The Iola Register, March 31, 2023

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US Supreme Court won’t review map

By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) —

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t review a congressional redistricting law enacted by the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature that some voters and Democrats saw as political gerrymandering.

The nation’s highest court said Monday without explanation that it won’t hear an appeal of a Kansas Supreme Court ruling from May 2022 that upheld the redistricting law, which was challenged by 11 voters.

The appeal centered on the Kansas court’s rejection of critics’ claims that the new congressional map was racially gerrymandered. The Kansas court also ruled that the state constitution permits partisan gerrymandering.

The GOP map had appeared to hurt the chances of reelection last year for the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, in her Kansas City-area district. But Davids still won her race in November by 12 percentage points.

The law also moved the liberal northeastern Kansas city of Lawrence into a district with heavily Republican western Kansas.

The Legislature must redraw political boundaries at least once every 10 years to ensure that districts are as equal in population as possible. The Kansas Supreme Court split 4-3 on whether the state constitution allows partisan gerrymandering.

ICT ready for takeoff

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re now boarding for a destination filled with three straight days of laughs, poignancy and a few brilliant moments of absurdity.

The Iola Community Theatre takes its next production skyward, with “Airport Encounters” Friday and Saturday evenings at 7 o’clock and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the ICT Warehouse.

The ensemble cast under the guidance of co-directors Rhi Jordan and Paige Olson serves up 10 vignettes, all completely separate aside from their setting — an airport waiting area.

Their stories, with a min-

imal amount of props or set decoration, rely almost entirely on dialogue.

And with an assemblage of talented veterans and newcomers, “Airport Encounters” is ready for takeoff.

By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register

The cost of electrical improvements at Allen County Regional Airport will be significantly less than expected due to bids coming in below expectations.

Mitch Garner, Public Works director, told commissioners that bids were opened earlier this week to improve the electrical systems for the runway, including lighting, and a new Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS). Much of the work will be paid with grant money from the state and Federal Aviation Administration.

Engineers estimated the work would exceed $1 million but a bid from Strukel Electric came in at $766,350 for a savings of $235,150. The prices for cable, conduits and other material have been highly volatile for the past three years, but came in well below the engineer’s estimates, according to Garver, the Overland Park engineering firm leading the project.

The county is responsible for a 10% match, and already has paid about $66,000 for the project, leaving just $35,700 for the county’s portion, according to Garner’s estimates.

Girard-based Strukel was the only bidder for the project, though seven contrac-

Kansas Senate defeats bill tying food stamps to child support

By TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Wichita Sen.

Oletha Faust-Goudeau said enactment of a Kansas Senate bill written to deny federal food stamp benefits to noncustodial parents not making child support payments would lead to an increase in the number of children going hungry.

Faust-Goudeau, a Democrat, delivered an emotional speech on the Senate floor during debate on House Bill 2141, which would make Kansas the fourth state in the country to withhold Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits from a parent who owed child support.

She expressed outrage the Legislature would contemplate withholding food as a tactic to extract cash from poor parents.

“The bill would sock it to them. We’re going to deny them some measly food stamps. Find another way.

Don’t starve them to death,” Faust-Goudeau said. “This

bill would make it less likely that parents can support their children and more likely that children and their parents will go hungry. Reducing ac-

cess to food for Kansans who are already struggling financially is unnecessarily harsh and ineffective.”

The Senate by the most nar-

row margin voted Wednesday to defeat the bill disqualifying noncustodial parents from food stamps if delin-

Alison Fees, from left, unloads all sorts of baggage during a scene with Monica Gayle Wright and Wayne Stephens as part of Iola Community Theatre’s “Airport Encounters,” which runs Friday through Sunday at the ICT Warehouse. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, said she was mystified a Kansas Senate committee endorsed a bill withholding food stamps from parents not making child support payments. The House-passed bill was rejected 20-20 by the Senate. (SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR)

Judd Wiltse plays a therapy dog who nuzzles up to Jason Chandlee.

Library celebrates National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and Iola Public Library joins the celebration with special events every week. Patrons of all ages can meet and greet poets, listen to poems, attend a poetry workshop or get a poem for their pocket.

Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month has become the largest literary celebration in the world, according to the Academy, with tens of millions of readers, students, teachers, librarians and — of course — poets, marking the importance of poetry in our lives.

The library starts things off with Poets of Kansas, a combined

Dennis Etzel Jr., poet and Humanities Kansas speaker, presents Poets of Kansas, a combined talk and informal workshop, at the library April 6 at 8 p.m.

talk and workshop, in the meeting room 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 6. In an informal atmosphere, Dennis Etzel Jr. will explore the work of eight contemporary poets inspired by their Kansas surroundings,

both urban and rural. Participants will reflect on their own experiences as inspiration and leave with ideas for a poem, if not a finished poem, Etzel says.

Required reservations can be made by calling (620) 365-3262.

Etzel, a Topeka poet, teaches at Washburn University. His book “My Secret Wars of 1984,” was selected by the Kansas City Star as Best Poetry Book of 2015. “Fast-Food Sonnets” was a 2017 Notables Book selected by the State Library of Kansas.

Poets of Kansas is made possible by Humanities Kansas and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Poet Dave Malone,

a native Kansan, will be in the main reading room from 4 to 6 p.m. April 12 for conversation and informal readings of his work. His seventh and latest book, “Tornado Drill,” highlights rural and small-town life.

Poems for Teens features forensics students from Iola High School at 6 p.m. April 21 in the meeting room. They will interpret selected poems for young adults in a casual atmosphere. Refreshments will be served.

Poem for Your Pocket Day returns April 28. Traditional poems with upbeat themes will be distributed at the library and various Iola businesses. Poems are provided

by the American Academy of Poets, which initiated the custom in 2002. The library introduced Poem for Your Pocket in Iola last year, distributing 600 poems at 16 different locations.

LIBRARY CALENDAR

Monday, April 3: Chess Club with Anna Mitchell at 6 p.m.; In Stitches crochet with Jen Tarter at 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 4 at 5 p.m.: Spring Play Time for families and toddlers, with takehome snack

Wednesday, April 5: Storytime with Lesa Cole, for preschoolers, 10:30 a.m.; 2 O’Clock Book Talk, open discussion with Colleen Dobbins, 2 p.m.

Friday, April 7 at 2 p.m.: Youth birdhouse painting, limit 12, registration, (620) 365-3262.

Judge’s ruling undercuts preventive care law

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)

— A federal judge in Texas who previously ruled to dismantle the Affordable Care Act struck down a narrower but key part of the nation’s health law Thursday in a decision that opponents say could jeopardize preventive screenings for millions of Americans.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor comes more than four years after he ruled that the health care law, sometimes called “Obamacare,” was unconstitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned that decision.

His latest ruling is likely to start another lengthy court battle: O’Connor blocked the requirement that most insurers cover some

preventive care such as cancer screenings, siding with plaintiffs who include a conservative activist in Texas and a Christian dentist who opposed mandatory coverage for contraception and an HIV prevention treatment on religious grounds.

O’Connor wrote in his opinion that recommendations for preventive care by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force were “unlawful.”

