Stories from Friday, January 14, 2011

PLEASANTON -- The brackets are set for next week's annual Pleasanton Mid-Season Tournament, which also includes area schools Uniontown and Jayhawk-Linn. Games will be played Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Action starts at 4 p.m. the first two days and at 1 p.m. Saturday. Two gyms will be used...

The Health and Wellness Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 at the Ellis Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton. There may be a majority of City Commissioners present, but no city business will be conducted.

A reminder that Fort Scott city offices will be closed today for regular business in order to begin moving to the new location at 123 S. Main. Offices moving include: City Manager, Assistant City Manager/Finance Director, Water Utilities, City Clerk, Payroll and Benefits and Municipal Court. All City Commission meetings and Municipal Court sessions will be held at 123 S. Main. The Codes Department will remain at 1 E. Third St...

The Fort Scott Planning Commission will meet at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19. The meeting will be held at City Hall, 123 S. Main St., and is open to the public.

A free flu shot clinic is scheduled for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15 at the American Red Cross, 11 N. Broadway. The flu vaccine was donated to the Mary Queen of Angels Parish by Ann O'Bryan, president of Health Works Inc. in Topeka. O'Bryan, a former Uniontown resident, said in a news release she "is proud to give back and help the residents of Bourbon County."...

The community is invited to a retirement reception for Alan Drake, who is retiring after 30 years as business manager of USD 234. The reception is scheduled for 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23 in the Commons Area of Fort Scott Middle School, 1105 E. 12th St...

Mansour Khajehpour has taken a long road to becoming pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Scott. A 44-year-old native of Mashhad, Iran, a pilgrammage destination due to it being the site where the eighth Imam of Shiites was killed and buried, Khajehpour grew up in a family of fundamentalist Muslims. By the time he was 14, he had accomplished a Muslim's three tasks -- praying 17 times daily, the annual 30-day fast for Ramadan and going to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia...

With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaching, Fort Scott National Historic Site on Jan. 29-30 will offer everyone from serious historians to the curious a chance to explore the causes of this momentous event on ground where some of the war's most notable events took place...

A fire at the home of Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson just before 10 p.m. Wednesday did an estimated $15,000 to the residence, Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said. Ballou said the fire started in the attic of the house and the cause was electrical and it was not set. He said the attic was "charred pretty good in a couple of places...

The sentencing of Robert L. Miller and Vanessa Hershey -- in two separate cases -- was delayed Thursday due a fire at the county attorney's home Wednesday night. Miller is now scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 9, and Hershey at 2:30 p.m. the same day in Bourbon County District Court. Both will go before 6th District Judge Mark Ward on the third floor of the courthouse, 210 S. National Ave...

After a three-year absence, Fort Scott High School's basketball teams will return to the Basehor-Linwood Invitational next week. The Tigers appeared in the tournament from 2001 to 2007. Prior to that the boys had appeared in Chanute's Ralph Miller Classic for about 25 years while the girls had most often attended the Louisburg Tournament...

Ella Mae Virginia Grant, age 84, resident of 1419 E. Oak, Fort Scott, Kan., died Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, at her home. Funeral arrangements will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kan., 66701.

Russell James Rourk, age 86, resident of Bronaugh, Mo., died Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011, at the Mercy Health Center. He was born on April 15, 1924, in Swart, Mo., the son of Roy Elba Rourk and Laura June McDaniel Rourk. He was a graduate of Arcadia High School and Fort Scott Community College...

Yesterday, Jan. 13, 2011, was the 148th Anniversary of an important date in the history of Fort Scott, the state of Kansas, the U.S. Army and the United States. On that day, in Fort Scott, approximately 500 African American Soldiers joined the "Union" Volunteer Forces of the Unites States Army as the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment. ...

Uniontown Jr./Sr. High School 2010-2011 Quarter 2 Honor Roll Uniontown Jr. High "All A's" Megan Blythe, Zachary Davis, Draven George, Gavin Miller, Lindsay Nietfeld, John Reed, Shelby Vanzant, Hannah Fry, Benjamin Labbe, Michaela Nietfeld and Aleah Sutterby...