The Iola Register, Sept. 30, 2022

Many trapped in Florida as Ian moves on

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) — Rescue crews waded through flooded streets and used boats Thursday in a scramble to save people trapped after Hurricane Ian destroyed a cross-section of Flori da and brought torrential rains that continued to fall.

The destruction began to come into focus a day after Ian made landfall in Florida as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit to the U.S. The storm flooded homes on both of the state’s coasts, cut off the only bridge to a barri er island, destroyed a his toric waterfront pier and knocked out electricity to 2.5 million Florida homes and businesses. At least one man was confirmed dead.

“We’ve never seen storm surge of this magnitude,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSan tis told a news conference. “The amount of water that’s been rising, and will likely continue to rise to day even as the storm is passing, is basically a 500year flooding event.”

Though downgraded to a tropical storm by Thurs day morning, the Nation al Hurricane Center said storm surge and flooding rains remained a threat as Ian crept across the Flori da peninsula and emerged in the Atlantic Ocean.

Forecasters predicted a northward turn toward South Carolina, and a hur ricane warning was issued for the state’s coastline.

Sheriffs in southwest Florida said 911 centers were inundated by thou sands of stranded callers, some with life-threaten ing emergencies. The U.S. Coast Guard began rescue

Big dreams pay off

Bronson retailer’s pork rinds sell like hotcakes

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

BRONSON — It turns out af ter years of building a brand, working ungodly hours and pinching pennies, the main problem now with Thadde us and Kelly Perry’s dream was that they didn’t think big enough.

The Bronson natives opened Perry’s Pork Rinds and Coun try Store July 30, featuring everything from homemade fudge, daily breakfast and lunch specials, fresh produce and assorted grocery items like milk and bread.

Less than two months later, the couple came to a conclu sion. Their brand-spankingnew building isn’t nearly big enough.

“We thought we’d have peo

ple come in and buy a few pork rinds, maybe a soda and some milk or bread,” Kelly said.

But with more customers showing up daily, and orders for the popular pork rinds fill ing up every nook and cranny of the 2,400-square-foot build ing’s storage space, Kelly has already had to move her office to a rear corner of her HVAC room.

“In fact, we’ve already called

the contractor,” Kelly said, to begin setting plans about add ing on to the building. (It was designed for eventual expan sion. The Perrys just didn’t envision “eventual” meaning weeks.)

“It’s not if we need to,” Thaddeus said. “We have to do this.”

And since they’re in the “thinking big” mode, the Per

Mildred plans fall festival

As of Thursday, 13 ven dors had signed up to offer their wares, event orga nizer Regena Lance not ed. “And we’re hoping for more,” she said.

They’ll set up shop at 10 a.m. both inside and outside the Mildred Store to offer everything from Tupperware and custom T-shirts to epoxy cups and stone jewelry.

Snow cones and cotton candy will be served, and a brisket will be prepared. The fun runs through 4 p.m.

Drought takes severe toll on ornamental trees

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

Ornamental trees, shrubs and bushes have been strug gling with the drought this summer.

Some types of trees, partic ularly those of the evergreen variety, have been hit hard by extremely dry conditions and high temperatures this summer, Krista Harding, horticulture agent with the Southwind Extension Dis trict, said.

“I think it caught people by surprise. They didn’t take note soon enough,” she said. “Early spring, it was so wet we couldn’t wait for it to dry. But when it did, it completely dried up.”

Trees began to show signs of stress as summer proceed

ed, but people often don’t realize the importance of watering larger, long-stand ing growth such as trees and bushes, Harding said. They instead focus on watering the grass, flower beds and gar dens.

“If you can’t water any thing else, water your trees,” she encouraged. “Take care of trees. They’re your biggest investment.”

Of course, it might be too late in many cases.

Bob Henry with Eager Bea ver Tree and Lawn Service has spent the past few weeks ripping out bushes and ev ergreen trees throughout the area, including several bushes in front of the Regis ter’s office. The five Japanese yew bushes had been planted

Thaddeus and Kelly Perry opened Perry’s Pork Rinds and Country Store earlier this summer. The store features everything from homemade fudge, breakfast and lunch specials, fresh produce and assorted grocery items as well as their specialty pork rinds. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Perry’s Pork Rinds come in a variety of flavors.

Some evergreen trees, especially ornamental varieties used as property screens, have been par ticularly susceptible to this year’s drought. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

By the Register staff MILDRED — An assort ment of craft vendors will descend upon Mildred Sat urday for a fall festival cel ebration.

Obituaries

Wanda Sparks

Wanda Benner was born on June 26, 1934 to Alta Fay Sharpe Benner and Carl Benner. She passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, in Iola. Wanda was a high-spir ited young girl who met and married her Knox City High School teacher, Wesley Per le Sparks. Out of this union, came two children, Constance and Terry.

Wanda spent her time nurturing her family and assisting Wesley as he studied in college and later taught music at schools in Iowa and Missouri. Wanda was an accomplished classical pianist and served as the primary accompanist for Wesley’s students during his tenure at these schools. She also frequently played at school functions and weddings. After their children were grown, Wanda worked as a pastry chef at various St. Louis restaurants and did volunteer work at Christian Northeast Hospital. Her des serts were legendary and were frequently writ ten up in books and magazines in the St. Louis area.

After retirement, Wanda and Wesley moved from St. Louis to Kirksville, Mo., where Wanda and Wesley became members of Church of God Holiness where they developed many special friendships.

Wanda was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years, Wesley Sparks, her parents, and her brother, Carl Wayne Benner.

Wanda is survived by her daughter, Con stance and son-in-law, John Toler; her son, Terry and daughter-in-law, Cheryl; her grand children, Laura Dale and husband David; Ryan Sparks and wife Adie; Shawn Sparks and wife Aubrey; Eric Sparks and wife Jenna; and her sister-in-law, Carol Benner. In addition, she is survived by 13 great-grandchildren, six nieces and nephews and many special friends.

Special thanks to the Greystone Assisted Liv ing Staff for providing wonderful compassion ate care during her final days.

A graveside service will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at David-Playle-Hudson-Rim er funeral home in Kirksville, Mo.

Janice Heslop

Janice Jeane Heslop, age 79, formerly of Neo sho Falls, unexpectedly passed away Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, at KUMC, Kansas City, Kan. She was surrounded by her lov ing family. Jan was born Aug. 2, 1943, in Beloit, to Chester A. Johnson and Edna F. (Martin) DeVader. After her father died, Jan’s mother married Fran cis DeVader, who cared for and helped raise her.

Jan graduated in 1961 from Emmett High School, Emmett. She met Daryl Heslop at a church bazaar in Emmett and they were mar ried there on June 24, 1961, at Holy Cross Church. They made their home in Topeka, where they raised their family and later moved to rural Neosho Falls.

After raising her four children in Topeka, Jan returned to school and graduated from the nursing school at Neosho County Community College, Chanute. She worked her entire career as a registered nurse at Osawatomie State Hos pital.

Jan was a member of the Citizen Band Potawatomi Tribe of Oklahoma and was very proud of her Native American heritage. She was a lifetime member of the Democratic Par ty and participated in many political activi ties.

Jan was dedicated to her grandchildren and attended as many of their activities as possible. She was passionate about gardening and was a certified master gardener.

Jan was also an avid crafter and loved doing crossword puzzles and solving Sudokus.

Jan was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; brother, Dennis DeVader, and grand son, James Christopher Schmidt.

Jan is survived by her children, Cabrini (Mike) Plummer, Fredonia, Craig (Tammy) Hes lop, Melvern, Valerie (J.P.) Wright, Lawrence, and Erin Dix, Riverside, Mo.; grandchildren, April (Jesse) Mitchell, Jonathan Schmidt, Mat thew (Taylor) Bollig, Tyler Wright, Alyssa (Tan ner) Eustice, Daniel Heslop, Luke (Whitney) Plummer, Micaela Plummer, Jacob (Heather) Rhoads, Julie (John Gengler) Heslop, Jason Bol lig, Kaileigh (Jacob) Dickey, Paul Bollig, Parker Wright, Jayden Ademiluyi; 10 great-grandchil dren; one great-great-grandson; sisters, Ingrid Kelly and Lisa Gerhardt; and brothers, Dan DeVader, Henry DeVader, Pete DeVader, Doug DeVader and Marty DeVader.

