Stories from Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Lisandro Ariel Grullon, age 33 of Cameron, N.C., died Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011. A wake was held Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. at R. G. Ortiz Funeral Home, in Manhattan, New York, and a funeral mass was held at 10 a.m., Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 at the Good Shepard Church...

This is a story about a toothbrush, not just any old toothbrush, mind you. Let me digress a wee bit. For quite some time, I have been after Bob to throw out the toothbrush he has been using and has been using for so long it is quite frayed and despicable, to say the very least. His pat answer is always, "But I like it, and it just fits my teeth." (whatever that means)...

We continually learn more about the relationship between regular exercise, good nutrition and good health. Deaths from such causes as heart disease and stroke to colon cancer and diabetes could be greatly reduced if people were physically active and ate a nutritious diet...

Hospice Care of Kansas presents "Bridging the Gap: When Cure is No Longer Available," Thursday, Feb. 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Buck Run Community Center in Fort Scott. The conference features Dr. Jerry L. Old, author of "The Vintage People" and "A Practical Guide to Palliative Care."...

Before the blizzard hit in Arcadia and surrounding areas the first part of February, Mae Watt was pleased to have former neighbors, Sunday school classmates and old time friends call on her while she was snowbound. Among them were Shirley Garrett, Stuart and Ashley Semple with baby Elizabeth; Don Schaub, Betty Swezey and daughter, Vickie Arck, from Pittsburg; and Betty Dehn after her return from California...

A public meeting about a community trip to England has been rescheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10 in the Duboc Room at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center on the Fort Scott Community College campus. Those going on the trip, which runs from Sept. 9-18, will explore London, Bath, Plymouth, Liverpool, Glastonbury (and King Arthur's grave site), York, Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's home), Chester, and other locales...

The city of Fort Scott will host an open house for the new City Hall from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Feb. 14. Tours will be given of the building throughout the day. Light refreshments will be served. The public is encouraged to attend. The new City Hall is located at 123 S. Main St...

The Bourbon County Courthouse will be closing from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today for employees to attend the funeral services for Jimmy Nichols of Bronson. Nichols was jail administrator of the Fort Scott Regional Corrections Center and served as a deputy sheriff. He was 41...

After attending Saturday's Super Bulb party at Fort Scott Community College, Shirlene Jackson is thinking she's going to start making her home more energy efficient. She heard about the Super Bulb, the kick-off event for the Take Charge Challenge, from her brother, Steve Stanton, who was hired to do energy efficiency audits of the city, county, USD 234 and FSCC...

Just in case residents didn't get enough snow last week, Mother Nature is expected to oblige with more today and Wednesday. Bourbon County Emergency Manager Keith Jeffers said Monday Bourbon County residents should expect up to six more inches of snow between Tuesday and Wednesday. Jeffers said the snow is expected to begin falling about 3 a.m. today and conclude around 3 p.m. Wednesday. He described the precipitation as being a "fairly slow and easy snow."...

The USD 234 Board of Education received a progress report on two local elementary attendance centers from administrators at both schools during the board's regular meeting on Monday. Winfield Scott Principal Billie Jo Drake said she and her staff have faced some hurdles in the first year of the change, but its biggest benefit is keeping class sizes equalized, which she said was one of the goals of the plan to reconfigure both elementary schools when it was first broached about a year ago...

A local man arrested this weekend on a charge of felony electronic sexual solicitation of a minor appeared in Bourbon County District Court Monday. Fort Scott resident Joseph E. Beerbower, 34, was arrested shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday by the Fort Scott Police Department after responding to a call the night before...

If Fort Scott Community College's women did nothing else Saturday night, they neutralized a tie-breaker with Labette in the Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division standings when the Greyhounds beat the visiting Cardinals, 65-57, Saturday afternoon at Arnold Arena...

Michael Cook's birthday was a happy one. His Fort Scott Community College basketball team defeated Labette 54-42 Saturday afternoon at Arnold Arena, giving his team a key tie-breaker over the Cardinals in Region VI Tournament Division I seeding and perhaps avoiding a long, long trip for a first-round tournament game...

ROSE HILL -- Three Fort Scott High School wrestlers earned medals at the two-day Rose Hill Invitational here over the weekend. Jacob Durossette finished second in the 125-pound weight class. Tyler Sharp was fourth at 112 and John Metcalf placed sixth at 160...

CHANUTE, Kan. -- Chanute's girls controlled the game from start to finish here Friday night, defeating Fort Scott High, 49-28, in Southeast Kansas League play. The Tigers' first score didn't come until three minutes remained in the first quarter on a Brianne Lawrence basket. The Blue Comets (2-0 SEK, 7-7 overall) led 8-5 after one period, then held Fort Scott (1-1, 7-7) to a single field goal in the second period on their way to a 20-7 halftime advantage...

CHANUTE, Kan. -- Fort Scott High's boys survived a third-quarter onslaught here Friday night and rallied in the fourth to defeat Chanute, 62-57, in Southeast Kansas League play. Chanute outscored the Tigers 30-12 in the third as the Blue Comets connected on 10 of their first 11 field-goal attempts on the period. ...

Friday night at Chanute, the homestanding Blue Comets had a 30-point quarter against Fort Scott. But it wasn't enough as the Tigers held on for a 62-57 victory. Tuesday night at the "Tigerdome," Fort Scott's boys had a 30-point quarter against visiting Coffeyville. But it wasn't enough as the Golden Tornado held on for a 60-57 victory in Southeast Kansas League play...

Fort Scott's girls had only had two days off coming into a Southeast Kansas League make-up game at the "Tigerdome," as KOMB's Larry Gazaway has come to call it, Monday night. Visiting Coffeyville hadn't played since January 28. That could have been a factor in how Coffeyville was able to hang with the Tigers for a bit over three quarters. ...

MANHATTAN -- Four Kansas State University students, including one from Fort Scott, will compete for 2011 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships. Students are Sterling Braun, Fort Scott; Joshua Ericson, Junction City; Gage Brummer, Prairie Village; and Angela Grommet, Wichita...

With the number of influenza cases increasing nationwide, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is again urging everyone 6 months of age and older to get a seasonal influenza vaccine. Reports of influenza-like illness from surveillance sites throughout Kansas have lead KDHE to report flu activity to be at a "widespread" level. In addition to the 2009 H1N1 virus, strains of influenza A and B are also circulating, according to a news release...