Sports: Iola sweeps Neodesha See B1
The Weekender Saturday, April 30, 2016
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Virginia Burke: Wartime sleuth By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
MORAN — Memories flooded Virginia Burke when she read “The Girls of Atomic City.” The recent book details the crucial role thousands of young women played in the development of the atomic bombs used on Japan that ended World War II. Virginia, now 94, was hired in 1941 by the War Department to help investigate potential employees of the Manhattan Project — code name for development of the atomic bomb. “Patriotic? I didn’t think too much about that,” Virginia said of the job. “I was interested in the money,” $120 a month, not to mention the excitement of moving from sleepy rural Jasper, Mo., to Washington, D.C. THE DEPRESSION played a huge role in her life. Virginia Coday was born April 9, 1922, in Commerce, Okla., now famous as the hometown of Mickey Mantle. By 1929 she had finished first grade, before the financial collapse that year “wiped out my father’s business.” He had dealt in real estate and insurance. When mining, a common pursuit in Commerce, went belly up, employees couldn’t meet loan or rent payments. “A little house then cost just $2,000, but no one had any money,” she said. Virginia and her family — mom, dad and brother — moved to Jasper, Mo., seeking refuge with her grandfather. “Times were tough,” Virginia said. “Dad tried to get on with the WPA (Works Progress Administration), but that didn’t work out.” Farming, and a garden, put
By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
Virginia Burke food on the table, but there was little money for frilly dresses or anything else. Even so, they were luckier than some; bread and soup lines stretched for blocks in many cities. Virginia whizzed through elementary and secondary
grades in Jasper. From there she enrolled at the Joiner School of Business, just 12 miles down the road in Carthage, to concentrate on bookkeeping. At the end of her first year a teacher encouraged her to take the Civil Service examination. Times
were starting to pick up and a government job would be a plum opportunity. Her score was good and she was offered a job as a typist and clerk in October, just two months before the Japanese bombed See BURKE | Page A8
City council meeting Monday Public forum tackles Bowlus Iola City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is to review candidates for city administrator. It is expected the new city administrator will be
Lawmakers consider repeal of tax cuts
announced after Monday’s meeting, which will be held primarily in executive session, said Roxanne Hutton, city clerk. Otherwise, the meeting is open to the public.
The USD 257 Board of Education is hosting a public forum at 6 p.m. Monday in the lecture hall at Iola High School. The district is seeking clarification from the Allen
County District Court regarding its role as trustee of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Members of the public interested in the future of the Bowlus are encouraged to attend.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A proposal to repeal one of Republican Gov. S a m B row n back’s signat u r e personal income tax cuts emerged Friday in the GOP-dominated Kansas Legislature as lawmakers sought to make progress on balancing the state budget. The measure would repeal a personal income tax exemption for 330,000 farmers and business owners granted in 2012. The policy was part of a wave of personal income tax cuts enacted in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in an effort to stimulate the economy, and other states have watched the fiscal experiment closely. The tax cuts haven’t worked as envisioned, and the state has struggled to balance its budget ever since. Lawmakers must close projected shortfalls totaling more than $290 million in the current budget and the one for the next fiscal year beginning in July. The latest proposal would close only part of the gap, but supporters believe it will make the state’s finances more stable in the future. It was drafted by three senators and three House members as a part of negotiations between the two chambers on tax issues, even though neither chamber has passed a version of it. The House expected to vote first on the measure later Friday. It wasn’t clear that the measure would have enough support to pass either chamber, but legislators also needed to See TAX | Page A8
Local man relays sled-dog past
LADIES NIGHT
ACC play at Bowlus.
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Jason Davis plays Leo — who in turn plays “Maxine” — in Allen Community College’s high-spirited comedy “Leading Ladies,” which enters its final night tonight at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Curtains go up at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, available at the door, are $6 for adults, $4 for students and free for ACC students. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Mark Dunlap gave Iola Rotarians an inside look at sled-dog racing Thursday. Dunlap was introduced by Rotarian Ann Shetlar, his sister. A native of Elsmore, Dunlap’s affection for the outdoors led him to northern Minnesota where for 16 years he trained Alaskan huskies to race, with him precariously perched at the rear end of a sled. After earning a degree in graphic design from Pittsburg State University, Dunlap moved to Kansas City and suffered through what he called travails in the printing industry. He also took up rock climbing as a diversion from his day job and acquired a Siberian husky from a local animal shelter.
Mark Dunlap at the starting line of the last race he won in Madeline Island, Wis., in 1998. COURTESY PHOTO Once in Minnesota, Dunlap’s interest quickened and he learned all he could about Alaskan huskies and their propensity for speed, strength, endurance and, most importantly,
Quote of the day
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall.”
Vol. 118, No. 130
75 Cents
— William Shakespeare, from “Measure for Measure”
love of racing. He worked a year with another racer before striking out on his own. Success followed, including three championships See MUSHING | Page A2
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