second place on the boys side.

In the girls 4x400 meter relay, Crest secured first place with a time of 4:47.57 and Marmaton Valley got second place with a 4:54.21 time. Crest’s boys got fifth place in the event with a time of 4:28.57.

ter in the hopes that the development of those players would yield better results.

In fact, Sherman said, the club has been discussing extensions for some of the Royals’ foundational pieces — presumably Witt, who was fourth in voting for AL rookie of the year, and Singer, who was 10-5 with a 3.23 ERA last season.

“We’re having conversations about that as we speak,” Sherman said. “We have a number of young players that we’re trying to evaluate and we’re talking to their representatives about what might work.”

The Vikings scored one run in the bottom of the second to knot the game at 1-1 before Chasity Young, Liberty Sigman, Nevil and Underwood scored in the top of the fourth for a 5-2 advantage. Underwood scored again in the fifth to make it a 6-2 deficit for Yates Center.

Northeast then brought seven more runs across in the bottom of the sixth inning for the 13-2 final.

Yates Center travels to St. Paul next Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Parent worries teen daughters have no friends

Hi Carolyn: I can’t move past this. I have two teen daughters, and neither one has a good friend group. They don’t do any of the things I associate with “normal” teen stuff, such as talking daily, planning hangouts or going shopping, to football games or to dances. All my friends’ kids have that; it’s confirmed almost daily.

Both kids are aware they have “no friends.” I do believe they’re liked well enough, but also could end up eating lunch alone almost any day. They are good students, and they were kind, loyal friends when they did have them — back in elementary school. I find myself internally obsessing about whether I did something wrong here or whether it’s just their quirky personalities.

I’m downplaying it a bit, but amid some big life stresses, I’ve found myself thinking about the multiple family members who have died by suicide. When did

Carolyn Hax

their depression start? I cannot sleep on those days. Do you have advice for me? — Angsty Parent

Angsty Parent: If your daughters are showing signs of depression (information at nami.org), then I urge you to make appointments for them with their pediatrician with the end goal (it can take awhile) of therapy for each. For you, too: You’ll want trained guidance on identifying and meeting the girls’ needs.

Your appointment is a good idea anyway, given your history, even if your girls are not depressed but merely solitary. Plus, “internally obsessing” is worth addressing for everyone’s benefit; it rarely remains inside, and it won’t help your kids if your stress spills over on them.

The cause of their

Public notices

(Published in The Iola Register March 30, 2023)

RESOLUTION NO. 202304 ALLEN COUNTY, KANSAS

A RESOLUTION INSTITUTING A BURN BAN FOR ALLEN COUNTY, KANSAS

WHEREAS, on this 28th day of March, 2023, the Commissioners find that dangerous conditions continue to exist in the unincorporated areas of Allen County, Kansas due to excessively dry and windy weather and that the potential for fires which could cause damage to both persons and property has greatly increased; and WHEREAS, the current conditions endanger the health, safety and welfare of persons and property within the borders of Allen County, Kansas and that a burn ban should be imposed in the unincorporated areas of Allen County, Kansas until weather conditions change.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of Commissioners of Allen County, Kansas does hereby resolve as follows:

1. That pursuant to K.S.A. 48932, a local emergency exists within Allen County, Kansas.

2. That the entire unincorporated area of Allen County, Kansas is covered by this resolution.

3. That the Board of County Commissioners has all rights and powers to perform such functions as are vested in said Board by and through the provisions of the Kansas Emergency Preparedness Act of 1975.

4. That a ban on all open burning, inclusive of any type of controlled burning of grass, brush, weeds, trees, trash or debris as well as campfires and including fireworks within the unincorporated area of Allen County, Kansas shall go in effect at 12:00 midnight on Thursday, March 30, 2023 with the following exceptions:

(a). Building, maintaining, attending or using an open fire or campfire in permanent stoves or fireplaces or barbeque grills in developed recreational sites or residential sites.

(b). Prescribed burning for crop production or grassland management may only be conducted upon the written permission of and upon the specific conditions required by the Allen County Sheriff, Bryan Murphy.

