Category Archives: Fort Scott

FS City Commission Special Meeting on March 28

The City Commission will meet for a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 28th, 2022 at City Hall in the City Commission meeting room at 123 South Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. The City Commission will meet to review the submitted letters of interest to fill the open City Commission position.

Also, a Certificate of Appropriateness for alterations to the building at 8 N. National Avenue will be considered.

This meeting will be broadcast on the City’s You tube channel. This meeting is open to the public.

Stepps Named SEK Girls Basketball Coach of the Year

Submitted photo. Pechone Stepps coaches the Fort Scott High School Lady Tigers Basketball Team.
Pechone Stepps is a Credit Recovery Teacher Aide at
Fort Scott High School and also a girls basketball coach.
This week, Coach Stepps was named the Southeast Kansas Girls Basketball Coach of the Year for the 21-22 season.
“The seven head coaches in the league vote for who they think deserves the award for that season,” Fort Scott High School Activities Director Jeff DeLatorre said. “The coach with the most votes is named Coach of the Year.”
FSHS Activities Director Jeff DeLaTorre.
With Stepps as a coach, the Lady Tigers finished the season with a record of 17-5 and finished as SEK League champions.
“There is a coach of the year selected for each sport in the SEK League each season,” DeLaTorre said.
“Through the years, Fort Scott High School has had several recipients of this award including Tracey Bogina for Boys Cross Country in the fall last year,” he said.  “Last school year (20-21) we had Bo Graham, football coach Tracey Bogina, girls cross country coach, Clint Heffern, boys basketball coach, and Josh Regan, baseball coach were recipients.

 

Tracy Bogina from the USD234 Online Staff Directory.
Bo Graham from the USD234 Online Staff Directory.
Clint Heffern.
Josh Regan. Submitted.
Josh Regan.

Chamber Coffee at Fort Scott Public Library March24

Join us for this week’s Chamber Coffee!
Hosted by Fort Scott Public Library
Thursday, March 24th, 8am
Coffee will be held in the event room that is located downstairs.
Enter through the door on E. 2nd St.
History of the Library
In 1891, Eugene Ware established the Ware Public Library in Fort Scott. After Mr. Ware donated his library collection to the City of Fort Scott in 1894, the citizens voted to establish a free Fort Scott Public Library to be maintained by the taxpayers.
In 1902, Andrew Carnegie donated $18,000 for the construction of a library building. Fort Scott Public Library opened in its present location in 1904.
In the mid-1980s, the library automated and began using computers instead of a card catalog.
In 2013, Fort Scott Public Library joined the SEKnFind consortium, a group of over 40 Southeast Kansas libraries. We have access to the catalogs and collections of all these libraries.
In 2014, Fort Scott Public Library joined the Sunflower eLibrary consortium, giving our patrons access to ebooks, audiobooks, and videos.
In August of 2016, the library temporarily moved into the old City Hall offices in Memorial Hall, so that the library building could undergo a major renovation. In April of 2017, the library reopened in the newly remodeled original Carnegie building. Improvements included an up-to-date electrical system, new heating/air, new lighting, new flooring, new furniture, a new event room (for library events and available to the public), improved WiFi services, and an improved public computer area.
Visit the Fort Scott Public Library’s website HERE!
Like the Fort Scott Public Library’s Facebook page HERE!
Thank you to our Chamber Champions listed below!

Update on Ascension Via Christi Fort Scott: Staying and Expanding

Drew Talbott. Submitted photo.
The closing of Mercy Hospital Fort Scott in 2018, left the community lacking emergency care.  The community was apprehensive about the closure because the nearest emergency care facilities are in hospitals in Pittsburg, which is 30 miles south or Iola, which is 47 miles west.
History
In 2018, leaders in Bourbon County approached Ascension Via Christi Hospital leaders in Pittsburg to provide continued access to emergency care in the former Mercy Hospital Emergency Room.
After careful deliberation,  Ascension determined they would play a role, President Drew Talbot of Ascension Via Christi Hospital said.
Mercy Hospital kept the ER open after the hospital closed on Dec. 31, 2018, until the Ascension Via Christi Fort Scott Emergency Department could get the approval to operate under the Pittsburg hospital licensure.  Then Ascension filled the hole in services and saw its first patient on Feb. 28, 2019.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital has imaging and laboratory services at 401 Woodland Hills, Fort Scott.
Services
 Since that date, the emergency department has seen more than 16,000 emergency room patients, performed more than 20,000 imaging studies, and processed more than 54,000 lab tests, according to Talbot in an interview.
And they have expanded services.
109 S.Main is the location of Ascension Via Christi’s Medical Clinic in downtown Fort Scott. The photo was taken in January 2020.
“We subsequently opened a primary care and prenatal clinic with a local provider and later added a second provider to meet the community need,” Talbot said. “When our hospital in Pittsburg successfully recruited David Robbins, MD, and Justin Ogden, MD, we further expanded the services offered at our Fort Scott clinic to include cardiology and orthopedics.”
“We utilize the same laboratory used by our Ascension Via Christi hospitals throughout Kansas,” Talbot said. “We have on-site diagnostic imaging capabilities, including CT, digital X-ray, ultrasound, and most recently-cardiac echo ultrasound. As part of Ascension Via Christi, these images are read by a Kansas group of 30 board-certified radiologists with advanced training in a variety of areas, providing our Fort Scott ER and Pittsburg hospital with diagnostic capabilities on par with those of a large metro-area hospital.”
They currently have 35 associates serving in Fort Scott, he said.
Future
“We have an agreement with Bourbon County (Commissioners)that will take us to February 2023 and we hope to continue to offer our services in Fort Scott for as long as there is an unmet need,” Talbot said.
“We are proud of the sustainable model of care that we have established,” Talbot said.
“While we understand Bourbon County leaders’ desire to explore the viability of returning to a community hospital model,  (see: Noble Health Announces Reopening a Hospital in Fort Scott) our lived experience as the community’s emergency care provider indicates that the volumes are too low to do so without federal or local taxpayer funding,” he said.
“However, as a department of our hospital in Pittsburg, we have demonstrated that we can operate an ER and supporting services in a financially sustainable manner,” he said. “We have an essentially self-supporting model of care and we are proud of our caregivers’ contribution to patients and families and to Fort Scott’s growth and development.”
Via Christi is working on securing a  facility to continue to expand its services once the Feb. 2023 agreement is completed.
“We recognize and appreciate the need for patients and families to receive close-to-home care whenever there is sufficient demand to support services,” he said. “That’s what led us to respond to the community’s needs when Mercy closed its doors. Our clinics have received tremendous community support. We are already looking to expand the availability and types of services being offered. With that in mind, we are working on securing a long-term home where we can offer these and potentially other needed services under one roof.”
Precedent
 