A memorial service to honor Jan’s life will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, in the chapel at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, 1883 U.S. 54, Iola. Inurnment will be at a later time in Cedar vale Cemetery, Neosho Falls.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memo rials to the Daryl and Janice Heslop Memorial Fund, which may be left with Feuerborn Funer al Service. The memorial fund was established for the purpose of building an outdoor concrete basketball court and for the maintenance of Jan’s flower garden at the Neosho Valley Senior Center, Neosho Falls.

Condolences may be left at www.feuerbornfu neral.com.

Kansas joins lawsuit over student loans

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration in an effort to halt its plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans, accusing it of overstepping its ex ecutive powers.

It’s at least the second legal challenge this week to the sweeping propos al laid out by President Joe Biden in late Au gust, when he said his administration would cancel up to $20,000 in education debt for huge numbers of borrowers. The announcement, af ter months of internal deliberations and pres sure from liberal activ ists, became immediate political fodder ahead of the November midterms while fueling arguments from conservatives about legality.

In the lawsuit, being filed Thursday in a feder al court in Missouri, the Republican states argue that Biden’s cancellation plan is “not remotely tai lored to address the ef fects of the pandemic on federal student loan bor rowers,” as required by the 2003 federal law that the administration is using as legal justifica tion. They point out that Biden, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” this month, declared the Covid-19 pandemic over, yet is still using the on going health emergency to justify the wide-scale debt relief.

“It’s patently unfair to saddle hard-working Americans with the loan debt of those who chose to go to college,” Arkan sas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, who is leading the group, said in an interview.

She added: “The De partment of Education is required, under the law, to collect the bal ance due on loans. And President Biden does not have the authority to override that.”

The states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ne braska and South Caroli na joined Arkansas in fil ing the lawsuit. Iowa has a Democratic attorney general, but the state’s

Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, signed on the state’s behalf. The states argue that Mis souri’s loan servicer is facing a “number of on going financial harms” because of Biden’s de cision to cancel loans. Other states that joined the lawsuit argue that Biden’s forgiveness plan will ultimately disrupt revenue to state coffers.

Biden’s forgiveness program will cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demon strate more financial need, will get an addi tional $10,000 in debt for given.

The administration also said it would ex tend the current pause on federal student loan repayments — put on hold near the start of the pandemic more than two years ago — once more through the end of the year.

The administration faced threats of legal challenges to its plans al most immediately, with conservative attorneys, Republican lawmakers and business-oriented groups asserting that Biden was overstepping his authority in taking such sweeping action without the assent of Congress.

Democratic lawmak ers battling in tough reelection contests also distanced themselves from the student loan plan, as Republican offi cials called it an unfair government giveaway for relatively affluent people at the expense of those who didn’t pursue higher education.

In their lawsuit, the Republican attorneys general also contend that the forgiveness pro gram violates the Ad ministrative Procedures Act, which lays out how federal agencies should make regulations in order to ensure execu tive branch policies are well-reasoned and ex plained.

“The president does

not have the authority to put himself in the place of Congress,” Rutledge said in the interview. “These ac tions must be taken by Congress and he can’t override that.”

To justify the plan’s legality, the Biden administration is re lying on a post-Sept. 11, 2001, law meant to help members of the military that the Jus tice Department says allows Biden to re duce or erase student loan debt during a na tional emergency. But Republicans argue the administration is misinterpreting the law because, in part, the pandemic no lon ger qualifies as a na tional emergency.

Another lawsuit against Biden’s stu dent loan program was filed this week in an Indiana federal court by the Pacific Le gal Foundation, a lib ertarian legal advoca cy group that employs a lawyer who says he would be harmed by the forgiveness plan.

The lawyer, Frank Garrison, says eras ing his current debt load will trigger a tax liability from the state of Indiana, which is among at least a half dozen states where the forgiven loan amounts will be subject to state taxes.

The White House dismissed the lawsuit as baseless because any borrower who does not want the debt relief can opt out. The Education Depart ment is still on track to unveil the applica tion for the forgive ness plan in October.

The Allen County Re tired School Personnel organization will meet Wednesday in the Mary Ellen Stadler Confer ence room at Allen Community College.

The meal — from the cafeteria or bring your own — and meeting will start at 12:15 p.m.

The program will be given by Dr. Bruce Mo ses, president of ACC. All retired personnel are invited to attend.

Retired school personnel to meet Masons to host meal

All members of the Valley of Southeast Kansas Lodge of Per fection can attend the stated dinner and meet ing on Thursday, Oct. 6, at the Armstrong Ma sonic Lodge, 3105 N. Jo plin St., Pittsburg.

Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will start around 7. Res ervations are required, so RSVP by Wednesday, Oct. 5 at sekscottish rite@sbcglobal.net or by calling 620-223-1330.

Social distancing will be practiced and masks are highly rec ommended. If you are interested in carpool ing from the Fort Scott area please contact Ralph Reed at 620-2241250.

Wanda Sparks

Janice Heslop

Store: Couple’s business in Bronson has already grown a lot

Continued from A1

rys have a few more tricks up their entrepre neurial sleeve.

Aside from expanding the building, they plan to develop an RV park behind the building, complete with water and sewer hook-ups and a public laundry facility.

And by extending the new building, Thaddeus has announced his in tention to open a sweet tea and catfish restau rant.

“If you think big, you get big,” he said.

“I’ve already got what I wanted, which is a store,” Kelly added. “My dream was to have my own store for the pork rinds. His love is to cook for people.”

THE PERRYS’ story began a bit more hum bly than most.

A few years back, the couple was hoping to go on a cruise, but cruis es are expensive, and they didn’t have nearly enough money in their bank account.

To pay for their tick ets, the Perrys decided to raise funds at a fall festival in McCune, Mo.

Kelly would make fun nel cakes, while Thadde us — a butcher by trade — would fry up a batch of pork rinds. It was a hobby of sorts for Thad deus, who often would prepare the snack for friends on weekends.

For the festival, the pair had borrowed a kettle, set up a tent and quickly sold out of their tasty treats, even after a thunderstorm threat ened to disrupt the cook ing process.

The response was phenomenal, with the pork rinds quickly sell ing out.

“It was not going to be a long-term thing,” Kel ly said. “We just wanted to make enough money to go on a cruise. But it

followed suit.

It didn’t take long for the Perrys to realize they had a product in high demand.

As orders continued to pour in, the Perrys reached out to Iolan Leah Stout of EZ Tax Service, who helped them set up an LLC. In September 2017, Perry’s Pork Rinds LLC was born.

“We didn’t know what we were doing, and she helped us through it.”

The Perrys worked out of their house in Bronson, with demand growing to the point the couple acquired a ven dor’s trailer, to travel to various festivals and events, or to park along U.S. 54 in Bronson for passers-by.

Business tripled with in a year. Meanwhile, Kelly tapped into anoth er of her passions, and in early 2021 she opened the Protein Place in Iola. (Her sister runs it now, with Kelly helping out when needed.)

The centerpiece, how ever, remains the pork rinds.

“They’re still our number one seller, and our number one profit margin,” Kelly said.

In the five years of op eration, the Perrys have filled orders for pork rinds in all 50 states plus Canada, and as far away as Saudi Arabia. The office of former Pres ident George W. Bush also placed an order, and even sent a compli mentary thank-you note afterward.

THERE’S NO real se cret behind the Perry’s Pork Rind success, aside from Thaddeus occa sionally experimenting with different season ings to create a new fla vor. (He sells more than a dozen varieties.)

Kelly’s favorite is chili lime. Thaddeus refuses

Thaddeus uses soy bean oil to fry up the pigskins, making them substantially healthier than other potato chipstyle snacks.

The biggest difference between Perry’s and other pork rind prod ucts is in the cooking, Kelly said.

“Thaddeus handcooks all of it,” she said. “Everyone else uses big machines.”

That means early mornings, sometimes as early as 2 a.m. to keep up with demand.

Kelly, who describes her husband as the hard est-working person she knows, notes they have achieved a symmetry.

