Stories from Tuesday, December 22, 2015

USD 235 Board of Education members will be busier than in the past few years as they head into the new year. They are moving forward with the school improvement project that voters said yes to in April, and the superintendent/principal search which began last month...

A Bourbon County judge granted a continuance Monday in the case of a Fort Scott man facing charges of murder and child abuse. During a scheduled pre-trial conference in Bourbon County District Court, Bourbon County District Judge Mark Ward granted a motion for a trial continuance filed Friday by defense attorney Robert Myers, a Columbus lawyer. ...

Ottis Allen, resident of Fort Scott, died Monday, December 21, 2015, at the K.U. Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. Services for Ottis Allen will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main.

James A. (Jim) Kirby, 91 of Pittsburg, died at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 at Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg. He was born Dec. 11, 1924 in Carthage, Mo., the son of Earl and Goldie (Allsman) Kirby. He was a 1942 graduate of Mindenmines High School...

Claudia E. Barrett, age 96, a resident of Fort Scott, Kansas, died Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, at the St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. She was born Oct. 29, 1919, in Miami, Okla, the daughter of Jesse David Miller and Lydia Hall Miller. She married Chester Lee Barrett on May 23, 1939, at Miami. ...

Fort Scott Community College's women's basketball team heads into the holiday break with an 8-8 record after splitting its previous two games. On Dec. 14, the Greyhounds lost to the Saint Mary University junior varsity for the second time in three meetings this season, 60-58, at Leavenworth after falling behind 19-7 after one quarter. Although Fort Scott outscored the Spires 31-22 in the second half they fell just short...

OTTAWA -- Fort Scott High School's wrestling team finished in sixth place at the Ottawa Dual Tournament here Saturday. The Tigers won two of four duals in pool rounds before losing to Holton, 39-33, in the fifth-place match. Fort Scott defeated Topeka-Highland Park, 39-26, in the first round of pool action, lost to Valley Center, 65-6, defeated Topeka West, 51-24, and fell to Prairie View, 48-27...

John Phillip Maycumber, 72, of Fort Scott, died at his home Thursday evening, Dec. 17, 2015. He was born June 26, 1943 in Fort Scott the son of J.W. and Elsie Anna (Cowan) Maycumber.He married Joyce Elaine Elliott May 28, 1966, in Arcadia, Kan., and she survives of the home...

Ottis Wayne Allen, age 75, resident of Fort Scott, Kansas, died Monday, December 21, 2015, at the KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. He was born on May 4, 1940, in Pleasanton, Kansas. He married Minnie Lou Holt on October 8, 1961, in Farlinville, Kansas. ...

In a list of 11 hospitals spanning from Kansas City to the southeast corner of Kansas, Mercy Hospital Fort Scott ranks best at preventing hospital-acquired conditions. Simply put, fewer cases of infections happen at Mercy Hospital Fort Scott. In October 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began implementing financial penalties for hospitals that had high rates of infection in certain patient procedures. ...

With many people traveling for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, state agencies are urging motorists to practice safety on the roads this winter. The Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Turnpike Authority and the Kansas Department of Transportation have released safety tips for drivers as they prepare to hit the roads this holiday season. ...