Stories from Saturday, February 27, 2010

Carolyn Maurine Wallace, 64, Walker, Mo., passed away Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin following an illness of several weeks. She was born Oct. 12, 1945, in Nevada, to Earl Eugene Dennis and Feba Maurine Daily Dennis. She married Jack Wallace on Nov. 5, 1965, in Anchorage, Alaska, and he survives of the home...

Jo Ann Bennett Ida, 85, of Fort Scott, passed away on Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, at home after suffering a stroke in November 2009. Jo Ann was born on Oct. 22, 1924, in Magnolia, Ark., the daughter of Thomas Leslie and Ruth Roper Bennett. Jo Ann lived her early life in Magnolia and graduated from Magnolia Senior High School. ...

Seth and Laura Tucker, of Fort Scott, and big brothers Gregg and Gabe, are proud to announce the birth of their son and baby brother, Garren Louis Tucker. Garren was born at 2:25 p.m., on Feb. 23, 2010, at Mount Carmel Regional Medical Center, in Pittsburg, Kan. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and measured 19 3/4 inches...

Anna Jeans, 74, of Fort Scott, formerly of Deerfield, died Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, at St. John's Regional Medical Center, Joplin. Family information and funeral arrangements will be announced later by Ferry Funeral Home.

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- One downtown business was looking out for another when vandals attempted to deface a local restaurant. On the night of Feb. 10, two men were seen spray painting obscene symbols and messages on the window of NuGrille by Logan McGear, an employee of a nearby business. McGear saw the car pull up but did not notice anything odd at first glance...

A fire destroyed the St. Mary's Catholic Church in Lamar last February and the parish has struggled since then, but there were dozens of happy faces present on Thursday Feb. 25 as a large group of parishioners, clergy, police and fire department personnel gathered to witness the ground breaking ceremony for the new church, which should be completed "with any luck" by fall, according to Terry Riegel, parish council president...

"Kiss the pig! Kiss the pig!" the students chanted, as the song, "Old McDonald's Farm" wafted through the cafeteria at Bryan School and Principal Debbie Spaur puckered up in anticipation as the moment of reckoning came closer Friday afternoon. Spaur, who had pledged to kiss a pig if all of the students at Bryan Elementary met reading goals set for the first three weeks of February, had the day all planned. ...

Hi neighbors. Another month is coming to a close. How are you doing with those New Year's resolutions? How often have you written the "0" for the year (as in 2009) then remembered it is 2010 and had to stop yourself and slip the "1" in before the 0?...

My 6-year old grandson from Garnett was here for Christmas and spent a lot of time playing with a toy John Deere tractor at the house. His family was getting ready to leave and he said to me, "Grandpa, if that tractor was at my house, I would play with it all the time." I replied, "Well I guess you're going to have to keep coming down here because I'm going to keep it." His 7th birthday came in the middle of February and the more I thought about it, he is the only one that plays with the tractor. ...

It's nearly here. March 1 marks opening day at the trout parks. This year has a special meaning for the trout hatchery at Roaring River. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the hatchery that started out as a privately-owned venture back in 1910 by Roland Bruner...

FORT SCOTT -- Fort Scott High School's boys won the championship of their own season-ending tournament while the girls finished in second place as both teams defeated their Friday-night opponents. Tiger boys beat Chanute 64-60. Iola's boys beat Jayhawk-Linn earlier in the day, creating the three-way tie. Unofficially, Jayhawk-Linn finished second and Chanute third in the four-team round-robin...

NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada High School Athletic Wall of Fame Committee has announced its newest class of inductees. The 2010-'11 class of inductees includes three teams, as well as three individual athletes. The 1975 Nevada Tigers football team went undefeated in conference play and throughout the regular season and suffered just one loss in a very close contest in which Columbia Rock Bridge defeated Nevada 10-0 for the state championship. ...