Stories from Saturday, February 11, 2012

Willard Eugene "Red" Mitts, 83, of Fort Scott, Kan., formerly of Linn County, Kan., died Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, at Mercy Health Center, Fort Scott. He was born Oct. 2, 1928, at Amoret, Mo., the son of Robert and Eva Jewell Shaw Mitts. Willard "Red" spent most of his life in the Linn County area, graduating from Pleasanton High School. He married Wanda Grosshart who preceded him in death in 1962. He later married Mary McGoey on July 14, 1963, and between them they raised six children...

Do you ever wonder what's going on out at Camp Clark? If so, the Nevada-Vernon County Chamber of Commerce is holding their annual luncheon there on Friday, Feb. 17. Everyone, not just Chamber members, is welcome to come out, take a tour of the camp, have lunch and find out what the National Guard is doing there and how it impacts the Nevada economy...

A group of Missouri lawmakers has formed the Legislative Rail Caucus to work toward offering more passenger train routes, possibly adding service to Springfield, Joplin and St. Joseph to augment Amtrak's current Missouri River Runner line from St. Louis to Kansas City...

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Although there have been a few changes, the purpose of a fundraiser later this month organized by a local family remains the same. The Wheeler family, who do volunteer work with the Care to Share cancer support group and The Sharing Bucket, will host their third annual fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, at Community Christian Church, 1919 S. Horton. The event raises money to help local cancer patients and their families...

Armed with a $2 million federal Disability Employment Initiative grant, Lacie Worcester and Kyle Williams of the Kansas Department of Commerce are bringing more physically and intellectually disabled people into the workforce. Worcester, Business Leadership Network administrator, and Williams, coordinator of the Disability Employment Initiative, attended the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce coffee last week at Bartlesmeyer Jewelry. The gathering was attended by about 45 people...

Luke Brown (left) and Brysen Russell (right) were crowned Homecoming king and queen during the Fort Scott High School boys basketball game on Friday night.

Editor's Note: This information came to the attention of the Tribune post-deadline and could not be included in the print edition. ----- The extremely-cold weather scheduled for this weekend has forced Fort Scott Community College's baseball team to postpone the doubleheaders against Southeast Nebraska that were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday...

FORT SCOTT -- Fort Scott's girls allowed their second-fewest points of the season Friday night, holding Iola to 24-percent field-goal shooting in a 35-24 Homecoming victory in Southeast Kansas League play. The Tigers (2-2 SEK, 6-11 overall) broke a two-game losing streak by holding the Fillies to 2-of-12 field-goal shooting in the final four minutes. A few free throws for good measure in the last minute helped Fort Scott's cause...

FORT SCOTT -- When all else goes wrong, a basketball team has to be able to hit its free throws. Fort Scott High's boys didn't have much going right in the second half of Friday night's Homecoming game against Iola. But for the second consecutive game, the Tigers made their free throws when it mattered and came away with a victory...

See photos from Saturday's performance in the photo galleries section of the Fort Scott Tribune's website.

PLEASANTON, Kan. -- Uniontown's basketball teams rolled to a pair of victories over Pleasanton in Three Rivers League play here Friday night. Eagle boys climbed back into a tie for first place with Northeast while Uniontown's girls bumped off one of the team chasing them for second place...