The Biden administration had told the court that the outcome of the case “could create extraordinary upheaval in the United States’ public health system.” It is likely to appeal.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a message seeking com-

Nine killed in Black Hawk helicopter crash

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Nine people were killed in a crash involving two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters conducting a nighttime training exercise in Kentucky, Army officials said Thursday.

Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said the deaths happened Wednesday night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.

A statement from Fort Campbell said the two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday in Trigg County, Kentucky.

The 101st Airborne confirmed the crash about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Fort Campbell. The crash is

Gas to host community conversation

Thrive Allen County is hosting a Community Conversation at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, at the Gas Community Building.

Discussion will include what is going well in Gas and what can be improved.

Residents are invited to share their thoughts.

Those with questions can call Marcia at Thrive at 620-365-8128.

Biblesta events planned

ment on the ruling.

In September, O’Connor ruled that required coverage of the HIV prevention treatment known as PrEP, which is a pill taken daily to prevent infection, violated the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs. That decision also undercut the broader system that determines which preventive drugs are covered in the U.S., ruling that a federal task force that recommends coverage of preventive treatments is unconstitutional.

Employers’ religious objections have been

a sticking point in past challenges to former President Barack Obama’s health care law, including over contraception. The Biden administration and more than 20 states, mostly controlled by Democrats, had urged O’Connor against a sweeping ruling that would do away with the preventive care coverage requirement entirely.

“Over the last decade, millions of Americans have relied on the preventive services provisions to obtain no-cost preventive care, im-

proving not only their own health and welfare, but public health outcomes more broadly,” the states argued in a court filing.

The lawsuit is among the attempts by conservatives to chip away at the Affordable Care Act — or wipe it out entirely — since it was signed into law in 2010. The attorney who filed the suit was an architect of the Texas abortion law that was the nation’s strictest before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and allowed states to ban the procedure.

HUMBOLDT — The Biblesta Committee is hosting a pair of events in April.

The Biblesta Committee will meet for its regular meeting at 6 p.m. April 17 at the Von Humboldt Plaza Meeting Room at 410 S. Ninth St. A fried chicken fundraiser is planned for 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday, April 23, at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall.

Free-will offerings will be accepted. Meals will be served on site, with carry-out option offered as well.

Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charge

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

under investigation.

The helicopters crashed in a field near a residential area with no injuries on the ground, Brig. Gen. John Lubas, the 101st Airborne deputy commander, said. One helicopter had five people aboard and the other had four, Lubas said.

Lubas said it is unclear what caused the crash. He said a team of investigators from Fort Rucker in Alabama was headed to the crash site.

“This was a training progression, and specifically they were flying a multi-ship formation, two ships, under night vision goggles at night,” Lubas said.

He said officials believe the accident occurred when “they were doing flying, not deliberate medical evacuation drills.”

Russia’s security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release.

Evan Gershkovich was detained in the city of Yekaterinburg while allegedly trying to obtain classified information, the Federal Security Service, known by the acronym FSB, said Thursday. The service, which is the top domestic security agency and main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, alleged that Gershkovich “was acting on instructions from the American side to collect information about the ac-

tivities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex that constitutes a state secret.”

The Journal “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich,” the newspaper said. “We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family.”

The arrest comes at a moment of bitter tensions between the West and Moscow over its war in Ukraine and as the Kremlin intensifies a crackdown on opposition activists, independent journalists and civil society groups.

The sweeping campaign of repression is unprecedented since the Soviet era. Activists say it often means the very profession of journalism is criminalized, along with the

activities of ordinary Russians who oppose the war.

Earlier this week, a Russian court convicted a father over social media posts critical of the war and sentenced him to two years in prison. His 13-year-old daughter was sent to an orphanage.

Gershkovich is the first American reporter to be arrested on espionage charges in Russia since September 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB. Daniloff was released without charge 20 days later in a swap for an employee of the Soviet Union’s United Nations mission who was ar-

rested by the FBI, also on spying charges.

At a hearing Thursday, a Moscow court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars pending the investigation.

While previous American detainees have been freed in prisoner swaps, a top Russian official said it was too early to talk about any such deal.

In Washington, the Biden administration said it had spoken with the Journal and Gershkovich’s family. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the arrest “in the strongest terms” and urged Americans to heed government warnings not to travel to Russia.

Bill: Democrats argue more children would have gone hungry

Continued

quent on child support payments or found uncooperative with state enforcement of child support orders. Existing law applied this standard to the parent with custody of children, but Kansas hadn’t extended that to noncustodial parents.

The vote was 20-20 after Sen. Mike Petersen, R-Wichita, and Sen. Rick Kloos, R-Berryton, changed their votes to “no.”

“I’d like to change my vote,” Kloos said. “This is a difficult decision, but I do think there’s a lot of kids we do need to keep in mind.”

In Kansas, 280,000 people and 100,000 children endure hunger, meaning one in seven kids were subject to food insecurity. The challenge for low-income adults responsible for feeding a family deepened as inflation pushed grocery costs higher in Kansas, despite a cut in the state’s sales tax on food. Congress ordered emergency SNAP assistance extended to the states during the COVID-19 pandemic to expire April 1.

‘Pro-family, pro-children’

The Senate bill generated fierce opposition from organizations and individuals testifying before House and Senate committees.

Support in both the House and Senate came only from the Florida think tank Opportunity Solutions Project, which argued Kansas ought to strengthen limitations on welfare assistance in a manner reminiscent of action taken by the 2015 Kansas Legislature and Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

The food stamp and child support bill was passed by the Kansas House in February with a 76-46 majority. Three states have adopted

laws comparable to the Kansas measure praised by Sen. Beverly Gossage, the Eudora Republican and chair of the Senate health committee.

She said Kansas parents with custody of children had been subject since 2017 to this food stamp compliance mandate enforced by the Kansas Department for Children and Families. The reform bill was designed to compel “supposedly deadbeat” parents to reconnect with their children and provide financial support to the family or lose access to food assistance, Gossage said.

“We believe that the children and their families should be due their rightfully owed … money from a noncustodial parent before the state pays for welfare,” Gossage said. “This is pro-family, pro-children and pro-personal responsibility.”

‘Thank God’ Opponents of the bill included Kansas Action for Children, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Harvesters — The Community Food Network, Kansas Food Bank, Second Harvest Community Food Bank, Kansas National Education Association, Kansas Public Health Association, United Community Services of Johnson County and DCF.

“This is not a program that has been adopted by other states because, one, it doesn’t achieve its goal, two, it’s very insensitive to our poorest families,” said Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City.

A concern expressed about the legislation was suspension of food benefits could undermine a parent’s ability to maintain employment, earn a sustainable income and result in unintended consequences for other family members.

“This bill is cruel

and punitive, and negatively impacts hungry children living in poverty,” said Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park. “We should be creative enough to find other ways to get individuals to make child support payments.”

Another issue was a custodial parent could be found noncompliant with DCF if not participating in the effort to secure child support even if that collaboration might place the custodial parent at personal risk. The DCF secretary would have leeway to exempt a parent if that individual had “good cause” to avoid compliance with child support enforcement.

