In the next few months, Iola residents will see a lot of concrete poured at the sites of two new school buildings. Construction is well underway at the site of a new science and technology…

A new fundraiser has started to help fill the library with books once the new Iola Elementary School is built. Volunteers with the USD 257 Endowment Association have launched Project Bookshelf, with the aim of…

Amanda and Chris Belknap had always taken the coronavirus threat seriously. Yet despite precautions, the entire family has become infected with COVID-19 within weeks of each other.  “We’d been extremely careful,” Amanda said. “This is…

The Bowlus Fine Arts Center officially sold a house to the school district for the grand sum of $1. The house will be moved from its location near the Bowlus to a spot near Iola…

Students at the Rural Regional Technical Center in LaHarpe likely will spend much of their next semester renovating a house.  The USD 257 school board approved spending up to $100,000 to move a house from…

Remote learning students who are not keeping up with their peers will need to return to in-person classes, USD 257 board members decided Monday night. The board approved a policy that gives administrators discretion to…

An Iola Middle School student has an active case of COVID-19, which means the student and any close contacts will not be allowed to return to school for 14 days. USD 257 issued a notice…

A long-delayed desire to teach construction students how to build a house got an assist from an unlikely source, the performing arts. Staff at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center offered a win-win suggestion to allow…

Construction of a new elementary school could include up to $1 million on “wish list” items, if the process goes smoothly enough to result in cost savings. USD 257 board members on Monday approved construction…

Iola Reads, a collaboration between Iola Public Library, USD 257 and the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, has announced its Young Adult Selection 2020, “Defiance” by Valerie Hobbs. In the 14 years of the program, this…