Stories from Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Christmas Day can often be full of surprises, from opening gifts to seeing how extended family members have changed since the last visit, but some Fort Scott residents received an even bigger surprise. One local resident, Bethany Blubaugh, captured a photograph of that surprise -- a bison that went sauntering through the city...

Clyde E. Bybee, 75, of Wichita, Kan., retired general contractor, died Friday, Dec. 22, 2006. Funeral services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Park Place Ministry Center, 2139 South Maize Road, Wichita. Graveside services for Clyde E. Bybee will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Oak Grove Cemetery, Fort Scott...

Gary Lee Knight, age 61, of Edwardsville, Kan., passed away on Friday, Dec. 22, 2006, surrounded by his loved ones at his home. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Alden-Harrington Funeral Home with visitation from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening at the funeral home. Memorial contributions can be made to the Keith Worthington chapter of the A.L.S. association in care of the funeral home...

Avalene N. Putnam, age 93, a former Fort Scott resident, died Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006, at the Garden Valley Manor in North Kansas City, Mo. Funeral arrangements for Avalene Putnam will be announced at a later date by Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main St...

Larry Dean Spence, age 53, a resident of LaCygne, Kansas, died early Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006, at the Fort Scott Manor. Funeral services for Larry Dean Spence will be announced later by the Cheney Witt Memorial Chapel.

ELKINTON -- Talya Lynn Elkinton, a girl, was born at 3:28 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 at Mercy Health Center to parents Dusty and Aubrey Elkinton, Moundville, Mo. She weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces at birth. Paternal grandparents are Larry and Dixie Elkinton, Oskaloosa, Kan. ...

SHEARER -- Cody Duce Shearer, a boy, was born at 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006, at Mercy Health Center to parents Amber Dawn Ross, Mound City, and Gene Arthur Shearer III, Nevada, Mo. He weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces at birth. Paternal grandparents are Gene Shearer, Jr., Conception Junction, Mo., and Coleen Shearer-Smith, Butler, Mo. Maternal grandparents are Vernon and Penny Ross, Pleasanton. Great-grandmother is Bernice Ross, Mound City...

100 YEARS AGO (1906) Washington, D.C. An enormous increase in the demand for postal stamp supplies, amounting to a gain of more than 10 percent over the previous year, "is a striking indication of the wonderful growth of postal business due to the country's great prosperity." During the year, 14,874,510 stamp books were issued, from which the government realized a net profit of $103,233. ...