News

A proposed move of city of Fort Scott offices to the Bourbon County Courthouse is on hold for the time being, officials reported during a joint city-county work session Tuesday. The move was among a handful of items city and county officials – including members of the Fort Scott City Commission and Bourbon County Commission – discussed on sharing services during the meeting, which was held at the Empress Event Center...

When the next Fort Scott City Commission meeting convenes on Dec. 7, there will be a new face at the commission table. Tim Van Hoecke, who won the most votes during the Nov. 3 election, will replace Lindsey Watts. She submitted her resignation as commissioner during a special commission meeting Wednesday, Nov. 24. Her resignation was effective that day...

The Fort Scott City Commission was expected to consider the resignation of a city commissioner during a special meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 24. The Fort Scott Tribune was unable to obtain any information due to its holiday press schedule. According to City Clerk Diane Clay, a resignation had not been submitted in writing as of noon Wednesday...

A Fort Scott High School student’s community service project has earned him the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America program. Lee Davis, a 17-year-old Life Scout with Troop 42 in Nevada, Mo., passed the Board of Review Monday as the culmination of a lengthy process to become an Eagle Scout...

Bourbon County officials have set a date for the first of multiple planned tax sales in 2022. Bourbon County Counselor Justin Meeks said Tuesday he has spoken to Sheriff Bill Martin and worked out a date for the first planned tax sale, which will be Jan. 13. A tax sale has been delayed for various reasons...

The Fort Scott Land Bank on Nov. 16 agreed to accept parcels that do not sell during the county’s upcoming tax sale. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story.

During a Monday interview with the Tribune, Fort Scott Community College President Alysia Johnston explained the timing behind the college’s recent decision to end the college’s football program. Following an executive session Nov. 8, the FSCC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to terminate the program. Johnston and the board released a statement on the board’s decision...

Fort Scott City Commissioners received a list of recommended improvements at Lake Fort Scott during their regular meeting Tuesday evening. Shane Wood, member of the Lake Advisory Board, provided the list, which was approved by the board. He said if the commissioners like the recommendations, Parks and Recreation Director Doug Gunn would compile the costs for each item...

Bringing a hospital back to Bourbon County will be a long process, but the chief executive officer of the company contracted to conduct a feasibility study said Tuesday they are ready to move forward with the idea. Fort Scott city and Bourbon County officials met with officials from Noble Health of Kansas City, Mo., to get a glimpse of the feasibility study data. The county contracted with Noble Health to conduct a study to determine if opening a hospital in Bourbon County is feasible...

A “perfect storm” of events led to the collapse of Fort Scott Community College’s nearly-century old football program, according to FSCC President Alysia Johnston. Johnston released a written statement to media on Monday, and also spoke to the Tribune about the reasons behind the recent decision by college leaders to terminate the football program that has been in existence since 1923...

High school students may not always be excited about going to school on Saturday, but groups of Fort Scott High School students were putting their video production skills to the test for a recent online competition. Eighteen students in Michelle Laubenstein’s video production class at FSHS are competing in The Academy of Scholastic Broadcasting Workshop 76-Hour Contests, which allow students to hone their skills in various categories related to journalism and film...

Results of Bourbon County races in the Nov. 2 general election will not change after county officials finalized numbers on Wednesday. A canvassing board verified 11 provisional ballots in the Bourbon County Commission room during a canvass of provisional ballots. Canvassers review reasons why ballots are challenged or provisional and decide whether to count them. The county election officer presents the ballots to the county board of canvassers at the regular canvass meeting after the election...

Fort Scott Community College officials have made the decision to terminate the college’s long-running football program. The program, which has a long, storied history in Fort Scott, will not continue after unanimous approval by the FSCC Board of Trustees Monday night. There was little discussion on the topic during the board’s meeting...

During a special meeting Friday, Bourbon County Commissioners discussed dealing with overburden at the county’s rock quarries. Commissioners also addressed a request by Bourbon County resident Sandra Beth, landowner at the Beth Quarry, and discussed how to handle contracts with property owners in the future...

Wednesday was harvest time, when trucks carrying large square tanks rolled in at Lake Fort Scott. Men donned waders over their cool-weather clothing and took nets in hand, ready to gather one of Fort Scott’s popular commodities – channel catfish. Collecting the fish from the rearing pond located northeast of the Lake Fort Scott spillway is a team effort between the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and the city of Fort Scott...

Budding filmmakers or journalists may be in a group of Fort Scott High School students taking part in an online competition. Eighteen students in Michelle Laubenstein’s video production class at the high school are competing in The Academy of Scholastic Broadcasting Workshop 76-Hour Contests, which allow students to hone their skills in various categories related to journalism and film...

New faces will join the Fort Scott City Commission and local school boards, according to unofficial results of Tuesday’s general election. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story.

