UK Parliament seeks options on Brexit

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Parliament gets another chance Monday to offer a way forward on Britain’s stalled divorce from the European Union, holding a series of votes on Brexit alternatives in an attempt to find the elusive idea that can command a majority.

With just 12 days until the U.K. must come up with a new plan or crash out of the bloc, the House of Commons was considering a variety of alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s unpopular Brexit deal. Two ideas — staying in the EU customs union or holding a second referendum on Brexit — have emerged as the most likely plans to succeed.

May has ruled out both those ideas. But the divorce deal she negotiated with the EU has been rejected by Parliament three times, leaving Britain less than two weeks from a no-deal Brexit that could cause turmoil for people and businesses on both sides of the Channel.

The chief executive of industrial manufacturer Siemens U.K. implored British lawmakers to unite around a compromise Brexit deal, saying the country’s political chaos was making the U.K. a “laughing stock.”

Juergen Maier urged lawmakers to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU, saying that would allow frictionless trade to continue. In a letter published by the Politico website, Maier said “where the U.K. used to be beacon for stability, we are now becoming a laughing stock.”

May’s spokesman, James Slack, said the prime minister understood that “business wants certainty,” and urged lawmakers to support May’s thrice-rejected Brexit deal.

May could try to bring her Brexit agreement back for a fourth time later this week. Slack said the prime minister “believes there is a majority in the House for leaving in an orderly way with a deal,” and her agreement was the best on offer.

Slack rejected speculation that the government could take drastic action, such as asking Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament or getting her to refuse to sign legislation.

“We don’t have any intention of involving the queen,” he said.

Monday’s votes in Parliament follow an earlier round last week in which none of the eight Brexit options on offer secured a majority.

Staying in the EU customs union or holding a new Brexit referendum were on the table Monday, along with other “soft Brexit” alternatives and a call for a no-deal Brexit in which Britain leaves the EU without a deal on April 12.

The range of choices, and lack of consensus, reflect a Parliament and a government deeply divided over how — and whether — to leave the EU.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said leaving the bloc without a deal was “not the responsible thing for a government to do.”

But his Cabinet colleague Liz Truss said it would be better than a soft Brexit.

“I think that we are well prepared for no deal,” Truss, who is chief secretary to the Treasury, told the BBC. “I don’t have any fear of no deal.”

The divisions within May’s government over what to do next have left many Britons exasperated — including Conservative Party lawmakers.

Chief Whip Julian Smith, whose job is to ensure that Conservative legislators vote for government-backed policies, called the public Cabinet squabbling “the “worst example of ill-discipline in British political history.”

May has less than two weeks to bridge the hostile divide that separates those in her government who want to sever links with the EU and those who want to keep the ties that have bound Britain to the bloc for almost 50 years.

EU leaders will hold a special summit on April 10 to consider any request from Britain for a longer delay to Brexit — or to make last-minute preparations for Britain’s departure without a deal two days later.

European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday that it was time for the British Parliament to spell out what it wanted on Brexit.

“A sphinx is an open book in direct comparison with the British Parliament,” he told the Saarland state legislature in Saarbruecken, Germany. “We must get the sphinx to talk now. Enough of the long silence.”

 

Kansas groceries, gas stations start selling 6% beer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Grocery and convenience stores in Kansas are stocking their shelves with stronger beer.

Starting today, they can sell beer with up to 6 percent alcohol by volume. Previously, groceries and convenience stores could stock beer with only up to 3.2 percent alcohol content — considerably lower than even leading light beer brands. In exchange, liquor stores will be able to sell more non-alcoholic products, such as shot glasses, mixers, lottery tickets and tobacco products.

Lawmakers have debated the issue for years. Some said they were concerned large grocery chains would put independent liquor stores out of business.

Oklahoma and Colorado have made similar charges. The beer revolution leaves just two states — Utah and Minnesota — where only 3.2 percent beer may be sold in grocery and convenience stores.

Humboldt baseball and softball start with wins

Humboldt baseball and softball started the 2019 season with the same level of offensive fury and defensive intensity that you’d expect from two teams with their eye on a trip to the 2A state tournament. 