Faust-Goudeau, whose mother lobbied at the Capitol decades ago on behalf of impoverished single parents, said she couldn’t believe the Legislature would contemplate a bill exacerbating food deficit problems of her Wichita constituents.

“Thank God for the safety net clinics,” she said. “Thank God for the Red Cross. Thank God for the food bank. Thank God for the churches that fill in the gaps.”

T. rex snarl may be wrong

NEW YORK (AP) — The Tyrannosaurus rex is often shown baring massive, sharp teeth, like the ferocious creature in “Jurassic Park.” But new research suggests that this classic image might be wrong.

The teeth on T. rex and other big theropods were likely covered by scaly lips, concludes a study published Thursday in the journal Science. The dinosaur’s teeth didn’t stick out when its mouth was closed, and even in a wide open bite, you might just see the tips, the scientists found.

The research is the latest in a long back-andforth over how dinosaur mouths really looked.

Recent depictions show big teeth jutting out of the dinosaurs’ jaws, even when closed. Some thought the predators’ teeth were just too big to fit in their mouths, said study author Thomas Cullen, a paleontologist at Auburn University in Alabama.

When researchers compared skulls from dinosaurs and living reptiles, though, they found this wasn’t the case. Some large monitor lizards actually have bigger teeth than T. rex compared to their skull size, and can

still fit them under a set of scaly lips, Cullen said.

The scientists also found clues in the pattern of wear and tear on tooth surfaces.

For a creature like a crocodile, whose teeth stick out of its mouth, the exposed part gets worn down quickly — “like someone’s taken a sander to the side of the tooth,” said another study author Mark Witton, a paleoartist at England’s University of Portsmouth.

But when researchers analyzed a tooth from a

Daspletosaurus, a T. rex relative, they found it was in good condition and it didn’t show that uneven damage pattern. With this evidence and other clues from the dinosaurs’ anatomy, the study makes a good case for lipped tyrannosaurs, said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, who was not involved with the study. Still, “we’re not talking kissy lips,” he pointed out — they’d be thin and scaly like those of the Komodo dragon, a large lizard.

needed.

Sen. Rick Kloos, R-Berryton, changed his vote to “no” on a bill blocking food assistance to poor parents unable to make child support payments. His decision Wednesday resulted in a 20-20 tally and rejection of the bill by the Kansas Senate. (TIM CARPENTER/KANSAS REFLECTOR)

Experts see economic problems in struggle over debt limit, cuts

By JENNIFER SHUTT Kansas Reflector

WASHINGTON — Experts told the U.S. House Budget Committee on Wednesday the country’s economic outlook is problematic, as a fierce debate over the nation’s budget remains front and center.

Play: Community theater just plane funny

about to board a flight to Africa, keen on serving in the Peace Corps. However, she must first deal with River Hess, hired by her ex-boyfriend to persuade Lea to stay home and rekindle their relationship. Their banter is equal parts stirring and humorous.

• “Stuck” offers a touching look at Bumble Ard as Palmer, a long-time flier who has never actually flown anywhere. Instead, Palmer seeks out tickets for overbooked flights in order to recoup a hefty gift package by agreeing to give up a seat in exchange for cash.

Palmer’s path crosses with Jenna Morris as Zoe, an airport employee who yearns to travel the world but never been able to afford a ticket.

Ard, a first-time performer with ICT, and Morris keep the audience enthralled as they realize their destinations never change, even though their intentions are vastly different.

• “Insurance” takes a rib-tickling look at Teagan Kern as Lauren, an insurance agent whose increasingly outrageous (and unique) policies cover everything from dealing with flight delays to crying babies. And if a passenger comes down with some exotic disease in the airport restroom facility, they could get quite a payout, she promises.

Kern matches wits with Alison Fees and Jacob Cooper. Cooper is a hoot as the easily excitable, if not naïve, potential customer. Fees, however, is a bit more cynical.

• “Going Home” tackles the age-old family dilemma — convincing a recently widowed and elderly mother to move in with her son and daughter-in-law.

Diana Dashnaw sparkles as Deb, the mother with an independent

streak who barely tolerates her son’s overtures and is downright hostile to her daughter-in-law.

The real life husband-and-wife team of Ben and Sofie Alexander are her son and daughter-in-law. Sofie shines as she calmly tolerates her motherin-law’s insults; Ben is equal to the task as the well-intentioned and doting son.

• Your journey’s route takes a delightful course adjustment straight for the funny bone with “Therapy Dog,” featuring the always-memorable Judd Wiltse as Theo. He’s an airport employee hired to portray an emotional support dog after the real animal was fired for biting a passenger. And he’s good at it, too, garnering the affection of travelers like the aforementioned Morris and Katie Jo Knoblich, but much to the chagrin of Jason Chandlee, who can hardly believe his eyes.

Never one to back away from a challenge, Wiltse takes it upon himself to melt Chandlee’s heart and his skepticism. As one of five ICT rookies in the ensemble, Chandlee excels at meeting Wiltse’s outlandishness.

• Speaking of obscure support animals, “The Lizard” takes a hilarious look at Tiffany Hurlock, who insists upon traveling with her support lizard, discreetly hidden in a Chinese food takeout box. As fate would have it, Hurlock’s lizard escapes, just as she and Lea bicker over who gets to introduce herself first to a cute fellow traveler in Justin Chandlee.

• “Twenty Million Miles” offers a unique twist on a seemingly perfect career — traveling to exotic destinations to pose as a tourist while surreptitiously rating resorts and airlines — vs. working at the same airport job

day in and day out. Dan Davis is the world-weary traveler; Catherine Dean is the even wearier homebody. Both are newcomers to the ICT stage; let’s hope they bring their talents back for future productions.

• “My Cell Phone Says You’re My Soulmate” says it all. Hess is in search of his, and an app on his phone points him in the direction of sisters Candice Grundy and Shelli Barnett, who are about to take flight. He must act fast to convince the understandably dubious Grundy and the rebellious Barnett, who is known for making spur-of-the-moment decisions that he is one (or is it the other’s?) soulmate.

• In “Ninjas,” Hurlock and Knoblich are former schoolmates headed home for a class reunion. It seems fate brought the pair together on the same flight — or was it something else? Hurlock and Knoblich offer a heartwarming look at the torment of an unrequited childhood crush, the years of regret that followed and the ninja-like lengths teens will go to obsess over an unwitting classmate.

• Your final stop comes with “Baggage,” literally and metaphor-

ically.

Fees is uproarious as she attempts to board a plane with a carry-on suitcase exponentially larger than anything a sane traveler would use. See, her case is filled with more than clothing including pieces of her life from when she was happiest; the dress she wore with her ex; or the bowling ball her father used. (Oh and don’t forget a toaster and flotation device). Newcomer Monica Gayle Wright and Wayne Stephens are the exasperated baggage handlers who try to convince Fees that sometimes it’s best to let things go.

DIRECTORS Jordan and Olson keep the stories (and flights) on schedule, and the passengers (and audience happy). A special round of applause goes to Jordan, who assumed even more preflight responsibilities when her copilot missed time due to illness.

And last but not least, young Piper Jordan is your flight attendant, offering greetings and well wishes to the ICT audience throughout the show.

