Tryouts for Iola’s 11-and-under traveling baseball team for the 2013 season are Sunday.
The tryouts are from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday on baseball diamond No. 4 in Iola’s Riverside Park. All players should wear full uniform and bring a water jug.
Players must not have their 12th birthday before May 1, 2013, to be eligible.
If you are unable to attend Sunday or have questions, call Tad Whitney at 620-365-0949 for more information.
Iola Soccer Club tryouts for traveling soccer teams in the fall and spring are this weekend.
Tryouts are open to boys and girls in fifth through eighth grades.
Tryouts are Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at RiverTree Christian Church’s soccer field.
Brek Ulrich, coach for the Iola Soccer Club, said he is looking for 16 to 18 players to travel and play in the SEK Recreational Soccer League. Games are played in the fall and spring.
The Iola team plays in the Leawood SoccerFest in the spring.
Contact Ulrich at 620-228-0578 or brekulrich@hotmail.com for more information.
Voluntary conditioning for any and all Iola Middle School students began Monday morning. The conditioning sessions are each morning, 7 to 8, this week at the IMS football practice field.
IMS football coach Marty Taylor is supervising the conditioning sessions.
Taylor will check out middle school football equipment to players, both in seventh and eighth grades, on Friday. Check out is at 4:30 p.m. at the IMS commons area.
The first day of middle school football practice is next Monday. It will go from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the IMS practice field.
LONDON — Former Allen Community College All-American Isiah Young qualified for the men’s 200-meter semifinals at the London Olympic Games. Young ran in this morning’s qualifying heat races in London.
Young finished third in his heat, which was won by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in 20.39 seconds. Young ran his qualifying race in 20.55 seconds.
All three American sprinters advanced to the semifinal round of the 200 meters. Wallace Spearmon posted a 20.47 time in his heat race while Maurice Mitchell qualified in 20.54 seconds.
Young, who is from Junction City, had the 12th fastest time in this morning’s heat races. Alex Quinonez of Ecuador had the fastest qualifying time in 20.28 seconds.
Young is in Bolt’s semifinal heat race also. Those will be run Wednesday afternoon, around 2 o’clock (CDT).
Iola police officer Mike Ford will talk about “Scams and Frauds that Prey on Seniors” at Iola Public Library at 2 p.m. Thursday.
He will be discuss how to recognize and avoid common scams and frauds.
The oncoming school year will offer area youngsters one more chance for a pool party.
Steve and Cecilia Orcutt, retired USD 257 art teachers, will host the fourth annual Moonlight Splash to cap the summer break for local elementary school students.
The pool party kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday at the Iola Municipal Pool. USD 257 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, and their families, are invited. Admission is free.
Steve Orcutt said the party promises an evening of fun, where kids can swim by the light of the moon or dance with the chicken — in this case, Milo “Drumsticks” Combs.
The swimmers also will be serenaded by live music provided by the cicadas, appearing in nearby trees from Riverside Park.
The oncoming school year will offer area youngsters one more chance for a pool party.
Steve and Cecilia Orcutt, retired USD 257 art teachers, will host the fourth annual Moonlight Splash to cap the summer break for local elementary school students.
The pool party kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday at the Iola Municipal Pool. USD 257 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, and their families, are invited. Admission is free.
Steve Orcutt said the party promises an evening of fun, where kids can swim by the light of the moon or dance with the chicken — in this case, Milo “Drumsticks” Combs.
The swimmers also will be serenaded by live music provided by the cicadas, appearing in nearby trees from Riverside Park.
Some unofficial election results.
In the primary election Tuesday, Bryan Murphy defeated Jared Froggatte 1,159 to 753 (60 percent to 40 percent) for Allen County Sheriff for the Republican nomination. Murphy will face Skyler Clark (independent) in the November general election.
Tom Williams defeated Rob Frances 65 percent to 35 percent for County Commission District 2.
Jim Talkington defeated Don Bauer 55 percent to 45 percent for County Commission District 3. Neither Talkington nor Williams have a Democratic opponent in November.
For the Iola City Council, both Kendall Callahan and Ken Rowe were voted out of office tonight. Callahan was ousted by a vote of 170 to 139 (57 to 43 percent). Rowe was voted out by a vote of 150 to 78 (66 to 34 percent).
Also locally, Caryn Tyson led John Coen 54 to 46 percent in their State Senate GOP primary. (Tyson also led by similar margins with about 75 percent of the rest of the Senate District 12 reporting).
Ed Bideau of Chanute looks to have an advantage in the Kansas House District 9 race, although Bud Sifers won Allen County by 15 votes, 631 votes to Bideau’s 616. Judy Brigham was third in Allen County with 461 votes. That breakdown is 36.94 percent for Sifers, 36.07 percent for Bideau and 26.99 percent for Brigham.
Conventional wisdom (for what its worth) says that Bideau will carry his native Neosho County, although only about half of Neosho County’s precincts have reported to the Kansas Secretary of State’s office as of 11 p.m. Tuesday. Of those votes, Bideau received 67 percent.
To the editor:
From my bed in Allen County Hospital: It is so important for us to elect the proper people that I am compelled to write from here.
The person for the position of state representative, District 9, is Ed Bideau.
He is honest, unshakable in his beliefs and will be a credit to us all.
Ed has served in the Legislature, which gives him a step up. From his experience he knows how to get things done in the Kansas House. He can hit the door running.
I served with Ed and I am happy to endorse Ed Bideau for state representative.
Denise Apt,
former state representative,
Iola, Kan.
With the primary election just a day away, have you decided who you would choose to vote for you?
The question is directed to that 80 percent of the registered voters who are expected to sit on their hands Tuesday and let the 20 percent who take democracy seriously speak for them.
Who says only 20 percent will vote? Secretary of State Kris Kobach, that’s who. The same guy who persuaded the Legislature to require would-be voters to bring a government-issued photo identification document, such as a passport or a driver’s license, to the polls with them, which will frustrate a certain number of Kansas who don’t drive and never received a passport.
Kobach’s barrier — which is designed to help Republican candidates — will keep the voting percentage even lower.
But that won’t be the main problem, which is that the vast majority of Americans don’t take their political responsibilities seriously; don’t learn about the candidates; don’t research the issues; don’t vote.
The slackers — that’s the 80 percent Mr. Kobach has identified — turn over power of the ballot box to the voting few. The one who votes makes the political decisions for the four who don’t.
And because those who are politically active do vote, election results are skewed in their favor.
Now, which single-issue wing-nut will speak for you for the next two and four years?
Or will you represent yourself, dear reader, and cast your own reasonable, thoughtful, well-informed vote tomorrow? It is, after all, your duty — to dust off a nearly-forgotten, old-fashioned word. So do it.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.