LAHARPE — Of TLC Garden Center’s 25 years, Savannah and Levi Flory have been at the helm 18 of those years. Their decision as college graduates to assume responsibility for the greenhouse has had a profound effect on the community that is as much professional as personal.
The college sweethearts married and started a family; became involved with civic affairs; and furthered
in advance of spring break, which begins late next week for area schools. REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER
A closer look at Department of Education
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and close the Education Department.
McMahon was confirmed by the Senate on Monday, and an executive order to shutter the department could come as soon as this week. McMahon told employees it was the department’s “final mission” to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agency’s authority to states.
Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.
Already, the Trump administration has started overhauling much of the department’s work.
Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has cut dozens of contracts it dismissed as “woke” and wasteful. It gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data
See DEPT. OF ED | Page A7
Seussical celebration
The Iola High School jazz band, performing as The Seuss Band, entertained Iola Elementary School students with a medley of tunes to start the day Thursday in honor of Dr. Seuss Week. Clockwise from top left, Bethany Miller donned a Cat in the Hat costume as she led the students in the flag salute; Kale Godfrey, from foreground, Kevon Loving and Raiden Stowell play a song; the rousing musical performance enticed the youngsters to sway back and forth before the performance ended with the IHS school fight song. REGISTER/ RICHARD LUKEN
Elks gift bag project aids students
By
Iola’s Elks Lodge was a beehive of activity Wednesday afternoon. Over 15 members gathered to assemble bags stuffed with food and personal items. The bags will be distributed to area students over the next several days, a timely gift as spring break nears and kids go without school meals. In total, 250 bags will be given to schools in Iola, Humboldt, Moran, Colony, Yates Center, and Le Roy. Schools will then distribute
the bags to students at their discretion, free of charge. Each bag included oatmeal, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, crackers, Ramen soup, and trail mix. Funds for purchasing the items came from a $6,000 community service grant from the national Elks organization. Elks member Becky Anderson, who wrote the grant, noted the Iola lodge spent that money “and then some” thanks to contributions from area members. Anderson wears quite a few hats for Elks, serving
as the chaplain, hoop shoot coordinator, and Veterans chair, all in addition to tending the Lodge’s bar. “I’ve just fallen in love with Elks over the years,” she said. “Once I realized all they do for the community, I’ve gotten more and more involved.”
Iola’s Lodge No. 569 will celebrate its 125th anniversary later this July. The full slate of activities is still being planned, but a highlight will be opening a time capsule from 2000. The lodge plans to bury its own time capsule, with instructions for it to be opened in 2050.
Savannah and Levi Flory assumed ownership of TLC Garden Center in 2010. The family business will celebrate its 25th anniversary this April. REGISTER/SARAH HANEY
Iola Elks members fill bags with food to be handed out to students over the next several days
See TLC | Page A7
TIM STAUFFER The Iola Register
Obituaries
Larry Jewitt
Larry Jewitt, 85, of Le Roy died Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at Coffey County Hospital in Burlington.
He was born Jan. 18, 1940, in Le Roy, to Robert Jewitt and Violet Williams Jewitt.
Larry married Rebecca Lynch on Aug. 24, 1976, in Olathe.
Visitation is from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday, with funeral services immediately following at VanArsdale Funeral Home, 433 C St., Le Roy, Memorials are suggested to Honor Flight and may be sent in care of the funeral home at P.O. Box 8, Le Roy, KS 66857.
Larry Hermreck
Larry Hermreck, 71, Garnett, Kan., passed away Monday, March 3, 2025.
He was born Jan. 27, 1954, at Garnett, to Conrad B. and Ann M. (Wolken) Hermreck.
Larry was united in marriage to MaryCarol Renfroe in 1993.
Survivors include his children, Carolyn Wittman and husband Tanner of Ozawkie, Kan., and Joshua Hermreck of Garnett.
Services are at 11 a.m. Friday, March 7, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, Scipio. Burial will follow in St. Boniface Cemetery. Visitation and rosary are at 6 p.m. Thursday at the church.
European Union leaders confront defense gaps
By ANDREA PALASCIANO Bloomberg News/TNS
European Union leaders arriving in Brussels Thursday urged a revolutionary change to rebuild military infrastructure after decades of neglect and create a brand new security architecture in order to counter Russia.
The leaders at the emergency meeting will discuss a security proposal from the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, that could mobilize as much as $863 billion in additional national spending, including $150 billion of E.U. loans to member states for defense investment.
WESTERN ALLIES are rushing to boost defense spending in preparation for President Donald Trump’s decision to water down America’s security commitment to Europe, which will upend a central pillar of the E.U.’s defense policy. Germany announced this week that it will unleash hundreds of billions of euros to step up its own defense investments.
therefore Europe has to be able to protect itself and defend itself.”
BELGIAN PRIME Minister Bart De Wever, who was only sworn in last month, described Trump as “a real bully” as he arrived at the summit. “You find yourself blinking your eyes” as the U.S. president cuts back support for Ukraine and European security, he added.
One roadblock to the E.U. moving swiftly is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the most Russia-friendly E.U. leader, who has threatened to block the summit’s conclusions over its support for Ukraine.
This is a watershed moment for Europe.
Orban has a history of obstructing crucial E.U. matters, taking things down to the wire only to compromise at the 11th hour. And complicating the matter, the E.U. needs him to renew sanctions against Russia in the coming weeks.
— Ursula von der Leyen
“Europe must take up this challenge of the arms race and it has to win it,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ahead of the meeting. “We will need to restart everything, but I am convinced that this is a turning point when the E.U. understood the challenges ahead.”
The E.U., typically slow on contentious topics, is intent on showing it can move fast when needed. Trump shocked the bloc into swift action by blindsiding both Ukraine and European allies with his direct outreach to Vladimir Putin and aligning with Russian demands.
