Stories from Thursday, April 22, 2010

BURLINGTON -- Jayhawk-Linn's girls won the team title at the 17-team Waverly Invitational held here Tuesday while the girls finished second. Uniontown and Pleasanton also participated in the meet. Due to space constraints in the print edition, the medalists from area schools are listed below...

Ellen Joan Nuzum, 71, of Frontenac, passed away at 1:06 a.m. Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at her home. She was born Sept. 17, 1938 at Hiatville, Kan., the daughter of Alvin and Pauline (Baldwin) Nuzum. Joan graduated from Uniontown High School in 1956...

Ray Eugene Gaston died Tuesday April 20, 2010 at his home at Amsterdam, Mo. Services will be held at 1 p.m., Friday April 23, at the Atkinson Funeral Home 142 E. Main St Adrian, Mo. Visitation will be held form 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Atkinson Funeral Home Adrian, Mo...

Roger L. Sickles, age 47, resident of rural Fort Scott, died late Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at the Mercy Health Center Emergency Room. Arrangements for Roger Sickles are pending and will be announced by Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott.

Robert James "Bob" Lyons, age 82, resident of Fort Scott, died Tuesday, April 20, 2010, as the result of an automobile accident south of Fort Scott. He was born Sept. 8, 1927, in Bourbon County, Kan., the son of Thomas Frederick Lyons and Nannie Brown Lyons...

Kansans across the state are being encouraged by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas to take the first steps toward better health by participating in National Walk @ Lunch Day on April 28. The state's largest healthy insurer is encouraging businesses of all sizes to organize walks for their employees that day. ...

Preparing healthy school meals, reaching healthy nutrition habits, and offering a friendly greeting are all in a day's work for the 23 school nutrition employees at USD 234. The nonprofit School Nutrition Association celebrates this professional commitment with School Nutrition Employee Week, May 3-7. The week is an opportunity for parents, students, school staff and communities to thank those who provide healthy school meals to more than 31 million children each school day...

Fort Scott City Commissioner Dick Hedges is once again the Mayor of Fort Scott. Following the annual election at Tuesday's meeting of the Fort Scott City Commissioners, Hedges has been elected by the commissioners to serve his final year on the commission as Mayor...

Forty years ago April 22 was named as Earth Day, and that tradition still continues with greater impact and viability. We each can do our part to make the Earth a better place to live; for you it maybe using less water and energy, for your kids it might be to help you remember to recycle, for the avid gardener it could be making a compost pile and using pesticides more efficiently, and for some it maybe to buy locally grown produce from the farmers market. ...

Several concerned citizens assembled in downtown Fort Scott on Wednesday to address the future of transportation funding in Kansas. The event was attended by a group of local business leaders, city and state officials and Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce members, as well as representatives of the Kansas Department of Transportation and other organizations concerned about jobs, safety and revitalizing the Kansas economy. ...

When the last farm bill was passed in 2008, there were several programs included that looked very much like the programs of the past -- like the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) and the Market Adjustment Loan (MAL) program. On the other hand, there were some that were different in concepts as well as in expected results...

The Internal Revenue Service this week began mailing postcards to more than four million small businesses and tax-exempt organizations to make them aware of the benefits of the recently enacted small business health care tax credit. Included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved by Congress last month and signed into law by President Obama, the credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect. ...

Local emergency personnel were busy Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as they responded to three fatal accidents in 24 hours. "All I can say is its tragic ... all the way around its tragic," Bourbon County Sheriff Ron Gray said in response to working the three accidents along with the Fort Scott Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol...

Fort Scott Community College's softball team won its final regular-season home game 12-1 over Cottey College at the Betty Ruth Willard Complex Tuesday afternoon. The Greyhounds (17-20) have won their last 5 games. The teams agreed to play just one game as Cottey had several injured players...

Note to readers: The online version of this story is different than the one that appears in the print edition as the Tribune does not have online rights to AP information ----- The Kansas City Chiefs selected Tennessee safety Eric Berry with the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday night...