Stories from Thursday, January 20, 2011

During Saturday's annual meeting of the Bourbon County Conservation District, four local families will be honored for their contributions to conservation in the county. Larry and Kathleen Gilliland will be presented with the Grassland Award in recognition of their efforts to maintain native grassland areas on their 2,600 acres in rural Fort Scott. The two have been maintaining a cattle operation for more than 40 years with about 200 head of registered Angus cattle...

The Bourbon County Chapter of the American Red Cross has announced the following health and safety class schedule: All classes will be held at the Fort Scott Fire Department South Station, 1604 S. National Ave. Pre-registration and payment is required. Class size is limited and you can call the Red Cross office at (620) 223-0980 for course costs or pre-registration. You can also check the Red Cross website at www.bourboncountyredcross.org for more information...

The Health and Wellness Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. today 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.

Three seats on the Fort Scott City Commission are among several area city council, mayoral and school board seats that will be up for election in April. School board positions up for election this year include three spots on the Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees currently held by Jim Sather, Curt Shankel and Robert Nelson...

USD 234 officials said a report of a recent incident involving a local Head Start student being left on a school bus is expected to be brought before the USD 234 Board of Education during its next meeting Feb. 7. District officials have completed an investigation, but the mother of the student wants to make sure nothing like this happens again...

With the passing of its owner, the future of the Fort Scott Golf Course and Country Club has been in limbo and what happens next could be in the hands of the community. Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin said during Tuesday's Fort Scott City Commission meeting that the city is looking into possibilities that would revive the golf course...

Morris L. Nelson, age 90, resident of 740 S. Eddy, Fort Scott, died Wednesday, January 19, 2011, at his home. Service arrangements for Morris Nelson will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main.

Lorna Jean "Jeanie" Rowden, age 71, resident of 523 S. Judson, Fort Scott, died unexpectedly December 12, 2010. Memorial services will be held Saturday, January 22, at 2 p.m. in the Liberty Christian Life Center, 572 E. Park, Olathe, Kansas. Local arrangements are under the direction of Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main...

Carl Phillips, 68, of Lee's Summit, Mo., passed away Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011 at St. Luke's Hospital surrounded by his family. Graveside services will be at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Prescott Cemetery in Prescott, Kan. Visitation will be 6-8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 at Speaks Suburban Chapel...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced the 25th anniversary of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which has protected our nation's natural resources since the signing of the historic Food Security Act of 1985. The act provided for the establishment of CRP and for the protection of highly erodible land...

Soon garden and seed catalogs will be in the mail and have folks picking out their favorites and the new varieties they want to try. There are many items that need to be looked at to have the most efficient garden possible. A sunny, level location away from large trees is preferable as the tree roots compete for soil and nutrients...

The Women Managing the Farm will hold its 6th statewide conference, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12 at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita. The theme of the conference is "Growing Together." This conference provides a comprehensive program for farm owners, partners and rookies and is held to aid women who are helping to grow the nation's food supply...

There will be a corn production school Thursday, Feb. 3 in Girard. It will be held at the Girard United Methodist Church, which is located on west Highway 47 in Girard, just west of the Community National Bank. The meeting will start with registration and coffee and doughnuts at 9 a.m. with the meeting beginning at 9:30 a.m...

Visiting Allen County denied Fort Scott Community College's men victory at Arnold Arena Wednesday night, making a defensive stop in the final four seconds to preserve a 55-54 victory in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play. Teance Walton made two free throws with seven seconds remaining to bring Fort Scott within one point. ...

Jolee Sharp posted what may be just the second triple-double in Fort Scott Community College's women's basketball history Wednesday night as the Fort Scott High graduate scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and picked up 12 steals in a 58-41 victory over Allen County at Arnold Arena...

BASEHOR -- Once again, due to bad weather in the Kansas City area, the schedule at the Basehor-Linwood Invitational has been changed. Fort Scott High's boys' and girls' consolation bracket games, which were originally scheduled for Wednesday, will be played Friday afternoon. In order to keep the tournament on schedule to conclude Saturday, both Tiger teams will have to play at the same time...

Inclement weather has changed the schedules for the tournaments which involve area basketball teams. Fort Scott High's teams saw their games at the Basehor-Linwood Invitational postponed for the second consecutive day. In order to keep the tournament going in a lively fashion the boys and girls will play at the same time Friday...