“This is a watershed moment for Europe,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. “Europe faces a clear and present danger and
Humboldt High School journalism students competed in the 2025 Kansas Scholastic Press Association
3A/4A Prairie Regional contest. HHS placed second with 189 points, one point behind regional champion Bishop Miege Catholic High School. Each student will now compete at state; a total of 48 entries moved on. PHOTO COURTESY OF HHS MULTIMEDIA
Humboldt students finish second at regionals
HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High School student journalists amassed 189 points and a second place finish in the 2025 Kansas Scholastic Press Association (KSPA) 3A/4A Prairie Regional contest. A total of 48 entries will now move on to the KSPA state contest.
“It is difficult to put into words how incredibly proud I am of all my student journalists. Their dedication to producing top quality work is admirable,” said Hailey Phillips, HHS journalism teacher and adviser. “They are so deserving of this recognition and awards they received in the regionals contest. We now look forward to the state competition. Congratulations to all the HHS student journalists and a job well done.”
The Cubs finished one point behind 1st place finisher and 4A school, Bishop Miege Catholic High School.
Girard High School finished in 3rd place with 47 points. Eudora High School had 33 points for 4th place while Caney Valley High School scored 28 in 5th place. Sixth place went to Winfield High School (27 points) and Beloit High School finished in 7th place with 4 points.
The E.U. was initially hoping to move forward on an extra €20 billion of military support for Ukraine, but a mention of this package disappeared from the latest draft seen by Bloomberg.
GERMANY HAS called for the E.U. to consider a long-term reform of its fiscal rules to allow countries to make bigger defense expenditures, Bloomberg reported this week. The proposal appeared to be gaining traction among the leaders.
“We need a long-term change of the rules to make sure member states can make their own decisions on defense spending,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said ahead of the summit.
“It is about damn time,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, speaking of the E.U. push. “This is about something we’ve been asking for for a long time.”
HHS STUDENT journalists who placed at regionals and won awards are:
Victoria Melendez, Academics Photography, 2nd place
Leah Carman, Academics Photography, 5th place
Shelby Shaughnessy, Advertising Design, 2nd place
Sophia Barlow, Advertising Design, 3rd place
Brigg Shannon, Advertising Design, 5th place
Shelby Shaughnessy, Copyediting, 3rd place
Anna Heisler, Copyediting, 4th place
Sophia Barlow, Cutline writing, 1st place
Anna Heisler, Cutline writing, 3rd place
Cooper Gillespie, Digital Illustration, 1st place
River Johnson, Digital Illustration, 3rd place
Cooper Gillespie, Editorial Cartoon, 2nd place
Lillie Bingham, Editorial Writing, 1st place
Teygan Ewing, Editorial Writing, 2nd place
Brystal Hudlin, Feature Writing, 6th place
Jack Works, Headline Writing & Design, 2nd place
Addy Borjas, Headline Writing & Design, 3rd place
Jack Works, Infographic Design, 4th place
Chanlynn Wrestler, Infographic Design, 5th place
Cooper Gillespie, Mallory Sinclair and Teygan Ewing, Multimedia Storytelling, 3rd place
Addy Borjas, Jack Works, Brystal Hudlin and Kamry DeLaTorre, Multimedia Storytelling, 4th place
Shelby Shaughnessy, News Page Design, 2nd place
Anna Heisler, News Page Design, 3rd place
Anna Heisler, News Writing, 6th place
FRIDAY and SATURDAY EVENINGS! 4:30-8:30 p.m. A specialty dinner menu is coming soon….
Addy Borjas, Review Writing, 3rd place
Lillie Bingham, Review Writing, 4th place
Anna Heisler, Social Media, 3rd place
Jo Ellison, Social Media, 4th place
Teygan Ewing, Sports Action Photography, 2nd place
Bailey Croisant, Sports Action Photography, 3rd place
Victoria Melendez, Sports Action Photography, 5th place
Bailey Croisant, Sports Feature Photography, 3rd place
Shelby Shaughnessy, Sports Writing, 3rd place
Brystal Hudlin, Sports Writing, 5th place
Karoline Covey, Student Life Photography, 2nd place
Adrian Smoot, Piper Goss, Alexis McCullough and Lizzie Black, Video News, 1st place
Colden Cook, Brigg Shannon and Layne El-
lison, Video PSA, 3rd place
Karoline Covey, Brystal Hudlin, Kamry DeLaTorre and Leah Carman, Video PSA, 4th place
Kyler Isbell and Keith Gomez, Video Sports Promo, 4th place
Colden Cook, Brigg
Shannon and Brody Gunderman, Video Sports Promo, 6th place
Sophia Barlow, Yearbook Copy Writing, 1st place
Taevyn Baylor, Yearbook Copy Writing, 2nd place
Sophia Barlow, Yearbook Design, 1st place
Victoria Melendez, Yearbook Design, 2nd place
Shelby Shaughnessy, Yearbook Sports Writing, 2nd place
Jack Works, Yearbook Sports Writing, 5th place
Sophia Barlow, Yearbook Theme & Graphics, 1st place
Victoria Melendez, Yearbook Theme & Graphics, 2nd place
Voters could elect Supreme Court justices
By ANNA KAMINSKI Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas
Senators advanced a constitutional amendment Wednesday that would change how state supreme court justices are selected.
The amendment, which requires approval from two thirds of the Legislature and more than 50% of voters, would convert Kansas’ method for selecting state supreme court justices from a merit-based system to an elections system.
Most Senate Democrats opposed the change saying it was equivalent to “hanging a for sale sign” on the state supreme courthouse. Republicans said the change gives a voice to the people.
Under the current merit-based system, a nine-member judicial nominating commission that consists of five attorneys and four laypeople creates a list of potential appointees, and the sitting governor selects a justice from that list. Kansas Supreme Court justices serve six-year terms, but only if they are retained by voters. Appointed justices undergo a retention vote in a general election once they’ve served for a year and subsequently every six years.
SENATE MINORITY Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said the change boils down to controversial issues including school funding, voting rights and reproductive freedom. Anti-abortion protesters held signs outside the entrance of the Senate chamber as legislators arrived.
paign. The most qualified judges won’t make it on the court, he said.