5. This burn ban shall remain in effect until 12:00 midnight Sat-

detachment notwithstanding, I urge you to center yourself with the understanding that a lot of people — a ton, a horde — simply do not connect with high school socially and feel no draw to shopping, ballgames and dances. Like, massive numbers of people. Some find their alt-crowd, some power through their misery to graduation, some hear their own drummer just fine. Some siblings lean hard on each other. However they get there, your daughters could find themselves among friends or better friendcandidates on the other side of high school.

Plus, if they’re A-okay with having lunch alone, then they will enter adult life with a resourcefulness few possess at their ages.

A reader’s thought:

• I did not go to my senior prom or any other dances in high school. No one asked me, and the one guy I thought about asking had already asked someone else —

urday, April 1, 2023.

6. A violation of this resolution shall constitute a Class A Misdemeanor punishable under the Laws of the State of Kansas, and the Sheriff of Allen County, Kansas his deputies and authorized agents shall have the authority to enforce this resolution and the provisions therein.

7. This Resolution shall be published in the official county newspaper, The Iola Register and in The Humboldt Union.

RESOLVED THIS 28th DAY OF MARCH, 2023. David E. Lee, Chairperson

Attest: Shannon Patterson, County Clerk

(3) 30

(Published in The Iola Register March 16, 2023)

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The City of Savonburg is having a public hearing to pass an ordinance for joining the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency on April 3, 2023 at 7 p.m., during the Council Meeting.

(3) 16, 23, 30

as I learned through the grapevine. My parents never said boo to me about it, and I am so grateful to this day.

Dear Carolyn: Any advice for getting through the weekend of my ex’s wedding? We still have mutual friends who will be there (though they have kindly kept quiet about it around me). I have a big mishmash of unresolved feelings for him, continue to wish things had worked out between us and am deeply afraid I’m never going to find someone else. Also, the festivities are just down the street from me, and I’m afraid to step outside my apartment, lest I see somebody. — Unresolved

Unresolved: Leave town that weekend!!! Oh my goodness.

As for the mishmash, stop what-iffing and seize this with both hands: Anyone marrying someone else is not your person. When the alternative is someone who isn’t 100 percent on your side, you’re better off with your own company — which, if not perfect, is perfectly suited to you.

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote:

f there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart; I’ll stay there forever. — A.A. Milne

ZITS

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne

BLONDIE by Young and Drake

MARVIN by Tom Armstrong

by Chance Browne

MUTTS by Patrick McDonell

AL Central squads face long odds in 2023

By ZACH EWING The Times-Picayune

The Central divisions are often the most forgotten in Major League Baseball, and never was that more true than last year, when powerhouse teams on each coast (plus the Houston Astros, who of course play in the American League West) dominated the conversation and the star power.

And at least the NL Central has its classic Cardinals-Cubs rivalry.

The AL Central, on the other hand? Well, it’s a tough child to love. But that doesn’t mean it’s without intrigue.

The Chicago White Sox had a brilliant season in 2021, winning 93 games and then returning the nucleus of that team last season. Injuries and some surprise regression cost the Pale Hose, however, and it was the Cleveland Guardians who fought off the White Sox and fast-fading Minnesota Twins to win the Central last season.

For the 2023 season, Caesars Sportsbook sees much of the same, with the Guardians slight +125 favorites over nearly equally likely challengers in the White Sox (+210) and Twins (+220). The Detroit Tigers (+2500) and Kansas City Royals (+4000) round out the AL Central as long shots.

None of the five AL Central teams are better than a 30-to-1 shot to win the World Series.

Let’s break down each team, their chances and discuss AL Central futures:

Cleveland Guardians

Odds to win the AL Central:

+125

the playoff race by the final week.

Part of the problem was injuries, and the White Sox should be able to expect some positive regression that front. It’ll take more than that to return to the postseason, but there is reason to hope.

For one thing, the retirement of manager Tony La Russa should help. La Russa is one of the game’s most influential and successful managers, but several in-game gaffes and half-hearted comments from players showed that the game had passed him by. Pedro Grifol is an unknown but must be considered an improvement by default.

As for the roster, staying healthy and getting a return to form from pitcher Lucas Giolito and sluggers Luis Robert and Yoan Moncada certainly would help.

Minnesota Twins

Odds to win the AL: +1400

Odds to win the World Series: +3000

Any team that starts with perennial MVP candidate Jose Ramirez and Cleveland’s strong stable of pitching is going to have a chance to play in October.

