Stories from Friday, June 11, 2010

PITTSBURG -- June is officially Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month. The Southeast Kansas Humane Society has dozens of cats, from elegant adult Siamese to scrappy little tabby kittens, all just waiting for new homes. All cats available for adoption have been spayed or neutered; if kittens are not old enough, adopting families can make an appointment for low-cost alteration with Pawprints on the Heartland, or they'll receive a coupon toward alteration by the veterinarian of their choice. ...

A poem written by Michelle Stevenson, Moundville, Mo., a student at Fort Scott Community College, has been selected to the Kay Ryan's Poetry for the Mind's Joy project. According to the contest's website, Poetry for the Mind's Joy is a national community college poetry contest. ...

Things are cooking in the career of Mercy Health Center employee Jessica Pontious. The Girard resident, a 9-year employee of the hospital, recently became a certified chef after completing a culinary training program offered by Mercy Health Center. Pontious said she has had an interest in working in the culinary field since she was a teenager, and that she is happy to have earned her credentials as a professional chef...

Nearly 100 volunteers began work Thursday to help improve the living conditions of several Fort Scott residents. The third annual Good Neighbor Blitz, organized by the Good Neighbor Action Team, kicked off Thursday morning as volunteers began work on 21 homes in Fort Scott. The five-day event will run through Tuesday with volunteers not working on Sunday...

This past weekend I spoke at a Christian retreat in Canada. The conference center was beautiful, the accommodations amazing, and the surroundings breathtaking. The only negative, aside from a few curious bears and mean-spirited raccoons that roamed the vicinity, were the Canadian geese that had invaded the area...

As has been mentioned in a recent column, language and word usage have transcended the passage of time. During the Civil War many soldiers of the "Blue" and "Gray" could read and write. This has resulted in the Civil War being the largest uncensored war in American History during which thousands of letters and reports were written. The words used in these letters and reports are very often colorful and clearly convey the opinions or bias of the writer...

William Joseph "Joe" Van Leeuwen, age 76, resident of Uniontown, Kan., died Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at the Baptist Regional Hospital in Miami, Okla. He was born Oct. 24, 1933, in Walnut, Kan., the son of Anthony "Tony" Van Leeuwen and Eugenia Smith Van Leeuwen...

KEATING -- Dan and Kelly Keating, Lawrence, are proud to announce the birth of their son, Liam Dane Keating. Liam was born at 2:13 p.m., Thursday, June 3, 2010, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence. He weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces and was 17 and 3/4 inches in length at birth...

Phil and Nancy Wimmer and John and Joyce Dalgarn announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their children, Brandi Gailann Wimmer and Joe Wilson Dalgarn. Brandi is the granddaughter of Dorothy Wimmer and the late Joe Wimmer, Fulton, Kan., and the late Goldie and Ralph French, Fort Scott, Kan. Joe is the grandson of Ruby Wilson and the late Joe Wilson and Mary Dalgarn and the late John Dalgarn, both of Miami, Okla...