Following Corson’s comments, Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, said he was “taken aback” by the fear of the voters.
“Make no mistakes, politics is in it,” Masterson said. “It’s just behind the curtain.”
He alleged Democrats were contending that “the rest of us aren’t smart enough to choose.”
“Darkness is just cheaper,” Masterson said.
Once we put a for sale sign on the Kansas Supreme Court, we will never get justice back.
“Once we put a for sale sign on the Kansas Supreme Court, we will never get justice back,” she said.
Sen. Ethan Corson, D-Prairie Village, echoed Sykes’ concerns that a partisan elections system would give funding undue influence over an outcome.
“The voice of the people is simply just going to be drowned out by dark money and special interest money flooding these elections,” he said.
Corson, who is a member of the Kansas Bar Association, said that under an elections system, the best lawyers for the job aren’t likely to run if they have to go through an 18-month statewide political cam-
THIRTEEN OTHER states select justices the way Kansas currently does. Equally as common are nonpartisan elections, which permit voters in 14 states to select a justice from multiple candidates who aren’t identified on ballots by party labels. Ten states, all in the northeast, select justices through gubernatorial nomination from a list of committee-approved appointees and Senate confirmation. Seven states conduct partisan elections. Four use a mix of methods, and two use a legislative appointments process.
If the resolution passes, a special election would be called on Aug. 6, 2026, so voters could weigh in on the change. Positions four and five would be elected in November 2030. Positions six and seven would be elected in November 2032. Each position would be subject to a six-year term. Vacancies that occur because of unexpired terms would also be filled by an election. Justices are required by law to retire
after their 75th birthday or after completing the term during which they turn 75.
A number of advocacy organizations opposed the resolution when it was heard in committee, including voting-rights organization Loud Light, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, the bar associations in Johnson County and Wichita, the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association and the Kansas Bar Association.
Fred Logan, on behalf of the state bar association, wrote in testimony that the resolution ignores the history of Supreme Court justice selection.
THE INTRODUCER of the bill, Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, pointed out on the Senate floor Wednesday that prior to 1958 voters selected justices through elections.
Logan said the combination of political campaigns for a seat on
the state Supreme Court and the fair administration of justice “are a bad mix.”
“The merit selection process ensures that individuals will be appointed to the Supreme Court because they have shown the legal skill and temperament to honorably serve Kansans,” he said.
AN AMENDMENT from Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, to clean up some language in the bill to make it clearer to voters, failed. She also said the process of hearing the resolution was rushed, “like many things this session.”
An amendment from Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, R-Wichita, passed. It would permit district court judges to retain their seats if one decides to run for a position on the state appellate court.
The bill is pending final action in the Senate and has yet to be heard in the House.
Pope Francis receives supplemental oxygen
By CHRISTOPH SATOR dpa/TNS
ROME — Pope Francis, who is suffering from severe pneumonia, is now receiving almost constant supplemental oxygen, either through a breathing mask or tubes, according to people familiar with his situation.
The 88-year-old wears a mask over his mouth and nose at night to provide mechanical ventilation, while during the day he’s usually given oxygen through a tube in his nose.
Those around him emphasize that he is not artificially ventilated.
The head of the Catholic Church has now been in the Gemelli Hospital in the western Rome for almost three weeks.
At the hospital, Pope Francis has had at least four attacks of respiratory insufficiency, some of which were also accompanied by cramps and vomiting. As a result, he was given a mask for mechanical ventilation during the day as well.
The Vatican initially gave no further information on the 88-yearold’s state of health.
Doctors are refraining from making a prognosis about the course of his condition.
According to the Holy See, the pope spent the previous night in hospital without new complications.
France provides military intelligence to Ukraine
PARIS (AP) — France
will keep providing military intelligence to Ukraine after Washington announced it was freezing the sharing of information with Kyiv, French defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Thursday.
The U.S. said Wednesday it had paused its intelligence sharing with Ukraine, cutting off the flow of vital information that has helped the war-torn nation target Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials have said that positive talks between Washington and Kyiv mean it may only be a short suspension.
American intelligence is vital for Ukraine to track Russian troop movements and select targets.
Speaking to France Inter radio on Thursday, Lecornu said France is continuing its intelligence shar-
ing.
“Our intelligence is sovereign,” Lecornu said. “We have intelligence that we allow Ukraine to benefit from.”
Lecornu’s office later said the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine is not a novelty but “a continuity of service.”
Lecornu added that following the US decision to suspend all military aid to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to “accelerate the various French aid packages” to make up for the lack of American assistance.
Lecornu said that in the wake of the U.S. decision, shipments of Ukraine-bound aid departing from Poland had been suspended, adding however that “Ukrainians, unfortunately, have learned to fight this war for three years now and know how to stockpile.”
Senate President Ty Masterson on the Senate floor March 5, during debate on a constitutional amendment that would let voters decide if they want to begin electing justices on the Kansas Supreme Court. SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR
Clifton Boje, of Bonner Springs, demonstrates his anti-abortion views on March 5, outside the Senate chamber entrance at the Statehouse in Topeka. The Senate took up a constitutional amendment to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices, which is viewed as a way to overturn the court’s 2019 ruling that established the right to terminate a pregnancy. SHERMAN SMITH/KANSAS REFLECTOR
— Dinah Sykes, Senate Minority Leader
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Parents threaten to withhold wedding funds
Dear Carolyn: Is it so crazy to give your child the ultimatum that, indeed, she may marry at any time, but we, as her parents, will not pay for the event until she is 25? I think she is entirely too young (21). She believes she is adult enough to marry, so I say go ahead, but you are going to have to pay for it. No, the irony of my childish response is not lost on me.
— Anonymous
Anonymous: It’s crazy only if you want a close and mutually respectful relationship
Tell Me About It
Carolyn Hax
with your daughter.
