SPORTS: LCC WRESTLING COACH RENFRO TALKS ABOUT REST OF SEASON. PAGE 5 ParsonsSun FRIDAY, JAN. 4, 2013 — 75 CENTS www.parsonssun.com LOCAL NEWS Barnett objects PFD answers two fi re calls to subsidy, water The Parsons Fire Depart- ment has remained busy in the new year, responding to two structure fires in the first two line, other issues days of 2013. The department received a call at 5:53 p.m. Wednesday BY JAMIE WILLEY Tom Shaw said children play golf [email protected] about a fire at 1403 S. 23rd. also, and Commissioner Kevin Cruse said the city funds a swim- When firefighters arrived, A $12,000 subsidy for the Katy heavy smoke and flames were ming pool, ball parks, disc golf, Golf Club led to a discussion about parks and many other recreational shooting from the southern the city’s priorities during the Par- portion of the roof of a home opportunities as well as golf. City sons City Commission’s Thursday Manager Fred Gress said golf im- owned by John Harlander. The afternoon work session. home was under renovation, proves the quality of life for the city Commissioner Frankie Bar- and many employers expect there according to a report from the nett started by questioning the fire department. The house to be a golf course here. subsidy but also talked about sev- was vacant, and Jeff Allen was Barnett mentioned water eral other things the city needs, the local contact for the house. parks in Independence and Cha- ranging from more infrastruc- The house was a total loss, nute that his grandchildren go ture repair to more recreational with damages exceeding to, and he said he has seen many $25,000. The fire seemed to opportunities for children. people from Parsons at the parks. have started in the attic of the The commission was pre- He said if those cities can afford home and was not believed to viewing the agenda for Mon- water parks, Parsons can also. be intentional. Colleen Surridge/Sun photo day’s commission meeting when “Somewhere, we’ve missed Firefighters remained on Barnett said the Katy should the boat,” Barnett said. This life-size peacock, sculpted of scrap metal and insulators, was made by Chris Dague of Las Vegas, scene till 23:00 putting out fund its own operations without Gress said the city could build hot spots and investigating the N.M., for his cousin Amy Montee of rural Parsons. help from the city. He said the a water park at an expense of cause of the fire. The home club should raise its rates, and if more than a million dollars, but was insured at the time of the members can’t pay an additional he questioned the need for a park fire. $10 a month, then perhaps they and how it would be funded. He Firefighters also worked a First time is charm for sculptor just shouldn’t play golf. said his grandchildren who live fire only minutes after the new The city pays the Katy in Parsons have asked to go to a $12,000 a year to help operate water park just twice in the five year began. BY COLLEEN SURRIDGE horse, rhinoceros, elephant, gorilla and creatures the golf course. Barnett has ar- years he has been here. The department responded [email protected] reminiscent of the movies “Aliens” and “Preda- to a fire call at 1617 Dirr at 1217 tor” lined the front of the building. gued against the subsidy in pre- Barnett said the city is not at- a.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, fire- The reputed glory of fall colors spurred rural Mrs. Montee jumped at the offer, but told her vious years as well. tracting what it needs to grow, Parsonians Bob and Amy Montee and Amy’s cousin she didn’t want one like those they were Commissioner Bill Hogelin including big industries and See FIRES, Page 8. cousin, Chris Dague, and his wife, Cari, of Las looking at. said the club has raised its fees jobs, and Cruse countered that Vegas, N.M., to visit the northeastern United “I told him I wanted a peacock because my dad by $100 a year, but even with one thing the city needs to at- States during an early October vacation. had peacocks when I was growing up,” she said. the raise and the city’s annual tract more companies is a good THIS ISSUE “We go every other year, my husband and I and Dague, originally from Galesburg, graduated subsidy, the nonprofit, member- quality of life. Mayor Greg York Chris and his wife, on an adult vacation, and then from Erie High School in 1994, then earned a owned club breaks even at best. said the city also needs a posi- tive attitude from its officials. ■ Volume 141 in the off years, we get together with his family bachelor’s degree in art education from Pittsburg Barnett, however, said the mem- Barnett then said he doesn’t ■ Issue 148 and we do a family vacation with the kids,” Mrs. State University. bers can afford a larger increase. think the city should be involved in ■ 16 Pages Montee said. “I only taught for 2 1/2 years, and then went to Hogelin said the subsidy was ap- farming or banking ventures, refer- ■ 1 Section Traveling up the northeastern coastal states, the work for a Christian church camp,” he said. proved in the 2013 budget, and ring to the city’s economic devel- Call the newsroom at 421- couples happened to pass through the small hill- When in college, Dague said he never had ac- any change in the subsidy should opment policy that allows it to lend 2000 for story ideas and tips. side town of Bethlehem, N.H. cess to welders, so he had never attempted to cre- have been discussed during bud- money to businesses and the city’s SUN NEWS PHOTOS: Scan “We came across this place selling metal sculp- ate a metal sculpture. get preparation last