Stories from Saturday, March 26, 2011

UNIONTOWN -- Seven starters return for a Uniontown baseball team that finished 8-10 last season and begins its 2011 season Tuesday with a doubleheader at Yates Center. Among the starters back for head coach Chris Woods are senior catcher Ty Clayton and junior third baseman Jordan Woods, who both earned First Team honors on the All-Three Rivers League team last season...

After last weekend, I was reminded why the last part of March and the month of April is my favorite time of the year. Fishing with Brent Frazee, outdoor editor of the Kansas City Star, and Les Jarman, Stockton Lake fishing guide, on the Little Sac River and Stockton Lake, we caught a lot of white bass and walleye. The next day, two local mushroom hunters told me they started finding the red (or beefsteak) mushrooms along with a few black morels...

FORT SCOTT -- Fort Scott High School head softball coach Alvin Metcalf was somewhat surprised to see his Tigers had been picked to finish second in the Southeast Kansas League in a pre-season poll. The surprise doesn't mean Metcalf doesn't think he has a good team. It comes more from the fact several teams showed enough improvement last season to pass the Tigers -- who finished seventh -- in the standings and a lot of those teams have a lot of talent coming back...

FORT SCOTT -- After a 1-4 start to last season, Fort Scott High School's baseball team found its stride in time for the postseason, winning Regionals and qualifying for the Kansas Class 4A State Baseball Tournament where they lost to eventual State champion Kansas City Bishop Ward in the first round...

NEVADA -- Frank Briscoe plans to ride his bicycle across America -- a feat few have accomplished, but he's determined to do it. Symbolically and especially for the occasion, Frank's bike is painted red, white and blue to honor America's history and to commemorate his event. While he has never named any of his bikes before, he's calling this one "Spirit" to represent our country and his adventure...

Kevin Dwayne Hensley, 48, a former resident of Nevada, more recently of Fort Scott, died Thursday, March 24, 2011, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. He was born Oct. 21, 1962, in Denver Colo., the son of Stanley Keith Hensley and Dorothy Marie Johnson Hensley...

Kenneth Lee Bates, 80, Independence, Mo., passed away on Friday, March 18, 2011, at Carmel Hill Healthcare and Rehab Center in Independence. He was born July 9, 1930, in Farmville, Va., to Kenny Bates and Janie Bell Bowen Bates. Kenneth grew up in Virginia and attended school there. ...

Catherine Jane Lowe, 95, Nevada, passed away on Thursday, March 24, 2011, at Christian Healthcare in Nevada. She was born Nov. 24, 1915, in Alba, Mo., to Frank E. Lowe and Jennie Shirk Lowe. Catherine came to Vernon County at the age of 3 and has lived in the same farm house all of her life. She was a dietician for more than 40 years at the Nevada City Hospital. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Nevada and she enjoyed gardening and raising cattle after her retirement...

Lynnelle M. Freer, 69, of Fort Scott, Kan., died Monday morning, March 25, 2011, at St. Luke's in Kansas City, Mo. She was born Nov. 28, 1941, in Normangee, Texas, the daughter of Leo T. and Lee Ola (Sorrells Buras) Martin. She married David Freer July 10, 1960, in Piedras Negras, Mexico. He survives of the home...

Virginia Louise Hart, 89, of Fort Scott, Kan., died Friday morning, March 25, 2011, at the Mercy Health Center. She was born Nov. 10, 1921 in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Roy R. and Lyda L. (Cass) Pryor. She married Clifford William "Cotton" Hart on May 25, 1940, in Fort Scott. He preceded her in death June 11, 1997...

Thomas P. Todd passed away peacefully on March 15, 2011, one week before his 76th birthday in his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home after suffering from throat cancer. Tom was born in Kansas City, Mo., to David A. Todd and Inez Porta Todd. He is survived by his loving brother and sister-in-law, David and Yvon Todd of Lawton, Okla.; their three children and families, Beth, Gus and Katherine Cooke of Boulder, Colo., Dave, Caroline, David and Suzanne Todd of Fulton, Mo., and Judith and Willy Dunkelberger of St. ...

Margaret L. "Teenie" Brown, 77, of Carthage, passed away on March 25, 2011, at Freeman Hospital, Joplin, Mo. She was born on April 22, 1933, in El Dorado Springs, Mo. Teenie was the daughter of the late Frederick Franklin Bland and the late Nora Gladys Griffin Bland. The family moved to Fort Scott, Kan., in 1936 where she grew up. Teenie graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1951...

Leland Dale Day, 66, of Nevada, passed away on Thursday, March 24, 2011, at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., following a sudden illness. He was born on Oct. 23, 1944, in Odessa, Mo., to Harvey Day and Edna Mae Westerhold Day. He married Danette F. Sullivan on June 1, 1968, in Odessa, Mo., and she survives of the home...

Mackie Thornton Jr., 70, of Pittsburg, Kan., died Thursday, March 24, 2011, at the St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. Funeral services for Mackie Thornton will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott.

Changes for this year's Nevada High School Prom will meld new ideas and time-honored traditions into an event the sponsors hope will be a memorable, exciting one for students. Scheduled a bit earlier in the year -- April 9 --the evening will begin with the traditional promenade, when students will arrive at NHS. ...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- The Fort Scott Community College Board of Trustees is scheduled to consider a proposal on Monday that would allow adjunct faculty members to be eligible for tuition scholarships for FSCC courses. Currently, all full-time college employees -- including all teachers and staff -- and their immediate family members are eligible for tuition scholarships. ...

Dr. Karambu Ringera, founder and president of International Peace Initiatives, will speak at Cottey College on Tuesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m., in the Missouri Recital Hall. Dr. Ringera is originally from Kenya and currently is a lecturer at the University of Nairobi. ...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- A new six-bedroom home for clients of Tri-Valley Developmental Services is being built in the 1400 block of East First Street in Fort Scott and should be finished in the next several months. "We're excited about it," said Tri-Valley Director of Public Relations and Grants Anna Methvin. This is the second home the agency, which serves developmentally delayed people in Allen, Bourbon, Neosho and Woodson counties, has constructed...

Charles and Jacqueline Arbogast and Billie Arbogast announce the engagement of their daughter, Brandy LeeAnn Arbogast, to Caleb David Thrasher, son of Kenneth and Lori Thrasher. Brandy is a 2006 graduate of Fort Scott High School and pursued her further education at Heartland Baptist Bible College where she was taking classes for elementary education...