First of all, your logic is flawed; if she’s adult enough to pay for a wedding at 21, then she’s adult enough to pay for one at 25-plus. I hope you’ll expect accountability at any age.
Second, your methods are punitive enough to corrupt your message — and it’s a good message, one you want
delivered intact. You’re worried about her, right? You know how much growing people do throughout young adulthood, in ways they can’t anticipate?
And you’re afraid her going through this with a husband, even the best husband and even as the most mature 21-year-old, will inhibit her ability to find out who she really is, right? (Not to put words in your mouth or anything.)
Third, bungling this message can haunt you both for years. Let’s say she does marry and it lasts. Thrives, even.
Your visits might always remind her of your lack of faith in her. Maybe she’ll see some good parental intentions through your misguided methods, or forgive you just because she loves you and you raised her — but I doubt you want your chance at dandling your grandchildren to hang on a “maybe.”
So. Tell her you love her. Tell her what worries you, as long as your reasoning is neither patronizing nor critical of her ability to make up her own mind and live with her own decisions.
Tupac murder suspect claims innocence
By JAMI GANZ NY Daily News/TNS
Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the only person charged in the Las Vegas killing of Tupac Shakur, is maintaining his innocence in his first jailhouse interview since he was arrested in September 2023. The 61-year-old former Crips member, who has also been questioned in relation to the 1997 slaying of Shakur’s East Coast rival Biggie Smalls, spoke to ABC News from Clark County Detention Center, insisting “I’m innocent.”
CRYPTOQUOTES
Authorities claim Davis was the brains behind Shakur’s slaying, which took place on September 7, 1996, near the Las Vegas strip following a boxing event. Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight was driving the Harlemborn West Coast rapper at the time of the shooting. Tupac died the following week. He was 25.
“I did not do it,” said Davis, who insists he was home “in Los Angeles” on the night in question.
“They don’t have nothing. And they know they don’t have nothing. They can’t even place me out here. They don’t have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing.”
ACCORDING TO Davis, that “nothing” includes his memoir, “Compton Street Legend,” in which he cops to his purported role in the hit.
“I just gave [his co-author] details of my life,” said Davis, who claims he never read the book, let alone wrote it. “And he went and did his little investigation and wrote the book on his own.”
Davis first told authorities in 2008 that he allegedly took part in Shakur’s killing. He shared the information as part of a “proffer agreement” — meaning he couldn’t be prosecuted for that information — with the joint-federal Los Angeles task force that had initiated a sting to get information on the death of Notorious B.I.G.
IN 2009, Davis disclosed his alleged role to Las Vegas authorities, who the outlet reports are not linked to the prior proffer agreement, nor are they obligated to honor it.
He once again detailed his purported role in a 2018 docuseries and in “Compton Street Legends,” which Davis asserts he did for money and to keep others from having to serve time.
“I did everything (authorities) asked me to do. Get new friends. Stop selling drugs. I stopped all that,” said Davis, who is slated to stand trial early next year. “I’m supposed to
be out there enjoying my twilight at one of my f–king grandson’s football games, and basketball games. Enjoying life with my kids.”
In January of this year, a Nevada judge upheld the murder charge against Davis.
Yesterday’s Cryptoquote: Every day has the potential to be the best day of your life. -- Lin-Manuel Miranda
ZITS by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
BEETLE BAILEY by Mort Walker
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE by Chris Browne
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong
HI AND LOIS by Chance Browne
BLONDIE by Young and Drake
by Patrick McDonell
Friday, March 7, 2025
Dr. Susan Kressly
American Academy of Pediatricians
The Iola Register
~ Journalism that makes a difference
Why America’s pediatricians are worried
zations.
Early in my career as a pediatrician, it would not be unusual to get a phone call in the middle of the night from the worried parent of a child with a high fever. I got out of bed, met the family in the emergency room and sat with them while their child was evaluated. It could be a terrifying night, with painful tests to rule out serious illnesses like meningitis.
Vaccines were a game changer. Once my patients could be immunized against the most common causes of meningitis and serious bacterial infections — haemophilus influenzae B (HIB) and pneumococcus and other vaccine preventable diseases like measles — it was easier to rule out these potentially devastating illnesses, offer reassurance and advice over the phone, and schedule an office visit for the next morning.
But we’re back in that scary place now.
Immunization rates have dipped low enough in some communities that measles has taken root and spread. For the first time in a decade, someone in the U.S. has died from measles — an unvaccinated child in Texas caught up in an outbreak that has sickened more than 120 other people. This is a tragedy for this child, their family and their community.
Pediatricians are alarmed, and rightly so.
As president of the Amer-
in 10 years. (JAN SONNENMAIR/GETTY IMAGES/TNS)
ican Academy of Pediatrics, I’m getting emails, phone calls and texts from worried colleagues across the country. They have stories to tell of children who were permanently disabled or killed by diseases that we can now prevent with vaccines. They are afraid we will be back in that uncertain and terrifying place, watching a child suffer and being helpless to offer real relief for their pain. While the vast majority of parents vaccinate their children, misinformation has caused more parents to question the routine vaccinations that we’ve come to rely on to
keep children healthy.
In nearly every state, fewer than 95% of kindergartners are vaccinated against measles. That 95% threshold
Misinformation is causing more parents to question the routine vaccinations that we’ve come to rely on to keep children healthy. In nearly every state, fewer than 95% of kindergartners are vaccinated against measles. That 95% threshold is important, because at that level, it’s unlikely a single infection will spark an outbreak.
is important, because at that level, it’s unlikely that a single infection will spark an outbreak in a community. Instead we have communities where fewer than 95% of children are immunized, which explains worrisome
increases in vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles and whooping cough. We will have more measles outbreaks this year, and some of those children will likely suffer severe complications or death. This is unacceptable. What we need now is a robust response from our partners in the federal government to support local communities in improving access to vaccines, equipping doctors to provide life-saving care and making sure parents have accurate information to make decisions for their children’s health — including immuni-
We must immediately resume the work of important federal committees that evaluate the scientific research for vaccine development and dosing, including the committee that was scheduled to meet in March to select the strains for next season’s flu vaccine.