“There’s no way I could do what he does,” she said. “I won’t wake up at 2 a.m. to heat oil to fry pork rinds for nine hours, but he will. And he won’t sit in front of a computer to do Zoom meetings on the business side, but I will.”

I like them all. My problem is if I start to eat one (pork rind), it’s really hard to get away from them, and I’ll eat the whole bag. I ate them when I grew up as a kid. That was my go-to when I’d go fishing with my stepdad.

— Thaddeus Perry

was such a good money maker, and people really liked his pork rinds.”

Not long after, the Per rys provided the pork rinds for a family wed ding in Manhattan.

Kelly posted about the events on Face book, and word quickly spread about the popu lar snacks.

A few friends re quested an order. Then friends of those friends

to identify his.

“I can’t answer,” he laughed. “I like them all. My problem is if I start to eat one, it’s real ly hard to get away from them, and I’ll eat the whole bag. I ate them when I grew up as a kid. That was my go-to when I’d go fishing with my stepdad.”

From the get-go, the Perrys’ focus remained on nutritional content.

US economy drops at 0.6% annual rate

WASHINGTON (AP)

— Battered by surg ing consumer prices and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy shrank at a 0.6% annual rate from April through June, the government announced Thursday, unchanged from its pre vious second-quarter estimate.

It marked the second consecutive quarter of economic contraction, one informal rule of thumb for a recession.

Most economists, citing a strong and resilient American job market, believe the world’s big gest economy is not yet in a downturn. But they worry that it might be headed for one as the Federal Reserve ratch ets up interest rates to combat inflation.

Consumer spending grew at a 2% annual rate, but that gain was offset by a drop in busi ness inventories and housing investment.

“My job is gravy,” Thad deus laughs. “I now have a facility to cook out of instead of my house. When I’m cooking pork rinds is when I’m in my zone.”

Kelly agrees. “I love coming to work each day. Who cares what you make if you’re not satis fied and happy and try ing to help others.”

AS ONE enters the store, there’s a distinct atmosphere that Kelly compares to shops at Sil

ver Dollar City.

The products aren’t much different, partic ularly the homemade fudge, saltwater taffy, and still-to-come roast ed nuts, and of course the pork rinds.

“I call it ‘Little Bran son in Bronson,’” Kelly said. “We didn’t want this to be a convenience store. We don’t have gas. We’re not here just to be an in-and-out store. We want to form relation ships with people.”

The Perrys also re cently found another side gig for their coun try store: catering.

“We put something about (catering) on Face book, and since then, we haven’t stopped,” Kelly said.

The operation start ed with Thaddeus and Kelly as the only two employees. Today, Per ry’s Pork Rinds sports a crew of seven fulltime workers and six part-timers to help man the store.

Many of the products, such as the fresh pro duce, come from local suppliers.

And unlike other small businesses in to day’s climate, the Perrys have had little trouble finding workers.

There’s a reason for that, too. They treat their employees as if

they were family mem bers.

They recognize if a worker needs time off for a doctor’s appoint ment, or to pick up a child from school, “or sometimes they just need to take a mental day,” Kelly said.

“When you invest in people and care about your workers, it makes a difference,” she said. “We’re very verbal with our faith. We pray a lot, and we’re there to sup port our employees. It’s the right thing to do.”

To wit, Kelly finds herself on 11 different councils and commit tees and helps with such things as food distribu tion efforts.

She’s also working with Kansas State Uni versity to set up a pro duce distribution proj ect where residents can buy 15-pound boxes of produce for $15. Perry’s Pork Rinds also will soon accept SNAP, WIC and EBT payments.

THROUGH all of the success, the Perrys re main grounded. They recognize profits can be fleeting.

“Every time we tell people our ideas, I know they think we’re on something, but why not?” Kelly said. “We’ll probably make mistakes

I love coming to work each day. Who cares what you make if you’re not satisfied and happy and trying to help others.

— Kelly Perry

along the way.

“Our biggest head ache has been learning from scratch, like deal ing with the Pepsi ma chine. We need to have a cabinet made for our Pepsi machine, but if we’re looking to expand, there’s no reason to get a different cabinet now, because this area will soon be for dining.”

Through it all, they in tend to keep the “coun try” in the country store atmosphere.

“We want people to stop in just to talk,” she said. “We want to hear about their day. Bronson really hasn’t had a gath ering spot. We know we can’t possibly make ourselves financially comfortable and not do things for our workers and our community. This way, it’s way more rewarding.”

The inside of Perry’s Pork Rinds and Country Store shows a variety of offerings, including fudge sales and tables to enjoy breakfast or lunch. At right is a view of the exterior.

Storm: Ian to regain strength as it heads for Carolinas,Virginia

Continued from A1

efforts around daybreak on barrier islands near where the Ian struck, DeSantis said. Fire de partments fanned out in flooded areas as well.

In the Orlando area, Orange County fire fighters used boats to reach people in a flooded neighborhood. A photo the department post ed on Twitter showed one firefighter carrying someone in his arms through knee-deep wa ter. At an area nursing home surrounded by water, patients were carried on stretchers across floodwaters to a waiting bus.

In Fort Myers, a few miles west of the barrier island where Ian came ashore, Valerie Bartley’s family spent desperate hours Wednesday hold ing a dining room table against their patio door, fearing the storm rag ing outside “was tearing our house apart.”

“I was terrified,” Bartley said. “What we heard was the shingles and debris from ev erything in the neigh borhood hitting our house.”

She said her 4-yearold daughter grabbed her hand and said: “I’m scared too, but it’s going to be OK.” The girl was right. The storm ripped away patio screens and snapped a palm tree in the yard, Bartley said, but left the roof intact and her family un harmed.

Authorities con firmed at least one Flori da death — a 72-year-old

man in Deltona who fell into a canal while using a hose to drain his pool in the heavy rain, the Volusia County Sher iff’s Office said. Two other storm deaths were reported in Cuba after Ian struck the island na tion earlier.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said his office was scram bling to respond to thou sands of 911 calls, but many roads and bridges in Fort Myers and the surrounding area re main impassable.

“It crushed us.”

Marceno told ABC’s “Good Morning Ameri ca.” “We still cannot ac

cess many of the people that are in need.”

Emergency crews sawed through toppled trees to reach strand ed people. Many in the hardest-hit areas were unable to call for help amid widespread elec trical and cellular out ages.

“Portable towers are on the way for cell ser vice. Chances are your loved ones do not have ability to contact you,” said the sheriff’s office in Collier County, which includes Naples. “We can tell you as daylight reveals the aftermath, it’s going to be a hard day.”

A chunk of the San ibel Causeway fell into the sea, cutting off ac cess to the barrier is land where 6,300 people normally live. It was un known how many had heeded orders to evacu ate, but Charlotte Coun ty Emergency Manage ment Director Patrick Fuller expressed cau tious optimism that worst-case scenarios might not have been re alized.

No deaths or injuries have been confirmed in the county, and flyovers of barrier islands show “the integrity of the homes is far better than we anticipated,” Fuller

said.

South of Sanibel Is land, the historic beach front pier in Naples got destroyed, with even the pilings underneath torn out, as towering waves crashed over the struc ture. “Right now, there is no pier,” said Penny Taylor, a Collier County commissioner.

In Port Charlotte, a hospital’s emergency room flooded and fierce winds ripped away part of the roof, sending wa ter gushing down into the intensive care unit.

The sickest patients — some on ventilators — were crowded into the middle two floors as

the staff prepared for storm victims to arrive, said Dr. Birgit Bodine of HCA Florida Fawcett Hospital.

THE MAYOR of Charleston, South Car olina, is asking his city to shut down Friday as storm Ian approaches.

“There will be water tomorrow in this city,” Mayor John Tecklen burg said Thursday af ternoon.

No evacuations have been ordered in South Carolina, with Ian fore cast to make landfall a second time Friday along the state’s coast as a minimal hurricane.

Forecasters warn sev eral feet of ocean water could surge into low ar eas along the coast, like Charleston.

The flooding could ri val or even slightly ex ceed recent hurricanes.

“Take this storm se riously,” Tecklenburg said. “Tomorrow, stay home and stay out of harm’s way.”

