Stories from Thursday, May 20, 2010

STOCKTON, Mo. -- Tony French of Fort Scott earned first place and a prize of $303 with a first-place finish in an American Fishing Tour bass tournament at Stockton Lake Saturday. French's five-bass limit weighed in at 18.42 pounds. Second place went to Carl Cox with a weight of 14.82 pounds. Third place was Ken Austin with a weight of 13.64 pounds...

Jayhawk-Linn earned the third team berth to the Class 2A State Tournament while Uniontown's Justin Query grabbed one of the at-large individual berths at the Uniontown Class 2A Regional Golf Tournament, held at the Fort Scott Golf Course & Country Club here Monday...

Regional baseball and softball tournaments involving Tribune Area teams have all been postponed until Friday. These tournaments include the Class 4A Regional Baseball Tournament at Girard, the Class 4A Regional Softball Tournament at Fort Scott, the Class 2-1A Regional Baseball Tournament at Humboldt and the Class 2-1A Regional Softball Tournament at Uniontown...

TOPEKA -- Kansas employers have more than 20,000 green jobs and expect to have more than 30,000 such jobs by 2012, according to results from the state's first-ever survey to identify and measure green jobs based on information from Kansas employers. Lt. Gov. Troy Findley, Kansas Labor Secretary Jim Garner and Commerce Secretary Bill Thornton released the results of the Kansas Going Green Survey Tuesday at the Statehouse...

Almost 100 medical professionals from across Kansas including cardiologists, emergency physicians and EMS personnel will assemble in Hutchinson today to learn how to improve heart care and save more lives in Kansas. Participants from small and large hospitals, basic and advanced EMS services will learn how to begin implementation of Mission: Lifeline, a national initiative by the American Heart Association to help improve the response and treatment of the most serious and deadly heart attack type, an ST-elevated myocardial infarction. ...

National Avenue from Second to Third streets will be closed all day Friday to allow space for equipment needed to install air conditioning units on the roof of Memorial Hall.

As a reminder to citizens, it is against Fort Scott City Ordinance 1282 to rake, blow or move grass, grass clippings and leaves into any city street or alley. Doing so eventually leads to blockage of the storm drainage system. The city has a brush dump site located north of the animal shelter on N. ...

The aim of a golf tournament on Saturday is to help the Elks Lodge No. 579 raise funds needed for the upcoming citywide fireworks display. The lodge will host an 18-hole, 3-person scramble golf tournament on Saturday at the Fort Scott Country Club, 2414 Horton. The annual tournament is one of several fundraisers the Elks conducts during the year to raise money for the Fourth of July fireworks display that the lodge is responsible for organizing and conducting each year...

Beginning May 24 and running through June 6 look for more traffic officers on city roadways as the Fort Scott Police Department aggressively enforces Kansas occupant restraint and other traffic laws as part of the 2010 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign. This activity is sponsored by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation...

Many thanks to the citizens of Fort Scott and the surrounding area for the strong support of Presbyterian Village's Annual Dinner and Auction that occurred on April 29. "All of the proceeds directly benefit tenants at Fort Scott Presbyterian Village," Executive Director Ginger Dierksen said...

At the invitation of Governor Mark Parkinson, Abigail Smith of Uniontown High School was selected to attend the 27th Annual Governor's Scholars Awards Program on May 2 in Topeka. The recognition ceremony honors the top academic one percent of Kansas high school seniors. Scholars are selected from accredited public and private schools in the state...

Since 2002, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has awarded 600 college scholarships to deserving children of its employees. This year, the company continues the tradition by awarding Maria Wilson, a student at Girard High School, $5,000 and naming her as a member of its prestigious CCE Johnston Legacy Scholarship Program. Maria Wilson plans to Notre Dame University next fall...

Representatives from the Kansas Small Business Development Center (KSBDC) at Pittsburg State University will be in Fort Scott, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, June 10, for free individual counseling sessions. The sessions will be held at the Fort Scott Community College, Administration Building, Greyhound Room, 2108 S. Horton, at selected times during the year. Please contact the KSBDC at PSU, (620) 235-4921 for future dates and times...

H&R Block Inc. officials said the company's local office will remain open following an announcement Wednesday that it plans to trim 400 jobs and shut down 400 underperforming locations nationwide in an effort to reduce costs. A spokeswoman for the tax services provider told The Tribune Wednesday morning that the Fort Scott office, 515 S. National Ave., "will not be affected" by these recent measures...

Many shade trees and woody ornamentals are affected each year by a large variety of insects. One of the most widely recognized species is the bagworm. The hatching will peak during the first two weeks of June, and typically lasts four to six weeks. An open ended, silk lined bag is formed around the newly hatched larvae as protection. They move slowly in search for food, and as they grow the bag expands and becomes decorated with leave bits...

The focal point of last week's writing was the end of the enrollment period for the 2010 Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program that will soon arrive. June 1 is the final opportunity for enrollment in either of these program options for 2010. Please drop by our office or call to make an appointment, (620) 223-1880, to get the needed paperwork timely completed!...

Betty Mae "Peggy" Clarkson, age 80, resident of Cavalry Crossing Apartments, 201 W. 23rd Street, Fort Scott, died early Wednesday, May 19, 2010, at her home. She was born May 15, 1930, in Richards, Mo., the daughter of Francis Marion Brown and Stella Gertrude McDaniel Brown...

Three favorite events of the annual Good Ol' Days celebration will return for another year, according to organizers of the annual festival. The bed races, the Fort Scott Idol competition, and the wiener dog race are popular events during the Good Ol' Days celebration each year and attract large crowds, organizers said...

As part of the Downtown Historic District celebration taking place this weekend, an art contest was held for children in USD 234 elementary schools. All submissions will be on display in the windows of the Courtland Hotel at 121 E. First St. through the weekend...

For the last two months, fourth grade students at Eugene Ware Elementary School have been working in conjunction with the National Park Service and the Busy Bees, a local quilting group, to produce a quilt that will be displayed throughout Kansas this summer...

Rural resident Lynne Oharah of Uniontown has filed to run for the District 1 County Commissioner position. Oharah, a Republican, is seeking to replace outgoing commissioner Terry Graham. Oharah stated in a press release announcing his candidacy that the conditions of county rural roads and bridges, the county's declining population and the loss of business and job opportunities is very concerning to him. ...

Two Fort Scott residents, Noel Connet and Rick McDaniel, were presented awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mo., office Wednesday afternoon. Connet and McDaniel were both honored for 10 years as cooperative observers for the NOAA and the Natiomal Weather Service...

As Sister Mary Concetta Cardinale prepares for her future, Mercy Health Center and the community celebrate the end of an era. Beginning with a recognition by the Fort Scott City Commission during Tuesday night's meeting to a farewell reception Thursday afternoon at Mercy Health Center, friends, coworkers, and former students have been honoring Sister Concetta as she prepared to move to Catherine's Residence in St. Louis, Mo. next week...