In their Tuesday series versus Neodesha and their Thursday series at Erie, the Cubs steamrolled their competition, taking early 4-0 records after the first week of the season. 

The Cub baseball team won 10-0 and 19-4 versus Neodesha and 20-0 and 20-5 versus Erie while softball won their two games versus the Lady Bluestreaks 10-4 and 17-2 before demolishing the Lady Red Devils 20-3 and 15-0. 

Neodesha 

Freshman starting pitcher Brooklyn Ellis earned her first two wins of her high school career, throwing for seven innings while allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts while going for just three innings in the shortened game two and allowing two runs on six hits with a strikeout. 

The Lady Cubs got off to big leads in both games — 6-1 after two innings in the first and 12-0 in the second. Neodesha never found a big inning but they were able to pick off a single run in six different innings in the two games. 

Senior Morgan Mauk led the way with three singles in both games while senior Aricah McCall had four singles combined in the two games. 

Junior Winter Snyder homered twice in game one and hit a double and then homered again in game two along with hitting two doubles. 

Isabelle Murrow had five total stolen bases in the two games. 

Meanwhile, while softball had fast starts in their blowouts, the Cub baseball team took a couple of innings before completely demolishing the Blue Streaks. 

In game one, the Cubs put up a run in the first inning and then went scoreless until the fourth where they put up nine runs which triggered the five-inning run rule an inning later. Things went slightly faster in game two but heading into the bottom of the third, the game was all tied up at four. Humboldt scored 15 runs between the bottom of the third and fourth innings, ending the game and getting their second win.

Jackson Aikins and Kaden Barnett split the five innings in game one on the mound. Aikins didn’t allow a hit in his 2.2 innings while striking out three and walking two while Barnett allowed two hits while recording a walk and a strikeout. 

Game two saw senior Xavier Bauer take the mound for the start with senior Cooper Jaro coming in for relief in the final 1.2 innings. Bauer allowed a hit and three runs while striking out four and walking one in his 2.1 innings while Jaro allowed two hits and a run while striking out two and walking one. 

First baseman Taylor Lassman had the lone multi-hit performance in game one while Jaro and Lassman each had two hits in game two. The Cubs were also walked 12 times in three innings in game two while recording 12 stolen bases as a team. 

Erie 

Ellis boosted her play even more in her third and fourth times out. In game one, she allowed just three runs on five hits in five innings of work while striking out three before pitching her first high school shutout of her career, allowing just three hits and a walk in three innings in the 15-0 game two win. 

Snyder continued to show her power by homering in game two along with recording a single and a double in game one. She also stole three bases. 

Kirstyn Murrow had three hits as well in game one that led to three RBIs. 

In game two, Isabelle Murrow, McCall and Snyder each had two hits with Murrow pulling in three RBIs. 

Meanwhile, Cub baseball used a big first inning and a big sixth inning in each of the two games respectively.

The Cubs scored 16 runs in the first inning of their three-inning win in game one and then 12 runs in the sixth inning of their six-inning win in game two. 

In game one, Goodner, Elder and Lassman all shared pitching duties with Goodner allowing just two hits and Elder and Lassman each allowing a walk. 

Aikins took the bump to start game two and went two innings allowing three runs (two earned) on a hit and three walks. Bauer came out in relief and went three innings allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six before senior Bo Bigelow came out to close out the game in the sixth, allowing just a hit and striking out one. 

“We threw three guys that haven’t pitched this year and they all did a great job in their innings of work,” head coach Mike Miller said.  

Josh Hull led all batters in game one with three hits while Aikins, Haviland and Lassman each put up two hits. 

Goodner had three hits and Haviland and Murrow each had two hits. Goodner also drove in six runs off those hits, one of which was a two run-home run. 

Erie committed seven errors in game two.

Both Cub teams will look to keep their dominant ways going next week when they travel to Tri-Valley league challenger Leon-Bluestem on Monday. 

