Coal-fired plant not a certainty

Sunflower Electric Power seems likely to get a permit to build a coal-fired generating plant in Holcomb. Gov. Mark Parkinson said he would support a scaled-down coal plant months ago. Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, who denied a permit for a larger plant, resigned last week. The Republicans who favored the operation have never been stronger in the Legislature.
It all adds up to trainloads of coal chugging into Kansas every day in the not-so-distant future.
Or does it?
Now that they own all of the responsibility for making wise long-term decisions, will Gov. Sam Brownback and his super majorities in the House and Senate put their signatures on this deal to pollute Kansas air to produce electric power to be sold to Colorado and Texas consumers?
And do the out-of-state co-operatives that were going to provide most of the huge investment still want to take the risk? The investment was always iffy because a tax on carbon could price the power produced out of the market — and a tax on carbon remains the most effective way to limit the emission of carbon dioxide and slow climate change.
The evidence against people-produced greenhouse gases continues to mount. It may grow so massive that even today’s doubters become convinced. And it will take decades to pay off the bonds issued to build a coal plant at Holcomb.
Stay tuned.


— Emerson Lynn, jr.

Not the be all, end all

Motivate to be self-motivated.

That’s the mantra of every coach and teacher, isn’t it? Along the way someone in each of our lives has inspired us to work harder, reach higher and do the extra steps needed to do our best for ourselves, our classmates and teammates.
Me. I had a couple such teachers plus my parents. It was my high school English teacher who told me I had the potential to write. She inspired me to read beyond the assignments.
Reading words helps you to write words. She was harder on me than any other student in the class but I respected her and still continue to do so.
Coaches need to motivate athletes to be self-motivated.
In 2005-2006, Iola High had a group of girls who were motivated by the same thing. They had been together playing sports, particularly basketball, since they were peewee age. They won the state basketball championship they were after but not without a new coach pushing them to be all-around players not just offensive players. Championships are won with defense.
As expected, the USD 257 Board of Education voted Monday to have the Iola High School join the Pioneer League starting the 2012-2013 school year. Iola High will leave the Southeast Kansas League after 65-plus years.
The league change is not the be all and end all. We had our hats handed to us by the No. 2 and No. 3 football teams of the Pioneer League this year in back-to-back games in district play.
Reasons differ out there for the switch. But the most talked about is giving our athletes a chance to be competitive. It’s going to take more than switching leagues for that to happen.
And basically, again the sports targeted for this switch have been football and boys’ basketball.
Switching leagues doesn’t automatically end the losing seasons. Work has to be done in the off-season by athletes and coaches to turn programs around.
Being “in” the weight room is not motivating athletes to come in and work hard. Coaches need to reach out to athletes. Now days it’s harder than ever to get past the hours youth spend on electronic devices — phones, video game systems and the like.
Don’t make excuses for them. Find out why they miss a workout session during the summer. Go beyond just like you ask your athletes to do when they play.
We all have to ask ourselves are we doing our best to provide our youngsters opportunities to be competitive. Have we found the right offense, defense, the right workout schedule, the right type of play — power hitting, small ball — to put the kids in position to be successful.
Being successful is not just about wins and losses. It’s about wanting to do better the next time, to strive for that next step.
Athletes, I’m not forgetting about you.
The Iola Middle School declined to move to the Pioneer League with the high school. Not unusual. There’s nothing that says a middle school and high school need to compete in the same league — Burlington’s middle school competes in the Pioneer League  while the high school is in the Tri-Valley. Crest’s middle school is in the Lyon County League and the high school is in the Three Rivers League.
Why that decision? Competition. The IMS athletes compete pretty well in the SEK. They are able to allow all students who want to participate to do so because the other schools have large enough numbers to do so. Not all the Pioneer League schools can produce the number of games to accommodate participation.
There has been a disconnect between participation at the middle school level to the high school level in Iola. Students are not going out for high school sports.
Iola High students, you want to win games? You have to take advantage of coaches being in the weight room, being there to teach offense and defense during the summer.
Don’t give excuses. Do the work and reap the reward. Participate. Motivate.

New coats wanted, too

Sonic Equipment, in conjunction with Allen County Cleaners, is hosting a winter coat drive and distribution for those in need.
From now through Dec. 3, Allen Countians may drop off used or new winter coats in good condition weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sonic, 900 W. Miller Rd., or from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at Allen County Cleaners, 1515 East St. The cleaners is also open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Coats will be washed or dry cleaned before being given, free of charge, to anyone who needs one from 1 to 5 p.m. Dec. 18 in the  Jefferson Elementary School gymnasium.
“We just really want to do something to help the community,” organizer Megan Hageman said, adding that while “A meal only lasts a couple hours; a coat lasts a season or two.”