Tickets/boarding passes sell for $10 for adults and $5 for children, and are available at the door.

We hope you enjoy your flight.

House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, have repeatedly rejected raising the debt limit unless President Joe Biden agrees to a series of spending cuts. Biden is adamant that the two issues of raising the debt limit and setting future spending levels should move forward on separate tracks.

He’s also repeatedly called on House Republicans to release their budget resolution, a tax and spending blueprint that would show how the party proposes balancing the budget during the next decade.

The House GOP has yet to do that or set a timeline for when it will.

During Wednesday’s hearing in the House Budget Committee, Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle, ranking member on the panel, acknowledged that Congress needs to restructure federal taxes and government funding moving forward.

“We agree — our nation does face long-term fiscal challenges. Our population, like most in the Western world, is aging. So health care, Social Security, and Medicare costs are rising,” Boyle said, before adding that increasing inequality and disruptions caused by climate change are all part of the picture.

“And yes, deficits and debt are projected, especially in the next decade, to reach levels that simply none of us would be comfortable with,” he said. “So we’re seeing a similar picture and we do have very different ideas to where solutions lie.”

The men who testified before the panel had drastically different approaches for how much the federal government

should tax its citizens and how much it should spend.

Scott Hodge, president emeritus and senior policy adviser at the Tax Foundation, urged U.S. lawmakers to eliminate “failing businesses enterprises,” such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Amtrak, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Postal Service.

“These and many more federal assets should be sold off and the proceeds used to pay down the national debt,” said Hodge, who was one of the Republican Party’s witnesses. Hodge called on Congress to “make hard choices,” saying that if a “a company or industry cannot survive without taxpayer assistance, it should not be allowed to survive.”

Lawmakers must, Hodge said, make structural changes to entitlement programs, like Social Security and Medicare.

“These programs are bankrupt now and are getting worse,” Hodge said. “No member of this body is in a position to criticize the management of Silicon Valley Bank for failing to foresee the crisis in their balance sheet when the financial crisis in Social Security and Medicare have been known and getting worse for years.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, agreed the country faces “significant long-term fiscal challenges” though he called for Congress to address it through “both tax increases and government spending restraint.”

Zandi also urged Congress to address the nation’s debt limit quickly and without fanfare, saying the impact of a default on the federal government and the economy would be problematic. The nation hit the debt limit in January and began a process known as extraordinary measures, in which the U.S. Treasury Department uses accounting measures to avoid defaulting on the debt.

Continued from A1

Morgan Lea must deal with River Hess, hired by her ex-boyfriend to keep her from a trip to Africa in “A Camel Might Step on Your Head.”

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Siphoning public funds from public schools a lawsuit in the making

If passed into law, can Education Saving Accounts and tax credit vouchers withstand a constitutional challenge? That’s a question rolling around the Kansas Capitol.

The concern, at this point, is speculation since these two school choice bills have yet to go to Governor Kelly for her signature or veto.

The Education Savings Accounts bill currently creates a fund for families to use taxpayer dollars for private and homeschooling expenses.

In its first year, the program would be available to public school students testing at the lowest grade level or receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Eventually families of four making $180,000 per year or more would be eligible.

The tax credit bill enlarges the current tax credit scholarship fund. Fully implemented, it would give about $5,000 per qualifying student per year to attend any accredited or unaccredited private school or use for other educational expenses.

How to fix global rice crisis

Sharon Iorio Insight Kansas

tem of common schools.

Article 6: (1) “The legislature shall provide for a state board of education which shall have general supervision of public schools, educational institutions and all the educational interests of the state.”

The proposed bills create two separate systems — one governed by the state board of education and a new system governed by the Kansas treasurer to administer the scholarships and ESAs.

Second, Article 6: 2(a) states, “The state board of education shall perform such other duties as may be provided by law.”

Education Savings Accounts are directly funded from tax dollars budgeted for education, eroding the state’s ability to provide a fair and equitable education to all students.

Donors to the scholarship fund could apply for a 70 percent tax credit. Currently the fund is limited to low income, low performing students but the 2023 bill would expand incrementally to include almost all student applicants regardless of parent’s income, including students who always have attended a private school or been homeschooled.

Currently 11 states allow various types of Education Savings Accounts, and 20 states allow tax credit scholarships.

Do ESAs that directly fund private schools with public tax dollars and scholarships that indirectly reduce education funds through tax credits violate the Kansas Constitution?

Tax Credit scholarships may more easily withstand legal challenges because they are funded by donations. The loss to the state comes from fewer tax dollars collected due to the refundable tax credits. Education Savings Accounts are directly funded from tax dollars budgeted for education. Both bills siphon public funds from public schools.

Here are reasons for concern: First, the Kansas Constitution creates a single sys-

Currently there are no laws that direct the state board of education to oversee schools other than public schools. Moreover, proponents of the bills advocate a main value is that funds would go to schools governed by the state treasurer not the state board of education.

Third, the Kansas constitution is clear. Article 6: 6 (c) “No religious sect or sects shall control any part of the public educational funds.”

Recently the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Carson v. Makin to require states to fund private religious schools if the states fund any other private schools.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that the ruling does not require states to fund private schools — but once they do, religious schools can’t be excluded.

In January an Ohio lawsuit challenging the state’s voucher program moved forward to Franklin County Court. More than 100 school districts signed onto the lawsuit advocating a “secure” and single “system of common schools.”

Who among us would want another long, costly constitutional confrontation over Kansas schools? Nevertheless, this battle may be ongoing well into the future.

About the author: Sharon Iorio is Dean Emerita at the Wichita State University College of Education

The green revolution was one of the greatest feats of human ingenuity. By promoting higher-yielding varieties of wheat and, especially, rice, plant-breeders in India, Mexico and the Philippines helped China emerge from a famine and India avoid one. From 1965 to 1995 Asia’s rice yields doubled and its poverty almost halved, even as its population soared.

Asia’s vast rice market is a legacy of that triumph. The starchy grain is the main source of sustenance for over half the world’s population. Asians produce over 90% of rice and get more than a quarter of their calories from it. And demand for the crop is projected to soar, on the back of population growth in Asia and Africa, another big rice consumer. By one estimate, the world will need to produce almost a third more rice by 2050. Yet that looks increasingly hard — and in some ways undesirable.

Rice production is spluttering. Yields have increased by less than 1% a year over the past decade, much less than in the previous one. The greatest slowdowns were in South-East Asia, where Indonesia and the Philippines — together, home to 400 million people — are already big importers. This has many explanations. Urbanization and industrialization have made labor and farmland scarcer. Excessive use of pesticides, fertilizer and irrigation have poisoned and depleted soils and groundwater. But the biggest reason may be global warming.

Rice is particularly susceptible to extreme conditions and is often grown in places where they are increasingly evident. Patchy monsoon rains and drought last year in India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, led to a reduced harvest and an export ban. Devastating floods in Pakistan, the fourth-biggest exporter, wiped out 15% of its rice harvest. Rising sea-levels are causing salt to seep into the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s “rice bowl.”

