Stories from Tuesday, August 19, 2008

After 26 years of public service, Fort Scott Police Sergeant Robert T. "Bob" Jackson has traded in his police car for an entire lot of cars. On August 6, Jackson began a new career at Shepherd Team Auto Plaza as a sales consultant. The decision to retire from the local police department was not an easy one, according to Jackson, who was first hired on to the force in 1988 as a reserve officer...

Kansas voters can now cast a more informed vote when it comes election time for the judges and justices. The Kansas Commission on Judicial Performance has developed the Kansas Judicial Report Card System that will be used to evaluate the performance of judges and justices within the state...

Southeast Kansas, Inc. and Kansas Communities, LLC will be hosting a regional conversation on transportation issues in southeast Kansas on August 25 at 1:30 p.m. in Chanute. The Southeast Kansas, Inc. Transportation Council is in the process of formulating their legislative position statement for the 2009 session. Key to that statement is input from all SEK, Inc. members providing a regional priority list of transportation needs...

The Kansas Department of Transportation has been recognized as maintaining the fifth best state-owned road and highway system in the nation, according to a California research foundation, a KDOT statement said Friday. The Reason Foundation recognized KDOT following a study that measured the performance of state-owned roads and highways in 12 different categories...

On Thursday, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius announced the creation of a task force charged with crafting a new strategic transportation approach that positions Kansas for the future. "We know transportation is critical to seizing economic opportunities and creating jobs to stimulate our economy," Sebelius said in a statement from her office. ...

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Ivan Laverne Ater, age 82, resident of Arma, Kansas died Sunday, August 17, 2008 at Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was born February 26, 1926 in Bourbon County, Kansas the son of Earl Ater and Birdie Judy Ater. He married Nellie Stewart on September 6, 1977. Ivan had worked as an equipment operator for Bourbon County and also ran his own farm and stock operation. He was a member of the Mt. Orum Baptist Church. He was known as a good mechanic and loved woodworking...

Richard LeRoy Harper, age 84, resident of rural Devon, Kansas, died Friday, August 15, 2008, at Fort Scott Mercy Health Center. He was born April 6, 1924 near Devon the son of Harry Harper and Julia West Harper. Richard served in the United States Army during WWII stationed in Japan for two years. ...

100 YEARS AGO (1908) There were two sections of the Frisco flyer through here today. This travel north and west is heavier than it has been in years. Sunday there was a special flyer through here with nothing but Pullmans, there being eight of these rolling palaces. The southbound passenger this afternoon was so heavy that two of the big passenger engines were used to draw it...

Phaedra Cherry who had been visiting her family in Girard came to Arcadia to see her Grandmother, Helen Sisney. Joining them was her cousin Courtney Sisney, rural Arcadia on Monday evening. Phaedra, soon will be leaving her home in Olathe with a friend, driving to Florida where the two young ladies will be working at Disney's Worlds Of Fun...

A recent Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored Web site training session was considered a positive experience for some attendees. The "Web Savvy Sandwich Seminar," which took place Thursday, was geared toward helping area small business owners learn more about the important role that Web sites play in a business' marketing plan. Matt Blatchley, a representative of the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush near Girard, taught the educational seminar...

Early Sunday evening, the Old Fort Sharpshooters presented Stephen Buntain with a check for $150 as a way of honoring the second national championship he won in Grand Island, Neb., in June. Buntain, a spring Fort Scott High School graduate who plans to attend Kansas State, won this year's title in air rifle. He also won the national championship in small bore rifle in 2007. Additionally, Buntain helped this year's Kansas team finish second in national competition to the team from Nebraska...