Sports: Heartbreak on hardwood for Iola teams See B1
The Weekender Saturday, January 31, 2015
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Conservation practices saluted From ‘no man’s land’ to paradise
Stories and photos by Bob Johnson
Roland and Linda Thompson and their son, Tim, will be honored for their grassland conservation work.
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oland and Linda Thompson are never happier than when they get a chance to spend time on their 160-acre spread east of Humboldt. They refer to their ranch as “the Outback,” and after years of hard work have cleared pastures of a multitude of cedars and brush. They will be honored with a grassland management award at the Soil Conservation District annual meeting at 6:30 Wednesday evening in the Community Building in Riverside Park. “We called it ‘no man’s land’ before we started to remove all the cedars,” and other inSee THOMPSONS | Page A8
Soil preservation lauded
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Phyllis Boan, center, her son, Justin Weseloh, left, and tenant Jim Jarred, stand in front of a waterway and terrace on Boan’s farm east of Humboldt.
n the 1950s and early ’60s, Phyllis Boan was “the son Dad never had.” She did farm chores that girls then seldom embraced. “I cultivated, rode on the hay truck,” did just about every thing that occupied boys on neighboring farms — and often did just as well or better. Today a girl no more, Phyllis — she was Phyllis Owens growing up — still has a strong bond to farming, made even more so eight years ago when she inherited 200 acres
a mile east of her home place. For her efforts to conserve soil and improve tillability of the acreage, Phyllis will be honored as an Allen County Soil Conservation Award winner at Wednesday evening’s conservation district annual meeting in Riverside Park. When she took possession of the farm, half a mile wide and five-eighths of a mile long, it came in two tracts. One had had terraces constructed about 35 years earlier, See BOAN | Page A8
January collections fall short By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected $47 million less than anticipated this month, signaling that Gov.
Sam Brownback and legislators may have to be more aggressive with spending cuts or other measures to balance the budget. But the Department of Revenue said Friday that
a key factor was greaterthan-expected income tax refunds during the month and that the federal government is processing returns more quickly than it did See TAXES | Page A3
Hope Unlimited staff members Donita Garner, left, and Michelle Meiwes speak at Friday’s See, Hear Iola session. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Hope Unlimited still going 30 years strong By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
‘Desperado’ delight
Rachel Shaffer, a seventh-grader at Marmaton Valley Junior High School, was crowned Allen County Spelling Bee winner Friday, besting 23 other competitors. Shaffer won by correctly spelling “desperado” and will advance to the Sunflower Spelling Bee March 7 in Hays. Iola Middle School’s Audrey Coltrane and Elijah Luedke took second and third, respectively. Shaffer was given a trophy by former Iola Mayor Bill Shirley. REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
Quote of the day Vol. 117, No. 62
Donita Garner and Michelle Meiwes, long-time staff members for Hope Unlimited, explained Friday what the nonprofit organization offers the community. Hope Unlimited is a community-based organization operated by staff and trained volunteers who support victims of family violence and sexual assault. Speaking at Friday’s See, Hear Iola session, Gardner said Hope Unlimited services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days of the
“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” — Ernest Hemingway 75 Cents
See, Hear Iola year. They provide emergency shelter, crisis intervention, outreach services, child visitation center and a child advocacy center. “We are first responders to a domestic violence call or we are called once a scene is cleared,” she said. “We try to provide safety for all victims.” Hope Unlimited was founded in 1984 and has served many in southeast Kansas. In the last See HOPE | Page A3
Hi: 43 Lo: 37 Iola, KS