It gets worse. Rice is not merely a casualty of climate change, but also a contributor to it. By starving soils of oxygen, paddy cultivation encourages methane-emitting bacteria. It is a bigger source of greenhouse gas than any foodstuff except beef. Its emissions footprint is similar to that of aviation.

If you count the conversion of forestland for rice paddy — the fate of much of Madagascar’s rain forest — that footprint is even bigger.

This amounts to an insidious feedback loop and, in all, a far more complicated set of problems than the food insecurity that spurred

Rice is the main source of sustenance for over half the world’s population. Unfortunately, its production is not only a casualty of climate change but it also is a contributor to it. By starving soils of oxygen, paddy cultivation encourages methane-emitting bacteria. EDUARDO PRIM/UNSPLASH

the green revolution. Indeed, eating too much rice turns out to be bad for people as well as the climate. White rice is more fattening than bread or maize, and is not especially nutritious.

In South Asia rice-heavy diets have been linked to high rates of diabetes and persistent malnutrition.

Policymakers need to increase rice yields, then, but more selectively than in the 1960s. In the places most suitable for rice cultivation, such as hot and sticky South-East Asia, faster adoption of new technologies, such as flood-resistant and more nutritious seeds, could provide a big productivity boost. In tandem with improved practices, such as direct seeding of paddy, they could also shorten the growing cycle and reduce the amount of water required, mitigating environmental harm. Farmers have been slow to adopt such improvements, partly because of overgenerous subsidies that shield them from the rice crisis. A better approach would make state support contingent on best practice. By encouraging crop insurance — a good idea in itself — governments could also help reassure farmers as they switch from old ways to new.

Governments need to nudge producers and consumers away from rice. India and Indonesia are

promoting millet, which is more nutritious and uses a lot less water. Scrapping subsidies that favor rice over other crops would make such efforts more effective. India, for example, procures rice from farmers, often at above-market rates, then distributes it as food aid. It should make its interventions more crop-agnostic, by replacing subsidies and free rice with income support for farmers and cash transfers for the poor. That would encourage farmers to choose the best crop for their local conditions — much of India’s agricultural north-west would switch from rice to wheat overnight. Poor Indians would be free to choose a more balanced diet. Thereby, it would correct a market skewed towards environmental damage and poor health.

Bringing about such change in Asia and beyond will be far harder than promoting new wonder seeds was. Farmers are almost everywhere a powerful constituency. Yet policymakers should get used to blending complicated economic and technological fixes in this way. Increasingly, it is what fighting climate change will entail. Sorting out the mounting crisis in the world’s most important foodstuff would be a good place to begin.

— The Economist

How to contact USD 257’s elected officials

Mandey Coltrane mandey.coltrane@ usd257.org

Doug Dunlap doug.dunlap@usd257. org

Robin Griffin-Lohman robin.griffin-lohman@ usd257.org

Tony Leavitt tony.leavitt@usd257. org

Jen Taylor jen.taylor@usd257.org

John Wilson john.wilson@usd257. org

Dan Willis dan.willis@usd257.org

Kansas legislators OK presidential primary for 2024

By TIM CARPENTER The Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — The votes were cast and a bipartisan majority of the Kansas Senate supported spending more than $4 million to host in March 2024 the state’s first simultaneous Republican and Democratic presidential primary in more than 40 years. The state’s two major political parties in Kansas have generally deployed since the 1980s a caucus system for determining candidate favorites in presidential races. In 2020, however,

the GOP called off the caucus due to popularity of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Due to COVID-19, Democrats conducted a mail-in primary in 2020 won by then-Vice President Joe Biden.

The Kansas Senate voted 28-12 to pass House Bill 2053, which would initiate plans for a presidential primary election March 19, 2024.

The Kansas House has yet to consider legislation authorizing the presidential primary.

The Senate’s bill would only apply to the 2024 election cycle.

Sen. Mike Thompson, a Republican from Shawnee, said he was intrigued to learn whether Kansans were inclined to favor the straightforward process of a presidential ballot primary or preferred the sometimes-rowdy caucus system with meetings scattered across the state and candidate surrogates working crowds for support.

“The big thing is there would be thousands more that would have access to having a say over who Kansas selects for the presidential primary position,”

County: Landfill net proposed

Continued from A1

tors were approached.

The work is expected to begin this fall and the runway will need to be closed during construction.

A separate project to overhaul the runway was recently completed. Other improvements include sewer improvements that will tie the airport to Iola’s sewer system, and new water lines in conjunction with Rural Water District No. 8. Those projects remain in the engineering phase and will be paid for by a combination of grants and COVID relief funds.

Commission Chairman David Lee asked Garner for a report that outlines all of the airport improvement projects and their costs.

“It’d be nice to know, overall, what we have received and what has come out of county coffers.

The bang for our buck has been pretty significant,” Lee said.

GARNER also shared options to prevent trash at the landfill from blowing into neighboring properties.

He gave commissioners two examples of litter control fences that use nylon net material held up by tall poles. A commissioner noted one of the examples reminds him of the netting at TopGolf, an urban driving range and entertainment business.

It is very similar, Garner said. He showed a photo of a fence that was installed around tall industrial tanks to keep them safe from balls at a nearby golf course.

The other example is angled at the top. In both cases, the net could be lowered to allow landfill crews to remove trash that may blow into the fence.

The new fence could be installed between the landfill collection site and an existing, exterior chain link fence.

Garner will study the matter further and get cost estimates.

COMMISSIONERS also heard a report from Mark Griffith, road and bridge director.

Last week, he gave a report about summer road work but left off repairs to about 5 miles of Nebraska Road. The state will help pay for the work because the road was damaged by traffic using it as an unofficial detour during bridge construction on U.S. 54 near Moran.

Griffith and Garner also talked about what to do with blocks of concrete, about 10-by-10 ft. slabs, left when crews tore out the old airport runway. The county used some but thought area farmers might have a use for the slabs, perhaps as a base for water tanks.

Commissioners asked if the slabs could be crushed into rock, but Griffith said they have rebar that could damage the county’s crushing machine.

COMMISSIONERS also heard an update on spending funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The county has allocated all but about

$12,000 of the $2.4 million it received; they have until the end of 2024 to decide what to do with the money and until 2026 to actually spend it.

Most of the projects targeted for ARPA money have been completed, with $1.9 million paid so far.

Commissioners decided to wait and see final costs for the remaining projects before they decide what to do with the rest.

COUNTY Counselor Bob Johnson said he should know the date of a delinquent property tax sale after a court hearing on Friday.

At the hearing, a judge is expected to grant an order to allow the county to proceed with the sale. All owners have been notified if they are at risk of having their property sold because of delinquent property taxes; they had until the court hearing to pay to avoid the sale.

Lists of the properties have been published in area newspapers but only as legal descriptions as required by law.

Although county staff hope to include physical addresses for properties in the sale, it will be up to potential buyers to do their own research about the properties to be auctioned, Johnson noted.

Thompson said. “We always complain that they overlook us. We’re out here in flyover country. This may alleviate some of those issues.”

Under the Senate bill, either Republican or Democratic parties in Kansas could opt out of the presidential primary by sending a letter to the secretary of state prior to Dec. 1, 2023. The candidate filing deadline would be 60 days before to the 2024 primary. Presidential candidates could get their name on Kansas ballots by paying a $10,000 filing or securing 5,000 signatures of registered voters.