Yates Center baseball and softball drop openers to Jayhawk-Linn

The Yates Center baseball and softball teams got off to a rocky start to the 2019 season after they both got swept at home by Jayhawk-Linn on Thursday. 

The baseball team fell 7-6 and 19-9 while the softball girls lost 8-4 and 11-6. 

The losses move both teams to 0-2 to start off the season.

The Wildcat baseball team attempted a seventh-inning rally in game one after trailing 7-1.

Yates Center drove in five runs in the bottom of the seventh to get within a run but the Wildcats were unable to get that tying or go-ahead run to get the win. 

Caden Graham got the start and allowed just two runs on a hit and three walks with three strikeouts in his four innings. Tyton Smoot relieved Graham in the fifth and that’s when the Wildcat defense started to fall apart. 

Smoot allowed four hits which scored five runs, three of which were unearned. Asher Sievers came in in the sixth and managed to calm things down, allowing just three hits and striking out three but the damage had been done. 

Nolan Jones, Jaymond Rice and Joey Smith each recorded two hits in the game. 

Things were not as close in game two. 

After leading by four heading into the top of the fourth, Jayhawk-Linn put up seven run-innings in the fourth and fifth to take a 14-7 lead heading into the sixth inning. The Jayhawks scored five more runs in the sixth to push their lead to double-digits and the Wildcats only managed a run in the bottom of the inning which ended the game in a six-inning run-rule. 

Freshman Kendrick Jones got the start and held up well through the first 3.1 innings allowing just two runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts but the next five relievers were peppered by the Jayhawks, giving up 17 of the 19 runs. 

Sievers led the Wildcats offensively with three hits and four RBIs followed by two each for Graham, Smoot, Connor Griffith and Carter Burton. 

On the field next door, the Lady Cat softball team wasn’t having much better luck.

In game one, a five-run second inning put Yates Center in chase mode for the final five innings and two four-run innings in the fourth and fifth in game two sunk the Lady Cats hopes of redemption. 

Junior Madelynn Collins and Taylor Jacobs each took losses at the pitching mound. 

Collins allowed eight runs (four earned) on eight hits and three walks while striking out four and Jacobs allowed 11 runs (six earned) on nine hits and four walks. She struck out five. 

Freshman Morgan Collins had a four-hit game in game one followed by her sister Madelynn who had a three-hit game. Julia Day had two hits. 

Jacobs, Emma Chrisman and Day each had two hits in game two. 

The Wildcats will travel to Northeast-Arma on Monday before returning home to take on Southeast-Cherokee on Thursday. 

allowed 11 runs (six earned) on nine hits and four walks. She struck out five. 

Freshman Morgan Collins had a four-hit game in game one followed by her sister Madelynn who had a three-hit game. Julia Day had two hits. 

Jacobs, Emma Chrisman and Day each had two hits in game two. 

The Wildcats will travel to Northeast-Arma on Monday before returning home to take on Southeast-Cherokee on Thursday. 

ACC raises over $30,000 for student scholarships at annual gala

The Allen Community College Endowment Association held their annual Red Scholarship Athletic Gala two Saturdays ago and broke last year’s record of money raised. 

The event brought in $31,000 after expenses which surpassed last year’s record of $25,687. Three hundred guests attended the event that also included Rookies Sports Bar and Grill catering and a live and silent auction. 

Former Kansas City Chiefs players John Lohmeyer, Dave Lindstrom, Ted McKnight and Walter White were also in attendance and milled around the event taking pictures and talking to the attendees.

Twenty-nine local businesses, individuals and organizations around the Allen County area sponsored a table at the event and even more donated items ranging from signed jerseys to gift cards to local businesses.

“I thank the local businesses who were willing to donate an item to our live or silent auctions and the businesses in and around Iola who were willing to be a corporate table sponsor for all coming together to make this event the success that it has become,” ACC Director of Development Aimee Thompson said. “Of course, the KC Chiefs Ambassadors play a huge part in our event’s success as well and are the main reason this event is looked forward to every year by so many. We truly cannot say enough how much the community support from everyone helps us with being able to provide athletic scholarships to our student-athletes at Allen. The partnership that the Allen Community College Endowment Association and Allen Athletics have, is a positive strong one and each year we come together and continue to find ways to change this event up and make it better and better.” 