Charleston has bought new equipment to deal with flooding, in cluding two high-water vehicles that will patrol the city all day Friday.

The Florida Highway Patrol shut down the Florida Turnpike in the Orlando area and said the main artery in the middle of the state will remain closed until wa ter subsides.

Ian struck Florida as a monstrous Category 4 storm, with 150 mph winds that tied it for the fifth-strongest hurri cane ever to hit the U.S.

Drought: Ornamental trees struggle over very dry summer

Continued from A1

more than 50 years ago, and because of their age, they weren’t able to tolerate the drought, Henry said.

Other types of ev ergreens, particularly emerald arborvitae, are prized because they make good screen trees but have been particu larly susceptible to this year’s drought, both Henry and Harding said.

AT THIS time of year, it can be difficult to judge if a tree is losing its leaves and turning brown because of the natural fall cycle or if it’s dying, Harding said. An easy test is to peel back the bark and see if it’s still green inside. If branches are brown all the way through, it’s a lost cause. Tear it out.

“You don’t know just by looking at a tree. You need to check the branch tissue,” she said.

“If you’re seeing spots on leaves early in the spring, that’s con cerning. We want a tree to maintain its leaves throughout the growing

season. If a young tree flames brown almost overnight, that’s always concerning.”

Disease is also a con cern, as well as pests.

Henry said when he first started getting calls about struggling evergreen trees, he as sumed bagworms were the culprit. Now, he’s convinced drought is the bigger problem. But a combination of prob

Florida nursing homes doing ‘as good as can be’ after storm

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

— Florida’s main nurs ing home organization said Thursday that ini tial reports are that fa cilities have weathered Hurricane Ian “as good as can be.”

Kristen Knapp, spokesperson for the Florida Health Care Association, said 43 nursing homes moved about 3,400 residents as of Thursday morn

ing, mostly in hard-hit southwest Florida.

As many as 20 homes had reported electricity outages, but Knapp said generators are powering those buildings. Water was shut off at some fa cilities, too.

Natural disasters can be especially harmful to older and disabled peo ple, and past hurricanes have produced devastat ing episodes.

lems — drought, pests and disease — can make it even more challeng ing for trees and shrubs to recover.

lenging.

Harding has fielded many calls of proper ty owners concerned about their trees. They wonder if it’s too late to save them.

Young trees especial ly need tender care, she said, but in the current drought conditions, even mature trees could use a good, healthy dose of H2O.

Make sure you water thoroughly, she said.

“In older, mature trees, water until the soil is wet at least 10 inches down,” she said. “Some people will turn on the hose for five min utes, but a young tree or even shrubs need about 10 gallons of water per week.”

You can use a metal rod or even a screw driver to see how deep

the water soaks into the ground.

FALL IS actually a good time to take care of trees, shrubs and bushes — and don’t stop when it gets colder.

Long-range forecasts expect the drought to continue at least until the spring.

“Going into winter, it’s even more important to water. Cold, dry con ditions kill more plants than hot, dry weather does,” Harding said.

“Pick a day when the ground isn’t frozen, and water your plant materi al. Shrubs and rose bus es, in particular, are go ing to need a drink this winter.”

Contact the Extension office at 620-365-2242 to learn more or get a free soil test.

He has about 50 years of experience in tree and lawn care, and said this year’s drought is among the most chal

Debris litters a street in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Punta Gorda, Florida on Thursday. Hurricane Ian left much of coastal southwest Florida in darkness early on Thursday, bringing “catastrophic” flooding that left officials readying a huge emergency response to a storm of rare intensity. (RICARDO ARDUENGO/AFP VIA GET TY IMAGES/TNS)

Bob Henry with Eager Beaver Tree and Lawn Service gets the soil wet before removing the remains of Japanese yew bushes in front of the Register offices.

~ Journalism that makes a difference

Small town America investing in resilience

By L. MICHELLE MOORE Progressive Perspectives/ Tribune News Service

Aaron Judge just accomplished a huge baseball feat

That Aaron Judge’s 61st home run of the season, sur passing The Babe and tying Roger Maris, came against division rivals Toronto was so fitting. He carries on the legacy of Yankee lore of dom inating the major leagues and especially the American League. And this is the mag ical hitting stat that mat ters. It mattered when Ruth achieved it in 1927 and kept the crown for 34 years. It mat tered in 1961, when Maris reached the plateau and was there alone for 61 years. And it matters that Judge has ar rived. The pride of the Yan kees, indeed.

No one should credit a trio of National League steroid cheaters we shall not name, one of whom should also not be acknowledged as besting Hank Aaron’s 755 career long balls.

With seven games left, we won’t know Judge’s regular season homer total until his final at bat against the Rang ers on Oct. 5.

Unbreakable records chal lenge future players and ex ist to be broken. And Aaron

Judge is a man of fine char acter who will wear well the laurels of the season home run king, or co-king with Maris should he fail to knock another one out of the park in the next week.

Judge will obviously be the American League home run champ and he’s comfortably ahead in RBIs, but he’s not just looking for the big ball only; he’s in a race for the batting title with Luis Ar raez from the Twins and Xan der Bogaerts of the Red Sox.

Should he prevail, he’ll win the league’s Triple Crown, a rare feat only achieved just once — by Miguel Cabrera a decade ago — since Carl Yas trzemski did it in 1967.

It’s enough to bat into im mortality with a home run record like Ruth or Maris or the Triple Crown like Yaz or Cabrera. To win both in the same season is unthink able, and it just may happen.

Judge, both a superstar and a mensch, has everything go ing for him and millions of fans in New York and around the country rooting for him.

— New York Daily News

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

45 Years Ago September 1977

HUMBOLDT — A $450,000 loan from the Farmers Home Administration has been ap proved to provide funds for the Carpenter-Duffy Pottery Corp., a Richardson, Tex as, firm which operates the Humboldt Brick and Tile Co., to start manufacturing flowerpots, Jack Klotz, Allen County supervisor of FmHA, said today. Paul Widener, gen eral manager of the plant, said the funds will be used

for remodeling and new con struction which will enable the company to make red clay flowerpots. CDP Corp. is already one of the largest im porters and distributors of flower pots in the nation. He said he wasn’t certain when production here would begin.

After remodeling and new construction is completed, he said production should be about 50 percent bricks and 50 percent flower pots, with a target of 20 tons of flower pots a day.

September is National Preparedness Month, but we hardly need the reminder to be prepared for natural di sasters this year. Droughts, fires, floods, scorching heat and scouring rain — and along with them property damage, lost crops and ris ing energy insecurity — are just a few of this summer’s unrelenting reminders that we need to strengthen rural resilience.

Our energy system is an important place to start, and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act gives us the tools we need to do just that. In fact, it marks the first major investment the fed eral government has made in rural electric power in nearly 100 years. As the na tional conversation shifts to how to implement its many provisions, how can hardhit rural communities make sure the opportunities don’t pass them by?

Implementation is urgent. If you live and work close to the land, the impacts of cli mate change are particular ly acute. A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation noted that 37% of farmers have been forced to kill their own crops by tilling them back into the ground because it’s too dry for plants to mature. In Tex as, where more than half of the state is in extreme drought, ranchers are sell ing off their cattle by the thousands as pasturelands dry up.

Droughts impact energy as well as agriculture. Less rain means less hydropow er in western states like California, Washington and Idaho that depend on wa ter as a resource for gener ating electricity. When the rain does come, it comes in flash floods, like those that recently afflicted Kentucky and parts of Utah and New Mexico.

Extreme weather also means longer, more frequent power failures. The United States already experiences more outages than any oth er developed country, and blackouts have increased by more than 60% since 2015. Rural households are not only more susceptible to long-duration power outag es caused by weather and an aging grid, they have also been hit the hardest by ris ing fuel costs. Inflation, com bined with long drives to work and school, add up to

about $900 more per house hold for gas and diesel and about 33% less disposable income than last year.

What can we do to secure small town communities against enormous, converg ing threats like aging infra structure, high fuel costs and a changing climate?