A motion to censure a Fort Scott City Commissioner failed to pass 2-3 Tuesday evening following a 10-minute executive session to discussion attorney-client privilege information. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story.

City and county leaders discussed potential ideas for collaboration between the two entities during a work session Tuesday at the Empress Event Center. Topics discussed during the meeting included working together to save money on construction and demolition materials, using inmates at the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center for city projects, taxes and economic development...

Bourbon County Regional Economic Development Director Rob Harrington responded on Oct. 19 to comments he has heard regarding whether the county has the authority to release a property from overdue taxes. Harrington’s comments came during the Fort Scott City Commission meeting...

Candidates for seats on the Fort Scott City Commission weighed in on a current 1-percent city sales tax, as well as cooperation between the city and county during the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce-sponsored candidate forum Oct. 30 at Memorial Hall...

Two candidates for the Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees spoke on their goals and accomplishments during a candidate forum Oct. 30 at Memorial Hall. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story.

City commissioners on Oct. 19 approved a nuisance ordinance, which, according to the mayor, gives the city authority to take action against homeless people camping and blocking downtown businesses. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story...

Fort Scott City Commissioners approved bids for above-grade work at the Sharky’s and Freeman (Hammons) buildings on North National Avenue. The exterior walls on the south side of Sharky’s and north side of Freeman’s buildings have become exposed after the demolition of the Eagle Block building in August. The city plans to apply for an emergency Community Development Block Grant to pay for “most of” sealing those walls, according to Fort Scott Director of Finance Susan Bancroft...

Note: This story contains responses from candidates in one race for the Nov. 2 general election. Responses from candidates in other races featured at the forum will appear in a future edition. Voters heard from candidates running for seats on the USD 234 Board of Education, Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees and the Fort Scott City Commission during a candidate forum Wednesday night at Memorial Hall...

After months of discussing how to dispose of city-owned lots at Lake Fort Scott, the city commissioners on Monday voted to accept offers for three of the four lots they agreed to sell. See the print or online edition of the Tribune for complete story...

Fort Scott Community College will move forward with the first step in financing turf fields for the FSCC softball and baseball programs. On Monday, the FSCC Board of Trustees unanimously approved a motion calling for the sale of certificates of participation that would add turf to baseball a...

Local veteran Ron Williams received the trip of a lifetime when he was selected for the 2021 Honor Flight. Williams, a U.S. Navy and Vietnam veteran, flew to Washington, D.C., Sept. 21-22 to view the various memorials and other sites in the nation’s capital. He served in Vietnam from 1963 to 1967...

Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday took steps to potentially save a downtown Fort Scott building that has been vacant for several years. Robert Harrington, executive director of Bourbon County Regional Economic Development, Inc., asked commissioners to waive the county’s portion of back taxes on the McDonald Hall building at 10-12 S. Main St. Harrington said the building has new owners who plan to rehabilitate it...

USD 234 will make masks optional for students and staff beginning Monday, Oct. 18. Using data collected by some school officials, the USD 234 Board of Education discussed and unanimously approved COVID-19 gating criteria that will allow for masks to be optional, depending on the number of cases and percentage of cases in each school building...

Two artists provided some insight into their careers and their relationship with Fort Scott native Gordon Parks during a Friday event that was part of the 2021 Gordon Parks Celebration at Fort Scott Community College. Kyle Johnson, an actor and musician who played the lead role of Newt Winger in Parks’ screen adaptation of his semi-autobiographical novel “The Learning Tree,” and Eli Reed, award-winning photographer and photojournalist, were the recipients of the 2021 Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons award.. ...

The work of Fort Scott native Gordon Parks continues to inspire today’s artists, as evidenced by a presentation Thursday evening at Fort Scott Community College. Doug Barrett, a photographer and videographer based in Manhattan, shared some of his work and Aileen Wang, curator at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University discussed an exhibition at the museum which features several of Parks’ photos, as well as some of Barrett’s work...

A check presentation ceremony was held Tuesday on the west side of Skubitz Plaza where the city plans to construct an entry pavilion and walkway leading to the Lunette Blair Block House. Funding for the project will come from a $50,000 Hometown Grant from T-Mobile...

An agreement for a human resources position that would be shared between the city of Fort Scott and Bourbon County needs to be tweaked before it takes effect. County Counselor Justin Meeks spoke to Bourbon County Commissioners Tuesday about a memorandum of understanding that has been created for a shared HR director...

The Fort Scott City Commissioners on Tuesday discussed the creation of a loitering ordinance. Interim City Manager Mark McCoy said city hall and the police department have received several calls in recent weeks about an increase of vagrancy in the downtown area. He said people sleeping inside and outside Heritage Park at 1st Street...