Stories from Tuesday, October 3, 2006

An engineer on Tuesday recommended to Fort Scott City commissioners three main options for improving safety and convenience for residents affected by trains passing through Fort Scott. Kyle Anderson, principal engineer for Felsburg, Holt and Ullevig, gave a brief summary of four options included in the detailed engineering study that mainly centered around reducing train noise and improving access to the east side...

U.S. House and Senate leaders are pleased with recent Senate passage of legislation that would designate 29 counties in eastern Kansas and 12 counties in western Missouri as a National Heritage Area. A grassroots group of historians, citizens and government officials have been working the last several years to enact federal legislation that would create the Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Area, which would showcase the importance of the region's contributions to the struggle for equality in the nation.. ...

The three deadly school shootings that have occurred within the past week have again raised questions about the safety of America's schools. From the hostage situation in Bailey, Colo. that left one young girl dead, to the five girls killed at a small Amish school in Paradise, Penn., the country has been reminded of the vulnerability of young school children and the despair that comes with the murders of those young people...

Winfield Scott Elementary School, 316 W. 10th, will turn 50 years old on Wednesday, Oct. 18 and USD 234 and school officials are planning to celebrate with a birthday bash. Principal David Elliott described the plans for the event at Monday's school board meeting...

Donald R. Nelson, age 92, of Elsmore, passed away Monday, October 2, 2006, at the Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, Kansas. He was born September 9, 1914, at Elsmore, Kansas, the son of Peter and Lotti (Strom) Nelson. Don was a lifetime resident of the Elsmore area until he moved to Heritage Health Care in Chanute, Kansas in August of 2005. ...

Ethel Bell Hall, age 89, a former resident of 323 Heylman, Fort Scott, died late Sunday, October 1, 2006, at the home of her daughter in rural Pittsburg. She was born August 3, 1917, in Fulton, Kansas, the daughter of Grover C. Mayfield and Hope Mitchell Mayfield. ...