Investing in resilience can reduce vulnerabilities and mitigate the damage from extreme weather, making it easier to bounce back after the threat has passed. Resil ience-focused technologies including mi crogrids, ener gy storage and solar panels also increase local self-reli ance, making rural families and businesses less dependent on help that has to come from far away.

ment these climate resilient solutions and improve fam ily finances, whether you’re in a red state or a blue state or somewhere in between. There are tens of thousands of dollars in rebates and tax credits available for home energy improvements like new air conditioners, elec tric heat pumps and insula tion. Using these incentives to cut household utility bills is especially important for vulnerable rural communi ties that carry the highest energy bur dens in Amer ica.

Rural households are more vulnerable to harsh weather, ag ing infrastructure and high fuel prices. Towns can protect them selves by becoming more self-reliant.

Let’s take a look at how resilience can work. Confronting heat and drought, agrovoltaic so lar installations use solar panels to shield crops from intense sun and excessive evaporation, preserving crops even when the tem perature climbs. Generating your own solar energy also cuts your utility bills. Com plementing local solar with energy storage, connected through a microgrid, keeps the lights on even when the grid goes down. Finally, us ing local energy to charge EV cars and trucks reduces fuel costs. Add in energy ef ficiency to make homes and businesses easier to heat and cool, and you’re also putting money back in peo ple’s pockets while making them more secure.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes rebates, tax incentives and grant pro grams that can help imple

For farms, rural busi nesses and lo cal economic development, there are ex panded in centives for solar installa tions, USDA grant funding for energy storage and “Made in the USA” require ments attached to the legis lation’s EV tax credits. As we all learned during the pandemic, keeping critical supply chains close to home is a part of resilience, too.

While Washington is de livering the investments we need, it will be up to local rural leaders to put those dollars to work building lo cal resilience in a rapidly changing world. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get some good stuff done for our hometowns.

About the author: L. Mi chelle Moore is author of Rural Renaissance: Revital izing America’s Hometowns through Clean Power and CEO of Groundswell. This column was produced by Progressive Perspectives, which is run by The Pro gressive magazine and dis tributed by Tribune News Service.

Solar panels at Lily Solar in Scurry, Texas, population 681.

PHOTO BY LOLA GOMEZ/TNS

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees celebrates after hitting his 61st home run of the season in the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, Sept. 28 in Toronto, as Judge ties Roger Maris for the American League record. (VAUGHN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

Russia to annex more of Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)

— Russia planned to an nex more of Ukraine on Friday in an escalation of the seven-month war that seemed sure to fur ther isolate the Kremlin, draw it more interna tional punishment and bring extra military, political and economic support to Ukraine.

The annexation would come just days after voters supposedly approved Moscow-man aged “referendums” that Ukrainian and Western officials have denounced as illegal, forced and rigged.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told re porters Thursday that four regions of Ukraine — Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zapor izhzhia — would be fold ed into Russia during a Kremlin ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to give a major speech. Peskov said the regions’ pro-Moscow ad ministrators would sign treaties to join Russia in the Kremlin’s ornate St. George’s Hall.

In an apparent re sponse, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called an emergency meeting Friday of his National Security and Defense Council.

The U.S. and its allies have promised to adopt even more sanctions than they’ve already levied against Russia and to offer millions

of dollars in extra sup port for Ukraine as the Kremlin duplicates the annexation playbook it followed when it in corporated Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Ukraine repeated its vows to recapture the four regions, as well as Crimea. For its part, Russia pledges to defend all its territory — in cluding newly annexed regions — by all avail able means, including nuclear weapons.

Heightening the ten sions are Russia’s par tial military mobiliza tion and allegations of sabotage of two Russian pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor that were de signed to feed natural gas to Europe. Adding to the Kremlin’s woes is the fact that Ukraine is succeeding in recap turing some of the very land Russia is annexing.

Ukraine’s Western supporters have de scribed the stage-man

aged referendums on whether to live under Russian rule as a baldfaced land grab based on lies. They say some peo ple were forced to vote a gunpoint in an election without independent observers on territory from which thousands of residents have fled or been forcibly deported.

“It’s absolutely un acceptable,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, whose coun try holds the European Union presidency. “We reject such one-sided annexation based on a fully falsified process with no legitimacy.”

Lipavsky described the pro-Russia referen dums as “theater play” and insisted the regions remain “Ukrainian ter ritory.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a conference in Berlin that Russia’s moves were “the opposite of peace.”

NATO: Baltic Sea gas leaks were sabotage

COPENHAGEN, Den mark (AP) — The NATO military alliance warned Thursday it would retali ate for any attacks on the critical infrastructure of its 30 member countries and joined other Western officials in citing sabo tage as the likely cause of damage to two natural gas pipelines in the Bal tic Sea.

The warning came as the Swedish coast guard confirmed a fourth leak on the pipelines off southern Sweden, which is in the process of joining NATO. The first leaks in the pipe lines that extend from Russia to Germany were reported on Tues day, prompting energy companies and Europe an governments to beef up security.

The fear of further

damage to Europe’s en ergy infrastructure has added pressure on nat ural gas prices, which had already been soar ing. Russia, a major sup plier to Europe, cut off deliveries earlier this year in retaliation for sanctions imposed after its invasion of Ukraine. That has caused wide spread economic pain across the continent.

NATO ambassadors said in a statement that “any deliberate attack against allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined re sponse.” They refrained from saying who they thought was responsi ble, even though some allies like Poland, and many experts, have said they believe that Russia is responsible.

“All currently avail able information in dicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irrespon sible acts of sabotage. These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environ mental damage,” the en voys said.

The rising tensions around energy security in Europe come as Rus sia prepares to annex four regions of occupied Ukraine, a move widely condemned by the West. Russian energy giant Gazprom heightened uncertainty around en ergy supplies Wednes day by threatening on Twitter to cease dealing with a Ukrainian com pany that controls one of the two remaining pipelines that ship Rus sian gas to Europe.

Humboldt man snaps photo of Jupiter

By the Register staff

Humboldt’s Mike Myer has made a name for himself for his as trophotography, snap ping brilliant photos of the moon, constel lations and other celes tial objects.

But he had never tried, until this week, to snap a picture of Ju piter, the largest planet

in the solar system.

With clear skies and Jupiter as close to earth as it will be all year, Myer shot a 30-second video of the planet utilizing his large tele scope.

He then created the resulting image from stacking several frames from the video.

A pair of items — Ju

piter’s big red spot, and the shadow cast from one of its moons — are clearly visible. Anoth er of the planet’s four large moons also is vis ible at left.

“I think I can im prove my planetary im aging but I think this is a good first attempt,” Myer told the Register in a message.

NASA spacecraft buzzes Jupiter moon

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Juno spacecraft has made the closest approach to Ju piter’s tantalizing, icy moon Europa in more than 20 years.

Juno on Thursday zipped within 222 miles of Europa, thought to have an ocean flowing beneath its thick fro zen crust, raising the possibility of underwa ter life.

Scientists hope to get lucky and observe

possible water plumes shooting from the sur face of Europa, close in size to Earth’s moon.

“We have to be at the right place at just the right time, but if we are so fortunate, it’s a home run for sure,” Juno’s chief scientist, Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a statement.

John Bordi, deputy mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion

Laboratory, expected the spacecraft to go “screaming by pretty fast,” with a relative velocity of almost 15 miles per second.

The latest observa tions will help NASA plan for its Europa Clipper mission, due to launch in 2024. The European Space Agen cy also plans close en counters with its Jupi ter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, lifting off next year.

ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. COURTESY OF MIKE MYER

A man casts his ballot for a referendum at a polling station in Mariupol on Tuesday. (STRINGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES/TNS)

Former Iola coach Pat Lonergan to be honored

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

When Iola football comes to mind, Pat Lonergan isn’t far behind.

The former head coach will be inducted into the Don Bain Sports Hall of Fame at this Friday’s Iola High School Homecoming parade prior to the football game with Burlington.

The longtime head coach led the Mustangs for close to 18 years from 1978 until the mid 1990s. He then stuck around and helped assist until 2013.

“The support of the public and the small community atmosphere is what made it great,” said Lonergan. “I always enjoyed the fact that the people of Iola came out win or lose and were very good supporters of all the athletic programs. It’s remained that way.”

