There are many reasons why Iola Pharmacy feels like a family for founder Jim Arnott. In the early years after he and partner Bret Lawrence purchased the former Cooksey’s Drug Store in 1973, Arnott found…

FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO August 1978 Omer Knoll, art instructor at Allen County Community Junior College — the first art instructor in the college’s history —resigned his post, as did Dr. Terry Glenn, dean of instruction,…

Fresh from Monday’s ceremonial bill signing by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly establishing the Lehigh Portland State Park, John Leahy told the Iola Kiwanis Club at its Tuesday meeting about the area’s history, the process that…

Every town has its own unique story, traveling a path filled with twists and turns as the years march on. Seth Varner, a 23-year-old college student from Nebraska, is making it his goal to make…

CHANUTE — At first glance, Michael Smail’s robot art looks nothing like the western-themed watercolors of his renowned grandfather, Gary Hawk.  But step back and give it some thought, and maybe you’ll start to see…

“Believe that you can, and you’re halfway there.” — Teddy Roosevelt Travis Hermstein spoke of appreciation of Iola High School’s National Honor Society members Wednesday, but as is his nature as a teacher, he also…

TOPEKA — Lehigh Portland is set to become Kansas’s 28th state park, fulfilling a dream 45 years in the making for local business representatives. The final legislative hurdles were cleared in short order Thursday when…

My phone alerted me to a four-year-old photo a few days ago, or rather it alerted me to a photo taken four years ago of a newspaper clipping from decades ago. The clipping was a…

Iolan Jonelle Leslie has a lot of memories of the house at 223 N. Jefferson Ave.  She never owned it, but she lived in the upstairs apartment for 32 years. Now, as the house nears…

Tai Lee figured she’d learn a thing or two about Iola’s history, especially now that she occupies one of the town’s oldest buildings. Mission accomplished. Lee, owner of Jo’s Men’s Grooming, has relocated to 9…