Cara Barkdoll, longtime Register of Deeds, will retire at the end of the week. A ceremony will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, in the assembly room in the basement of the courthouse. Gov. Laura Kelly appointed Misty Rice, who has worked alongside Barkdoll as her deputy for the county department, to serve the remaining two years of the term. BARKDOLL earned an associate degree from Allen County Community Junior College before joining the appraiser’s office in 1985. Source: The Iola Register

After weeks of discussion, Allen County commissioners signed on to Iola’s Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. The county will keep its tiered rebate reimbursement plan, while the three other participating entities will change theirs. That was a point of contention week after week, starting when Gregg Hutton, codes enforcement officer for Iola, asked for the change. The city’s hope is to boost housing construction by offering a full, 100% rebate for 10 years. The program works by rebating property taxes for homeowners who make improvements; the rebate applies only to the amount of taxes that were added because of those improvements. All participating [...]

If charm were the deciding factor, then there’s little doubt 8-year-old Tessa Lou Francis would have convinced Humboldt council members that she should be allowed to raise chickens at her home at 620 Sycamore.  With a bow in her hair and a demeanor as sweet as candy, Miss Francis, the daughter of Tim and Kelly Francis, pleaded her case. “One benefit of chickens is that they provide healthy food, and with food being so expensive, this can save money,” Tessa Lou said. “When you go to Walmart, eggs cost $5 a dozen. But if you have chickens, you’re lucky, because you get [...]

A new miniature golf park is one step closer for Pittsburg’s Lincoln Park... Riggs Chiropractic recently donated $10,000 to the city’s parks and recreation department, which is overseeing the project. Expected cost for the new course is $350,000. Other funding streams include a hoped-for $175,000 federal grant through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, that Toby Book, Parks and Rec director, wrote. Also, Joe Leek, former president of Community National Bank, has so far raised $50,000 for the effort. Book hopes the necessary funding will be in place by spring with dirt work beginning in the summer. “And we could have [...]

Volatility in the stock market will push annual return on investment to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System into negative territory at close of the year, the pension system’s executive director said Tuesday. The assumed investment return for KPERS was adjusted downward in May from 7.75% to 7%. To strengthen the bottom line, the Kansas Legislature agreed to pump an extra $1.1 billion into the system. The snapshot on investment return will be calculated based on financial position of the portfolio Dec. 31, said Alan Conroy, executive director of KPERS. Source: The Iola Register

Two projects undertaken by organizations serving Allen County residents will soon be closer to reality thanks to funding from Heartland Rural Electric Cooperative’s Concern for Community grant program.  Fairview Chapel, a historical building managed by Osage Township and located at the Fairview Cemetery, received $2,500 for a new restroom. The restroom is among the final pieces of an ongoing renovation project at the chapel, which is used by families when a burial occurs at the cemetery. Meanwhile, Moran-Marmaton/Osage Fire Department received $2,500 to purchase new hoses and nozzles. Source: The Iola Register

In Tuesday’s election, Parsons voters weighed against a half-cent sales tax increase that would have helped fund the Parsons police and fire departments. The vote was 881 in favor and 1,333 against. The increase would have raised the sales tax from 9.25% to 9.75% and generated an estimated $900,000 a year. Department heads said the funds would be used for a new public safety center as well as routine public services and capital improvements. In 2013, voters approved a similar tax which sunsets in 10 years. The new tax would have taken effect in 2024. Source: The Iola Register

Allen County will take a test drive, of sorts, with a decision to lease two tractors from the local John Deere dealership. Mark Griffith, road and bridge director, asked commissioners to consider a proposal to lease tractors rather than purchase them outright, especially as county departments have faced numerous equipment breakdowns this year. Over the summer, the county’s newest boom mower caught on fire and was destroyed. It was covered by insurance, but led to a debate over how to best replace the county’s fleet of large, expensive machinery. The proposal from John Deere offered four tractors available for lease for [...]

Jeremy Armstrong, the new administrator for Allen County Regional and Anderson County hospitals, is no stranger to small towns. He grew up in Wetmore, a town of about 300 north of Topeka, and served as the leader of small-town hospitals in Marion and Beloit. He knows that it takes time to get to know a community. He took over the hospitals in Iola and Garnett on Sept. 19, and has spent the past month getting to know the staff and physicians in each town. “Then I’ll make my way through the community,” he said. “Each community is a little unique in [...]

A county commissioner wants to explore more options to develop an emergency backup plan for the 911 system. Commissioner David Lee suggested Chelsie Angleton, 911 director, look at alternatives to a proposal she’s working on that would set up a backup system in the event the dispatch center in Iola was wiped out by a disaster such as a tornado or flood. If the Iola communications center were heavily damaged, dispatchers could move to a temporary location. She proposed setting up a backup station in the basement of Humboldt’s City Hall, which could allow dispatchers to operate there during the emergency. [...]