Stories from Friday, February 4, 2011

The YPL luncheon scheduled for today is cancelled due to schools being closed. It will be rescheduled.

Ikan, a collaboration of independent living centers, headed by Prairie Independent Living Center (PILR), postponed its Fort Scott forum, which was set for Feb. 3. Instead, it will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Fort Scott Professional Building, 710 W. Eighth St...

The monthly meeting and community supper in Garland that was set for Saturday has been canceled. The gathering was to be held at the Garland Community Building.

Local veteran Emory Arnold was recently recognized for serving his country in the United States armed forces during World War II more than 60 years ago. Arnold, of Fort Scott, was chosen as the January Veteran of the Month by Fort Scott Elks Lodge No. ...

Thanks to action by the Fort Scott City Commission earlier this week, commission candidate Cindy Bartelsmeyer is one step closer to being annexed into the city. The commission approved a resolution at their Feb. 1 meeting that would bring the Bartelsmeyer property, located on the edge of Gunn Park, into the city...

Health care and tax reform, regulations, federal spending and foreign policy were the main topics U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins got questions about during a Congress to Kansas tour stop in Fort Scott on Thursday. The Kansas Republican talked to about 20 residents in the lobby of Citizen's Bank as part of an ongoing effort to listen to constituent concerns and questions during Congressional breaks. ...

A routine traffic stop resulted in a meth bust and the arrest of two local residents. Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Scott conducted a routine traffic stop the morning of Jan. 28 when he stopped a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on 225th Street, just south of Native Road...

Described as a "community presence," a "great encourager" and someone with intense drive, Don Stewart was honored as the Keystone Award winner Thursday evening by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce. J.R. Stewart, a broker/owner of the firm, accepted the laurel on his father's behalf at the chamber's annual dinner and celebration in the River Room at the Buffalo Grill, attended by about 170 people. ...

Will Rogers once said, "People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing." UNLV's 6'4" basketball guard, Tre'Von Willis, knows the truth of that adage. Willis was arrested last July, accused of choking his girlfriend because she was texting instead of paying attention to him. If convicted of this impetuous act, Willis could spend years behind bars. I read the Willis article and thought, Over a cell phone? Seriously?...

In the early spring of 1862, Wagon Boss R.M. Peck was in charge of a wagon train that was transporting supplies from Fort Scott to Humboldt, Kan., that were to be used in the "Union" Army's summer campaign in the Indian Territory (present Oklahoma). This is the conclusion of Peck's column that was published in the July 21, 1904 edition of the National Tribune newspaper that was published in Washington, D.C...

Thelma Francine Belknap, 95, of Fort Scott, died Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, at the Fort Scott Manor Nursing Home. She was born July 31, 1915 in Chetopa, Kan., the daughter of Madison F. and Edna E. (Balay) Warwick. She married James H. Belknap, Sr. in July of 1935. He preceded her in death Nov. 29, 1943...

Lisandro Ariel Grullon, 33, of Cameron, N.C., died Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011. A wake is planned for Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. at R. G. Ortiz Funeral Home, in Manhattan, New York and a funeral mass will be 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 at the Good Shepard Church...

Betty Lou Dennis, age 75, resident of 310 Jefferson St., died Tuesday morning, Feb. 1, 2011, at the Mercy Health Center, Fort Scott. She was born April 16, 1935, in Seminole, Oklahoma, the daughter of Elmer Sill and Pearl Gibbs Sill. She was a loving mother to five children, 14 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren...

Donald L. Welch, 72, of rural Moran, Kan., passed away Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, at his home. Don was born July 23, 1938, at St. John's Hospital in Iola, Kan., the son of Lloyd L. "Tock" and Ruth V. (Adams) Welch. He grew up on the family farm south of Moran, and graduated from Moran Rural High School in 1956...

Anna Marie Endicott, 81, of Fort Scott, died Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 at the Mercy Health Center. She was born Dec. 14, 1929 in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Elva and Alice Carey (Wood) Shackelford. She is survived by three daughters, Amy Boyd, of Redfield; Linda Lee, of Hammond, Kan.; and Carey Mooney, of Nevada, Mo.; a sister, Carey Lee Wileman, of Fort Scott; and several grandchildren and great grandchildren...

Jeffrey Lynn Bronson, age 61, resident of rural Fort Scott, died late Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011, at his home following a cancer illness. He was born Oct. 9, 1949, in Helena, Mont.; the son of Donald Bronson and Billie Merryweather Bronson. Jeffrey married Suzanne Miller on Aug. 5, 1972, in Independence, Mo...

Anna Marie (May) Johnston, 82, a resident of Grove, Okla., passed peacefully into the loving arms of the Lord on Monday, Jan. 31, 2011 at Grove Nursing Center. Anna was born on Oct. 12, 1928 in Topeka, Kan., to Fredrick May and Eva (Feil) May Helmer...

James Harold "Jimmy" Nichols, age 41, resident of Bronson, Kan., died Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, at the Allen County Hospital emergency room. Jimmy was born April 18, 1969. He was a graduate of the Uniontown High School. He married Sheila Brooks on Feb. 11, 1994, at Miami, Oklahoma...