Stories from Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Esther Rose Secrest, age 98, a resident of Fort Scott, Kan., died Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, at the Fort Scott Medicalodge. There was cremation. Rev. Jared Witt will conduct a Celebration of Life service at 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Burial will take place at a later date in the Littleton Cemetery, Littleton, Colo. ...

Harold Marsh, 73, died Oct. 1, 2015. Harold's Celebration of Life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sat. Oct. 17, at LaCygne Library's Swan Room, 209 N. Broadway, LaCygne, Kan.

Bynettea Graham, age 82, formerly of Fort Scott and more recently of Arkansas City, Kan., died Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at Medicalodge of Arkansas City. She was born on Aug. 19, 1933, in Hazlehurst, Miss., to Mrs. Rosie Newsom and Brian Webb. She married Paul Graham on Aug. 14, 1965, in Waukegan, Ill. Ms. Graham worked for Campbell Laundry and Medicalodge in Fort Scott for many years. She retired from Medicalodge. Bynettea loved to cook, fish and garden. She also loved being with family...

Karen Lou Epps, age 72, a resident of rural Fulton, Kan., died Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, at her home. She was born Oct. 21, 1942, in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Martin Heine Atkins and Lou Sample Atkins. She graduated from Fort Scott High School with the class of 1960. ...

Bourbon County officials continue the search for the location of a new jail. On Tuesday, Bourbon County Sheriff Bill Martin asked commissioners to speak with David Luke, administrator and CEO of Kansas County Association Multiline Pool (KCAMP), which carries the county's insurance, about why the county should not build a jail in a flood plain...

City Manager Dave Martin will receive a raise and contract extension following action Tuesday by the Fort Scott City Commission. Following a 10-minute executive session to discuss non-elected personnel, the three commissioners present for the meeting -- Jim Adams, JoLynne Mitchell and Sam Mason -- returned to open session where Adams motioned to extend Martin's contract another three years to make it a five-year contract, and to give Martin a 2-percent raise in his salary...

Instructors Brandi Shipley, left, and Gracie Krokroskia help a group of gymnastics students at Fort Scott's Buck Run Community Center perform various jumps during an evening gymnastics class Tuesday.

COFFEYVILLE -- Fort Scott's Camiren Defebaugh missed out on a medal by two places here Tuesday as she finished in a tie for 12th at the Coffeyville Invitational. Defebaugh shot 52 on the front nine and 47 on the back for a total of 99. She tied with Pittsburg's Gracie Lopez (49-50) and Girard's Gabbi Sands (48-51)...

GARNETT -- Uniontown's golfers finished fourth in a tournament hosted by Anderson County here Monday, shooting a four-woman score of 437 over 18 holes. Caney Valley was the team champion with a 328. Courtney Gardner led her team with a first-place score of 34-42--76...

Fort Scott Middle School's volleyball teams concluded their seasons with home matches against Nevada Tuesday afternoon. The seventh grade finished their season with a pair of wins. First, the B Team took a 25-22, 25-13 straight-sets win. Then the A Team prevailed, 25-18, 25-13...