Monthly Archives: August 2020

Obituary

Obituary of Judy Duffy

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Judy Kay Duffy, age 78, a resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away Monday, August 3, 2020, at Select Specialty Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas.

She was born September 13, 1941, at Emporia, Kansas, the daughter of Leonard Walker and Hildred America Standau Walker.

She first married Charles Turner. They later divorced. Judy later married Loyal Duffy on August 13, 1993, at Miami, Oklahoma.

In earlier years, Judy made her home in both Kansas City and Emporia. She worked in Human Resources for Montgomery-Ward. She later became a licensed dental hygienist and worked in this capacity for a time. She was later employed in document services at Wolf Creek Power Plant.

Following her marriage to Loyal in 1993, she moved to Ft. Scott. She enjoyed tending her flowers and watching birds as well as traveling and taking trips on the motorcycle. Following her husband’s retirement, Judy and Loyal spent several years working for the parks department at Beaver Lake.

Survivors include her husband, Loyal, of the home; a daughter, Brenda Gordon and husband, Robert, of Hartford, Kansas; two step-children, Kevin Duffy and wife, Shelley, of Burlington, Kansas and Deanna Duffy, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, six grandchildren, Josh Turner, Scott Turner, Trisha Ecton, Patrick Gordon, Mikel Duffy and Kenyon Duffy and several great-grandchildren. Also surviving are a brother, Quintin Walker of Kansas City, Kansas and Freda Birchmier, of Americus, Kansas.

She was preceded in death by a son, Charles “Chuck” Turner, Jr.; two sisters, Hildred Marie Barrett and Helen Sill and three brothers, Jack Walker, Leonard Walker, Jr. and Darrel Walker.

There was cremation. A memorial service with burial in the Chicago Mound Cemetery at Emporia, Kansas will take place at a later date. Memorials are suggested to the American Diabetes Association and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

Bourbon County, Elections, Government

Unofficial 2020 Primary Election Results For Bourbon County

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Voters took advantage of advance voting Monday morning at the Bourbon County Clerk’s Office.

Submitted by the Bourbon County Clerks office:

2020 PRIMARY ELECTION UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
AUGUST 4, 2020

Editor’s note: the clerk does not list the winners in each position for both the Republicans and Democrats together.

Republicans:

United States Senate
Vote for One 1
Lance Berland . . . . . . . . . 41 1
John L. Berman. . . . . . . . . 10
Derek C. Ellis. . . . . . . . . 31 1
Bob Hamilton . . . . . . . . . 579
Kris Kobach. . . . . . . . . . 1,029
David Alan Lindstrom. . . . . . . 85
Roger Marshall. . . . . . . . . 537
Brian Matlock . . . . . . . . . 38
John Miller. . . . . . . . . . 41
Steve Roberts . . . . . . . . . 101
Gabriel Mark Robles . . . . . . . 10

United States House of Representative
Vote for One 1
Jake LaTurner . . . . . . . . . 1,256
Dennis Taylor . . . . . . . . . 283
Steve Watkins . . . . . . . . . 948

Kansas Senate, 13th District DISTRICT 13
Vote for One 1
Richard Hilderbrand . . . . . . . 1,451

Kansas Senate, 12th District DISTRICT 12
Vote for One 1
Caryn Tyson. . . . . . . . . . 819

Kansas House of Representatives, 2nd DISTRICT 2
Vote for One 1
Kenneth Collins . . . . . . . . 202

Kansas House of Representatives, 4th DISTRICT 4
Vote for One 1
Arlyn Briggs . . . . . . . . . 205
Trevor Jacobs . . . . . . . . . 2,030

County Commissioner DISTRICT 3
Vote for One 1
Clifton Beth . . . . . . . . . 296
Joshua Jackson. . . . . . . . . 98
LeRoy “Nick” Ruhl. . . . . . . . 172

County Commissioner DISTRICT 2
Vote for One 1
Jeffrey Fischer . . . . . . . . 282
Jim Harris . . . . . . . . . . 466
Sparky (Don) Schroeder . . . . . . 445

County Clerk
Vote for One 1
Nick Graham. . . . . . . . . . 695
Kendell Dawn Mason . . . . . . . 1,148
Bobby “Bob” Reed . . . . . . . . 685

County Treasurer
Vote for One 1
Patty Love . . . . . . . . . . 1,467
Mike Mason . . . . . . . . . . 497
Shaunn Pytlowany . . . . . . . . 559