Court won’t stop bump stock ban

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stop the Trump administration from enforcing its ban on bump stock devices, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns.

The ban took effect Tuesday. Gun rights groups asked the court Monday to keep the government from enforcing the ban for now. Chief Justice John Roberts declined one request for the court to get involved on Tuesday and a second request was declined by the court on Thursday. That was the only remaining request. The justices didn’t say anything in declining it.

The administration’s ban puts it in the unusual position of arguing against gun rights groups. President Donald Trump said last year that the government would move to ban bump stocks. The action followed a 2017 shooting in Las Vegas in which a gunman attached bump stocks to assault-style rifles he used to shoot concertgoers from his hotel room. By using the devices, which allow shots to be fired more rapidly, the gunman was able to fire more than 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes. Fifty-eight people were killed and hundreds were injured.

The Trump administration’s move was an about-face for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2010, under the Obama administration, the ATF found that the devices were legal. But under the Trump administration, officials revisited that determination and found it incorrect. The revised regulation, which went into effect Tuesday, requires owners either to destroy their bump stocks or surrender them. The government estimates hundreds of thousands of the devices have been sold.

The revised regulation was met with resistance from gun rights advocates, and several lawsuits were filed to try to stop the ATF from enforcing the ban. But lower courts have so far declined to keep the administration from moving forward with the ban, and the Supreme Court declined to get involved to halt it.

Letter to the editor — March 29, 2019

Dear editor,

I’m in support of the school bond.  

I came from a conservative, rural farm community in Illinois, but they  passed every school bond issue that ever came up.   

I’ve always been a little surprised at how this community seems so reluctant to invest in education. It’s directly important for your own kids and for your community in a lot of holistic ways.

Nich Lohman, PharmD

Iola, Kan.

Trump threatens to close Mexican border

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to close America’s southern border or large sections of it next week, a potentially drastic step affecting the economies of both the U.S. and Mexico, if Mexico does not halt illegal immigration “immediately.”

“It could mean all trade” with Mexico, Trump said when questioned by reporters in Florida. 

“We will close it for a long time,” Trump said. “I am not kidding around.”

Trump has previously threatened to close the border — including at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Thursday night — but this time was different as he gave a timetable. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether his possible action would apply to commercial and air travel, but a substantial closure could have an especially heavy impact on cross-border communities from San Diego to South Texas, as well as supermarkets that sell Mexican produce, factories that rely on imported parts, and other businesses across the country.

The U.S. and Mexico trade about $1.7 billion in goods daily, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which said closing the border would be “an unmitigated economic debacle” that would threaten 5 million U.S. jobs.

“If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week,” Trump tweeted. “This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and ‘talk.’”

A senior Homeland Security official on Friday suggested Trump was referring to the ongoing surge of mostly Central American families crossing the border from Mexico. Many people who cross the border illegally ultimately request asylum under U.S. law, which does not require asylum seekers to enter at an official crossing.

The official said the U.S. might close designated ports of entry to re-deploy staff to help process parents and children.

Ports of entry are official crossing points that are used by residents and commercial vehicles. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, did not specify which ports the administration was considering closing, but said only that closures were “on the table.”

Trump’s declaration came a day after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said his country was doing its part to fight migrant smuggling. Criminal networks charge thousands of dollars a person to move migrants through Mexico, increasingly in large groups toward remote sections of the border.

“We want to have a good relationship with the government of the United States,” Lopez Obrador said Friday. He added: “We are going to continue helping so that the migratory flow, those who pass through our country, do so according to the law, in an orderly way.”

Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday that 750 border inspectors would be reassigned to deal with the growing number of migrant families, and the DHS official said Friday that the department was seeking volunteers from other agencies to help.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have fought over whether there actually is a “crisis” at the border, particularly amid Trump’s push for a border wall, which he claims will solve immigration problems, though a wall wouldn’t keep out families who cross the border at official points so they can surrender and be detained.

