A service to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. — postponed from mid-January due to wintry weather — is tonight.
The 7 o’clock service is at Iola’s Ward Chapel AME Church, at the intersection of Lincoln and Buckeye streets, and is open to the public.
The guest speaker is Darryl Burton, a St. Louis man who spent 24 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
Burton was released in 2008 from prison after the state overturned his conviction for the 1984 murder of a drug dealer in his native St. Louis.
MEANWHILE, Iolans are invited to hear about a “First Impression” visit paid to the community recently.
The 6:30 meeting is at the Creitz Recital Hall in the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
Admission is free.
The activity was developed by K-State Research and Extension, where groups visit each other’s communities and judge them on the appearance of their buildings, customer service, and the maintenance of public facilities.
Team members acted as “secret shoppers” for a day to discover what they could about Iola.
The focus is to help communities learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Results can serve as the basis for community action and as a way to document changes in a community over time.