A separate committee at the CDC was scheduled to meet in February to make important decisions on vaccines for meningococcal, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human papillomavirus (HPV) and mpox. This is the same committee that develops the list of vaccines covered under the Vaccines for Children program, which provides vaccines at no cost to millions of U.S. children.
I URGE health authorities to immediately reschedule these meetings to ensure vaccine decisions are made without delay. We know that vaccination remains our most effective tool to prevent diseases including measles and influenza and their severe consequences.
Overwhelmingly, parents agree, and want to vaccinate their children. But we’re hearing from many parents now who worry that a vaccine may not be available when their child needs it. When pediatricians are in the exam room with parents, we want to equip them with everything in our power to help their children stay healthy so they can thrive. Immunizations are one of those success stories.
About the author: Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, wrote this for The Tribune News Service.
Better street designs help curb traffic fatalities
This week, Kansas Secretary of Transportation Calvin Reed kicked off KDOT’s annual Transportation Safety Conference in Wichita by emphasizing the key components of decreasing fatalities on Kansas’s streets and highways: safer drivers, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and safer roads.
He was followed by the conference’s keynote speaker, Charles Marohn, the founder of Strong Towns, an organization dedicated to helping America’s cities manage their finances and built environments better. Marohn made the case that, practically speaking, Kansas’s cities should ignore KDOT’s first three suggestions and focus on the last. Like the rest of the country, Kansas mostly saw traffic-related fatalities increase
throughout the 2010s and the first part of this decade.
Over the past two years, things have improved; 2024 saw the fewest number of Kansans killed in car crashes — 344 — in nearly 80 years. Still, Kansas remains above the national average of fatal accidents per population, and so it’s reasonable that KDOT has made reducing traffic deaths — through their “Drive to Zero” initiative — a key priority. For a variety of reasons, though, most of the actual
work that’s been done has been focused on educating (or shaming) drivers — for speeding, or being distracted, or failing to follow every traffic rule — and on inducing (or requiring) municipalities to lower the speeds on their arterial roads and streets.
When asked about the Drive to Zero plan, Marohn applauded it — but also argued that 98% of the problem is road design, with driver responsibility, vehicle quality, and speed calculations taking up a tiny remainder.
Marohn’s argument builds upon the basic idea that human beings will always make mistakes, always be distracted, etc., and thus one ought to focus on fixing the conditions humans operate in, rather than fixing hu-
mans themselves.
In the design of highways, this principle took the form of “forgiving design” — wider roads that encourage faster speeds as well as channeled in the same direction.
When imposed on city streets we have what Marohn calls “stroads”: neighborhood streets lined with sidewalks and schools and businesses and houses, but designed in ways that encourage unsafe speeds and are pedestrian-unfriendly.
This, obviously, discourages pedestrian use, which not only has negative economic, civic, and public health consequences, but also implicitly encourages drivers to drive even faster and more poorly.
Marohn wants to see cities focus on changing these design assumptions, rather
than chastising drivers for acting in exactly the way the conditions they encounter on the road encourage them to do. Makes sense to me. And fortunately, it makes sense to many city leaders and planners across Kansas as well.
In Wichita, Kansas City, Salina, and elsewhere, municipalities are making changes.
One-way streets are being converted to two-way; unnecessary lanes are being shrunk and made safer; designers are thinking more about traffic calming (putting in meridians, for example) and less about draconian speed reductions. Zero traffic fatalities may be a distant goal, but we’ll get closer to it by fixing the streets that carry traffic, rather than the drivers negotiating it.
Xerius Jackson, age 7, gets an MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine at a vaccine clinic put on by Lubbock Public Health Department on March 1, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. Cases of measles are on the rise in West Texas where over 150 confirmed case have been seen with one confirmed death — the first U.S. fatality to the virus
Dept. of Ed: What the maligned agency actually controls
Continued from A1
on the nation’s academic progress, and the administration has fired or suspended scores of employees. The agency’s main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the de-
partment would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with disabilities to low-income and homeless kids. Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump’s plans for
colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to cut off federal money for schools and colleges that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content” and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal school choice programs.
Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets — roughly 14%. Colleges and universities are more reliant on it, through research grants along with federal financial aid that helps students pay their tuition.
Here is a look at some of the department’s
TLC: Celebrates 25th anniversary
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the dream of Savannah’s mother that the garden center become a success.
And the best part? They’re planning for more.
Savannah’s love of horticulture was passed down by her mother, Corinna Heard, who worked for a local greenhouse when Savannah was a child.
“When I was in sixth grade, I went to ‘Take Your Daughter To Work Day’ at the greenhouse,’” she said. “The owners had talked about closing, so my mom decided to start her own business.”
In 2000, TLC Garden Center was born. Savannah began helping her mother at the store as a freshman in high school. Before long, it became her passion as well.
After graduating from Marmaton Valley High in 2003, she set out to Kansas State University to study horticulture. While there, she met another horticulture major — Levi Flory, a 2000 graduate of Manhattan High School.
Their interests in the same things made them a natural fit.
“Levi and I had a lot of the same classes and we worked together at a nursery as drafters for their landscape design,” she said.
In 2006, Savannah’s mother passed away.
“I tried to run the greenhouse from college during that time,” she said.
After graduating in 2007, Savannah — with Levi in tow — returned to LaHarpe to take over operations of the business.
The couple eventually bought the nursery from her dad, John, in
2010 and got married that same year. The couple has three daughters, Hazel, 4, Jayde, 8, and Leanna, 12.
MUCH LIKE the plants it showcases, the garden center grew and evolved over time. In the first six years of operation, Corinna had expanded the business to include trees and shrubs, as well as gift shop items. This expansion-driven mindset continued with Savannah and Levi when they assumed ownership.
