Stories from Wednesday, February 6, 2008

When a couple arrives at the hospital for the birth of their child, the last thought on their minds is reading to their newborn after he or she arrives. However, these parents might be surprised to learn of the impact that reading to their newborn has on their child's development...

One important component of the upcoming Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College will pay tribute to famed Fort Scott native Gordon Parks. Plans for the new 3,000-square-foot Gordon Parks Museum, which will be housed inside the 33,000-square-foot fine arts center that recently began construction on the FSCC campus, have been unveiled. ...

The Fort Scott City Commission Tuesday approved a request that gave $7,500 to the Bourbon County Chapter of the American Red Cross. It was $2,100 more than what the city usually allocates to the chapter each year. The city annually averages $5,400 to the chapter...

Richard William Bryant, age 82, a resident of Fort Scott, Kansas, died Sunday, February 3, 2008, at his home following a lengthy illness. He was born August 27, 1925, in Fort Scott, the son of Jay Clarence Bryant and Anna Want Bryant. He married Elizabeth West on April 30, 1945, at Girard, Kansas. She preceded him in death on March 29, 2003...

The Fort Scott Community College Department of Continuing Education is offering several non-credit classes starting Feb. 11, designed to be informative and fun. Pre-registration is required for the classes, which include Basic Knitting, Microsoft Office, Conversational French, Water Color Wall Hanging Quilt, the Great Books, Natural Bodybuilding Nutrition and Fitness, Selling on e-Bay, Introduction to Mixed Martial Arts, Beginning Jazz, and Knotty Fleece Blanket...

Researchers are continually learning more about the relationship between regular exercise, good nutrition and good health. They tell us that deaths from such causes as heart disease and stroke to colon cancer and diabetes could be greatly reduced if people were physically active and ate a nutritious diet...

It was a nice but very windy evening for the senior dance at Buck Run Community Center on Jan. 28. There was a good turnout and, with all the hustle and bustle beforehand, all went well. Alva and Neva Hite are usually there early and help put up the tables and chairs along with a few who come in later. Neva is having back and hip trouble, and I am sure that is the reason they weren't there, that night...

100 YEARS AGO (1908) There is a bill pending in congress at this time--in fact it is thought to have been passed--which increased the pensions of all soldiers' widows from $8 to $12. Heretofore the widows, unless by special provision, were paid $8 per month. The increase will be appreciated by the local parties affected. There are numerous widows of Union soldiers here who are on Uncle Sam's pay roll...

COLUMBUS -- Some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch helped Fort Scott High's girls hold off a late Columbus rally here Tuesday night as the Tigers defeated the Titans, 47-39, in Southeast Kansas League play. Although the final margin was 12 points. Columbus had it down to four points twice early in the final stanza. But the Tigers made six of eight free throws in the final 1:24 to keep the Titans at bay...

COLUMBUS -- About halfway through the first quarter of Tuesday night's game, Fort Scott High's boys apparently decided that enough was quite enough. Columbus, which had registered its first victory in this series in 22 years on Jan. 21 at Fort Scott, was hanging around early in this Southeast Kansas League rematch, even taking a 7-6 lead after Justin Kidd hit a three-point shot with about four minutes to go in the period...