County Register of Deeds
Vote for One 1
Lora Holdridge. . . . . . . . . 2,286

County Attorney
Vote for One 1
Jacqie Spradling . . . . . . . . 2,154

County Sheriff
Vote for One 1
Derick Burke . . . . . . . . . 1,095
Bill Martin. . . . . . . . . . 1,318
Craig A. Rice . . . . . . . . . 172

 

Democrats:

 

United States Senate
Vote for One 1
Barbara Bollier . . . . . . . . 391
Robert Leon Tillman . . . . . . . 224

United States House of Representativ
Vote for One 1
Michelle De La Isla . . . . . . . 387
James K. Windholz. . . . . . . . 217

Kansas Senate, 13th District DISTRICT 13
Vote for One 1
Nancy J. Ingle. . . . . . . . . 352

Kansas Senate, 12th District DISTRICT 12
Vote for One 1
Mike Bruner. . . . . . . . . . 138

Kansas House of Representatives, 2nd DISTRICT 2
Vote for One 1
Lynn D. Grant . . . . . . . . . 23

Kansas House of Representatives, 4th DISTRICT 4
Vote for One 1
Bill Meyer . . . . . . . . . . 563

County Commissioner DISTRICT 3
Vote for One 1
Phillip G. Hoyt . . . . . . . . 171

County Commissioner DISTRICT 2
Vote for One 1
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 19

County Clerk
Vote for One 1
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 61

County Treasurer
Vote for One 1
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 52

County Register of Deeds
Vote for One 1
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 22

County Attorney
Vote for One 1
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 23

County Sheriff
Vote for One 1
Mike Feagins . . . . . . . . . 397
Julie Saker. . . . . . . . . . 178

Fort Scott, Schools

Kaitlyn Arnold: New Winfield Scott First Grade Teacher

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Kaitlyn Arnold. Submitted photo.

Kaitlyn Arnold, 26, is a new Winfield Scott Elementary School first-grade teacher.

She earned her bachelor of science in education from Pittsburg State University, and has taught in first and second grades.
” I was born and raised in the best town in the country! Fort Scott, Kansas!,” Arnold said.
In her spare time, Arnold likes to garden, raise cattle and chickens, sew, crochet, “go junking” and redo antiques, attend concerts, work out (especially yoga), travel, hike,  and spend time with family and friends, she said.
Kaitlyn Arnold. Submitted photo.
How did you become an educator?
“I decided at age eight that I wanted to become a teacher. Even at the age of three, I was saying I wanted to be a teacher. “
Is there someone who inspired you to teach?
“I became an elementary teacher for many reasons. The one who inspired the most would be my mom who has taught for over 30 years. Her care and love she shows her students inspires me daily to become a better teacher. I also have had many aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandma who have been in education and inspired me as well.”
What is the best part of teaching for you?
“The students. I dearly treasure each day with my students. I love getting to know them and building good teacher-students relationships. Watching them grow positively in social, emotional and educational skills gives me so much joy. I love hearing about the new dog they got over the weekend, the tooth that got yanked out by a string and a door or the flat tire they had while going to see their grandparents.”
What are the greatest challenges?
“Saying goodbye to the students at the end of the year is hardest for me. I’m so excited and celebrate their success of accomplishing a year of growth but the goodbyes are hard.”
“I treasure each moment I get to have with my students and do my very best to help them grow positively in every way,” Arnold said.” I am so ready to get this school year started and meet my awesome future students!”
Bourbon County, Government

BoCo Commission Minutes of July 24

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July 24, 2020

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session for a Spark grant meeting with Commissioners Oharah and Fischer present, the County Clerk was also present.

Also present for the Spark meeting were Economic Development DirectorJody Hoener, FSCC President Alicia Johnston, Hazel Swarts, Emergency Manger William Wallis and Greenbush representatives Monica Murnon, Mike, and Dawn Floris.

Bourbon County is receiving $2.9 million for disbursement for COVID-19 related expenses and direct aid.

Treasurer Patty Love met with the Commissioners regarding the bank account for the Spark grant funds, she said that Terry Sercer told her to deposit the money in a separate non-interest baring bank account. Lynne made a motion to deposit the money in a non-interest baring account, Jeff seconded and the motion passed and the Commissioners and Kendell signed the banking paper work.

