Suddenlink Invests in Fort Scott

Late last year, Suddenlink announced a nationwide initiative called Project Gigabit to offer 1 Gbps plans to 90% of their customers by 2017. They also announced that for those customers the lowest speed plans would go from 15 Mbps to 200Mbps.

This month, they announced plans to upgrade technology used in Fort Scott. Gene Regan from Suddenlink said that customers would be receiving information about upgrades to their television service and that while subscribers may be required to upgrade their equipment, that there would be a way to do so with no up-front and no monthly charge.

After getting the details from the team working on the upgrade, Mr. Regan couldn’t say what Internet speeds would be available nor could he say if the upgrades would bring broadband level speeds to the area. Currently the fastest residential plans offered by Suddenlink in Fort Scott are 15 Mbps download and 1.5 Mbps upload. To meet the definition of broadband, service must be at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. Currently there is no wired residential provider that offers this level of service in Fort Scott.

The Suddenlink press release follows:

Contact:  Gene Regan, 314-315-9644, [email protected]

Suddenlink Upgrading Fort Scott to All-Digital TV, Faster Internet

FORT SCOTT, Kan. (April 6, 2015) – Suddenlink announced today that it is upgrading technology in Fort Scott. Suddenlink has been working with City Manager Dave Martin and Economic Development Director Heather Griffith to enhance its advanced video services as well as launch faster high-speed Internet services.

“Dedicated community members, city, and county officials have worked together for a long time advocating for additional bandwidth and faster Internet speeds in Fort Scott,” Griffith said. “In today’s technology-driven environment, businesses and residents rely heavily on the Internet for work and recreation. We at the city are pleased to work with Suddenlink as they make significant upgrades to their current offerings in our community.”

Preliminary field work has begun and the first new services will be available in early summer.    Customers will be receiving updates on the project’s status as well as when the new services and enhancements will be available.

The first phase of local work in the community will facilitate a new, all-digital TV lineup. Digital TV features superior picture and sound quality.

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Suddenlink (suddenlink.com) is the seventh largest cable operator in the United States, supporting the information, communication and entertainment demands of approximately 1.4 million residential and commercial customers in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and elsewhere. Suddenlink simplifies its customers’ lives through one call for support, one connection, and one bill for TV, Internet, phone and other services.

 

Agricultural Drone Demonstration

Natural Solutions Agronomics in partnership with Legacy Farm and Garden did a demo for FSCC and the community of their drone technology on Tuesday West of the college. The hexacopter they demonstrated can use GPS to fly a pattern over a field taking pictures that can be used to gather statistics about crops and spot trouble areas that need manual inspection. The images are high enough resolution that they can be used to see mold, fungus and insect damage.

The drone can fly up to 20 minutes on a set of batteries in  it’s current configuration. The demo involved flying over a field at 130 feet.

The owner of Natural Solutions Agronomics, Cody Claflin, is a former FSCC student. He pointed out that the future of agriculture involves a lot of new technology in areas that most people don’t think of as being related to agriculture.

Also present from Natural Solutions were Rocky Castlebury and Chris Beerman. Rocky handles sales and service while Chris pilots the drone when it isn’t using GPS for navigation. Cody said they brought on Chris as a pilot because he and Rocky weren’t as good at avoiding crash landings.

Natural Solutions and Legacy Farm and Lawn also have equipment for doing precision soil samples that they demoed for FSCC last week.

You can find more information at:

 

Faith Christian Church Reaches Out to Guatemala

Fort Scott, KS

Faith Christian church is hosting a garage sale this Saturday starting at 8 am. Items will be sold for a donation and the funds will go to help the 10 Guatemala Mission trip team members and provide for the ministry activities on the trip.

Ministry activities will include: home visits to two impoverished families to pray and deliver food staples along with gifts, ministry to students at a local school, visit and prayers for patients at a regional hospital, and building a house for a homeless family. The sale will be held at 1201 S. National. Maybe you don’t have extra cash,  but need to clean our your garage, you can drop off your things to sell starting at 1 pm on Friday at the sale location. 

If you have further questions, please contact Matthew Wells 417-684-1714.

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Top picture is Tomasa, a widow and two of her five boys during a special visit in her home last year. The second picture is the guys with a mother and daughter after making much needed repairs to their home last year. All four of those guys will be going again the year. Team members this year are: Greg, Carie, Connor, and Gibson Fess; Rhonda Myers; Matthew Wells; Paul Wilson; Kasey Eaton; Kaylee Coombs; and Brady Simpson.

FSCC Presents Urinetown, the Musical

Fort Scott, KS
Starting Thursday night, FSCC Theatre is presenting their Spring Musical. The cast and crew have been working hard for nearly two months to get this show ready.
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Urinetown, the musical is this Thursday-Saturday 7:30, Friday noon and Sunday at 2pm! Tickets are only $5! The show challenges and pokes fun at: capitalism, corrupt government, bureaucracy and even musical theatre itself!!
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Producer Sarah Mae Lamar, commented, “this show is student directed by: Miss Carly Hyer, student choreographed by: Miss Natalie Pellow and student costumed by: Miss Amanda Longpine and Miss Krista Hightower! I am extremely proud of our FSCC Theatre department and their ability to take initiative to lead this production!”
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Cast and Crew:
•    Bobby Strong: Caleb Gazaway
•    Caldwell B. Caldwell: Chris Herman
•    Hope Cladwell: Taylor Schilling
•    Officer Lockstock: Alyx Thompson
•    Little Sally: Jaley Hoyt
•    Penelope Pennywise: Lori Hixon
•    Piano: Janderon Harrison
•    Trombone/Conductor: Michael Dzbenski
•    Alto/Soprano Saxophone: Ryan Goldberg
•    Soprano/Bass Clarinet: Bailey Seetin
•    Bass: Carson Felt
•    Musical Director: Michael Dzbenski
•    Choreographer: Natalie Pellow
•    Stage Manager: Amy Eisele
•    Assistant Stage Manager: Joshua Schellack
•    ASM2: Claira Hollingsead
•    Producer: Sarah Mae Lamar
•    Light Design: Linden Little
•    Light Board Operator: Grace Thomas
•    Sound Board Operator: Brenden Wood & Clayton Whitson
•    Set Design: Brenden & Nick Russell

Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Host Annual Awards Celebration

Fort Scott, KS

Last Thursday, March 26th, the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated 135 years and held their Annual Dinner and Awards Celebration at the Liberty Theater in downtown Fort Scott. There were plenty of activities throughout the evening.

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Kicking off with a silent auction and social kept the hundreds of guests busy while dinner was being prepared and served. After dinner, outstanding community members were  presented awards for their leadership and contributions to the community:

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  1. Agri-Business of the Year: Miller Feed & Oil Inc.
  2. Business Person of the Year: Dave Martin
  3. Young Professional of the Year: Heather Griffith
  4. Business of the Year: Firstsource Solutions USA
  5. New Business of the Year: Common Ground Coffee Co.
  6. Community Spirit Award: Craig Campbell
  7. Not an award – but recognized Outgoing chairman of the board, Barb Albright
  8. Mayor’s Award – Beth Nuss
  9. Keystone Award – Steve & Elaine Buerge (selected by the Chamber Board of Directors)

This wouldn’t have been possible without generous support of the community sponsors. Please click here to see the full program and sponsors. Following the awards, the evening was concluded with a live auction.

For more information about Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce:

231 East Wall Street
Fort Scott, KS 66701
800-245-3678
620-223-3566
FAX 620-223-3574