That will be the case again in 2023, with Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie (who left his final spring training start with arm tightness) and Aaron Civale anchoring a good rotation and handing over to an elite bullpen that features Emmanuel Clase, perhaps the game’s best closer now that the Mets’ Edwin Diaz is out for the season. The Guardians’ problem is that the offense, outside of Ramirez, features a bunch of singles hitters, with a good batting average but not enough power or on-base prowess.

Free-agent additions

Josh Bell and Mike Zunino will help a bit, but expecting them to solve the problem seems hopeful.

If the pitching stays healthy, this is the rightful division favorite, but the roster is still somewhat limited.

Chicago White Sox

Odds to win the AL Central:

+210

Odds to win the AL: +1600

Odds to win the World Series: +4000

The 2022 season was a disaster on several different levels, and a popular preseason World Series pick finished .500 and out of

Odds to win the AL Central:

+220

Odds to win the AL: +2000

Odds to win the World Series: +4000

After nearly signing with first the San Francisco Giants and then the Mets and having last-second physical concerns scuttle both deals, shortstop Carlos Correa ended up back in Minneapolis, which helps the Twins immensely.

Minnesota needs Correa’s OPS in the middle of its lineup could also use a full season from Byron Buxton. Considering the uber-talented center fielder has only played 100 games once in seven non-pandemic seasons, however, makes that unlikely.

Still, the Twins are a threat. They traded AL batting champ Luis Arraez to Miami but picked up talented starting pitcher Pablo Lopez in the deal and have enough top-end talent on this roster to contend for the division crown.

Detroit Tigers

Odds to win the AL Central:

+2500

Odds to win the AL: +5000

Odds to win the World Series: +10000

There’s not much going on in Detroit, where the Tigers have a mix of washed-up veterans and young players who have underperformed early in their careers.

Can Riley Greene or Spencer Torkelson take a step forward at the plate? What about Spencer Turnbull, who has

shown signs of breaking out as an ace but hasn’t been able to stay healthy?

This certainly isn’t the worst team in baseball, but without some breakthroughs, it won’t be good enough to sniff contention.

Kansas City Royals

Odds to win the AL Central: +4000

Odds to win the AL: +7500

Odds to win the World Series: +20000

There’s a wider range of outcomes for the division’s other long shot,

which is probably a good thing. If things go south, the Royals could be truly awful, but they also have more upside than the Tigers. For one thing, the young position players here — namely Bobby Witt Jr. and Vin-

nie Pasquantino — are more interesting. On the mound, Brady Singer has shown flashes as a No. 2 starter or maybe even an ace, but the rest of the rotation is dreary, with veteran Zack Greinke back in town without much left in the tank.

AL Central best bet:

White Sox to win division (+210)

There’s just not enough different about the rosters in this division for Chicago to go from a huge favorite last year to better than 2-to-1 odds in 2023. Jose Abreu has left, but the White Sox almost have to have better luck in the health department, and it’s reasonable to expect bounce-back seasons from two of the trio of Robert, Moncada and Giolito.

Both the Guardians and the Twins have potential to win the division, and I like Kansas City to go over its win total of 68 1/2 at Caesars as well, but for value, it’s hard to pass up the Sox.

Meet Dane!

Dane is a u y cat who purrs all day and night. He is approximately 3 years old and loves to cuddle. He does well with other cats, but we haven't had him around dogs. He is litter box trained and loves to crawl up next to you on the couch to watch TV. Dane's adoption fee is $50 which includes his neuter, up-to-date shots, deworming, ea treatment, nail trim and a microchip.

Meet Talia!

Talia is a very sweet 1.5-year-old Pit who was found emaciated at the Twin Trestles. She is housebroken, good on a leash, and loves treats. We haven't tested her around dogs or cats yet, as she needed to get healthier rst. Her adoption fee is $100 which includes her spay, up-to-date shots, deworming, ea treatment, bath, nail trim and a microchip.

more information about Dane and Talia, contact: adoptions@acarf.org

The Kansas City Royals are banking on youngsters like Bobby Witt Jr., left, and M.J. Melendez in 2023. GETTY IMAGES/ED ZURGA/TNS