Stories from Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Myla O. McKenney, 84, of Fort Scott, passed away Monday morning March 23, 2015 at Mercy Hospital. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home.

Carolyn Marlene Kendrick, age 76, a resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Sunday, March 22, 2015, at the Fort Scott Mercy Hospital. She was born Sept. 27, 1938, in Fort Scott, the daughter of Wade Robert Byington and Marie Mae Sharpless Byington. She married Jack Kendrick on Oct. ...

Calvin Arnold Reicheneker, age 89, a resident of Hidden Valley Lake, died Saturday, March 21, 2015, at his home. He was born April 24, 1925, in Kansas City, Kan., the son of Fred Reicheneker and Maude Dingey Reicheneker. Calvin served with the United States Army during World War II where he was stationed in Europe and North Africa. ...

Bobby Joe Demott, 90, of Knoxville, Tenn., born Nov. 6, 1924, died peacefully on March 5, 2015 with his family by his side. Bob was a loving son, brother, husband, father and grandfather, dedicated teacher and researcher, veteran, and loyal servant who valued fellowship and active participation in his community. ...

John Lloyd Swarts, III, age 74, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Monday, March 23, 2015, as the result of a traffic accident near Deerfield, Mo. He was born Feb. 23, 1941, in Kansas City, Kan., the son of John L. Swarts, Jr. and Marjorie M. Miller Swarts. He married Hazel N. Denton on Nov. 23, 1963, in Manhattan, Kan. John retired from the United States Army and later served as Bourbon County Attorney...

Fort Scott Community College's softball team went on the road for Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division doubleheaders Friday and Saturday but were swept in each one. Friday, the Greyhounds were swept by Independence, 5-3 and 11-5. Saturday, Cowley took 2-1 and 9-1 games...

Fort Scott Community College's baseball squad split a Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division doubleheader at Independence Sunday then swept a road twinbill from the Evangel College junior varsity at Springfield, Mo., Monday. The 7-3 win for the Greyhounds' in Sunday's opener was their fifth in a row. But the Pirates took the nightcap, 4-3. Monday, Fort Scott swept Evangel 11-2 and 13-2, so the 'Hounds have won seven of their last eight games after losing eight of the nine played before then...

A Fort Scott man was injured in a two-vehicle accident Saturday afternoon on East Wall Street. Local emergency personnel responded just before 1 p.m. to a crash that involved a 2004 Ford Explorer SUV driven by Jennifer Houston, 28, of Fort Scott, and a 2001 Honda motorcycle driven by 50-year-old Harold Page, also of Fort Scott. Fort Scott Police Chief Travis Shelton said police received the call about 12:52 p.m. for a vehicle accident in the area of Wall and Caldwell streets...

A former Bourbon County attorney and a Nevada, Mo., woman were killed in a two-vehicle crash Monday morning on U.S. Highway 54 in Vernon County. According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the wreck involved a 1991 Toyota Celica driven by Ashley Schnedler, 36, of Nevada, and a 1993 Lincoln Town Car driven by 74-year-old John Swarts of Fort Scott. The accident took place 11 miles west of Nevada...

The Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees on Monday held an hour-long executive session to "hash out" the contract to be offered to Alysia Johnston. She has been selected to be the next president of the college. Interim president Dick Hedges said following work done during the closed-door session, the contract would be sent to lawyers, then proceed from there...

Some contractors on a list provided by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) will be receiving a request for qualifications (RFQ) from Bourbon County in regards to the Maple Road project. The county will be embarking on a project to do an asphalt overlay and other improvements on Maple Road between 205th and the Fort Scott city limits...

Bill Fischer, left, acting chief of interpretation and resource management and historian at the Fort Scott National Historic Site, speaks to a small group of attendees prior to leading a free guided reading and discussion Saturday in the historic site's Grand Hall. The Shared Stories presentation was titled "The Cherokee Nation in the Civil War" and involved a group of volunteers reading first-person accounts of the Cherokee's trials during the mid-1800s...