Sen. Caryn Tyson, the Parker Republican, proposed an amendment to the bill — rejected on an unrecorded vote — to move all Kansas primary elections to the second Tuesday in June. She said the state’s presidential preference primary would occur nearly three months later than Thompson envisioned, but the cost would be embedded in the regular political primary process.

Thumbs-down perspective

Sen. Rob Olson, R-Olathe, said the caucus system functioned well and the anticipated cost of the single-issue statewide election was extravagant given other demands on the state treasury.

“I’m just thinking what good we could do with that $4-$5 million,” Olson said. “We’re going to have water issues in the future. We’ve got special-needs kids who need services.”

Clay Barker, deputy assistant secretary

of state in Kansas, said Secretary of State Scott Schwab was neutral on the Senate’s election reform bill. He said conversion from a caucus to an election would require adjustment of voters, election administrative processes and political party practices.

“Voters would have a different experience in the presidential primary than they would in a primary or general election. These changes may create voter confusion about election processes at a time when we are all striving to ensure voter confidence in the election process,” Barker said.

Barker cautioned a U.S. Supreme Court decision held that a state couldn’t mandate or control the method used to determine allocation of state delegates to presidential candidates at national political conventions. Theoretically, he said, a political party could determine delegates “regardless of the presidential preference primary voter outcome. Such an election would be non-binding.”

Rick Piepho, Harvey County clerk and chairman of the elections committee of the Kansas County Clerks and Election Officials Association, said the organization didn’t believe a presidential primary was an “appropriate use of county or state resources and funds.”

Isidro Marino, a college student from Garden City, told a Senate committee the bill could create confusion among voters, lead to their disenfranchisement and contribute to a lack of trust in the electoral process. Marino said the bill “may seem well-intentioned,” but could have “serious

negative consequences for our democracy.”

Votes for change

Helen Van Etten, a former Republican National Committeewoman from Kansas, said modest turnout at the 2016 GOP presidential caucus in Kansas suggested an overhaul was in order.

In March 2016, 78,000 GOP voters participated in the caucus won by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Trump, the eventual national nominee, finishing a distant second in Kansas. That level of participation was far below the 276,000 people voting in the subsequent Kansas Republican primary in August 2016. The Kansas GOP caucus was punted in 2020 due to President Trump’s popularity as a candidate for re-election.

The Kansas Democratic presidential caucus in 2016 was won by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who beat eventual Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In 2020, Kansas Democrats conducted a presidential election exclusively by mail. Biden, who went on to defeat Trump, won that Kansas primary with Sanders finishing second.

Lawrence Sen. Marci Francisco, a Democrat who voting for the Senate bill, said the political appetite for a presidential primary election amounted to a declaration of confidence in the ability of county election officers and the secretary of state to operate accurate elections in Kansas.

“This is saying we have trust in our election officers and that they can run a fair and impartial election,” Francisco said.

USD 257 PRESCHOOL SCREENING &

FOR 2023-2024

August 31, 2023

Pre-K PM Class – Must be 4 by August 31, 2023 Only new Preschool students

Past Preschoolers will enroll in August

Preschool Schedule: Monday-Thursday

When: Friday, April 21 from 8:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Schedule screening time: Call Iola Elementary at 620-365-4820

Please bring your future Preschooler with you. Needed for Enrollment: Immunization record, birth certificate, Social Security card, and physical examination (or Kan Be Healthy)

Allen County Road and Bridge Director Mark Griffith talks to commissioners on Tuesday. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS

Sports Daily B

ACC softball takes down Pratt at home

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

The Allen Community College softball team easily took care of Pratt at home on Monday.

The Lady Red Devils (811) defeated the Beavers in five innings, taking a 12-3 run-rule victory. Pratt’s second inning offensive spark wasn’t enough for Allen’s bats which knocked in four runs in the first inning and five runs in the third.

“I think our mentality heading into conference play is playing one game at a time, winning every inning and stringing hits together and pushing runners across,” Allen head coach Nicole Peters said. “We scored four out of six innings so that was good.”

ACC’s Ashley Tribble, Lacey Stamper, Haley Gedrose and Kylar Smith each drove in runs in the third inning to keep the game out of reach for Pratt.

Robin Todd drove in the first run of the game in the first inning. Smith and Gedrose each drove in another two runs and Jaydee Pulliam also drove in a run through the three innings Allen scored.

“It’s a good start when our leadoff hitter gets on and then moves runners across to the next base,” said Peters. “That worked out well for us.”

Allen’s Skyler Jackson started in the pitcher’s circle and worked three innings, allowing three runs on four hits with a couple of strikeouts. Makayla McGinnis tossed the last two innings and held the Beavers hitless while striking out three Pratt batters.

Bryanna Gallagher started at pitcher for Pratt, serving up 12 runs on seven hits through four frames.

Allen hosts Johnson on Thursday at 1 and 4 p.m. Results were not available at the time of publication.

MLB broadcasts adjust to faster paced games

By JOE REEDY The Associated Press

Major league pitchers and batters aren’t the only ones going on the clock this season — big league broadcasters have also been using spring training to adjust to baseball’s new rhythm amid a series of rules changes.

When the season opens Thursday, Major League Baseball will usher in an age of sharper, quicker and more concise commentary.

See FASTER | Page B6

Friday, March 31, 2023

Rodeo dreams beckon

By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register

COLONY — Karter Miller has been an integral part of some of Crest High’s school’s most storied baseball and football seasons in recent memory.

But he’s choosing another avenue — rodeo — to continue his athletic career after graduation.

As his older brother Kobey did two years earlier, Karter Miller signed a letter of intent Wednesday to attend Fort Scott Community College and compete with the FSCC rodeo team.

“It’s probably always been rodeo,” Miller said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 8 years old.”

Karter, like Kobey before him, will compete in team roping and calf roping events.

There remains a tantalizing opportunity for the Miller brothers to compete with each other while at Fort Scott. Kobey Miller, a sophomore, has one year of college eligibility remaining.

“I’m trying to talk him into staying,” Karter

Karter Miller’s family surrounds him as he signs a letter of intent Wednesday to join Fort Scott Community College’s rodeo team. Pictured are, seated from left, Wade Wilson, Brandt Miller Karter Miller Aundi Miller and Klancee Miller; second row, FSCC rodeo coach Chad Cross, Kreed

laughed. “But it’s up to him.” His salesmanship may have worked. Kobey, who has no plans to go to a four-year school after Fort Scott, admitted he’s leaning toward staying at

FSCC one more year in order to team up with his brother. Both brothers said they’ll likely return home after Fort Scott to enter the workforce. But there are other worries for the time being.

Karter is an essential component for Crest’s baseball team, which is coming off back-to-back state tournament appearances, and is positioned for another run at the school’s first-ever state title.

Area sixth-grader to Elks National Shoot

By QUINN BURKITT The Iola Register

Kyron Kegler is getting set to compete in the National Elks Hoop Shoot in Chicago next month.

