Inside: Kabul blast kills 80, injures 300
Sports: High-schoolers earn baseball, softball honors See B1
2017 1867
See A4
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
www.iolaregister.com
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Lawmakers advance schools plan, reject tax hike By JOHN HANNA The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators moved closer Tuesday to approving a plan to increase the state’s spending on public schools even as they rejected another proposal for increasing income taxes to pay for it and fix the state budget. The Senate gave first-round approval just after midnight to a bill that would phase in an increase in education funding of roughly $230 million over two years. Senators planned to take another vote Wednesday morning and were expected to pass the bill and send it to the House. The House has its own plan to phase in a $285 million increase over two years, and the
Filing deadline Filing deadline is noon Thursday for city and school positions that will be decided in the Nov. 7 election. All filings must be done at the Allen County clerk’s office. This is the first year city and school elections will be on the fall ballot. Previously they were in the spring. The change occurred at behest of the Legislature.
Kansas lawmakers continue to struggle to come up with new school spending plans and income tax reform. KANSAS NEWS SER-
VICE FILE PHOTO/KCUR.ORG
final plan is likely to emerge from negotiations between the two chambers. Their bills are a response to a Kansas Su-
preme Court ruling in March that the $4 billion a year that the state now spends on aid to its 286 local school districts is
inadequate. But even as lawmakers made progress on school funding, they found continued disagreements over rolling back past income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The state faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $887 million through June 2019 — gaps that don’t include new money for schools. The House voted 85-37 against a bill that would have raised $1.2 billion over two years by raising income tax rates and ending an exemption for more than 330,000 farmers and business owners, undoing much of the cuts enacted in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging. The vote late Tuesday night came less than an hour after the
Senate had approved it, 26-14. Tuesday was the 102nd day of what was supposed to be a 100-day annual session. Top Republicans have said the Legislature will exhaust its budget for the session on Friday. Republican leaders have gone back and forth on weeks on whether they should push such a plan and try to build the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a potential Brownback veto. The alternative would be to pass a plan with smaller income tax increases and a mix of other revenue-raising measures that the governor would sign. House Taxation Committee Chairman Steven Johnson, a moderate Assaria RepubliSee VOTES | Page A3
Bridge to nowhere? By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
The status of a pedestrian bridge that crosses Elm Creek has been put in doubt because engineer’s estimates for the span did not include installation costs. Iola Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock told the Register the original price tag of $257,000 for the bridge, which would span Elm Creek along
Washington Avenue, should have been pegged at about $349,000. Thrive Allen County, working on the city’s behalf, has secured about $269,000 for the bridge project, but that leaves an $80,000 gap. Engineers forgot to account for the cost of using a crane to place the bridge, Schinstock said. “That’s the lion’s share of See BRIDGE | Page A3
Plans to build a pedestrian bridge over Elm Creek have been put in doubt. REGISTER FILE PHOTO
Barn fire contained By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
LaHarpe Fire Chief Marc Waggoner sprays water onto a barn owned by Dennis Kuykendall south of LaHarpe Tuesday. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Obstacles here, there, everywhere By SHELLIE SMITLEY The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — This is part 10 of a 14-part series following Nina Froggatte’s journey through police training at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, Hutchinson. Froggatte spent last week dodging cones and obstacles as part of the Emergency Vehicle Operator Course training. She said although she had driven a police vehicle prior to enrolling in the academy, this was the first time See OBSTACLES | Page A3
The ingredients were in place for potential disaster. Instead, some quick reactions by volunteers Tuesday helped save Dennis Kuykendall’s barn from a fire. Kuykendall had been working on his farm, about three miles south of LaHarpe, and was burning wood scraps. “The fire was almost out even,” Kuykendall said. However, burning embers landed on the roof of a near-
Economic development committees take shape By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Allen County commissioners appointed 13 area residents to two committees to oversee economic development throughout the county. Matt Skahan, Don Erbert, Travis Coffield, Susan Thompson, Herb Sigg and Jerry Dreher are in charge of putting together guidelines for how the effort will go forward. Chuck Apt will chair the committee. On the second committee are Jerry Whitworth, Dave Regehr, Steve Strickler, Terry Sparks, Craig
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 151
Abbott, Dick Works and Darrell Monfort. Their goal is to consider requests for assistance from existing or new businesses. Commissioner Jerry Daniels suggested making some money available this budget year, perhaps $50,000 to $100,000, and a greater amount as a line item of the general fund in 2018, for the economic development fund. Discussion has been to earmark $200,000 or so each year. The county’s valuation jumped by nearly $40 million two years ago because of Enbridge Pipeline’s
by barn. A passing motorist spotted the barn on fire and alerted Kuykendall to the fact. Volunteer firefighters from LaHarpe and rural departments from Humboldt and LaHarpe, as well as a handful of volunteers from B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt, arrived at varying times to help douse the flames before the fire could spread. Kuykendall said the barn’s contents — lumber and other garage equipment — were spared. There were no injuries.
Iola Municipal Band — Since 1871 —
At the bandstand Jake Ard, director Thursday, June 1 , 2016 8 p.m. PROGRAM
Star Spangled Banner....................................... (arr. J.P. Sousa) Emblem of Unity................................................... J.J. Richards Beach Spring..........................................(arr. Douglas Wagner) Americans We.................................................. Henry Fillmore Home on the Range...............................................(arr. Ralston) Sepuveda Blues....................................................Claude Lakey The Vanished Army..........................................Kenneth Alford The Navy Hymn................................................... (arr. Ployhar) Summer Evening Serenade.................................Merle J. Isaac The Washington Post................................... John Philip Sousa Rained out concerts will be rescheduled for Friday evening.
See COUNTY | Page A4
“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” — Anton Checkhov, Russian playwright (1860-1904)) 75 Cents
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