Stories from Thursday, April 5, 2012

The following editorial/opinion dissertation was recently released by Adrian Polansky, the current state executive director for the Kansas Farm Service Agency (FSA). Mr. Polansky and family operate a family farm and seed business in the Belleville area of Republic County, Kan. He formerly served as the Kansas Secretary of Agriculture, appointed in 2003 and worked for six years in this position...

A return to spring rains and lush vegetation means Southeast Kansas residents again need to remember the "rules" for being in tick territory. With the unusually mild winter and now an early, warm spring, the ticks and other insects are already out and about...

SPRING HILL -- Fort Scott High School's tennis team struggled against tough competition here Tuesday, finishing at the bottom of a four-team tournament. Using different combinations, the Tigers were winless in duals with Lansing and host Spring Hill and won just one match versus Baldwin...

IOLA -- Fort Scott High School's golf team dropped back a bit in the Southeast Kansas League standings after finishing in fifth place at the Iola Tournament here Tuesday. This was the second of the four SEK designated tournaments. Bad luck may have played as much a role on the day as the Tigers' higher scores. An incorrect scorecard and a lost ball contributed to some of the team's woes...

Fort Scott High School learned recently that it has been awarded one of the Kansas State High School Activities Association's awards for sportsmanship at the Class 4A State Basketball Tournament in Salina, which was held March 7-10. According to head boys' basketball coach Jeff DeLaTorre, this is the fifth time FSHS has won a plaque. There have been two other times that the school has won a certificate...

Kathryn Marie Keating, 94, of Fort Scott, Kan., died early Tuesday morning, April 3, 2012, at Mercy Hospital, Fort Scott. She was born Jan. 12, 1918, in Fulton, Kan., the daughter of Loren and Pearl (Randall) Hill. She married John F. Keating Jr. June 23, 1937, in Fulton. He preceded her in death Dec. 24, 1988...

Etta Mae (Toms) Matlock, 79, of Farlington, Kan., died at 7:45 a.m., Tuesday, April 3, 2012, in the Guest Home Estates in Fort Scott, Kan. She had been in failing health for several years. She was born April 6, 1932, in Arlington, Kan., a daughter of Frank A. and Tula P. (Stucky) Toms...

The community breakfast will be held at the Mapleton Methodist Church on April 15, at 9 a.m. This is a free breakfast and all are welcome to join in the fellowship. Normally, the community breakfast is held on the second Sunday, but because Easter was on the second Sunday this year, it was moved to the third Sunday...

Dale and Betty Hixon hosted the Old Forters Camping Club. There were 18 members present for a pot luck supper. All enjoyed games after their supper. Randy and Valerie, Bartlesville, Okla., spent last weekend visiting with his parents, Wayne and Marge Stringer. They all attended a birthday party in honor of Wyatt Boggs, in Pittsburg, Kan., Saturday, March 31...

Rose Anna (Williams) and Charles Workman were married on April 6, 1947, at the Cato Christian Church with their brother-in-law, Howard Armstrong, officiating. They were blessed with three daughters, Rosetta Bailes of Fort Scott, Kan., and Lorna Marvin and Lora Strong of Pittsburg, Kan...

According to Farm Service Agency Deputy Administrator Juan Garcia, the current general sign up period for the Conservation Reserve Program, set to end on Friday, April 6, has been extended a week through Friday, April 13. Due to some computer software technical problems when the enrollment period started, progress was delayed through those first weeks...

100 YEARS AGO (1912) The first fire for a month occurred last night when sparks from a passing locomotive started a blaze on the roof of the tool house at the MK&T yards. The fire was an easy one for the department to control, but their wagon was stuck in the mud on the return to the National Avenue pavement and it was necessary to unload the hose, ladders and equipment on the wagon before the team, with the aid of the men on the wheels, could pull out. ...

Now that the excitement and frantic ticket buying has subsided in the largest Lotto drawing in history, it may be time to examine the circumstances surrounding the announcement of winners. Here in Michigan, much to the dismay of some multimillion dollar winners, the state insists on identifying the winners...

The city's brush dump will be unavailable to the public Thursday and Saturday due to the installation of a new sanitary sewer main at the dump's entrance. Questions can be directed to City Hall at (620) 223-0550.

For parents wondering what their children have been doing in school lately, there's a whole lot of testing going on. Schools in USD 234 and 235 have been administering state assessments for elementary-aged children for weeks now. Students in grades three through six have been -- or will be -- tested in core subjects like reading, math, social studies and science...

USD 234 Board of Education members met with Doug Moeckell of the Kansas Association of School Boards in a special meeting Wednesday night to discuss the applicants for the district's superintendent position and narrow down finalists. Three finalists were chosen and notified after last night's meeting. Interviews will be conducted next week...

A local Relay for Life team will try to cash in on the current bidding craze when it holds an auction April 14 to benefit the 2012 Bourbon County Relay for Life campaign. Ward Kraft team member Rachel French said the plan for the auction, scheduled to take place starting at 10 a.m. ...

Due to budget constraints, courts throughout Kansas, including those in Bourbon County, will be closing every other Friday from April 13 through June 8. The move impacts some 1,500 employees statewide. The announcement was Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss in the Fatzer Courtroom on the third floor of the Judicial Center in Topeka on Wednesday and the measure is being taken to close a $1.4 million shortfall in court operating funds, the Associated Press reported...

Vonley "Chip" Pridley is Mercy Hospital's second graduate of the School at Work program, instituted in July 2010. The nine-month program partners a Mercy co-worker with a mentor to help the SAW participant explore career opportunities within Mercy and facilitate growth both professionally and personally...

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R- Kansas, spent about an hour touring Fort Scott Community College and talking to school officials Wednesday. Arriving with only a representative from his Pittsburg office, Moran shook hands and introduced himself to the small group from the college that welcomed him, including President Clayton Tatro and Board of Trustees member Mark McCoy. Dean of Instruction Donna Estill and Dean of Finance and Operations Karla Farmer were also present...

Editor's Note: This is an editorial piece by attorney Dan Meara and is billed as an interview with a tax collector. Our fearless reporter caught up with Dan Meara, the local lawyer handling a property tax foreclosure cases for the Bourbon County Commissioners, and asked him some questions about the Sheriff's sale scheduled on Tuesday, April 10:...

The James B. Tedesco Memorial Skatepark will officially open with a grand opening and dedication ceremony starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at the park, located parallel to U.S. Highway 69 between the Third and Sixth Street catwalks. The free event will begin with a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting expected to be attended by several park supporters, including Fort Scott Skatepark Committee members, city officials and businessman Steve Tedesco, who has made considerable donations toward the venue.. ...