Stories from Thursday, February 28, 2013

When Terri Coop began her job as Bourbon County emergency manager in late November, she said she would like to increase citizen involvement in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a program that was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985 to assist first responders during emergencies...

Local residents whose New Year's resolutions were to eat better and get more exercise can take advantage of a local program that will get underway soon. The eight-week fitness program, offered by Kansas State University Research and Extension, is scheduled to begin locally on March 17 and will continue through May 11. Interested participants have until March 8 to register and get T-shirts with the Walk Kansas logo...

A new National Park Service report for 2011 shows that the 26,219 visitors to the Fort Scott National Historic Site spent $972,000 in communities surrounding the park. This spending supported 15 jobs in the local area, a FSNHS news release said. "Fort Scott National Historic Site is a wonderful place to learn about America's story," FSNHS Superintendent Betty Boyko said in the release. ...

Alice Mae Palmer, age 82, resident of Nevada, Missouri, died Monday, February 25th, at the Moore-Few Care Center in Nevada. She was born July 11, 1930, in Richards, Missouri, the daughter of Cecil Aaron Burchett and Julia Angeline Lowry Burchett. She graduated from Richards High School. ...

Earl DeWayne Avery, 83, of Prescott, Kan, died Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 at Prescott Country View Nursing Home where he had resided for the past four years. Earl was born Feb. 3, 1930 at home on the farm in rural Pleasanton, the son of Harry Willard and Alpha Mae Miller Avery...

Helena Evelyn Ramsey, 92, of Fort Scott, died Monday morning, Feb. 25, 2013 at the Guest Home Estates in Fort Scott. She was born August 2, 1920 in Bourbon, Mo., the daughter of Forrest Dwight and Marcella Julia (Schulze) Greenfield. The family moved to Bourbon County, Kan., in 1922. Helena attended Garland Elementary School, Fort Scott High School, and Fort Scott Community College, and then taught elementary school in Bourbon County for three years...

Rosie May Sexton Baucom, age 82, of Paola, formerly of Seaside, Calif., and Pleasanton, Kan., died Feb. 25, 2013 at Olathe Medical Center. At her request, no service will be held. Mrs. Baucom was born May 11, 1930 in Fort Scott to Willis and Ettie Sexton. She was the youngest of 4 children, Willis Sexton, Gordon Warner, and Dorothy Daw. She admired and looked up to her older siblings all of her life...

All members of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite, 110 S. Main St., are asked to attend the Stated Dinner and Meeting on Thursday, March 7. The dinner menu includes chicken breast with rice, green beans, lettuce salad, hot rolls and cake. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7:15 p.m...

Youth in a Topeka juvenile correctional facility will soon begin training in a field that could net them attractive career options in the future. Thanks to instruction from Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) and a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, students at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex (KJCC) now have the opportunity to gain skills in "Environmental Water Technology," a field in which the median annual income in Kansas is $41,000...

Highers seeds Anderson County, Girard, Pittsburg victors in Sub-State

Fort Scott boys to face rival Pittsburg in semifinal Friday

Alvin E. Thomas, Jr., (Chigger) 64, of rural McCune, passed away Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, at his home. Alvin was born Dec. 9, 1948 in Parsons, Kansas, the son of Alvin E. Thomas, Sr., and (Eleanor) MARIE (Ross) Thomas. Alvin, better known as "Chigger," graduated from McCune Rural High School in 1967. He attended Labette County Community College...