“We accepted the community’s invitation to serve because ensuring Kansans’ access to care is in keeping with our mission as a non-profit Catholic healthcare system,” Talbot said. “It also has historical precedent,  given that Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph nearly 120 years ago at the request of Mt. Carmel Coal Mining Co. founder Charles Devlin, who recognized miners’ need for close-to-home care.”
 
 
 
 
 
 

St. Mary’s Catholic School Kindergarten Roundup April 13

St. Mary’s Catholic School Kindergarten Roundup will be held Wednesday, April 13 by appointment from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
To enter kindergarten, a child must be 5 years of age on or before August 31.
If you would like for your child to attend kindergarten at St. Mary’s next year, please contact the school office at 620-223-6060 to schedule an appointment to be screened on April 13.
On the day of the screening, please bring your child’s social security card, birth certificate, immunization record/physical form, and if Catholic their baptism certificate.
A Kansas Certification of Immunization and/or a Kansas Child Health assessment must be filled out and submitted to the school before admission in the fall of 2022.
Parents may accompany their child into the building and wait inside until the screening is completed. At that point, a staff member will bring the child back out and discuss the results of the screening.
St. Mary’s Catholic School is fully accredited by the state of Kansas and welcomes students of all faiths.

Home Show Vendors Needed For 2022

2022 Home Show is coming up!
Arnold Arena in Fort Scott, KS April 8th-9th
Get your business booth today.
Call 620.223.4500
KOMB Radio Auction this Thursday and Friday will be featuring BIG items.
Get your bidding numbers now!
Get deals anytime atfortscottdeals.com
Be a part of a great team! They’re Hiring!
Thank you to all of our Chamber Champions for your support!

THEATRE EDUCATION IN THE SPOTLIGHT IN MARCH

Submitted by Angie Bin, Fort Scott High School Theatre and Speech Teacher

Students at Fort Scott High School Lead Community Advocacy Efforts

[Fort Scott, KS, March 21, 2022]—Students at Fort Scott High School are joining the national grassroots effort called Theatre in Our Schools Month (TIOS) to advocate for the benefits of theatre education in schools.

Members of International Thespian Society (ITS) Troupe 7365 are drawing attention to the need for increased access to quality theatre programs for all students, especially as schools reimagine programs in the ever-shifting landscape influenced by COVID-19 protocols.

To get the word out, the troupe is participating in many events.

Students are hosting the annual FSHS Talent Show and Miss(ter) FSHS Pageant at 7 p.m. on March 25 at the FS Auditorium. Tickets for reserved seats are $6 and available at fortscotthighschool.ludus.com or at the door.

The Thespian troupe is especially raising money to send students to the International Thespian Festival in June.

The troupe is also sharing information about the importance of Theatre in Our Schools and students’ personal stories via Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok.

Thespians Shirt Thursday awards students to who wear theatre-related shirts to school with prizes.

The ITS is the theatre honor society for middle and high school students. These student thespians plan and implement TIOS activities in their schools, in their communities, and with elected officials. The presentations and activities explain how theatre education positively shapes students’ lives by instilling necessary life skills.

TIOS Month is an opportunity for students, parents, communities, school boards, and elected officials to come together to make theatre education more available to all students.

One of the key messages is that theatre skills help students develop vital 21st-century skills like communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, as well as social/emotional skills critical to students’ growth as young adults.

For example, according to The College Board, in 2015, students who took four years of arts classes in high school scored an average of 92 points higher on their SATs than students who only took one half year or less.

But, according to the U.S. Department of Education, only 28 percent of high schools in high poverty areas offer theatre instruction.

According to a 2018 poll, 72 percent of Americans believe the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity, and more than 90 percent believe students should receive an education in the arts in elementary, middle, and high school. The poll, “Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018,” was conducted by Americans for the Arts.

To see ITS Troupe 7365 in action, come to the Spring Improv Comedy Show on Apr. 30 at 7 p.m. in the FSHS Auditorium.

Children can also participate in Tiger Drama Camp – The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales on May 16-28. Registration forms are available at Buck Run.

Theatre in Our Schools is jointly sponsored by the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) and the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA). For more information about TIOS, visit schooltheatre.org/tios and follow #TheatreInOurSchools on social media.