Stories from Friday, September 7, 2012

Brenda J. Welch, age 62, resident of Medicalodges of Pittsburg, Kan., died early Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, at Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg. Funeral arrangements for Brenda Welch will be announced by Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main.

Faye Janice Cowan, age 90, resident of Carl Junction, Mo., died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, at St. John's Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Mo. She was born Dec. 24, 1921, in Hilla, Mo., the daughter of George C. Smiley and Bertha Payne Smiley. She married Raymond H. Cowan on April 20, 1968, in Nowata, Okla. He preceded her in death on Aug. 25, 1998. She was retired as a cook for Fort Scott restaurants...

Ralph (Bud) Whiteside, 78, of Leawood, Kan., died of leukemia on his 53rd wedding anniversary Sept. 6, 2012. Bud was born and raised in Fort Scott, Kan. He enjoyed playing sports for Fort Scott High School (class of 1951) and working with his dad at Whiteside's IGA. After graduating from the University of Kansas, Bud was drafted into the Army and served in Japan after the Korean War. He worked in finance at United Telecom/Sprint for many years until his retirement...

Randi Cooper and Jesse Stufflebeam and siblings Haven Cooper and Kaeda Stufflebeam, Richards, Mo., are pleased to announce the birth of their son and brother, Draven Lee Wayne Stufflebeam at 1:19 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, at Mercy Hospital Fort Scott...

Mrs. Sibby A. Middleton, 94 of Forsyth, died Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in the Forsyth Nursing and Rehab. A graveside service was held Wednesday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m. in the Lockwood City Cemetery, Lockwood, Mo. The family received friends from noon until service time at the cemetery. Pastor Larry Lawman officiated...

100 YEARS AGO (1912) All is ready for schools to convene for the fall term. Enrollment in all of the schools of the city promises to be one of the largest ever recorded in the city. Already, enrollment at the high school has reached 325 and it promises to go much higher. Last year prior to the opening of school, the enrollment was only 290...

It is a rare occasion that both sides of the aisle in Topeka can agree upon any subject, but in 1995 that occurred. In that year, the Developmental Disability Reform Act was signed by Gov. Bill Graves and became law. The DDRA was a revolutionary concept that brought together a managed care system and local control. ...

By the summer of 1862 Fort Scott, in addition to becoming a huge "Union" military complex, was also becoming a "Haven for Refugees" who had escaped from the violence of the war. Many of these refugees were African Americans all of ages, from babies to senior adults who had escaped from the bonds of slavery...

My husband Dave and I have begun the arduous process of downsizing. It has been torture. Dave puts an item in the giveaway pile and I retrieve it. I toss something in the trashcan and the next day find it tucked away in Dave's sock drawer. Broken pieces are kept with excuses like "Someday I will glue them together and make a nifty Christmas ornament," or "As soon as I get rid of it, I'll need it." It's pathetic...

Is silence one of, or the best, weapon the Devil employs in response to Bible truth? He and his "workers" have decided to just leave us alone. In this way, there is no attention brought to truth and against his error. And when you don't have the truth or are in a hard spot they find it better to clam up ... to stop any communication before it begins...

The Kansas Food Bank, along with First United Methodist Church, will hold a mobile food distribution Saturday at the church, 301 S. National Ave. The distribution will begin at 1 p.m. and run for one hour. The distribution is available to anyone in need of food assistance. Guests will simply be asked how many people are in their household, a news release said...

The city of Fort Scott Water Distribution Department will be renewing a water main that crosses Richards Road and supplies the Crescent Drive/Archer Road area. Work is set to begin at 7 a.m. Monday, Sept. 10, a news release said. South Margrave to Richards Road will be closed to traffic coming through from about Arapahoe Street to Crescent Drive/Archer Road for the duration of the project. Access to this area will be available to and from the south via Jayhawk Road, the release said...

Peerless Architectural Windows and Doors EnergSave G-500 Window Series has been selected as the winner of the 2012 Most Innovative Commercial Window Award. The G-500 Series, made in Fort Scott, features a U-value of 0.15, which is unrivaled in the aluminum window industry. ...

Since 1842, Shalynn Clements has been a laundress at Fort Scott National Historic Site and she's washed a lot of clothes in that time. Clements was one of a small group of reenactors at the site this weekend taking part in Labor Day activities at the fort, which were attended by about 350 visitors. Demonstrations of small arms, readers' theaters where visitors could participate in scenes, and guided tours were featured this past weekend...

The Fort Scott Municipal Airport, a city asset since the 1940s, played host to the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee on Thursday morning. The 242-acre facility, located one mile south of Fort Scott on U.S. Highway 69 and three miles west on Indian Road, will also be the site of the 14th annual Airport Day set to take place Saturday. The show will feature aerobatic acts, military flybys, aviation exhibits, music and other activities...

Several activities for youth are part of the 9th annual Gordon Parks Celebration. There is a fifth-grade poetry contest for children in area schools. Fort Scott Community College instructor Ronda Bailey is the chairperson for this event and has been since the celebration began. "We wanted to give all fifth-graders in this area the chance to write and express their thoughts about diversity," Bailey said. "It's always surprising to see the quality of work that comes from them."...

Fort Scott Community College running back Stanley Hagan enters his third collegiate game Saturday night against No. 2 Butler looking for his third consecutive triple-digit rushing game. Hagan, a 6' 1". 195-pound freshman from Nashville, Tenn., has used a combination of power, speed, and elusiveness to lead the NJCAA in rushing with 420 yards in the season's first two games. ...

GIRARD -- Girard dominated play on its home course Thursday as the Trojans finished on top in both team standings and individually in an 18-hole tournament. Girard shot 374 to beat out Joplin by 21 strokes. Nevada was a distant third at 434. Girard's Timbrelee McNair was 13 strokes better than her nearest competitor as she shot 38 on the front nine and 36 on the back to finish on top with a 74. ...

Katren Rienbolt dominated roughly the final 1,500 meters of the varsity 4-kilometer girls' varsity race of the Fort Scott Invitational Thursday afternoon and went on to beat Southeast Kansas League rival Michaela Ozier by over 28 seconds. Rienbolt finished third in the season-opening meet last week at Labette County as Ozier won her home meet. Thursday, the junior Tiger determined that she was just going to run her own race...

High winds and heavy rains took out electricity for more than 5,000 customers -- mainly in Bourbon County, Kan., on Friday. KCP&L, which provides power to the Nevada, Mo., area, said on its Web site that 794 customers were without power Friday afternoon. The utility has 8,865 customers, the site said...