“When Levi and I came back, our emphasis was landscape design,” said Savannah. “We really leaned into that and it became a big part of the business.”
Then in 2020, COVID happened. Like many other businesses, TLC Garden Center was impacted by the pandemic and changes had to be made. For the center, this meant no longer doing landscape design.
With this change, though, the business still experienced growth. That same year, the Florys decided to build a new retail sales building and two new greenhouses. The greenhouses allowed for 4,300 square feet of additional space for plants to spread out and get more sunlight.
Six years ago, TLC began growing its own annuals instead of purchasing them. They currently grow 95% of what is in their greenhouses. And the growth continues.
The Florys are currently building a new high tunnel greenhouse. This covered structure will protect plants from harsh weather and extend the growing season. “We’re still trying to figure out what we’re doing with it,” said Savannah. “It’s basically an unheated greenhouse. It lets us start planting things in the ground sooner. It’s not heated, but is still quite a bit warmer than if exposed outside.”
Savannah is looking to use the additional building next year.
“We’re trying to decide what crops to plant in it,” she said. “Maybe a strawberry patch or cut flowers. We’ll probably do a mix of everything in the first year.”
OVER THE years, Savannah has most appreciated seeing the results of all their hard work.
“You put in a lot of work over the winter and it’s nice to see it pay off in the spring,” she said. “To see the things that you grew working and selling is rewarding. You have a physical rep-
resentation of your success.”
For Levi, interactions with customers and building those relationships have been his favorite part of the business. “I didn’t used to be much of a talker, but now I enjoy visiting with customers and sharing the knowledge we’ve learned,” he said.
The Florys attribute a great deal of their success to their employees. “My employees are awesome,” said Savannah. “I don’t personally really take care of the plants anymore. They do so much of the planting, maintenance, and watering.” TLC Garden Center currently has five year-round employees, with three more hired for the spring season.
A celebration in honor of the store’s anniversary will be Saturday, April 12. There will be a variety of activities, giveaways, food trucks, workshops, and a class with social media content creator Katherine Umbarger. “We will have a schedule of the events put together as the date gets closer,” noted Savannah.
What does the next 25 years look like for the center? “Hopefully one of our kids will be interested enough to take it over,” laughed Levi. “At least one of them. It would be nice to keep the family business going.”
key functions, and how Trump has said he might approach them.
Student loans and financial aid
The Education Department manages approximately $1.5 trillion in student loan debt for over 40 million borrowers. It also oversees the Pell Grant, which provides aid to students below a certain income threshold, and administers the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( FAFSA ), which universities use to allocate financial aid.
President Joe Biden’s administration made cancellation of student loans a signature effort of the department’s work. Even though Biden’s initial attempt to cancel student loans was overturned by the Supreme Court, the administration forgave over $175 billion for more than 4.8 million borrowers through a range of changes to programs it administers, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The loan forgiveness efforts have faced Republican pushback, including litigation from several GOP-led states.
Trump has criticized Biden’s efforts to cancel debt as illegal and unfair, calling it a “total catastrophe” that “taunted young people.” Trump’s plan for student debt is uncertain: He has not put out detailed plans.
Civil rights enforcement
Through its Office for Civil Rights, the Education Department conducts investigations and issues guidance on how civil rights laws should be applied, such as for LGBTQ+ students and students of color. The office also oversees a large data collection project that tracks disparities in resources, course access and discipline for students of different racial and socioeconomic groups.
Trump has suggested a different interpretation of the office’s civil rights role. Under his administration, the department has instructed the office to prioritize complaints of antisemitism above all else and has opened investigations into colleges and school sports leagues for allowing transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams. In his campaign plat-
TLC Garden Center offers a wide array of plants in its greenhouses. REGISTER/SARAH HANEY
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C. STATES NEWSROOM/SHAUNEEN MIRANDA/KANSAS REFLECTOR
Education: Dept.
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form, Trump said he would pursue civil rights cases to “stop schools from discriminating on the basis of race.” He has described diversity and equity policies in education as “explicit unlawful discrimination” and said colleges that use them will pay fines and have their endowments taxed.
Trump also has pledged to exclude transgender students from Title IX protections, which affect school policies on students’ use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. Originally passed in 1972, Title IX was first used as a women’s rights law. Last year, Biden’s administration said the law forbids discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, but a federal judge undid those protections.
College accreditation
While the Education Department does not directly accredit colleges and universities, it oversees the system by reviewing all federally recognized accrediting agencies. Institutions of higher education must be accredited to gain access to federal money for student financial aid. Accreditation came under scrutiny from conservatives in 2022, when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools questioned political interference at Florida public colleges and universities. Trump has said he would fire “radical left accreditors” and take applications for new accreditors that would uphold standards including “defending the American tradition” and removing “Marxist” diversity administrators.
Although the education secretary has the authority to terminate its relationship with individual accrediting agencies, it is an arduous process that has rarely been pursued. Under President Barack Obama, the department took steps to cancel accreditors for a now-defunct for-profit college chain, but the Trump administration blocked the move. The group, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, was terminat-
Subscribers have
ed by the Biden administration in 2022.
Money for schools
Much of the Education Department’s money for K-12 schools goes through large federal programs, such as Title I for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Those programs support services for students with disabilities, lower class sizes with additional teaching positions, and pay for social workers and other non-teaching roles in schools.
During his campaign, Trump called for shifting those functions to the states. He has not offered details on how the agency’s core functions of sending federal money to local districts and schools would be handled.
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a sweeping proposal outlining a far-right vision for the country, offered a blueprint. It suggested sending oversight of programs for kids with disabilities and low-income children first to the Department of Health and Human Services, before eventually phasing out the funding and converting it to no-strings-attached grants to states.