Jody Hoener said the Spark steering committee will be comprised of the following… Craig Campbell (Mercy Hospital), Jesse Ervin (City of Uniontown), Jerry Witt & Bill Michaud (business owner in Fort Scott, Susan Bancroft (City of Fort Scott) and Ted Hessong (USD234).

Monica said that currently Bourbon County is in the reporting and compliance portion of the grant. She said the County could use the County prioritization roadmap as a framework to plan and prioritize their investments and it is as follows… making public institutions whole, protecting the health of Kansas, revitalizing local businesses and building resilient communities. Normally you specify what the funds will be used for when applying for a grant, but this grant was given to the Counties in Kansas and the County then has to specify where the money will be used. There are two different pillars for the use for the use of the funds: reimbursement and direct aid.

Alicia Johnston said that FSCC needed money for the following areas: distance learning, improvements for telework capabilities, payroll specific to mitigating the COVID-19 response, reopening measurers, technology costs and transportation costs. She said that Mercy hospital is allowing FSCC to use 30 patient rooms to house students in.

Jeff made a motion to accept the 1st round of reimbursement of expenses, (administration fees, FSCC=$308,717.00, the City of Uniontown=$225.33, the City of Fort Scott=$20,000.00 and the City of Bronson=$100.00), Lynne seconded and the motion passed.

Jeff made a motion to accept the steering committees recommendations for spending the remaining money (Economic Development=$490,049.64, Small Business/Non Profit Grant Program=$122,512.41, Health=$735,074.47, Education=$490,049.64 and Collaborative Projects=$612,562.06), Lynne seconded and the motion passed.

Monica discussed the different draft survey application processes for the reimbursement portion and the direct aid portion. She said the application will be live on 07/28/2020. She said business that were mandated to close due to COVID-19 or chose to close (if approved for the grant) could use the funds for operational costs. Jeff made a motion to accept the survey processes, (this is currently in draft form and changes could be made to the process), Lynne seconded and all approved.

Hazel Swarts questioned what Greenbush’s role was in the grant; Lynne said they had been hired to administer the grant, he said the Commissioners wanted to keep the administration process local and that the Commissioners had voted to sign the contracts with Greenbush. The contract amount is $69,900, (unless they do anything beyond the scope of services).

Any questions regarding the Spark grant funds or the application process should contact Greenbush at (620)249-7149.

Lynne made a motion to have a budget worksession and a Spark grant meeting on August 7th at 1:00 pm, Jeff seconded and the motion passed.

At 3:17, Lynne made a motion to adjourn, Jeff seconded, meeting adjourned.

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
July 28, 2020, Approved Date

Advertisements, Bourbon County, Elections

Ad: Jeff Fischer For Bourbon County Commission

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I am thankful for your support over the past four years in our service to the community. I consider it a tremendous privilege to have your trust and hope that this trust is still valued. I humbly request the favor of your continued support for me in my quest for a second term as your County Commissioner.

Four years ago, my promises to you were:

  1. To complete the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center construction contract on time and within budget, leveraging my skills as a professional engineer. This construction contract was valued at 6.8 million and was executed without any significant change orders.
  2. To benchmark our county’s financial performance with like-sized Kansas counties. These comparisons helped in budgeting, compensation and forecasting.
  3. To improve accountability and transparency, specifically with the Garland Fire Department. That Department is once again performing to the satisfaction of its constituents.

The biggest challenges over this term were the restructuring of healthcare, the wind turbines, and the pandemic. Healthcare is 17.5% of our economy and our community was facing the realization that our hospital was closing. Fortunately, our county commission worked with Mercy and two key providers were recruited to ensure continuity of care. The anticipated decline of property values did not occur.

Mercy donated an ambulance service to Bourbon County to provide this service. After comparing several nearby county models’ organizational structure for ambulance service, we ultimately patterned ours like the Allen County model. Bourbon county contracts with Fort Scott for $1,020,000 annually for operating this service and the county collects the fees. We were able to keep this service local for about half the cost to taxpayers in comparison to our northern neighbor, Linn County.

Civic leader Bill Brittan approached the county commission with the concept of a Healthcare Mall. He believed that with three anchor tenants, this property would be a viable, self-sustaining community resource that could attract medical professionals, students, and patients into our community. Two of the anchors appeared to be already in place, those being Community Health Centers of South East Kansas and Ascension Via Christi. The county commission felt that another anchor tenant was needed to make this sustainable.

