Stories from Friday, January 5, 2007

Four cases involving sex crimes against children are pending before the Bourbon County District Court and appear to be headed for jury trial. The court has already set a trial date for two of the four cases. The nearest upcoming case is the trial of Jerry L. ...

The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors plans to discuss two of its primary goals for 2007 later this month, FSACC President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Emry said. Each year, the FSACC Board of Directors reviews items that need improvement or correction from the previous year, and then outline a business plan for the new year. The chamber met many of its 2006 goals, but a couple of those goals will need to be addressed in 2007, Emry said...

THOMAS -- Derek Joseph Thomas, a boy, was born at 8:08 a.m. Jan. 3, 2007, at Mercy Health Center to parents John Scott Thomas and Angel Dawn West, Fort Scott. He weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 19 inches long at birth. He joins a brother, Tyler James West. Paternal grandfather is John Wayne Thomas, Fort Scott. Maternal grandparents are Tim and Loretta Malone, Hepler. Maternal great-grandparents are Ethel and Celil Miller, Fort Scott, and Harold and Birdi Malone, Liberal, Mo...

LUCAS-FREDRICKSON -- Draison Joesiah Lucas (Fredrickson), a boy, was born at 6:58 p.m. Jan. 3, 2007, at Mercy Health Center to parents Heather Kaye Fredrickson and James Robert Lucas, Fort Scott. He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces at birth. He joins four siblings, Brianna Fredrickson, Darius Lucas, Dylan Lucas, and Arianna Leer. Paternal grandparents are Peggy and Delmar Hill, Nevada, Mo. Maternal grandparents are Jan Fredrickson, Bethel, Mo., and Gary Fredrickson, Marion, Kan...

KERR -- Catherine Anne Josephine Kerr, a girl, was born at 10:17 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at Olathe Medical Center to parents John R. Kerr and his wife, both of Fort Scott. She weighed 8 pounds, 9 1/2 ounces at birth. Maternal grandparents are Mrs. Robert J. and the late Mr. Robert J. Bush of Mobile, Ala. Paternal grandparents are Dr. and Mrs. Gerald F. Kerr, Fort Scott. She joins siblings Mary Elizabeth Kerr, Julia Kerr, and Jane Kerr...

Beverly Davis and Clara Brewer attended the Dec. 19 meeting of Rob Morris Chapter 74, Order of the Eastern Star, in Pittsburg when they honored RoJean Ward for her special appointment of Friend of the Feather from General Grand Chapter. Past Grant Matron Mary Ann Wilson presented a 60-year certificate to one of their members...

100 YEARS AGO (1907) Miss Wilma Johns, teacher at Bell School, who went to Golden City, Mo., over the holidays for a visit with her parents, was taken ill while there and will not be able to resume her duties as teacher for several days. Transients and school children of the needy are being fed at the Salvation Army barracks under an arrangement started yesterday. Hot soup is served from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Forty-nine persons were given food at the barracks on the first day of operation...

The Rev. Bob Turner, interim pastor at Fort Scott's First Baptist Church, 123 Scott St., said as a young boy, he was not religious and had no intentions of ever becoming involved in church. Turner, 68, who is currently filling the vacancy in the church's pastorate left at the departure of the Rev. Duane McCracken, described his teenage years as "rough" and said, "I was what you could call a rebel." He added that he took up smoking at age five and was addicted by age six...