Stories from Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Clarence Singmaster died April 21, nine days short of his 98th birthday. His death was unexpected, quick and painless. He was born in 1916 to William "Bill" Manley and Ella Faye Singmaster of Fort Scott. Growing up in a rural setting, he never lost his love of animals...

Mark L. Noe, 53, of Farlington, died Saturday, April 26, 2014 at his residence. He was born May 18, 1960 in Fort Scott, a son of James E. and Betty M. (Kellogg) Noe. Mark attended grade school in Farlington and graduated from Girard High School. He followed in his father's footsteps and worked for a number of years as a meat cutter in Girard and Pittsburg...

JoAnn Underwood Caldwell, age 93, a former resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died on Monday, March 31, 2014, at Conerstone Village South, Lafayette, La., where she resided for eight years. JoAnn was born Feb. 15, 1921, in Garland, Kan., to Harvey Underwood and May Conner Underwood. ...

Joanne Tucker, age 83, died unexpectedly Saturday, April 26, 2014 in Mission, Texas. She was born July 14, 1930, in Kansas City, Mo., to parents Tom and Alta Lyles. Joanne's parents moved to Fort Scott when she was 8 years old. She attended Fort Scott schools...

Ira Eugene James, Jr., age 72, a resident of rural Mound City, Kan., died Sunday, April 27, 2014, at Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott, Kan. He was born Oct. 12, 1941, in Humboldt, Kan., the son of Ira Eugene James and Martha Melvina Stone James. He married Lavon Baker on March 20, 1966. ...

Betty Jean Carson, age 87, resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Saturday, April 26, 2014, at the Franklin House in Fort Scott. She was born Aug. 8, 1926, in Fort Scott, the daughter of Lee Roy Monroe and Rena Jewell Morrow Monroe. She married John Henry Carson on Sept. 4, 1940, in Fort Scott. He preceded her in death on Aug. 15, 2009. Betty loved dancing at Buck Run Community Center. She was a member of the V.F.W. Auxiliary...

Laurabell Jump, age 98, longtime resident of Neodesha, more recently of Fort Scott died, Monday, April 28, 2014 at the Medicalodge of Fort Scott. Funeral services for Laurebell Jump will be announced by the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main St., Fort Scott...

Mary Alice Pouche, age 89, La Cygne, Kan., passed away on Friday, April 25, 2014. A memorial service will be held 11 AM Saturday, May 3, 2014 at the Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, La Cygne Chapel. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until service time. The family suggests contributions to the La Cygne Library or Wayside Waifs Animal Shelter. On line condolences for the family can be left at www.schneiderfunerals.com. Arrangements: Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, La Cygne Chapel...

A fire early Saturday morning involving three residences was still under investigation Monday. Fort Scott Fire Chief Paul Ballou said the Fort Scott Police Department was the reporting party for a fire at 109 S. Margrave at 1:51 a.m. Saturday. "They found it while on patrol. They were able to get two residents out," Ballou said. The two residents were at 111 S. Margrave, just to the south of 109 S. Margrave...

HIGHLAND -- No. 8-ranked Highland ended Fort Scott Community College's softball season here Saturday in the first round of the Region VI District E Tournament. The Scotties (36-8) defeated Fort Scott in the first game 9-0 and took the second 17-3 to take the best-of-three series with a sweep. Highland advances to double-elimination play at Topeka this weekend...

CHANUTE -- Fort Scott High's tennis team played its last tournament before the league tourney here Friday, finishing in sixth place. This was a bracketed tournament instead of the usual round-robin. Gage Addington (11-6) was 2-1 in No. 1 singles and finished in second place. In the first round, he defeated Tyler Heinrich of Iola, 8-0. In the semifinals, he beat Lake Lund of Chanute, 8-4. Caleb Mathes of Labette County won the final, 8-6...

Fort Scott Community College split against Neosho County at Lions Field Saturday while Independence was swept by Coffeyville, allowing the Greyhounds to move past the Pirates and finish sixth in the final standings of the Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division...

Fort Scott High School's baseball team kept it's winning streak going in dramatic fashion in a Southeast Kansas League doubleheader at Lions Field Friday night. The Tigers won the opener over Labette County fairly easily, 7-2. But it took a "walk-off" single by Kaleb DeLaTorre in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the second game, 8-7...

Some say that if a team's going to split a doubleheader, it's somewhat better to win the second game so that the day ends on a high note. But teams with the standards of Paola and Fort Scott High, ranked second and third respectively in Class 4A-Division I by the Kansas Association of Baseball Coaches, want to win every game. So while each team might be okay with coming away with one win each after Monday night's doubleheader at Frary Field, neither would be exactly happy about it, either...

A tornado that blew through parts of northern Bourbon County Sunday evening left extensive damage in its wake but caused no reported injuries or deaths to people, officials said Monday. The twister, which was a category EF0 or EF1, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), touched down north of Fort Scott near Hammond at U.S. Highway 69 and Soldier Road and traveled northeast...