Last September, Nathan Fawson of the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center requested a tour of the Mercy Hospital building. Since that time, the concept of a regional behavioral crisis center has been explored and pitched in Topeka. Preliminary discussions with State and Federal behavioral health providers were initiated, linking these services with FSCC’s Nursing Program. Unfortunately, the pandemic has hampered the development of these proposals into letters of intent.

I have learned a great deal as we engaged the prospect of wind turbines in our county. I regret that this issue was so divisive, pitting neighbor against neighbor. I also carry remorse for some of my own off-the-cuff conduct during our commission meetings. I’ve learned that Truth is a precious commodity and that Trust must be earned.

Looking ahead, there are serious challenges that we face as a county. Our tax rate on urban commercial property is 5%. A comparison of the rate with local counties in our area, we find that Labette County (Parsons) is the only county in southeast Kansas that is higher at 5.3%. Crawford County is 3.8%. At 5%, a commercial property owner pays in property taxes the value of his property every 20 years and at 4%, 25 years. We must work to improve our stewardship or lucrative commercial ventures may bypass our community.

During KDOT’s regional meetings, I have provided them testimony in the shaping of their vision. In my opinion, completing 69 as a four-lane through Pittsburg and connecting to the Oklahoma Turnpike is vital to our long term growth strategy. In a way, we are competing against 169 in connecting Kansas City to Dallas with a future interstate.

On a personal note, I am 59 years old and have been married to Gloria Fischer for 30

years. She serves our veterans as a physician. Together, we have four children—Joseph, Mary, Noah, and Benjamin. Joseph graduated from K-State as a mechanical engineer and works for an ag tech company, 360 Yield. The other three are learning at KU and Washburn. They cherish our community and hope to return to serve here.

I am a licensed Professional Engineer with Bachelor and Master Degrees in civil engineering. My academic research experience revolves around bridge rehabilitation and I’ve presented this topic at the national American Society of Civil Engineers conference. I have a great deal of heavy construction experience as well as skills for solving complex problems. Along with my wife, I have some experience in the medical service sector also.

Our family delights in serving the public sector. We’re builders and we love this county and its people. If I have your trust and confidence, I would humbly ask for your vote for County Commissioner.

 

Bourbon County, Government

BoCo Commission Minutes of July 21

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July 21, 2020 Tuesday 1:50 pm

The Bourbon County Commissioners met in open session with Commissioner Fischer and Oharah present as well as the County Clerk and Emergency Manager William Wallis.

Lynne made a motion to adopt Resolution 24-20 and to change the effective date of 7 days to 60 days (a resolution proclaiming a state of local disaster due to COVID, Will said this resolution will help the County continue to get financial aid due to COVID expenses), Jeff seconded and the motion passed.

At 1:54, Jeff made a motion to adjourn, Lynne seconded, meeting adjourned.

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
July 24, 2020, Approved Date

Bourbon County, Government

BoCo Commission Minutes of July 20

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July 20, 2020 Monday 1:30 pm

The Bourbon County Commission met in open session with all three Commissioners, the County Counselor and the County Clerk present.

Also present were the following… Jason Silvers with the Fort Scott Tribune, Angel Wilson and Lora Holdridge.

Lynne made a motion to go into a 10 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Appraiser Clint Anderson). After the session, Jeff made a motion to approve hiring a field appraiser due to future vacancy that will occur over the next few weeks, Nick seconded and all approved.

Jeff Fischer questioned a service charge that the Consolidated Rural Water District is charging; the Commissioners told him they had a board that should be contacted regarding their charges.

Lynne discussed a resolution for possible approval requiring that any grant applied for or accepted must be approved by the Commissioners; he thought it would be a good resolution for the County. Lynne made a motion to approve Resolution 24-20, there was not a second for his motion. Jeff asked if they were trying to solve a problem with the current granting process, Lynne said yes, Justin said it was a procedural issue which caused problems that the resolution could resolve for future grants. Jeff said that the wellness grants didn’t have the Commissioners approval for the application and said that last year they considered (but didn’t follow through with) a cost share grant from the Department of Transportation for an iron bridge in Garland. Jeff questioned if the resolution would be another barrier for obtaining grants. Justin said it would be putting a layer of protection in the grant process. Jeff questioned if the resolution would be reacting to a situation and said he didn’t think that was the right thing to do. Jeff made a motion to go into a 5 minute executive session for consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners and Justin Meeks). After the session Lynne made a motion to table the resolution until a later date and Nick seconded.