Kegler recently competed at the Regional Elks Hoop Shoot Contest in Colorado Springs where he won the 12-13 boys age group, hitting 17 out of 25 free throws.

Kegler, a sixth-grader at Fort Scott Middle School, previously won the state-level contest in February to qualify for the regional competition, where he also hit 17 of 25 free throws.

Before that, Kegler won at a competition sponsored by the Parsons Elks Lodge, hitting 16 of 25 free throws.

Kegler’s shooting success didn’t come overnight. He focuses on making 150-200

free throws every day in order to sharpen his shot.

“I’ve learned it takes a lot of hard work and determination,” said Kegler. “It takes grit and getting better every day. Sometimes it can be intimidating seeing your opponent warm up but you’ve got

to keep your composure and step up.”

Kegler doesn’t yet play for his middle school team which starts in seventh grade but plans on playing both basketball and football up through high school.

The sharpshooter also

qualified for nationals in 2020 but the contest was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of going to Chicago, contestants were asked to film themselves shooting free throws in their home gym. Kegler took seventh place.

Kegler’s older brother, Dierks, also made it to the national contest, starting his journey through the Iola Elks club.

Even though he clearly has basketball in his blood, Kegler said he enjoys football more and has dreams of playing in the NFL someday. He plays defensive end.

Kegler, who attended elementary school at Marmaton Valley before he and his family moved to Fort Scott, is the son of Jason and Terra Kegler.

The National Elks Hoop Shoot is April 22.

Minor leaguers reach 5-year labor deal with MLB

NEW YORK (AP) — Minor league players reached a historic initial collective bargaining agreement with Major League Baseball on Wednesday that will more than double player salaries, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details were not announced.

As part of the five-year deal, MLB agreed during the contract not to reduce minor league affiliates from the current 120.

The sides reached the agreement two days before

the start of the minor league season and hours after a federal judge gave final approval to a $185 million settlementreached with MLB last May of a lawsuit filed in 2014 alleging violations of federal minimum wage laws.

Union staff recommended approval, and about 5,500 minor leaguers were eligible to cast ballots in a vote expected Thursday. MLB teams must also vote to approve and were likely to do so over the next week.

Minimum salaries will rise from $4,800 to $19,800 at rookie ball, $11,000 to $26,200 at Low Class A,

$11,000 to $27,300 at High Class A, $13,800 to $27,300 at Double A and $17,500 to $35,800 at Triple-A. Players will be paid in the offseason for the first time.

Most players will be guaranteed housing, and players at Double-A and Triple-A will be given a single room. Players at Low A and High A will have the option of exchanging club housing for a stipend. The domestic violence and drug policies will be covered by the union agreement. Players who sign for the first time at 19 or older can become minor league free agents after six seasons

instead of seven.

Minor leaguers players will receive four weeks of retroactive spring training pay for this year. They will get $625 weekly for spring training and offseason training camp and $250 weekly for offseason workouts at home.

Beginning in 2024, teams can have a maximum of 165 players under contract during the season and 175 during the offseason, down from the current 190 and 180. The union will take over group licensing rights for players.

Fort Scott’s Kyron Kegler poses with his trophy after winning the Regional Elks Hoop Shoot in Colorado Springs, CO.

Miller, Koiy Miller and Kobey Miller. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN

The city of Burlington, Kansas is requesting applications for WATER/WASTEWATER NON-CERTIFIED OPERATOR & OPERATOR TRAINEE

Position is open until lled. Applications are available at City Hall, 1013 N. 4th, P.O. Box 207, Burlington, KS 66839; online burlingtonkansas.gov; (620) 364-5334.

diploma/GED; Kansas CDL within 90 days; be able to operate deptartment equipment. Competitive wages based on skill and

Are you looking for an opportunity to make a di erence in the lives of those a ected by violence and abuse? We are seeking a Shelter Advocate to join our team Monday through Friday from 3-11 p.m. The successful candidate must have excellent communication skills and the ability to observe boundaries, con dentiality and ethical interactions. Responsibilities will include:

• Provide support, advocacy, and crisis intervention services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes.

• Assist clients with safety planning and risk assessment.

• Work collaboratively with other sta to ensure survivors’ safety.

• Provide information regarding survivors’ rights and available community resources.

• Work collaboratively with the Shelter Manager to meet the needs of clients residing in the shelter.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Degree in social work or related eld preferred; equivalent life and work experience will be considered.

• Knowledge of the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, etc.

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Competitive compensation package includes health insurance coverage paid 100% by employer, generous leave policy, retirement plan and disability plan. Call 620-365-2016 for more information and send application to 406 North Buckeye, Iola, Kansas 66749. EOE

Now hiring for the positions below. Visit our website to review our excellent benefits package!

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BY GEORGE DICKIE

What spoke to you about “The Company You Keep”?

Honestly I’ve been calling this my dream role ever since the first read. There are a couple of dif ferent reasons that drew me to it. First, I love that you have two characters in Charlie and Emma who are ver y seemingly dif ferent at first glance. But you happen to meet them when they’re going through the exact same moment in both their lives. And it’s that moment when you meet somebody and they just get it, they get you, and you think, ‘Oh, it’s you. It’s gonna be you.’ And then it’s on. American female protagonist and she’s then she goes home to a mom that’s just a lot. And I just was really excited about playing a character like that that’s really fully fleshed out, especially on network TV Did your chemistr y with Milo come right away?

I’m really grateful because he’s such a generous scene par tner and also a fantastic producer And we had the luxur y of doing some rehearsals with our director for the pilot Ben Younger and an acting coach that he personally loves working with, Kim Gillingham. So I think having that creative space to collaborate and create trust together before we ever stepped on set when you’re being pulled in a million directions and the hours are crazy, it was just really nice.

And also Milo and I got to sit down and talk a few times before we actually star ted about our characters, our relationship as characters and also just in general how we wanted our set to be. I think things always trickle down from the top and we talked a lot about the kind of set we wanted to create as the lead actors in this show Making sure that we do know ever ybody’s name and making sure that it’s a kind and professional set and then making sure ever ybody has fun because work is always stressful and we’re ver y mindful that ever yone still goes home and has lives outside of work, even if we get to do things that are little kid dream

The Iola Register

B5

AUCTIONS

KS man dies weeks after road rage attack

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)

— A 68-year-old Kansas man involved in what police described as a road rage attack has died. Gregorio Castillo died March 23. Topeka police announced his death Wednesday.

Castillo, of Topeka, had been hospitalized since Feb. 15 after allegedly being attacked by another man in what police believe was a road rage incident.

Details about that attack have not been released.

A GoFundMe page for Castillo said he suffered a brain injury and underwent two surgeries. Police say they’ve forwarded the case to the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office to consider charges.

The name of the other man allegedly involved in the altercation has not been released.

Yesterday’s Cryptoquote:

Technician

Sonic Equipment is currently taking applications for a SOS Technician in the Sonic Operational Support Center. This position includes multiple duties that range from communication with customers and remote technicians, troubleshooting issues remotely and by phone, upgrading equipment software/firmware, communicating with vendors and the customer service department, to incident ticket creation and monitoring.

