Stories from Thursday, March 11, 2010

Arrest Reports _ Reinkens, Jenise Michelle, 30, PO Box 141, Fort Scott, was arrested by Bourbon County Sheriff's Office on March 4, 2010 at 3:46 p.m. on a Bourbon County warrant and is still being held at this time. Yarbrough, Damien Dorien, 34, 1002 E. Highway 160, Pittsburg, was arrested by Linn County on March 4, 2010 at 12:03 p.m. on a Bourbon County warrant and was released on March 8, 2010...

Robert White, 85, formerly of Fort Scott, died Tuesday evening March 9, 2010 at the Promise Regional Medical Center in Hutchinson, Kansas. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall St., Fort Scott, Kansas, 66701...

WASHINGTON, Mo. -- A new data center built by the Sisters of Mercy Health System is providing the company and its hospitals with power and fail-safe protection. The $60 million, 42,500-square-foot center, designed and built specifically to support Mercy's 26 hospitals -- including Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott, physician offices and other services -- was previewed last week by community board members, physicians and leaders from across the health system's four-state region. ...

Back in 2006, USDA offered contract extensions to hundreds of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants with contracts set to end over the next half dozen years. When that occurred, all those interested were required to have an inspection of all fields in the program...

March 7-13, 2010 has been designated as Agriculture Safety Awareness week with the theme of "Growing our Most Important Crop." The 2010 theme was selected with the goal of making our farms and ranches a safer place for all children around the farm. Farm Bureau, who heads the Agriculture Safety Awareness Program, has selected three focuses for this year: tractor passengers, livestock, and stored grains...

The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers that e-mail scams are circulating that fraudulently use the IRS name or logo as a lure. "The goal of the scam -- known as phishing -- is to trick you into revealing personal and financial information," IRS spokesman Michael Devine said...

Last week, Kansas State Treasurer Dennis McKinney warned all residents of Southeast Kansans of websites that ask for payment before they can discover if they have any unclaimed cash or property. Many sites such as, www.cashunclaimed.com are not sponsored or endorsed by the Kansas State Treasurer's Office. ...

A request by Fort Scott City Commissioner Sam Mason has lead the Fort Scott Police Department and Fort Scott Community College to information gathering mode. Fort Scott Police Chief Ron Puterbaugh and FSCC President Clayton Tatro took different approaches in getting feedback from the residents neighboring the armory. The goal of the information gathering was to get the resident's opinion on what they would like to see as a new addition to their neighborhood...

Within two weeks, a federal nutrition assistance program will be available at a new location in Bourbon County. Starting Monday, March 22, the federally-funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, will offer its clinic services to Bourbon County residents at Buck Run Community Center, 735 Scott Ave. ...

WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service today announced several additional steps it is taking this tax season to help people having difficulties meeting their tax obligations because of unemployment or other financial problems. The steps ---- an expansion of efforts that began more than a year ago ---- include additional flexibility on offers in compromise for struggling taxpayers, a series of Saturday "open houses" offering taxpayers extra opportunities to work out tax problems face to face with the IRS, special outreach with partner groups to unemployed taxpayers and the availability of more information on a special section of the IRS Web site.. ...

Fort Scott Community College will be hosting the 29th Annual Aggie Days competition on Friday, March 26. FSCC's Aggie Days competition is one of the largest and the longest running agricultural competitions in the area. More than 1400 students are expected to compete, representing over 100 high schools from the area. ...

With the arrival of burning season, area landowners are encouraged to attend a burn workshop scheduled for Monday, March 29, at the Hammond Community Building. The event will be hosted by the National Resources Conservation Service of Bourbon County, the Farm Service Agency of Bourbon County, the Bourbon County Extension Office, and the Bourbon County Conservation District, along with Kansas Wildlife and Parks...

Technological game has local finds, enthusiasts

It was a long, grueling process, but the Bourbon County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program has done it. The Bourbon County CASA of the 6th Judicial District, Inc., was recently awarded certification by the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association. The certification recognizes that the local CASA chapter is in compliance with the National CASA Association's high standards for quality child advocacy...

The Bourbon County Arts Council recently announced the winners of the 18th Annual Fine Arts Competition and Exhibit. Local winners include Bobbi Kemna, Fort Scott, who won first place in the ceramics category and honorable mention in that same category; John Weikel, Fort Scott, who won an honorable mention in the drawing and graphics category; and Barbara Gibson, who won first place in the jewelry category...

Four members of Fort Scott High School's wrestling team received All-Southeast Kansas League honors earlier this week. Denzell Davis was named to the First Team as the 119-pound wrestler. Others on the First Team included Jeremiah Jones of Pittsburg at 103 pounds, Jared Fiscus of Chanute at 112, Troy Clark of Chanute at 125, Kyle Johnson of Columbus at 130, Zach Conway of Columbus at 135, B.T. ...

Two Fort Scott High School wrestlers competed in senior all-star invitationals earlier this week. Monday night, seniors Denzell Davis and Justin Sharp competed at the First Annual SEK vs. SEMO Wrestling Classic at Labette Community College in Parsons. Wednesday, Davis took part in the 18th Annual Metro Classic at Kansas City Kansas Community College...