Jeff made a motion to go into a 3 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Nick seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Bobby Reed and Kendell Mason). Lynne made a motion to go into a 3 minute executive session for personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel, Jeff seconded and all approved, (the session included the Commissioners, Bobby Reed and Kendell Mason). After the session Jeff made a motion authorizing an employee in the Correctional Center to use donated vacation time in the community pool for sick leave (an employee can donate vacation time to an employee to use for sick leave), Nick seconded and all approved.

Jeff said the deadline is in August for submitting an application for KDOT funding for off system bridges, he asked it was the intent of the Commissioners to explore funding for the Jefferson bridge, Lynne said they still need to determine if they want to repair or replace the bridge. Jeff questioned if he should get the authority to write a proposal to fix the bridge, Lynne said they could direct public works to get a proposal. Jeff questioned if the bridge north of Fort Scott could have an at-grade crossing installed to eliminate the need for a bridge. Jeff made a motion to direct public works to complete an application for the two fracture critical bridges (Jefferson bridge and the bridge north of Fort Scott on old 69 Highway), Nick seconded and all approved.

Lynne said they should be more involved in the application process so they weren’t blindsided.

The Commissioners reviewed the 1st draft of the 2021 budget. Jeff said the draft didn’t include a budget for the medical mall or the PILOT money. The current mill levy for Bourbon County is 66.613, the estimated mill levy on the 1st draft of the budget is 67.131. Lynne said in 2019 Road & Bridge had spent more than they thought they had due to deposits not being correct. Lora Holdridge questioned if the draft of the budget included raises for non-elected employees, Lynne said Terry was instructed to enter the amount the department head requested, Jeff questioned if it was possible to encourage all of the departments to save money for a carryover to help fund a raise.

The Commissioners will have a budget work session on July 28th at 9:00 am. Lynne said the Commissioners will work with the department heads regarding the budgets.

Jeff made a motion to adjourn at 3:12, Nick seconded and all approved.

THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
OF BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS
(ss) Lynne Oharah, Chairman
(ss) Jeff Fischer, Commissioner
(ss) Nick Ruhl, Commissioner
ATTEST:
Kendell Mason, Bourbon County Clerk
July 24, 2020, Approved Date

Government, Kansas

Tax Collections More Than 2019

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Kansas Total Tax Collections $484.6 Million Ahead of July of Last Fiscal Year

 

TOPEKA—The State of Kansas starts Fiscal Year 2021 by surpassing its total tax-only collections by $484.6 million compared to July of last fiscal year. Total tax collections for the first month of the fiscal year were $980.8 million. That is $4.6 million, or 0.5%, less than the estimate.

 

“While state revenue collections are more than the beginning of last fiscal year, we must continue to make fiscally sound decisions to minimize the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic moving forward,” Governor Laura Kelly said.

 

The State collected $619.6 million in individual income taxes for the month; an increase of $395.3 million, or 176.3%, compared to the July of Fiscal Year 2020. However, these collections were $30.4 million, or 4.7%, less than the estimate for the month. Corporate income tax collections were $69.8 million; $5.2 million, or 6.9%, less than estimated but an increase of $54.6 million compared to July of FY 2020.

 

Retail sales tax and compensating use tax collections performed better than both the monthly estimate and in their comparison to July of last fiscal year. Retail sales tax collections were $218.6 million; $16.6 million, or 8.2%, more than the estimate. That is a $14.0 million, or 6.9%, growth compared to July of FY 2020. Compensating use tax collections were 39.8%, or $14.3 million, more than estimated, with $50.3 million collected. That is an increase of $11.3 million, or 29.1%, compared to the same month of FY 2020.

 

“The state has seen consistent growth in compensating use tax collections as approximately 4,000 out-of-state online retailers have registered with the state under Kansas Department of Revenue Notice 19-04,” Secretary Mark Burghart said. “In addition, changing consumer purchasing patterns, which focus on online purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic, account for some of the increased use tax receipts.”

 

Kansas Department of Revenue Notice 19-04 was published Aug. 1, 2019, which notified retailers of sales tax requirements for doing business in Kansas.