(620) 365-7501 900 W. Miller Rd., Iola

advertise In The Classifieds Your Auction

ZITS

AUCTIONS EMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT

Woodson County Solid Waste Department is now accepting applications for a Full-time Laborer/Operator.

CDL preferred, but not required. Starting at $14-$15/hour and includes full benefits. Applications are available in the County Engineer Office, at the Woodson County courthouse, Room 106, Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Any questions call 620-625-8630

by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

BEETLE BAILEY by Mort

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HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris

Browne

BLONDIE by Young and

Drake

MUTTS

by Patrick McDonell

MARVIN by Tom Armstrong

HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne

Last year’s bluebloods are this year’s no names

HOUSTON (AP) — One short year ago, college basketball was getting ready for the game of a lifetime: North Carolina vs. Duke at the Final Four.

And this year? Well, to put it kindly, who the heck are these guys?

The NCAA Tournament, the annual event that has told and sold and made marketing gold out of the story of underdogs and busted brackets has, for 2023, produced an extreme rendition of what happens when all that cherished unpredictability plays itself out to the end.

In one Final Four meeting Saturday, it will be San Diego State against Florida Atlantic. In the other, it will be Miami vs. UConn.

“I expect the prognosticators to pick us fifth at the Final Four,” Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May said in a nod to the reality that nobody really expected the Owls, or any of these teams, to be here.

Of the four programs descending on Houston this week, only one has ever sniffed a Final Four before. It’s the first time in 53 years that has happened.

With its four national titles and some famous names from the past, including Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker and Rip Hamilton, the name “Connecticut” certainly should ring a bell, even if it might not tread all the way into true blueblood territory.

Miami? That was a program that was literally shut down for 14 years in the 1970s and 1980s due to lack of interest. The school was too busy building a football program that would become (in)famous for winning with a certain panache.

May’s Florida Atlantic program? It’s a relative new kid

on the block, a member of Division I since 1993 that is based in the retirement community of Boca Raton, a locale better known for its 4:30 dinner specials than its 7 p.m. tipoffs.

San Diego State? In their defense, maybe this shouldn’t be the Aztecs’ first Final Four. In 2020, they were 30-2 and generally slotted in as a No. 1 seed, albeit still an underdog to a stacked Kansas team that was the odds-on favorite. Then COVID hit and wiped that season off the boards.

“There are a lot of really good teams in college basketball, and the difference between winning and losing is paper thin,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said.

Will anyone, outside of the truest of diehards, bother to watch?

As of Thursday, a pair of

seats in the nosebleed section for Saturday’s doubleheader — the most-anticipated day on the college hoops calendar — were going for around $100 each on the secondary market. A year ago, shortly after the Duke-Carolina matchup was set, the average price for those same seats nearly doubled to $800 a ticket.

There has been a lot of debate and even some handwringing about how one of America’s greatest sporting events produced a 4 seed, two 5s and a 9 — for a seed total of 23, which is the second-highest in history — that between them boast not a single McDonald’s All-American nor one consensus top30 recruit.

The transfer portal, which allows players to come and go from school to school

without having to sit out a year, might be the best explanation. Miami coach Jim Larranaga called it basketball’s form of “speed dating,” a getrich-quick scheme that, with the right timing, chemistry and luck, can make a roster very good (or very bad) very quickly.

Some other possibilities: an NCAA selection committee that some say is divorced from reality; the ever-shifting landscape caused by name-image-likeness (NIL) deals that give players more leverage (and money); and, for sure, an abundance of flawed teams — including Alabama, Houston and Kansas — that were overvalued and placed at the top of the heap this year.

But before jumping to grand conclusions about matchups like these becom-

ing the “new normal” at the Final Four, former Duke star and current TV analyst Jay Bilas reminds us that we are a scant 365 days removed from a completely different sort of get-together.

“I love the one about the narratives that you don’t need those McDonalds guys to win,” Bilas said. “OK, so don’t recruit the best players, and see how that goes for you. I just don’t understand how all this gets this way.”

A year ago, the tournament felt perfect. The country got its dose of Cinderella — namely, when 15 seed Saint Peter’s made a first-of-itskind run into the Elite Eight. Then, a sense of perfectly timed normalcy took over.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski got to close out his career at the Final Four, and the end came against none other than archrival North Carolina. Joining those power programs in New Orleans last year were Kansas and Villanova, two more of the country’s great programs with seven national titles between them. The total seed value of those four teams: 13, with most of that accounted for by the Tar Heels, who got in as an 8 after knocking out Saint Pete’s.

So, will 2023 be remembered as the year when chaos took over for good, or just a minor blip in the proceedings while all those Jayhawks and Blue Devils reload?

“The tournament is about a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Bilas said. “Some people love it for the brackets, some people love it for the basketball. But no matter who’s in the Final Four, the bandwagon is always wide open, and you can jump on it whenever you want.”

Faster: Paced games, quicker announcing likely the norm

Continued from B1

For a generation of playby-play pros who grew up idolizing loquacious storytellers like Hall of Famer Vin Scully, it’s been an adjustment — but not necessarily an unwelcome one.

“It’s been one of the most enjoyable spring trainings I’ve had in a long time,” said Greg Brown, who is in his 30th season calling Pittsburgh Pirates games on radio and television. “I think over the years I’ve been critical of a lot of things Major League Baseball has done, but in this case, I think they’ve got it right.”

With only 30 seconds between batters and

15-20 seconds between pitches, announcers have had to learn where to focus their view between pitches so they don’t miss anything.

To say the quick pace affects all elements would be an understatement. Brown, who said he is a notorious water drinker, has started to chew on hard candy to keep his mouth from drying up — a trick he learned from Scully.

Before joining the Arizona Diamondbacks last season, Chris Garagiola did games for Pensacola in the Double-A Southern League, which had a pitch clock and limited infield shifts. But even with that experience, Garagiola is still

learning the best way to get the requisite promotional reads during games.

Garagiola said last season he would do some during the middle of an at-bat if the game was lagging, but now he is trying to do them coming out of a break between innings or immediately after an out.

Many worry the new rules will take away the storytelling and folksy nature of calling baseball on the radio. Then again, Scully thrived in an age when games were quicker, too — the average time of big league games never exceeded 2 hours, 40 minutes until 1982. The average time has been

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above three hours since 2012, including 3:10 last season.

Cleveland Guardians radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton said he paid too much attention to the clock during the first week of spring training, to the point where he was missing what happened in the field. Hamilton hopes the one adjustment that umpires can make is being more demonstrative on pitch clock violations and whether it is on the pitcher or batter.

“You have to pop up your head in a hurry after writing something down, or you miss something. I’ve gotten burned on that a couple of times,” said Hamil-

ton, who has done radio for Cleveland since 1990. “You’ve got to be a lot more judicious with your words and get in and out of things quicker because it’s amazing how quickly an inning of baseball can go by right now.”

Hamilton said the last three innings of baseball games had become like the final 2 minutes of some basketball games because of how things tended to grind to a halt.

“I would have a hard time finding a group

of people that enjoyed watching nothing. We’re saving 25-26 minutes of nothing,” Garagiola said. “I did the math over a whole season, which adds up to under 80 hours. I mean, just three full days of nothing.”

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