summer. use of the land used for spreading this logo with tures. We stopped at this guy’s place and talked to “But I enjoyed sculpting and 3-D art,” he said. Barnett said the city needs sewage sludge for farming. Barnett any QR reader him about them, and found out they were made in Since leaving teaching, he had not employed his more activities for everyone here, also said the city needs to do more or download the Thailand,” Montee said. “I was saying how neat artistic talents, but through his trade Dague had not just special interests or people to improve infrastructure. code scanner at they were and Chris said, ‘Do you want me to learned about working with metal and welding in who “cry” the loudest. The city Gress said the city is mov- scan.mobi. make you one?’” constructing bridges and cabins at the El Porve- particularly needs more activities All constructed from scrap metal from cars, to keep children out of trouble, the ing forward with infrastructure motorcycles and other sources, a shiny, massive See PEACOCK, Page 8. commissioner said. Commissioner See CITY, Page 8. FUNERALS
LEONA HORN, 79, of Tope- ka, service at 1 p.m. Wednesday Man to serve two-year term at First Christian Church, 1880 EPA gives Kansas S.W. Gage Blvd., Topeka. A Parsons man received a delayed to give his attorney, Rob- term for the cocaine charge. RICHARD SUBLETT, 36, prison term for his role in a drug ert Myers, time to file a request Myers and County Attorney of Columbus, service at 2 p.m. transaction last year. for a departure from Kansas Sen- Hillary McKinney recommended Saturday at Congregational Charles F. Oliver Jr., 56, 2308 tencing Guidelines for his client. that District Judge Jeffry Jack cut pass based on fi res Church, Independence. Appleton, pleaded to possession Departures could be for a lesser 16 months off of Oliver’s sentence BARBARA EVANS, 84, of cocaine in Labette County prison term or probation rather to 24 months. The reasons cited WICHITA (AP) — Federal environmental regulators gave of Chetopa, service at 2 p.m. District Court in October. The than prison, but the defendant included his minimal role in the Kansas a little more breathing room to comply with air qual- Monday at Bath-Forbes-Hoff- charge was reduced from distri- must come up with specific find- drug transaction and that the de- ity regulations, agreeing that prescribed burns and drifting man Funeral Home, Chetopa. bution of cocaine, a higher-level ings listed in the law that would gree of harm to the public was less smoke from wildfires outside the state skewed the data, state felony. allow a judge to reduce or change in this case than other drug cases officials said Thursday. The charge relates to a Feb. the required sentence. because of Oliver’s action. In a rare move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency LOCAL SMILES 24, 2012, investigation into drug Oliver is a category A offend- Judge Jack agreed to reduce granted the state’s request to exclude four days from April trafficking. On that day, an un- er, which is the most serious of- the prison term and sentenced 2011 when calculating air quality data for parts of central known man delivered crack co- fender in Kansas because he Oliver to 24 months in prison. and eastern Kansas that is averaged over three years. caine to Oliver, who then handed or she has been convicted of at He gave Oliver credit for 63 days The decision is important because the EPA could impose the drug to someone purchasing least three person felonies. Any served in jail and ordered him to more stringent localized regulations for non-compliance, the drug as an informant for the felony conviction for a category pay the $400 KBI lab fee and especially in places like Wichita that are already nearing KBI, the sheriff’s department A offender likely would send the $100 application fee to get a maximum pollution levels. Such regulations affect the type and Parsons police. him or her to prison. court-appointed attorney. Oliver of gasoline that can be sold, the kind of pollution-control Oliver was to be sentenced in For Oliver, his criminal his- was not ordered to pay his attor- equipment local industries would have to install, among oth- December, but the hearing was tory required a 40-month prison ney fees, however. er things, said Tom Gross, chief of monitoring and planning for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Air. And those additional environmental regulations don’t go LCMHS seeks award nominations away even when an area later meets the EPA standards, be- The Labette Center for Mental Health Services the award. Anyone wanting more details on sub- cause those regulations contributed to getting the area into is seeking nominations for its third annual Care mitting an entry can visit the center’s website at compliance. and Compassion Awards. www.lcmhs.com or the center’s Facebook page, The Kansas City metropolitan area violated the federal The Care and Compassion Awards recognize www.facebook.com/LCMHS. While on the Face- ozone standard several years ago, resulting in a unique set of those in the community and LCMHS staff mem- book page, viewers can “like” the page to receive federal air quality regulations that are still in place. For ex- bers who routinely go above and beyond to show updates and information about the Care and Com- ample, the gas that drivers buy in Kansas City in the summer care and compassion to others. passion Awards. is formulated to evaporate at a lower rate than, say, gas sold Nominees can be anyone in the community, in- The deadline for entries is 