In 2013, he moved to Shawnee to coach with his son, Ryan. When his son changed jobs, Lonergan then took an assistant coaching role at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park where he currently coaches today.

Lonergan recalls his coaching days at Iola as a growing process and learning about the small town community and what sort of kids are raised in it. The football coach expected his players to contribute to the success of the program.

“In a place like Iola it was about trying to get all the kids to possibly lend something to the success of the team, to come out for football because

ACC slips

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Allen Community College volleyball team lost its home meet to Fort Scott on Wednesday, 3-1.

The Lady Red Devils dropped the opening set, 2523, before taking the second set victory, 25-14. Allen then dropped two sets in a row, 25-16 and 25-22.

Allen was led offensively by Abby Altic’s 17 kills and Katherine Harris’s 11 kills. Gabriela Dominguez notched seven kills and Arlette Becerra ripped six kills. Alycia Shaw and Nadia Gallegos also knocked four kills apiece.

At the serving line, Lady Red Devil Sofia Otero finished with a monstrous 35 aces, followed by Guilia Gonclaves’ 13 aces.

Allen’s Andrea Maldonado made 2 digs while Dominguez came up with 10 digs. Karysn Smith registered eight digs and Otero had six. Gallegos led in solo blocks with two while Harris, Shaw, Otero and Becerra each made one solo block.

The loss breaks the Lady Red Devils’ three-

it had been down for the most part for years except those exceptional years,” Lonergan said. “It’s just a matter of getting the right ones to contribute and build from there.”

The dedication to his kids is why Lonergan had so much success in developing his players. In fact, the head coach recalls he would stay up until two or three in the morning watching tape, always trying to get better.

Lonergan had a number of kids who played at the college level following their high school days.

“We had a lot of kids over the years that played college football and won all kinds of awards and set records. I had a boy start at the University of Arizona, Rick Warren at guard, and he was a midget compared to the rest of the

line,” said Lonergan. “Larry Crest was a fullback and got a scholarship to KU. Randy

Call, an offensive lineman, got a scholarship to K-State.”

In Lonergan’s playing days

he started as an offensive lineman. The former Iolan enjoys coaching the offensive line the most. A crucial part of any team is blocking so that the offensive playmakers can score.

“I keep my eye on everything but I work with the offensive line most. They have to know so much. Defense is more read and react and you’ve got to be a better athlete to be good. If you’re an average athlete you can be a pretty good offensive lineman if you are talented,” said Lonergan.

Lonergan also coached girls basketball at Iola High School and took a team to the state championship. It’s safe to say that Lonergan has made a difference in the Iola community and etched his own name in the history books.

Don Bain was quite the figure in the Iola community himself, playing football at both Iola and Allen Community College. He then taught, coached, and eventually became superintendent of schools of the local district.

Lonergan feels honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame named after such a beloved local icon.

“He (Bain) was very inspirational to me. You just wanted to work for him, he was always trying to help the schools overall and its athletics. He was very easy to work for and very supportive so to receive an honor named after him is even more special,” said Lonergan.

Iola will honor Lonergan at the Homecoming parade prior to the football game with Burlington at 7 p.m. Friday at Riverside Park.

Judge ties Maris for AL homer mark

TORONTO (AP) — When Tim Mayza made a mistake pitch, Aaron Judge made sure the Blue Jays lefthander wound up on the wrong end of history.

Judge tied Roger Maris’ American League record of 61 home runs in a season with a tiebreaking, two-run drive in the seventh inning that lifted the New York Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 on Wednesday night.

Mayza said he was trying to attack Judge with sinkers in the hopes of inducing a ground ball, but missed his spot.

“Just one too many good pitches over the plate to a really good hitter,” Mayza said.

The 30-year-old slugger drove a 94.5 mph belt-high sinker with a full-count from Mayza (8-1) over the left-field fence at Rogers Centre. The 117.4 mph drive took just 3.8 seconds to land 394 feet from the plate, and it put the Yankees ahead 5-3.

“When I hit it, I thought I got enough, but it’s been a couple of games since I did that,” Judge said.

Judge watched the ball clank off the front of the stands, just below two fans who reached over a railing and tried for a catch. He

pumped an arm just before reaching first and exchanged a slap with coach Travis Chapman.

The ball dropped into Toronto’s bullpen and was picked up by Blue Jays bullpen coach Matt Buschmann, who turned it over to the Yankees.

Judge’s mother and Roger Maris Jr. rose and hugged from front-row seats. He appeared to point toward them after rounding second base, then was congratulated by the entire Yankees team, who gave him hugs after he

crossed the plate.

“As soon as he hit it I was like ‘OK, that’s gone,’” Maris Jr. said. “Then it was just a matter of enjoying him run the bases and giving his mom a big old hug and just enjoying the moment.”

Judge moved past the 60 home runs Babe Ruth hit in 1927, which had stood as the major league mark until Maris broke it in 1961. All three stars reached those huge numbers playing for the Yankees.

Barry Bonds holds the big league record of 73 for the

San Francisco Giants in 2001.

Judge had gone seven games without a home run — his longest drought this season was nine in mid-August. This was the Yankees’ 155th game of the season, leaving them seven more in the regular season.

The home run came in the fourth plate appearance of the night for Judge, ending a streak of 34 plate appearances without a home run.

Judge is hitting .313 with 130 RBIs, also the top totals in the AL. He has a chance to become the first AL Triple Crown winner since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012.

The Yankees (96-59), who clinched their 20th AL East title in a night earlier, won for the ninth time in 10 games.

Toronto (87-69) held on to the top spot in the wild card race despite its second straight loss. The Blue Jays are 1 1/2 games ahead of Tampa Bay and two games in front of Seattle.

Gerit Cole (13-7) allowed three runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Cole was per-

Former Iola football head coach Pat Lonergan talks with one of his players on the sideline during a game. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAT LONERGAN

Pat Lonergan today. PHOTO COURTEST OF PAT LONERGAN

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge rounds the bases after hitting his 61st home run of the season on Wednesday in Toronto. VAUGHN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

ITEMS FOR SALE

PACKING PAPERS

AVAILABLE at the Iola Register O ce. $3 per bundle.

HOMES FOR RENT

WANTED

Willing to buy Annals of Iola and Allen County, 1868-1945, Vols. 1 and 2. Call the Iola Register, 620365- 2111 or email susan@ iolaregister.com

GARAGE SALE

19587 S.W. 300th RD., 1 1/2 miles east of Colony, Fri. 7 a.m. - 1 p.m. and Sat. 7 a.m. - ?, Anderson Trabuc

Farmer & Wife Antique Shop. Depression glass, Pyrex, Fire King, Shawnee pottery, Coke items, vintage kitchen items, Plythal hunting gear, Sitka hats, and much, much more! 20% o items in antique shop.

415 E. Jackson Ave., Iola, Fri. and Sat. 7 a.m.6 p.m., outdoor furniture, lawn mower, bicycle, old tools, big men’s clothes, 4 dining room chairs, dresser, shing lures, sh scale, shing pole holders, shing line, lots of misc. items.

1020 1600th St., Iola, Sat. 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Sun. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Fenton, decorations, household items. All items clean and in great condition.

Yard sale! Oct. 1st & 2nd, 7 a.m. - ?, Lots of stu ! Something for everyone! Priced to sell! Located at the Masonic Lodge (across from Sonic in Iola).

SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT

Testosterone injections most likely led to stroke

DEAR DR. ROACH:

My 75-year-old husband was frustrated with not being able to retain an erection. He talked to his doctor about it, and she prescribed 200 mg of testosterone cypionate, which he would inject into his bottom once a week. He did this for four months, and then had a severe bilateral stroke (as in, he does not know where he is, what happened to him, cannot read or write, cannot walk, etc.).

After spending two weeks in the ICU, he went to a rehabilitation hospital for three weeks. The hematologist there told me his hemoglobin level was up to 20, and there was no reason a 75-year-old should have been prescribed testos-

Dr. Keith Roach To Your Good Health

terone when it can elevate his hemoglobin so much. I looked at my husband’s labs over the last three years, and his hemoglobin was never above 15. Of course, I had no idea testosterone would elevate hemoglobin, or that it should not be prescribed to a 75-year-old.

