Stories from Thursday, December 27, 2012

This past year has been an interesting time for several reasons at the Farm Service Agency. We had our second very dry/very hot summer in a row which fortunately doesn't happen too often, but makes it tough on farmers and ranchers when it does occur. ...

Kansas State University, Southwind Extension District and the Wildcat Extension District invite you to attend the Winter Ranch Management Seminar on Tuesday, Jan. 8, in the Neosho County Courthouse meeting room. The conference begins with registration at 4 p.m. and the program starts at 4:30 p.m...

Mae Watt recently enjoyed a family get-together held in the home of Bill and Karen Watt in Napoleon, Mo. The 41 relatives in attendance were: Bruce and Nancy and Ella Watt, James Watt and Abby, Robin and Charlotte, Michael and Elena Watt; Mary Watt and Trinity, Kriss and Ilene Carter, Delton Watt Jr., Aaron and Jenne Edwards and A.J. ...

The next meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, at City Hall. The meetings are normally held the first and third Tuesday of each month but city offices will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1 -- New Year's Day -- so the first meeting of the month will be Tuesday, Jan. 8...

The Bronson Ruritan would like to thank the citizens of Bronson for making this year's Christmas lighting contest special. There were more lights put up this year and according to the judges from Uniontown Ruritan, "It was not an easy choice." The winners were: First place -- Alan and Charlotte Stewart; Second place --Chuck and Sandy Woods; Third place -- Terry and Marilyn Johnston; Honorable mention - Revelle Wilson...

The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee will be held at 8 a.m. today at First United Methodist Church, 301 S. National Ave. Members can make an announcement about their business, organization or community event by donating $1 toward "Dollars for Dolly."...

Elouise E. Johnson, age 92, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Thursday, Dec. 26, 2012, at her home. Services will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main.

Wallace Powell, 90, of Fort Scott, died at his home Saturday evening, Dec. 22, 2012. Funeral arrangements for Wallace Powell are incomplete and will be announced later by the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home.

Kory Ray Ellifrits, 25, Fort Scott, was arrested at 7:33 p.m. Tuesday by the Fort Scott Police Department for domestic battery and criminal damage to property and is still being held at this time. Tammy Sue Merriman, 50, Fort Scott, was arrested at 6:56 p.m. Monday by the Fort Scott Police Department for driving under the influence and is still being held at this time...

Tosha Larson, former resident of Fort Scott, received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Oklahoma, during convocation exercises on Dec. 15. Larson was a 1999 graduate of Fort Scott High School. Following high school, she attended Fort Scott Community College and transferred to Pittsburg State University where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in clinical psychology in 2003 and 2005, respectively. ...

I found a booklet on flag etiquette and thought you all might enjoy reading it. All Americans should be given this lesson. Those who think that America is an arrogant nation should really reconsider that thought. Our founding fathers used God's word and teachings to establish our great nation and I think it's high time Americans get re-educated about this Nation's history...

A three-vehicle injury accident occurred at 7:54 a.m. on U.S. Highway 69 three miles south of Fort Scott on Dec. 20. An International semi-truck, driven by David Alan Lapack, Parsons, was northbound on U.S. Highway 69. A 2011 Ford driven by Brad Carpenter, 37, was parked behind a 2004 Chevrolet driven by Donna Marie Russell, 67, McCune, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash log. The semi lost control on a slick roadway and sideswiped the Ford and Chevrolet...

"We've been pretty successful so far." Coach Chad Hays and assistant Drew Johnson have seen their seventh-grade boys' basketball team at Uniontown roll out to a 7-4 record. The Eagles have dispatched most of the competition, with Jayhawk-Linn and Marmaton Valley the teams to have held them off...

100 YEARS AGO (1912) WINTER APPLES: We will deliver you a barrel of winter apples, hand picked, $4 per barrel. These apples are guaranteed to be the best Jonathan apples on the market. Put a barrel of apples in your cellar. They will keep till spring if put in a cool place. -- Fleming's, 19 S. Main St...

As our nation mourns the loss of 20 innocent children and six adults in the aftermath of the senseless slaughter in Newtown, Conn., it comes as no surprise that the subject of gun proliferation, especially assault weapons, will be on the front burner, and rightly so...

"Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years it was a splendid laugh!" These are some of the words Charles Dickens used to describe the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol." On Dec. 18, the Fort Scott National Historic Site took part in a Holiday Storytelling Extravaganza. Regional educators read holiday-themed stories to classes in Kansas, Texas and New York, using distance learning technology...

Local residents can ring in the new year with food and frivolity at several events taking place New Year's Eve at various locations. The Fort Scott Elks Lodge, 111 W. 19th St., will be the site of a New Year's Eve party Monday night featuring music, food and drink, and will be open to members and guests, free of charge. Doors to the lodge will be open about 4 p.m. with festivities set to begin around 7 or 8 p.m., Elks spokeswoman Millie Lipscomb said...

Ryan Gander lay in a field for about six and a half hours after rolling his truck and being ejected from it around midnight on Aug. 18. He was discovered at the break of daylight by postal delivery driver and family friend Tiffany Clarkson. Ryan, 25, was returning from his sister's house to his parents' house, a five-mile drive along 215th Street that should have been a routine trip home. ...

If General Public Transportation can't raise about $9,000, by June 30, 2013, it will have to shut down. Meanwhile, City Manager Dave Martin and others are hoping to work toward a solution. GPT's total operating costs are $108,000 a year. The service brings in an estimated $22,000-$24,000 of the net operating cost. ...

The Fort Scott Public Works Department will pick up discarded Christmas trees at no charge for residents again this year. Pick-up dates will be Friday, Dec. 28, Friday, Jan. 4, 2012, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013, and Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, a news release said...

The city of Fort Scott offices will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, in observance of the New Year's Day holiday. The offices will reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2. The city's tree and brush dump site will also be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1.