5 p.m. Feb. 22. in Wichita to reduce volatile emissions. The power plant in Noah Davis is a student in Elis- cluding employees of LCMHS. Entries will then be reviewed and judged, and Kansas City also has to install additional pollution controls abeth Renfro’s kindergarten “For this award, we are looking for any indi- award recipients will be chosen by March 1. in order to reduce ozone. class at Lincoln School. vidual who goes above and beyond to show care Award recipients will be announced during “The implications are very, very significant in terms of and compassion to others,” LCMHS executive the annual Care and Compassion Awards Ban- cost for areas that don’t meet the ozone standards,” Gross director Matthew Atteberry said in a statement. quet. Entries can be mailed to or dropped off said. “So if we have an opportunity here to work with the “That could be anyone, from a kind neighbor to a at Labette Center for Mental Health Services, agricultural community and develop the smoke management young child.” P.O. Box 258, 1730 Belmont, Parsons, 67357, plan, which we did, and then follow up by making this re- Community members and LCMHS staff may attention: Monica Simpson. All mailed entries quest and getting this data excluded, that is an important submit typed essay entries describing why a per- should have “CCAB” on the envelope. Individu- step to go through.” son deserves to be a recipient of the award. Entries als may also email entries to monica@lcmhs. should not exceed two pages. There are no age re- com or send them using the message feature on See EPA, Page 8. strictions for nominating or being nominated for the Facebook page. THREE GOOD REASONS TO CHOOSE LABETTE HEALTH! 1-877-692-2253 1-877-MY CABLE An exceptional Hospitalist team who will care for you while you are with us! cableone.net Elisha Brumfield, D.O. * Sylvia Orozco-Do, M.D. * Amanda Waltner, M.D. Labette Health * 1902 South Highway 59 * Parsons, Kansas * 620-421-4881 Page 2 Friday, Jan. 4, 2013 ParsonsSun Record WEATHER FORECAST More fi scal clashes loom ahead Sunny WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Congress ities that ended with Boehner’s election as speeches, Obama is expected to highlight opened for business Thursday to confront the most powerful Republican in a govern- the issue in the first State of the Union ad- long-festering national problems, deficits ment where President Barack Obama will dress of his new term. Lawmakers are al- High near 43 and immigration among them, in an intense- soon be sworn in to a second term and his ready working toward a compromise they Low near 28 ly partisan and crisis-driven era of divided fellow Democrats control the Senate. hope can clear both houses. government. “At $16 trillion and rising, our national Most Democrats have long favored legis- Saturday: Cloudy, “The American dream is in peril,” said debt is draining free enterprise and weaken- lation to give millions of illegal immigrants then gradually be- House Speaker John Boehner, re-elected to ing the ship of state,” said the Ohio Republi- a chance at citizenship, and Republicans coming mostly sunny, his post despite a mini-revolt in Republican can, whose struggles to control his members have stoutly resisted. Now, though, many with a high near 49. ranks. persisted to the final weekend of the 112th within the GOP appear ready to reconsider, Mostly clear at night, Moments after grasping an oversized Congress when “fiscal cliff” legislation fi- after watching with alarm as Obama ran up with a low around 22. gavel that symbolizes his authority, Boeh- nally cleared. “The American dream is in an estimated 71 percent of the Hispanic vote ner implored the assembly of newcomers peril so long as its namesake is weighed in winning re-election over Mitt Romney in Dakota Edings drew this for the Sun’s weather section. If teachers would like to submit weather art Sunday: Sunny, and veterans in the 113th Congress to tackle down by this anchor of debt. Break its hold November. to the Sun, they may call 421-2000. with a high near 43. the nation’s heavy burden of debt at long and we will begin to set our economy free. There is little doubt that fiscal issues are Mostly clear at night, last. “We have to be willing — truly willing Jobs will come home. Confidence will come at the forefront, though, as they have been PARSONS STATISTICS with a low near 24. — to make this right.” back.” since the economy cratered more than four THURSDAY’S HIGH: 40 LOW: 22 Also on the two-year agenda is the first Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D- years ago. The issue dominated the just- PRECIPITATION: .00” MONTH: .11” YEAR: .11” TODAY’S SUNSET: 5:16 p.m. Monday: Sunny, significant effort at an overhaul of the tax Nev., said he, too, is ready for attempts to ended Congress from beginning to end as SATURDAY’S SUNRISE: 7:36 a.m. with a high near 47. code in more than a quarter century. Repub- rein in federal spending, but laid down a tea party-backed lawmakers pressed relent- licans and Democrats alike say they want to few conditions. “Any future budget agree- lessly to cut spending and reduce deficits. chop at a thicket of existing tax breaks and ments must balance the need for thoughtful They met with decidedly mixed success. OUR PAST use the resulting revenue to reduce rates. spending reductions with revenue from the They won Obama’s signature on $1 tril- There were personal milestones aplenty wealthiest among us and closing wasteful lion in cuts over a decade after using the These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 