What are the normal protocols with older men? Could his testosterone injections have led to his stroke? — D.H.

ANSWER: I am very sorry to hear about your

husband.

Testosterone replacement therapy is commonly prescribed to men in their 70s and 80s. Elevations of the hemoglobin levels are certainly well-described, but levels above normal only happen about 1% of the time. Experts recommend checking a blood count to look for these elevations three to six months after starting treatment. Testosterone should be stopped if the hemoglobin level is above normal.

Sometimes, there are other causes for the hemoglobin to go up, but a rise that high, when he had never had it before, makes it seem very likely to me that the testosterone was the cause.

A hemoglobin level that high, from any cause, is a risk for stroke and heart attack. It is very possible the testosterone prescription led directly to the stroke.

DEAR DR. ROACH: How do I know if I’ve been vaccinated for polio? — S.A.

ANSWER: The first U.S.-transmitted case of polio in a decade was reported in Rockland County, New York, in July 2022. The person who contracted polio was unvaccinated: They probably contracted the case from a person who was vaccinated outside the U.S., since it was a vaccine-derived polio case. Occasionally, the weakened strain used for the oral polio vaccine

can mutate and cause disease. The oral polio vaccine has not been used in the U.S. since 2000, but it is still used in other parts of the world. The inactivated polio vaccine we now use is not alive, cannot mutate and cannot cause polio.

The vast majority of American and Canadian adults are vaccinated for polio, as it is required for school. Unfortunately, many children have not gotten their boosters on time due to the pandemic, and parents in the area of the case are recommended to get their kids’ vaccines up-to-date as soon as possible. Anyone exposed to a known case should get guidance from their physician.

Public notice

(4) months from the date of the

of

notice: or (b) thirty days after the receipt of the actual notice directed by subsection (2), or be forever barred against the trustee and the trust property as provided under

58a-818 and amendments thereto.

NOTICE TO

ROBIN L. HIXON (deceased)

Robin L. Hixon Trust to all Persons Concerned: All creditors of the

dent are noti

to exhibit their demands against the Estate of Robin L. Hixon within the later of: (a)

Jacqulin Martin (Trustee)

Marg

VEGAS’

BY JAY BOBBIN

CBS

it for you to reprise

“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” role of Catherine among a new group actors on “CSI: Vegas”? always fun to be around energy and new ideas. they’re a lot more adept technology than I am or ever really feel respected (by s other stars) for my 40career, and that’s something I appreciate.

meaningful to you that “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker is still involved with franchise as an executive oducer?

He actually wrote an episode (of “CSI: Vegas”) for me that involves my (character’s) daughter, and that was a great experience. Anthony left “CSI” when the “NY” spinoff launched, and he was sort of working on the “Miami” spinoff, but he wasn’t around our show as much after Season 2 from what I remember

With this episode, he was there ever y day, sort of co-directing. He had such a specific vision for this, and it was fun, though it was hard work. I felt that both of us had matured to the point where we were much more open to making things tighter or whatever With almost ever y take, we were fine-tuning it. The give-and-take was exciting.

It seems like work has stayed pretty consistent for you ever since your Primetime Emmy-winning run on “China Beach.” Does that surprise you? This year has been like whiplash, between “CSI. Vegas” and “All Rise” (which OWN picked up after CBS canceled it). I lost people, and I got married, and I had a grandbaby And to be working a lot on top of that, it’s been one for the record books.

Will she always be ‘the mistress’ to husband’s kids?

Hi Carolyn: My hus band separated from his ex-wife six years ago as result of our affair, and we have been married for three years. There was period of estrange ment from his kids (ages 22 to 28 now) around the breakup. After much ab ject apologizing, talking, accepting responsibil ity, and frankly extreme financial generosity on my husband’s part — well beyond what was legally required — they now are finally on a path to a better relationship.

As the mistress, I have been persona non grata from Day One. I accept ed that both as a foresee able consequence and as the better place for their anger than with their dad, so they could some day get on the path they now seem to be on.

But as they repair their relationship and as I build very cordial relations with his ex tended family, who have been welcoming and gracious, I find myself unhappy with being the fall guy with his ex and kids. I exist and I no lon

ger want to be treated as if I don’t.

His kids and ex ex plicitly excluded me from the kids’ high school and college grad uations these past few years. That was fair, and I supported my husband as he attended. My hus band has sought to in troduce me to his kids several times, individu ally or as a group, but they have repeatedly refused, saying they are not ready.

I am invited to my husband’s niece’s wed ding next year — and we plan to go. However, his kids are close with her and will certainly at tend. None of them has said anything to their dad yet about my being there, but it’s coming.

I don’t want to undo all the progress my hus band has made, so I am prepared to bow out; he

won’t go either, he says, in that case. But when will it end? Am I going to be The Mistress forev er? Does adultery carry a life sentence? Appreci ate any guidance about how to move forward or if we should just give up trying. — Anonymous

Anonymous: That’s a (vaguely disingenu ous) rhetorical ques tion, right, about the life sentence? Because you must already know it is, if the kids want it to be. They’re the jury. And they don’t have to be fair.

They have incen tive to be fair, sure, on several fronts. First, it wouldn’t be healthy for them to resent you to their graves. General soul stuff.

Second, they either know their resentment is mostly misplaced, or they refuse to. You were right to volunteer as lightning rod to keep their electric rage off their dad — you owed them at least that — but that was an act of gen erosity, not logic. Their dad is the one who made

Ginni Thomas meets with Jan. 6 committee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thom as, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, appeared on Thursday for a voluntary interview with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The committee has for months sought an in terview with Thomas in an effort to know more about her role in trying to help former President Donald Trump overturn his election defeat. She texted with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin in the weeks after the election.

Thomas’ appearance on Capitol Hill was confirmed by two people familiar with the committee’s work who were not authorized

CRYPTOQUOTES

to discuss it publicly.

She did not answer questions when she ar rived for the interview or later when she brief ly left for a break. But Thomas did tell report ers she was looking for ward to answering ques tions from the members of the committee.

The testimony from Thomas — known as Ginni — was one of the remaining items for the panel as it eyes the com pletion of its work. The panel has already inter viewed more than 1,000 witnesses and shown some of that video tes timony in its eight hear ings over the summer.

Thomas’ attorney, Mark Paoletta, said last week that Thomas had agreed to meet with the panel and is “eager to answer the committee’s

questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election.”

The extent of her in volvement in the Capitol attack is unclear. In the days after The Associat ed Press and other news organizations called the presidential elec tion for Biden, Thomas emailed two lawmakers in Arizona to urge them to choose “a clean slate of Electors” and “stand strong in the face of po litical and media pres sure.” The AP obtained the emails earlier this year under the state’s open records law.

She has said in inter views that she attended the initial pro-Trump rally the morning of Jan. 6 but left before Trump spoke and the crowds headed for the Capitol.

and broke promises to Family 1.

Third, they risk over playing their hand if they value the bond with their dad, since he’s al ready weighing boycotts if they keep insisting on leaving you out.

Scratch No. 3, though, if they’re thawing with your husband more out of duty than devotion. Then they’ll just walk.

Again, you have little say here, so I’m saying most of this because I love the sound of my own typing. But there is one practical point: If your husband wants to, he can appeal (again) to the jury to grant you leniency. If you want to, you can ask him to do this. And if his kids want to, they can grant it.

Or they can re-es trange their dad. That’s the cost-benefit analysis you and he need to do. You decided your pri orities when you had the affair and reset them in the aftermath. Your frus tration says they’re due for review — and that’s pretty much all you can do.

ZITS

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne FUNKY WINKERBEAN

by Tom Batiuk

by Young and Drake

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote: I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake. — Lewis Black

by Tom Armstrong

by Chance Browne

BLONDIE

MARVIN

HI AND LOIS

R D M P K Z S T W P P W P M V U Q P M P V T C L T . S P Y G T T G P P W P M O T I P Y T V T C U A Y Q T C Y S P K W A G L Q K D D A P M . — I T Y Q P M Y P M P R K

Carolyn Hax

College football week 5 preview

By ERIC OLSON The Associated Press

What’s being called the biggest game in North Carolina State history and Florida State’s first game in four years as an AP Top 25 member have put the At lantic Coast Conference in the national spotlight Saturday.