The president called on Congress to immediately change what he said were weak U.S. immigration laws, which he blamed on Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security wants the authority to detain families for longer and more quickly deport children from Central America who arrive at the border on their own. The department argues those policy changes would stop families from trying to enter the U.S.

Alejandra Mier y Teran, executive director of the Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, said the mere threat of border closures sends the wrong message to businesses in Mexico and may eventually scare companies into turning to Asia for their supply chains.

“I think the impact would be absolutely devastating on so many fronts,” said Mier y Teran, whose members rely on the Otay Mesa crossing to bring televisions, medical devices and a wide range of products to the U.S. “In terms of a long-term effect, it’s basically shooting yourself in your foot. It’s sending out a message to other countries that, ‘Don’t come because our borders may not work at any time.’ That is extremely scary and dangerous.”

Evelyn Hess

Our beloved mother, sister, grandmother and friend, Evelyn Mae (Beal) Hess passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 28, 2019. This would have been her husband Elmer’s 95th birthday.

She was born May 3, 1929 at Colony, Allen County, as the fourth of 11 children to Albert Linn and Grace Henrietta (Hardin) Beal. She lived her entire life in Allen County, graduating from Iola High School.

Growing up she enjoyed 4-H, taking the family Jersey cows to the Kansas State Fair. 4-H sewing was never her favorite, but she learned well and later sewed many of her family’s clothes. She also grew a large garden and canned the bounty. Through 4-H she also met Rosalia (Hess) Badders who introduced her to her brother Elmer Hess, who she married on April 15, 1950 in Iola. From this union eight children were born. When the children were small, there were no local school buses, so she learned to drive to take the neighborhood kids to school.

In the summer of 1959, they bought their farm south of Humboldt. It took all the money they had, but the next day was payday at the oil company where Elmer worked. Then they were able to start their own milk cow herd.

Evelyn continued to be an active mother, grandmother and farm wife for the thirty-nine years that Elmer farmed until he passed away in a farm accident Oct. 3, 1989. A year later Evelyn moved into her home in Humboldt. There she became active at the Humboldt Senior Center helping with the daily lunches and meeting friends. In 2015, she moved to Arrowhead Lane in Humboldt, then to the Presbyterian Manor of Parsons, in January 2019.

Evelyn was a member of Daughters of American Revolution, the St. Joseph Altar Society, and the Humboldt St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Evelyn was preceded in death by her parents, loving husband Elmer Hess, son Patrick Steven Hess, daughter-in-law Diana Hess; an infant brother and sister; brother Harry Beal; sisters Eleanor Robinson and Joan Beck; three sister-in-laws and seven brother-in-laws. She is survived by seven children: Ed Hess (Eunice Slife) of Chanute, Bill Hess (Loretta) of Humboldt, Mike Hess (Barbara) of Humboldt, Jeanette Holsten (Don) of Ensing, Tim Hess of Humboldt, Lorie Westhoff (Randy) of Erie, Ron Hess of Oronogo, Mo. She also leaves 24 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren as well as five siblings; Dorothy West, Robert Beal (Nedra), Nina Powell (Reverend Dale), Richard Beal and Laura Roush, along with numerous nieces and nephews.

Friends and family may have informal visitation at the funeral home from noon until 4 p.m. on Monday. A rosary for Evelyn Mae will be at the St. Joseph Catholic Church in Humboldt on Monday evening at 6 p.m. The funeral will be at the church at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2. Burial will follow at the St. Joseph Cemetery, Humboldt. Online condolences may be left at www.countrysidefh.com. Memorials are suggested to be made to the Humboldt Senior Center and may be left with or mailed to the funeral home. Arrangements have been entrusted to Countryside Funeral Home, 101 N. Highland, Chanute, KS 67720.

Paula Morrow

Funeral services for Paula Morrow, age 62 of O’Fallon, Mo., will be 11 a.m. today at Mildred Methodist Church. She died Thursday, March 21, 2019.