Adopt-A-Child helpers needed

More than 230 area children are in need of help this holiday season through the Adopt-A-Child campaign. Through the program, donors purchase Christmas gifts for youngsters.
Families in need range from single-child households “to one family with six kids,” said organizer Barbie Daugharthy. Children’s ages range from “a couple of babies that aren’t due to be born until December,” to almost 18, she said.
Donors will be provided with a wish list for each child with essentials such as clothing as well as toys they would like.
“Some list more or less of each,” she said, “All we ask is that donors buy at least one thing that a child needs.”
Donors are encouraged to spend about $40 per child, although they are welcome to go beyond that, Daugharthy added.
Gifts should be dropped off — unwrapped — at First Baptist Church, 801 N. Cottonwood St., from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday between now and Dec. 9. “We had an issue last year with children in the same family receiving unequal numbers of gifts. That’s why we don’t want them wrapped this time.”
Gifts will be distributed Dec. 13.
Children can be adopted by calling Daugharthy at 365-5061, Teresa Gribble at 365-9103 and Deb Sager at 365-7407.

Books back on shelves

Books are being restored to refaced shelves. New chairs, tables and lighting awaits. In another week or so, patrons will be able to enjoy the changes at the renovated Iola Public Library, 218 E. Madison Ave.
The main library has been closed for seven months while interior and roofing work was completed.
While the stacks will look familiar to patrons, other changes will be apparent from the moment one steps through the doors.
Instead of a solitary entryway, passages now divide adult and child users. Handicapped-accessible doors allow push-button entry.
The doors, library Director Roger Carswell noted, are slightly harder to pull open initially, but then “magic assist” kicks in, opening the doors with a gentle sweep.
For those unable to pull the doors at all, a shiny steel push button is at arm level, which will open the doors without further effort.
Once inside, a newly configured checkout area awaits all patrons.
Librarians now face away from the main doors in a semi-circular desk area that also has been made ADA compliant.
Also suiting Americans with Disabilities Act regulations are renovated restrooms with newly added toddler restraints and baby changing stations — for patrons of both genders.
A coffee nook is nestled beside the periodical racks. Self-serve coffee will be brewing throughout the day, with cafe-like tables where patrons can sit and sip while they read.
In the southwest corner of the adult section will be two lounge chairs and small couch, Carswell said, a perfect hideaway for relaxing in the warm sunlight streaming through nearby windows.
Computer stations will be scattered throughout the library, while the youth section has been slightly enlarged and given new furniture to make it a more distinct space.
On the main stacks, the new face panels will boast removable display racks.
Eye-catching signs will direct users throughout the building, to their favorite reading materials or other amenities.
Next up for renovation will be the west end of the library, which has been serving as the main user room while remodeling was going on.
“The plan is to try to get the outside work done before the weather changes” too dramatically, Carswell said,.
“During this next portion, all public library portions (of the building) will be in their usual places,” Carswell said.
In the last phase, customers will see refreshing of the genealogical collection room and children’s department.
Until books are reshelved, patrons may access new additions and periodicals at the Flewharty-Powell Annex across the alley from the library. Other materials may be placed on hold through the library’s website, iola.mykansaslibrary.org, and will be retrieved for pickup at the annex by library staff.
Hours at the Flewharty-Powell Annex are weekdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again 5-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
The annex will also be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday.
Carswell expects the main library to reopen by Thursday of next week.

FUNDS for the $839,000 renovation came from a Community Development Block Grant, library savings and the City of Iola. The library had saved $93,000 toward the project; $400,000 came from the CDBG and the city provided $346,000.

Phyllis Caler

Phyllis N. Caler, 73, of Iola died Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010, at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
She was born Aug. 11, 1937, in Humboldt, to John and Mona (Willhite) Durkin. She grew up in Humboldt and graduated from Humboldt High School in 1955.
On Aug. 27, 1955, she married Dale J. Caler. They made their home in Iola where she worked for Thompson Poultry and Gates Corporation until her retirement. He died Aug. 1, 2003.
She is survived by two sons, Bruce, Topeka, and Ronald, Iola; a daughter, Janet Thompson and her husband, Robert, Moran; two brothers, Joe Durkin, Springfield, Mo., and Raymond Durkin, Osage City; two sisters, Mary Ann Mueller, Humboldt, and Nancy Chandler, Chanute; three grandchildren, Amanda Frame, Bryan Frame and Courtney Frame; three stepgrandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and one stepgreat-grandchild.
A son, Roger, and two brothers, Clyde Willhite and J.D. Durkin, died earlier.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel in Iola.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Chaplain Lloyd W. Houk will officiate. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery in Iola.
Memorials to Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF) may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences for the family may be left at iolafuneral.com.