Daylight Donuts reopens
Iola’s Daylight Donuts is back in business, with new owners ready to serve up piping hot sweet pastries. Thursday morning’s selection featured a dazzling array of colors and flavors, along with a spruced-up interior. New owners Mara Eung and Malin Oun have moved from Shakopee, Minn., and are looking for a new home for their family, which includes two young daughters. The crew handling the opening day crowd is, from left, Mara Eung, Malin Oun, Malis Oun, Chanmony Oun and Sam Chit. Chit owns a Daylight
Donuts location in Fort Scott. “We’re so excited,” said Eung. “We’re happy to be here and want to become friends with our new community.” REGISTER/TIM STAUFFER
Recovered car may be linked to couple missing since ’58
CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. (AP) — Authorities are pulling submerged vehicles from the Columbia River, including a car thought to have belonged to a Portland couple who vanished in 1958 while out for a drive with their three daughters.
The vehicles, includ-
ing the station wagon believed to belong to Ken and Barbara Martin, were found after a yearslong search by diver Archer Mayo.
The Martins never returned from a December 1958 drive to the mountains to collect Christmas greenery. The bodies of two of the couple’s daughters washed up at a dam the year after they vanished. Pete Hughes, a Hood River County sheriff’s
deputy, says the station wagon is encased in mud and debris, so authorities aren’t certain it is the Martins’.
Sports Daily B
Caney ends Mustang run
By JIMMY POTTS
The Iola Register
CANEY — The Iola High School Mustangs’ season came to an end Wednesday following a 56-39 loss to Caney Valley in the substate semifinals.
A slow start doomed the Mustangs’ early. They clawed back into the contest by halftime only for the Caney Valley Bullpups to pull away with 21 points in the third quarter.
“The things we needed to do, that we worked on, we got away from pretty early,” Iola coach Luke Bycroft said. “With the pressure on the perimeter, they were playing physical against Cortland (Carson), which we’re used to. That’s normal. He got sped up tonight. He wasn’t patient enough, but we weren’t patient enough.”
The Bullpups forced Iola to pick their points the hard way in the first quarter. Except for a drive to the basket by IHS senior Carson, who scored a team-leading 10 points, all of Iola’s first quarter production came from the free-throw line. A pair of
Chargers release veteran Joey Bosa
The Los Angeles Chargers released Joey Bosa on Wednesday night, ending the linebacker’s nine-season tenure with the franchise.
The move, which came less than a week before the start of the new league year, was expected due to Bosa’s large salary cap number and injury history. Bosa had a cap number of $36.47 million for the 2025 season, but the Chargers will save $25.36 million in cap space.
Bosa was the third overall pick by the Chargers in the 2016 NFL draft and was the last player on the roster from when the team played in San Diego. He signed a five-year extension worth $135 million in 2020 that made him the league’s highest-paid defensive player at the time.
Bosa played in 14 games with nine starts this past season after agreeing to restructure his contract. But his five sacks were his fewest in the six seasons during which he has played at least 12 games as he battled hip and back injuries.
After seeing action in 16 games in 2021, Bosa saw the field for only 14 games combined in the 2022 and ‘23 season. He missed most of 2022 because of a groin injury, but returned late in the year. He was sidelined the final seven games in 2023 with a foot injury.
Friday, March 7, 2025
By Heather
Two men were charged Wednesday in the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans whose bodies were found in a backyard two days after they got together to watch the final game of the regular season in 2024.
Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson are each charged with three counts of in -
voluntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in a case that gained widespread attention on social media. Their bond is set at $100,000 cash only. Speculation about what happened started after 38-year-old Ricky Johnson, 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney and 37-yearold David Harrington were found dead in Willis’
NASCAR driver wins appeal over spoiler
By JENNA FRYER The
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing won their appeal Wednesday when the National Motorsports Appeals Panel said his Toyota did not have an illegally modified spoiler when he won the Daytona 500 pole.
The victory restores the 100 points and 10 playoff points NASCAR had penal-
ized Briscoe for the spoiler violation. The team also gets its 100 points and 10 playoff points back, and crew chief James Small’s four-race suspension was rescinded, as was the $100,000 fine to the team.
Briscoe is now tied for 14th in the season standings with Carson Hocevar headed into Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway. They are one point ahead of Kyle Larson, who is
cap in 2025.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars center Mitch Morse announced his retirement Thursday after 10 seasons and nearly a hundred wins, most of those coming with Kansas City and Buffalo.
Tuli Tuipulotu, who led the Chargers with 8½ sacks this past season, is expected to move into a starting spot with Bosa’s departure.
Bosa’s 72 sacks are tied for 10th most in the NFL since he entered the league and are second in franchise history. With Bosa’s release, the Bolts will put a bigger emphasis on trying to re-sign linebacker Khalil Mack, who is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his 11year career.
Morse, 32, had one year remaining on a $10.5 million contract he signed a year ago in free agency. He would have counted $5.4 million against Jacksonville’s salary
“The things I’ll remember and cherish most about my career are the relationships and bonds I created with my teammates, both on and off of the field,” Morse said in a statement. “Nothing can replace that, and I will miss it dearly.”
The Chiefs drafted Morse in the second round in 2015. He spent four seasons in Kansas City and five in Buffalo before landing in
Iola High School senior guard Cortland Carson (13) goes up for a shot in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s sub-state semifinals game against Caney Valley. REGISTER/JIMMY POTTS
Los Angeles Chargers
linebacker Joey Bosa (97) pursues Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew (15) for a sack during the second half of an NFL game at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. HEIDI FANG/TNS
Martin Truex Jr. (19) leads the group of Michael McDowell (34), Chase Briscoe (14) and Denny Hamlin (11) into turn four during the Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. JASON GETZ/TNS
By JOE REEDY The Associated Press
By MARK LONG The Associated Press
Associated Press
Hollingsworth The Associated Press
Q: How long has Kenan Thompson been on “Saturday Night Live”?
A: After gaining fame on the Nickelodeon series “All That” and “Kenan & Kel,” he joined the ensemble cast of NBC’s late-night staple “SNL” in 2003. He actually continued his work on “All That” until 2005, and he also had become known from such movies as “D2: The Mighty Ducks” (1994), “Heavyweights” (1995), “D3: The Mighty Ducks” (1996) and “Good Burger” (1997).