as the winners of last fall’s races swore an tax loopholes,” he said. That was in keeping debt limit as leverage, but were forced into years ago. oath of office as old as the republic. with Obama’s remarks after Congress had a humiliating surrender a year ago after Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, agreed on fiscal cliff legislation to raise tax- trying to block an extension in payroll tax Jan. 4, 1973 Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tam- es for the wealthy while keeping them level cuts. And in the last major act of the 112th Passengers on Frontier Airlines flights out of Tri-City Airport my Baldwin of Wisconsin, Mazie Hirono of for the middle class. Congress, they were forced to swallow leg- would be subject to searches including thorough examination of Hawaii and Deb Fischer of Nebraska were Boehner and Senate Republican Leader islation that contained next-to-no spending all carry-on items and a body scan by a metal detector beginning among the newcomers sworn in, raising the Mitch McConnell have other ideas, both cuts, raised tax rates on the wealthy while the following day. A flight attendant would scan all persons with a number of women in the Senate to a record having said in recent days that the days of keeping them even for the middle class and hand-operated Electro-Search device. The search was in response 20. Tim Scott of South Carolina became the raising taxes are over. boosted deficits by an estimated $4 trillion to an order of the Federal Aviation Administration in an attempt first black Republican in the Senate in more “Now is the time to get serious about over a decade. to prevent potential hijackers from boarding commercial aircraft than three decades. spending,” McConnell said. “And if the past And now, the newly enfranchised Con- throughout the country. On the first day of a new term, one vet- few weeks have taught us anything, that gress will begin by raising deficits. National The first three of a shipment of 10 new diesel locomotives for the eran made a stirring comeback. Republi- means the president needs to show up early flood insurance legislation to help victims Katy Railroad arrived in Parsons. The general purpose locomotives can Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois returned this time.” People won’t “tolerate the kind of Hurricane Sandy will create slightly cost a total of about $2.6 million. The 2,250-horspower locomotives to the Capitol for the first time since suf- of last-minute crises that we’ve seen again more than $9 billion in red ink if it passes carried a new color scheme of green and white stripes. fering a stroke a year ago, walking slowly and again over the past four years as a result as expected on Friday. A follow-up disaster up the 45 steps to the Capitol with the of this president’s chronic inactivity and re- aid measure that Boehner has said will be Jan. 4, 1983 use of a cane. “Good to see you, guys,” fusal to lead on the pressing issues of the brought to a vote on Jan. 15 would add $27 New owners Frank and Carol Alloway planned to change the he said. day.” billion — more if the bill grows, as seems name of Alloway’s Restaurant, 200 N. Central, to Alloway’s Cobble- Across the Capitol, children and grand- While neither Boehner nor Reid men- likely, after it is reconciled with a $60-bil- stone. The remodeled restaurant featured a rustic look with cedar children squirmed through opening formal- tioned immigration in their opening-day lion Senate version. walls and additional space to seat about 150 people. The Alloway’s operated a restaurant called Cobblestone in Colby for five years. He was a cousin to Raymond Alloway, who operated Alloway’s for 10 years with his wife, Colene. The new restaurant would serve steaks Slimmed-down farm bill lacks extras and seafood along with specialty sandwiches and a large salad bar with two homemade soups each day. WASHI NGTON (AP) — A bluntly on the Senate floor just who were affected by drought, aging renewable fuels. Many of patchwork extension of federal after she learned that the bare- a priority for Lucas. In addition those programs were renewed, Jan. 4, 1993 farm programs passed as part of bones extension would be part to averting the milk price spike, but without any money. Longtime Kansas newspaperman Clyde M. Reed Jr., 78, died a larger “fiscal cliff” bill keeps of the fiscal cliff deal. their bill also contained an over- The reaction from farm-state the previous evening at Brandon Woods Retirement Community in the price of milk from rising “There is no way to explain haul of dairy programs, a prior- lawmakers was swift. Stabenow Lawrence. Reed, who had been in poor health in preceding years, but doesn’t include many of the this,” she said angrily as the ity for House Agriculture’s top went to the Senate floor called had lived in Lawrence since 1982, when he sold his interest in the goodies that farm-state lawmak- deal came together New Year’s Democrat, Collin Peterson of the new bill “absolutely outra- Parsons Sun, which had been in his family since his father bought ers are used to getting for their Eve. “None. There is absolutely Minnesota. geous.” Peterson said farm-state the paper in 1914. Reed became editor of the paper in 1942 and editor rural districts. no way to explain this other than The extension Stabenow and leaders had been “disrespected.” and publisher in 1949. House and Senate Agricul- agriculture is just not a prior- Lucas crafted cost around $1 bil- Stabenow, as well as Lucas, The sale of First National Bank &