Earmarks don’t really count in the deficit debate

A war on earmarks has been declared by Sen. Jim DeMint, the South Carolina Republican who has made himself a spokesman for tea party priorities.
Sen. DeMint said Tuesday he’ll force a showdown with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on DeMint’s demand that the internal Republican Party rules bar any of its Senate members from using the system to spend federal dollars in their state.
Earmarks are used to send federal dollars to states and congressional districts to build a highway or a bridge, to give a specified police department a grant, to fund a community development project, or pay for any other special project that a senator or a representative wants to take credit for funding.
Earmarks have been singled out for political attack because they are tacked onto other appropriation measures without debate, without committee approval and, most important, without the administration’s approval. They are, in other words, off-budget spending.
This fact makes them attractive to Sen. McConnell and other old-timers in both parties.
Talking to a reporter, Sen. McConnell said giving up earmarks would “provide a blank check to President Barack Obama” because his administration would then determine where money for popular programs would go.
In a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation last week, Sen. McConnell said, “You could eliminate every congressional earmark and you would save no money, it’s really an argument about discretion.”
Sen. McConnell’s point is well-taken. For an example, an important part of every state’s transportation budget comes from the federal government each year. From that appropriation, a state representative or senator could “earmark” a specific amount to be spent on a particular project within his state or district. The effect would not be to increase federal spending on transportation, but to give that particular member of Congress the power to decide how that chunk of the federal allocation to his state would be spent.
Those who defend the practice say they know their state’s needs better than Washington bureaucrats do. What they do NOT say is that they love to send out press releases taking credit for the money they, and they alone, made certain would be spent on a very visible asset for their voters.

THE OTHER fact that is being downplayed in this battle between the newly elected budget-slashers and the political veterans is that the role that earmarks play in the ballooning of the federal deficit is so small as to be insignificant. All of the federal money spent through earmarked appropriations in fiscal year 2010 amounted to about one-half of 1 percent of the $3.5 trillion budget.
And, as Sen. McConnell said, almost all of that would have been spent through the budget if it had not been earmarked, so the money to be saved by ending the practice is small, indeed.
So what should a good tea partier do to help bring deficits down?
Step one would be to increase federal revenue by $700 billion over the next decade by allowing taxes on the wealthy to go back to the 2000 level.
The deficit could be hammered down by $4 trillion over that same 10 years by allowing all of the tax reductions put in place under President George W. Bush to expire.
Making those enormous strides toward fiscal sanity would not require any member of Congress, liberal, conservative or moderate, to take any action.
All they would be required to do is let time pass. The rate reductions are scheduled to end on Jan. 1, 2011. The sunset provisions were included in the measures because the Congressional Budget Office knew the nation couldn’t afford the cuts long term.
Going back to the 2000 tax rates might eventually mean going back to the 2000 budget surplus. Exactly what every good conservative should want. What say you, Sen. DeMint?

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

Kauth in wait mode for NFL’s PP&K

Adam Kauth, Iola High freshman, won the 14-15-year-old boys’ competition at the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick sectional contest in October. His combined distance for the three events was 344 feet, 11 inches.
Kauth is waiting to see if his total puts him in the top five competitors in his age group from all sectionals. Sectionals are held in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska and the top five from each age group advance to the team competition for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team competition is Dec. 5 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs play the Denver Broncos that day.
Kauth has competed in the Punt, Pass & Kick competition at the local level before. He won the 14-15-year-old boys’ division here in Iola on Sept. 25. The sectional competition was at Burlington.
If Kauth advances to the team competition in December in Kansas City, he will  have the opportunity to advance to the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick national finals.
The national competition ususally is contested during the NFL playoffs.
Iola has had  a competitor — IHS senior Katlyn Cleaver — reach the national level a couple of times.

Correction” His name is Earl

Earl Long doesn’t mind being called by his nickname, Butch, but he doesn’t answer to Leon.
For reasons that defy explanation, reporter Bob Johnson identified Long as Leon, not Earl, in a story in Wednesday’s Register about his experiences as a Marine in Vietnam.

Maxine Aitken

Former Yates Center resident Maxine Elizabeth Street Aitken, 93, died Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, in Dodge City. 
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Yates Center Cemetery.
Memorials to First Presbyterian Church or Friends for Life may be sent in care of Campbell Funeral Home, P.O. Box 188, Yates Center, KS 66783.