Thompson holds the record for being the longest-running “SNL” regular, and he has said that he only intended to stay with the show until he got another job. As it has happened, he has stayed and earned five Primetime Emmy Award nominations (winning once) for his work on the program. He even has been the star of his own series, NBC’s 2021-22 sitcom “Kenan,” while continuing on “SNL” (though some had speculated that he might leave the latter show when he landed “Kenan”).
A catalog of memorable characters has been established by Thompson on “SNL,” many of them recurring ones that have been seen a number of times. Among them: Darnell Hayes, the host of the game show “Black Jeopardy!”; Reese DeWhat, who presides over the program “Cinema Classics”; Willie, the perpetually sunny neighbor of “Weekend Update” co-anchor Michael Che; and French comic Jean K. Jean.
When he is inter viewed, Thompson perpetually is asked why he has stayed with “SNL” for so long, and whether he thinks about moving on in the near future. At the time of the show’s 50th-anniversar y special that NBC aired in Februar y, Thompson called his “SNL” stint “the greatest job in the world,” and he gave no indication that he was planning to leave what he terms that “steady employment” anytime soon.
Over: Mustangs face rebuild in 2025-2026
Continued from B1
consecutive 3-pointers by senior guard Matt Beckmon made it a two-possession game going into halftime with the Mustangs down 2419.
“We got looks at the rim. We did not hit them all, but when we reversed the ball — because of how hard they were doubling Cortland — we had opportunities on the backside,” Bycroft said. “We didn’t take advantage of it. We didn’t move the ball enough. Defensively, we were OK, but we didn’t rebound as well as we needed to.”
That was as close to victory as Iola got. Caney Valley sealed the contest before the fourth quarter after putting up 21 points in the third. With Iola in foul trouble entering the final period, any hope of a comeback evaporated as the Bullpups extended their lead from the free-throw line.
“We were really poor at our shot selections. The things we needed to do we did not do,” Bycroft said. “Caney has a lot of pieces. They have one main guy and they have a lot of pieces around him that play off him well. Tonight, we missed a lot of shots. If we hit a few of those it changes the direction (of the game).”
With the loss, Iola ends the 2024-2025 season 9-12 overall. Despite falling Wednesday, the Mustangs ended their season on a relative high note. They won four of their last six games, including a 56-54 upset of Pioneer League rival Anderson County and last Friday’s 65-49 postseason upset of the higher-seeded Riverton Rams (12-8), who were also a conference runner-up.
“We didn’t have as successful a season as we wanted to have, but they never stopped putting the work in,” Bycroft said. “These last two weeks of practice have been the best two weeks we’ve had. That’s not always the case when you
Above, Iola senior forward Lucas Maier (22) goes up for a shot during the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal against Caney Valley. At right, senior guard Matt Beckmon (5) puts in a second consecutive 3-pointer during the second quarter.
REGISTER/JIMMY POTTS
get to this point in the season, and that says a lot about who this group of seniors are and who they are going to be as men moving forward.”
While graduating seven players from his varsity roster is difficult already, Bycroft will also have to find a replacement for Carson — IHS’ all-time leading scorer. Instead of looking at next season as a rebuild, Bycroft hopes next year’s Mustangs feel inspired by Carson and the other seniors.
“This is a big group, and they’ve been playing together for a long time,” Bycroft said. “They’ve given a lot to the program. It’s going to hurt us a lot, because this is a group of seniors that I really value, how hard they work, how hard they challenge each other and what they give to the team. You have seniors some years who are just OK with being seniors. This group really wanted to work.”
Retired: Chiefs
Continued from B1
Jacksonville. He said wanting to play again for one of his former coaches, Doug Pederson, was a main reason he signed with the Jaguars.
Jacksonville fired Pederson in January and has since hired former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen as his replacement.
Now, the Jaguars are in desperate need of a center as they prepare for free agency next week. They drafted Luke Fortner in the third round in 2022 but brought in Morse to replace him as the weak link in their offensive line.
Jacksonville also could address the position with one of its 10 picks in next
month’s NFL draft. Morse thanked all three of his former teams and his family and added that he looks forward to spending more time with them “as I navigate retirement.”
He started all 156 games of his NFL career, including 13 in the postseason. His career record was 9858, including 92-51 in the regular season.
Morse’s departure could leave the Jaguars with two starting spots to fill on their O-line because veteran right guard Brandon Scherff is a free agent. They also need to replace receiver Christian Kirk, who was told Wednesday that he will be released before the new league year begins.
NASCAR: Appeal
16th in the season standings. “The panel believes that the elongation of some of the holes on the number 19 Cup car spoiler base is caused by the process of attaching that specific spoiler base to the rear deck and not modification of the single source part,” the panel wrote.
Joe Gibbs said he was appreciative of the process “NASCAR has in place that allowed us the opportunity to present our explanation of what led to the penalty issued to our No. 19 team. Briscoe thanked the panel and NASCAR on social media.
(7-12-7-13—39)
Deaths: Pair face manslaughter
Continued
on Jan. 7, 2024, to watch the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers. The witnesses said Willis had a history of offering cocaine to his friends when they were low on money and that he bought it from Carson, according to the probable cause statement.
But Willis’ lawyer, John Picerno, said there is no evidence that Willis bought the drugs that his friends ingested before their deaths, noting they had been partying all day. And he said Willis didn’t know that they were still in his backyard — or that they needed medical attention — until police showed up.
“It has been a very, very long year for Jordan,” Picerno said. “He’s lost his job. He’s lost his home. He’s lost his friends. The public are pointing at him as someone who essentially killed them. And nothing could be further from the truth.”
Willis told police that he believed that McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson possibly got a hold of some fentanyl at some point on the Sunday the game was played
and that he thought they all left his home around 4 a.m. the next morning.
Weather records indicate the low temperature that night was around 33 degrees.
