Sports: JV Mustangs trip up the Trojans See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Iola’s bond rating gets upgrade By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
David Rule stands by the 1937 Chevy his uncle purchased new at Iola’s old Bud White Motors car lot near the intersection of West and Chestnut streets. Rule, of Tulsa, stopped by the old car lot site Saturday. Rule acquired the car from his aunt and uncle in 1969. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Trek to Iola brings Oklahoman full circle By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
D
avid Rule’s trip of a lifetime never topped 50 mph. “I’d go 40 if nobody was behind me,” he said. Rule, 67, comes from a family steeped in military tradition, and fully aware of the sacrifice and commitment required
to defend the country. Starting Friday, Rule, a Vietnam War vet and 1964 Chanute High School graduate, trekked from his home in Tulsa to southeast Kansas, where he made several stops along the way to honor veterans of all sorts, but especially his family. He did so in his 1937 Chevy, which is how Rule found himself sitting in a vacant parking lot in downtown Iola. The Chevy came from the old Bud
White Motors car lot, at the intersection of West and Chestnut streets and was purchased by Rule’s late uncle, World War I vet and Humboldt native Charles T. Pribbernow in May 1937. Rule still has the original sales slip from the purchase, as well as other documentation, including a diary kept by his aunt, Lorena Pribbernow, documenting See CAR | Page A6
Iola’s bond rating, affecting the city’s ability to borrow money, has been upgraded by Standard & Poor’s. In a letter dated Sept. 9, and released to the media Monday, City Administrator Carl Slaugh said Iola’s general obligation bond rating has been bumped up to an “A” from “BBB+” — two full notches. The ratings are used in part to determine a municipality’s budget strength and ability to pay off debt using general obligation bonds. The better the rating, the lower the interest rate. Standard and Poor’s gave Iola the “BBB” rating in 2011, then upgraded it a year later to “BBB+.” The improved rating was unique, Slaugh noted, because S&P cited the city’s budget use of utility reserves to supplement its general fund as a strength. In its original bond rating two years ago — used when the city refinanced loans used to construct its water treatment plant — S&P considered such a practice a See BOND | Page A2
Food council cooks up project goals By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
A local food council is cooking up something positive for Allen County. The council is a mouthful — The Allen County Growing Rural Opportunities Works Food Policy Council — with a goal of providing adequate and healthy food for Allen County residents. The group began a year and
gram director with Thrive, said. “We will evaluate what changes need to be made in the community.” Loren Lance, co-owner of the Mildred Store, a rural grocery store, said he would like to make more people aware of the benefits of fresh food. “How do we get fruits and vegetables in front of people,” Loren asked. Pastor David Meier, of Humboldt’s St. Peter’s Luther-
This is the proposed site for a new school project on Oregon Road. To the left of the trail would be the elementary school and to the right would be a new high school. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
We try to bring fresh garden produce for the food pantry and people love it.
If new schools are approved,
No hitch in expanding utilities
— David Meier, pastor at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Humboldt
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
a half ago by doing research on making the community healthier. Last week members met to assess their progress. A $100,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation provided necessary seed money to expand goals, including the search for a secondary grocery store in Iola, said Debbie Bearden, of Allen County Farm Bureau. In August, Allen County Commissioners voted to form a county food council. “The council will determine which projects we pursue,” Damaris Kunkler, pro-
an Church agreed, but said the obvious challenge is that healthy food can be the most expensive. “We try to bring fresh garden produce for the food pantry and people love it,” he said. Other projects for the council include a farm-to-school effort of incorporating local produce into school meals and a food hub for aggregating and distributing produce. The council also discussed applying for a grant to pay for an assessment of the community.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 236
It remains to be seen what Iola may have to come up with in terms of funding if local voters approve new elementary and high schools in November. Those costs are certain to be less than what the city paid to assist with the new Allen County Regional Hospital, Iola City Administrator Carl Slaugh said Monday. “We haven’t made any commitment on what we would pay,” for the schools project, Slaugh told the Register. Unlike with the hospital construction in 2012 — which
cost the city $129,000, not including labor — there likely won’t be any type of request for the city to foot the cost of extending utilities to the site. The difference? Extending utilities for the hospital “was a negotiated item with the City Council and the hospital board of trustees,” Slaugh said. The school district has not made any type of similar request, nor is it expected to, USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn said. “Utility extensions (costs) are included in the bonds,” Koehn said. The 257 Board of Education has an option to purchase 95
“Get your facts first then you can distort them as you please.” — Mark Twain 75 Cents
acres of land along Oregon Road, just outside Iola’s northern city limits. If voters approve the schools project, the city is expected to annex the land in order to provide utilities, Slaugh said. There are some issues that may cost the city, although those, too, are undetermined and not expected to be major. The land in question is within Anderson County No. 5 Water District’s service area, Slaugh explained. Likewise, he remains uncertain whether the land is within Iola’s natural gas service area, or is See COSTS | Page A6
Hi: 85 Lo: 66 Iola, KS