Max and Candice Grundy have lived in Iola for two years. And already, they take great pride in what they call “our town.” California transplants, the Grundys are known for their recent purchase of Iola’s abandoned water tower, which they envision turning into an Airbnb.  Last week, Max, a commercial artist, attended an Iola council meeting where he suggested Iola adopt a flag, giving a dozen examples. Even though he regarded his presentation a “flop,” he thinks the idea of a flag promoting Iola is worthwhile. Source: The Iola Register

In late February, the Kansas Senate passed a measure, Senate Bill 248, that eliminates the collection of sales taxes on food for cities and counties as well as that charged by the state. The difference to Humboldt would be about $52,000 garnered from its 1.75% sales tax on designated grocery items. Humboldt collected $462,000 in sales tax revenues for 2022. While that may appear negligible, the fact that state legislators can order such a change goes against the people’s will, Humboldt city administrator Cole Herder said. “It’s not good policy. The people of Humboldt voted to have that tax, and now [...]

We have often wondered why there is no state college in southwest Kansas, since there is one in every other quadrant of the state. Of course, the locations of our state universities (hardly anyone goes to a “college” anymore) were not according to any plan. Their genesis depended as much on local support and effort as anything. The story begins in 1863 when the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science formed in Manhattan as the nation’s first land-grant college. The University of Kansas came along three years later, and the state was set to grow two great universities. Both [...]

BNIM, a group looking to convert Iola’s former elementary schools into housing, has passed the first phase to apply for state housing tax credits. They’ll now submit a full application. Plans to convert former elementary schools to housing are still moving forward. BNIM, a Kansas City, Mo.-based architect and design firm, is seeking Kansas Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to help pay for the first phase of the project, which would renovate McKinley and Jefferson. Renovation of Lincoln would be in the second phase. BNIM wants to convert all three former schools into housing. Their efforts hinge on a combination of tax [...]

The Walnut Valley Festival is on the ropes and it’s up to us to save it. ....Bart Redford, executive director of the Walnut Valley Association: “We’re definitely having this year’s festival and then we’ll just have to see where we’re at after that.”  The music festival that draws thousands to Winfield every year is tapping financial reserves to stay in business, and that can’t continue forever, he said.  “We need a few years of some good crowds, so we can kind of replenish our reserves,” Redford said. “I think it’s doable.” Source: The Iola Register

School board members are expected to decide by April whether they will institute a four-day school week for Humboldt-USD 258. A committee looking into pros and cons of a shorter school week will present information to Board of Education members in March. The school board has the final say. The plan is to decide before the district sets the 2023-24 school calendar in April, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amber Wheeler told the Register. Source: The Iola Register

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday that EMP Shield, a Burlington-based company that specializes in protecting electronic devices from destructive magnetic pulses, plans to invest $1.9 billion in a computer chip manufacturing facility in rural Coffey County. The facility will create more than 1,200 jobs averaging $66,000 annually, Kelly said at a news conference. EMP Shield will build its facility on 300 acres in near Beto Junction in northern Coffey County. Source: The Iola Register

Allen County Commissioners all but cut the strings to a joint ambulance service with Iola at their meeting Tuesday morning. Commissioners said they will explore options for a new ambulance service provider rather than negotiate a contract with Iola, which had said it would terminate its contract with the county in hopes of securing a higher contribution from the county. Commissioners assured county residents there will be ambulance services after the contract with the city ends on Aug. 1. Source: The Iola Register

A pristine lake and the advent of rail trails to Allen County helped turn a woolly wilderness into a wonderland. Today, the Lehigh Portland site could be our gateway to a state park. For the first 40 years that Iola Industries owned the land surrounding the old Lehigh quarry, “we wondered what could possibly happen here that would be good,” John McRae, president of Iola Industries, is quoted in a Register story from 2016. The land was overgrown with vines as big as your arm, the underbrush crawled with poison ivy and oak, and all kinds of trash from the abandoned [...]

Iola City Council members will mull over a request for an incentives package to entice a developer to build a series of duplexes at the north edge of town. The request from Gabriel Woodman of Merak Development, Springfield, Mo., comes with a stiff price tag, Council members acknowledged Monday.  Woodman has requested the city extend at least two blocks of streets into the undeveloped land at what was once Cedarbrook Golf Course, at an expected cost of $1 million. Woodman is also asking the city to donate the land for what will be 10 duplexes. Source: The Iola Register