Stories from Friday, January 31, 2014

Members of the Fort Scott Airport Advisory Board received an update on current and planned improvement projects at the airfield during their meeting Thursday at City Hall. Airport Manager Kenny Howard talked to the board about damage the airport received during the April 7 hail storm that battered Fort Scott and Bourbon County. ...

Walter Fredericksen, 88, received a letter and medal from the government of France this week honoring him for liberating the city of Metz 70 years ago, when he was serving in the Army. The medal, the Knight of the Legion of Honor, is intended to thank Fredericksen for giving "your youth to France and the French people. ...

First-grade students at Winfield Scott Elementary School learned about Kansas as part of Kansas Day, which they celebrated on Thursday. Students rotated through classrooms to learn about soldiers and quilting during the time of Kansas Statehood on Jan. 29, 1861.They also learned about the Kansas state insect, the honeybee, from Ted McDonald, who is a beekeeper. The students also made sunflower cookies to represent the state's flower...

Portteus S. (Corporon) Hughes, 88, of McPherson, Kan., passed away at 7:55 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 18, while in the company of family members, at McPherson Hospital. Portie was born in Arcadia, Kan., on June 13, 1925, the daughter of the late Portteus V. (Stephens) and George William Corporon...

Ronnie Lee Sheehy came into this life in a rural farm house in Vernon County, Mo., June 12, 1942. Ron lived in Missouri until he graduated from high school when he started working for AT&T. He worked for AT&T 28 years and worked in or traveled through 48 of the continental United States. ...

Gary Alvin Schubert, age 62, resident of Uniontown, Kan., died Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, at his home. He was born June 2, 1951, in Fort Scott, Kan., the son of Ira and Doris Likely Schubert. After high school he worked as a truck driver for over 40 years. A longtime resident of Uniontown, he greatly enjoyed watching his children and grandchildren play sports. He loved his family dearly...

Merle Dean Karns, age 89, a resident of Wichita, Kan., died Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, at the Robert J. Dole Veterans Hospital in Wichita. He was born Oct. 7, 1924, in Englevale, Kan., the son of Marion Karns and Ollie Jumet Karns. Mr. Karns served with the United States Army. He then farmed and later worked for Koch Industries. He married Patricia Lyons in 1986 at Wichita...

Yvette Denise Prinkey-Dunbar, age 57, a resident of rural Fort Scott, died Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2014, at the Mercy Hospital Emergency Room. Funeral services for Yvette Prinkey-Dunbar will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott.

Fort Scott Middle School's eighth-grade basketball teams swept Chanute-Royster at the FSMS gymnasium Tuesday evening. The "A" team won 41-28 and the "B" team won prevailed 16-10. The "A" team (4-1) led at the end of each quarter and scored at least 10 point in all of them. Andrew Callahan led the Tigers with 14 points and Jessie Lawrence added 10. Zarek Fewell led in rebounding with 7...

At least two of Fort Scott Community College's athletic programs continue to impress as much in the classroom as they do in competition. The volleyball team has a grade-point average of 3.75 at the end of the fall semester while the baseball team has a GPA of 3.70...