Whether the games are played as scheduled depends on the path Hurricane Ian takes.

No. 10 NC State is in the top 10 for the first time since 2002, and its reward is a trip to No. 5 Clemson for the Wolf pack’s ACC opener.

No. 23 Florida State has ridden that blocked extra point at the end of the game against LSU and wins over Louis ville and Boston College into the rankings for the first time since the 2018 preseason. The Semi noles host a No. 22 Wake Forest team in need of a bounce-back after losing to Clemson.

The Southeastern Conference features two Top 25 matchups: No. 2 Alabama at No. 20 Ar kansas and No. 7 Ken tucky at No. 14 Missis sippi. No. 9 Oklahoma State visits No. 16 Bay lor in the Big 12’s only game involving ranked teams.

The What to Watch rundown for this week of college football, pre sented by Regions Bank: BEST GAME

No. 10 North Carolina State at No. 5 Clemson This is the first top-10

matchup in the 90-game series history, and the winner gets a leg up in the Atlantic Division race and a tally mark on its College Football Playoff check sheet.

NC State has been workmanlike through four games and ACC preseason player of the year Devin Leary has been good. The QB needs to be closer to great this week.

Clemson’s DJ Uiag alelei is coming off his best game in a 51-45 double-overtime win over Wake Forest. On top of having a hot quarterback, the Tigers have motivation. Their two-overtime loss to the Wolfpack last year end ed an eight-game win streak in the series and all but knocked them out of the CFP race. Also, NC State coach Dave Do eren lit a postgame vic tory cigar — something Clemson’s players defi nitely haven’t forgotten.

HEISMAN WATCH Sam Hartman of No. 22 Wake Forest is a long shot, to be sure, but he could enter the conversation with a performance at Florida State like he had against Clemson.

Hartman has a 13-2 TD-to-interception ra tio, and he’ll be going against the ACC’s top pass defense and a very capable Seminoles pass rush.

Hartman averaged an impressive 11.6 yards per pass attempt while throwing for 337 yards and an ACC-record six

touchdowns against Clemson, which has its own Heisman sleeper in Uiagalelei.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

0 — Times Washing ton quarterback Mi chael Penix Jr. has been sacked.

16 — Cincinnati’s win streak in American Ath letic Conference games entering its league open er at Tulsa.

17 — Grayson Mc Call’s consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass for Coastal Carolina.

21 — Undefeated teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

48-3 — Middle Tennes see State’s first-quarter scoring margin through four games. The Blue Raiders led Miami 17-3 after the opening quar ter on its way to a 45-31 win last week.

69 — Southern Cal ifornia’s points off 14 takeaways, 41% of its total of 169. 159 — Difference between Minnesota’s points scored (183) and allowed (24).

UNDER THE RADAR No. 18 Oklahoma at

TCU The beatdown the Sooners put on Nebras ka looked like fool’s gold after Adrian Mar tinez and Kansas State rolled them last week in Norman. Whether that performance was an ab erration will be known when they visit a TCU team they’ve beaten eight straight times.

The Horned Frogs are using this as a mea suring stick game after beating winless Colora do, FCS team Tarleton and SMU.

Also: No. 15 Washing ton at UCLA on Friday, Iowa State at undefeated Kansas and No. 4 Michi gan at Iowa. HOT SEAT?

Stanford’s David Shaw was among the hottest coaches in the nation six years ago when he led the Cardi nal to the Pac-12 cham pionship game for the fourth time in six sea sons.

Times are tough on The Farm nowadays. The Cardinal have lost nine straight against Bowl Subdivision oppo nents.

Judge: 61st HR

Continued from B1

fect through five before Danny Jansen hom ered leading off the sixth. Cole struck out four, matching the Yan kees season record of 248 set by Ron Guidry in 1978.

“I think it’s more spe cial because of what Aaron did tonight,” Cole said.

ACC: slips to Fort Scott

New York scored three in the first off Mitch White, but To ronto tied it in a threerun sixth that included Bo Bichette’s RBI single and Vladimir Guerre ro’s sacrifice fly.

SPECIAL ASSIS TANTS

One day after clinch ing the division, manag er Aaron Boone tapped first baseman Anthony Rizzo and second base

man Gleyber Torres as assistant managers for the finale in Toronto. Boone said he and Riz zo worked on the lineup together.

TUNED IN Tuesday’s game drew a peak audience of 901,000 on YES, making it the network’s most viewed game since Der ek Jeter’s final game on Sept. 25, 2014. The game had a peak audience of 1.29 million on Canadi an TV.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: INF DJ LeMahieu (right toe in flammation) is expect ed to be playing before Friday’s series opener against Baltimore.

Blue Jays: RHP Nick Pivetta (10-11, 4.48 ERA) goes for the Red Sox on Friday against Toronto.

US women dealing with Griner’s absence

SYDNEY (AP) — Without Brittney Griner’s 6-foot-8 pres ence to dominate around the basket, the U.S. women need ed to figure out how to overcome her ab sence.

So far, so good.

The Americans have rolled through the World Cup, beat ing opponents by av erage of 44 points per game without Griner and one of the best frontcourts ever as sembled in women’s basketball.

Griner was sen tenced to nine years in prison last month in Russia on a drug charge. President Joe Biden called the ver dict in the politically charged case “unac ceptable,” and U.S. diplomats have been working to secure her release.

While Griner’s circumstances have weighed on the team emotionally, her ab sence is one of many changes to the U.S. lineup. The Ameri cans are also without 6-5 Sylvia Fowles and 6-4 Tina Charles, who retired from the team after winning sever al gold medals — in cluding at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

However, 6-4 Bre anna Stewart and 6-5 A’ja Wilson have been able to fill the void. They are different types of post players. Both are versatile with the ability to play inside and out, and defend all types of players.

“A’ja and I can bring them to the block or outside and that keeps the de fense guessing and we have a lot of dif ferent options,” Stew art said. “We know we can give them a lot of different looks.”

Stewart, 28, and Wilson, 26, should give the U.S. a formi dable 1-2 punch for a long time — though they hope Griner will be rejoining them soon.

Wilson, who ar rived Friday after celebrating the Las Vegas Aces’ first WNBA champion ship, scored 20 points in Saturday’s 77-63 win over China. She hit 15-foot jumpers and also scored in the paint against China’s much taller lineup that featured 6-10 Han

Xu. Stewart and Wil son also helped hold China about 40 points under what the coun try was averaging in the tournament.

“Stewie and I can switch defensively, which is great,” Wil son said. “Don’t get me wrong, BG and Syl are missed. I look around and am like, ‘Where is everybody?’ It’s me and Stew ie now. We’ve done this before. But yeah we’re definitely dif ferent than some of the past players.”

Even without Griner, the U.S. has dominated its com petition in the paint, outscoring its group opponents by an aver age of 36 points. The Americans are aver aging 60.8 points in side the lane, includ ing an eye-popping 94 against South Korea.

“It’s insane,” for ward Alyssa Thomas said. “I’ve never seen any numbers like that. It’s what we are trying to do by getting the ball inside.”

The U.S. didn’t have as much success inside in the 88-55 quarterfinal win over Serbia, which clogged the paint and out scored the Americans 28-26 inside.

“It’s one of those things you got to live with,” Wilson said. “Hopefully these next couple of games we can get back to own ing the paint. Serbia did a great job of locking it down.”

As well as Stew art and Wilson have played, the U.S. would love to have Griner in the lineup. The Amer icans decided to hon or her by not having anyone wear her No. 15 jersey at the World Cup. Brionna Jones is wearing No. 16 in stead.

“We’d rather have Brittney in there for sure,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We want to put it inside as that’s the strength of USA Bas ketball. We will con tinue to have the ball inside.”

It’s not a new strat egy. The U.S. has dom inated inside during World Cup play dat ing to the days of Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson.

It’s not just Wilson and Stewart who are contributing to the U.S. run in Sydney.

Kentucky beat Northern Illinois last weekend, 31-23. They are ranked No. 7 in this week’s AP Poll. TNS