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Monthly Archives: February 2022
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports Feb. 9
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Feb. 10
Sen. Moran: Our Country Can Only Function When We Feel Safe and Secure
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science – today spoke during a press conference on rising crime in America.
“We are a country designed to be based on the rule of law,” said Sen. Moran. “Our country can only function when we feel safe and secure in our homes, in our schools, in our communities, and in our churches and synagogues.”
“Now is the time to prioritize investments in solutions that will have a lasting impact on our law enforcement personnel; solutions that allow them to meet the challenging situations they face when they put on their uniforms,” continued Sen. Moran.
Click HERE to watch Sen. Moran’s full speech
Learn how to become a CASA Volunteer
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Community Input Sought On U234 District Needs
It’s been a rough two years for education in the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Because of the pandemic, the U.S. Government has given money to school districts to support kindergarten through grade 12 schools to open and sustain their safe operations.
USD 234 will receive over $4 million in school funding and is seeking input to identify needs for the school district from the community.
The district is offering meetings to the community to gain ideas in moving forward in the education of their students.
“The expected outcome of these meetings is to gather information from our community stakeholders that will be used to compile our ESSER III (Elementary and Secondary School Relief) plan and application,” USD234 Business Manager and Board Clerk Gina Shelton said. “Part of the ESSER III plan calls for informed decisions based upon a variety of stakeholder input.”
“We have surveyed and held several meetings with our staff to gather their input,” she said. “Our community is another key factor in the success of our schools. We seek information from our parents on needs they see to help their child(ren) be successful with their education.”
“We seek information from our community members even if they do not currently or previously have had students in our district,” Shelton said. “Education is all about providing opportunities for kids. I firmly believe our future as a community is impacted greatly by our students. They are our future workforce, our future community leaders, and our future parents. These conversations will allow us to develop a plan to hopefully address as many needs as we can.”
The first batch of ESSER funds allowed them to continue providing education during the shutdown, she said.
“The second batch was a key part of us being able to remain in person,” Shelton said.
“This last batch is all about providing services to help provide a quality education for our students,” she said. “Ten years down the road, we want to be able to say that those funds made a big impact on our students’ successes.”
Five Sessions for the Community Input
The info gathering sessions will be in the different buildings in the school district, for the community to see where the learning happens, she said. And the different time sessions are to give parents options to attend.
There are evening sessions and a Saturday morning session for parents to find one time period that fits with the family’s schedule.
“One is scheduled at the high school during parent/teacher conferences, we hope they find this convenient for them,” she said
Another of the meetings is at the school board meeting.
“We’ve had ESSER III funds as a recurring item at our board meetings for several months now, but we know sometimes it is hard for people to attend,” Shelton said. “Our hope is that even if they can’t attend in person, they are able to watch the streamed board meeting. Then if they have questions or ideas, they can reach out to us if they would like more information.”
“We really want this to be an active conversation that leads to some very positive results,” she said.
The district encourages the community to take it feedback survey:
More information can be found at this website,
https://www.usd234.org/o/USD%20234/page/esser-funds
The district has divided the input sessions into groups at five different scheduled times: the Fort Scott Preschool is the first session on Thursday, Feb. 10 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the preschool center at 409 S. Judson.
The next is at Winfield Scott Elementary School, 316 W. 10th, on Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 19 is the next one at 8 a.m. at the Fort Scott Middle School, 1105 E. 12th as is the next one on Monday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the middle school as well.
The last session is on Tuesday, March 8 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Fort Scott High School Auditorium, 1005 S. Main.
Chamber Coffee Tomorrow At Lyons Realty Group
Obituary of Terry Culp
Terry Terry Lee Culp, 70, of Eureka, Kansas, passed away Friday, February 4, 2022, after battling liver disease.
He was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, on November 27, 1951.
He married Diane Culp on January 12, 1974, in Hooper, Nebraska, they later divorced.
They have a son, Billie Culp (Carrmann), of Ackworth, Iowa, and grandchildren Blake Culp of Claremore, Oklahoma and Kristin Culp of Newton, Iowa; a daughter, Buffy Weber (Ryan) of Eureka, Kansas, and grandchildren Kaitlynn Smith (Jeff) of Madison, Kansas, and Trenton Kuhn of Eureka; a daughter, Terri Spigarelli (Jeff) of Frontenac, Kansas, and grandchildren Jay Karleskint, Becca Karleskint, and Gianna Spigarelli of Frontenac, and great-grandchildren Bowen & Lylah Smith.
He later married Andrea Carr, on June 28, 2002.
Terry served thirty years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves as a mechanic, including a station in Germany from 1975-1977 with his wife and children.
He enjoyed repairing vehicles as well as helping friends and family with various projects. He was always a jokester and loved telling jokes and playing tricks on everyone he met. Who all fell for his “dog jaw” prank?!
Services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, February 11, 2022, at the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, Fort Scott, Kansas, with burial following at the Fort Scott National Cemetery.
Military Honors will be presented by the US Army Funeral Honors Detail, Fort Riley, Kansas, at the Cemetery.
Condolences may be submitted to the online guestbook at konantz-cheney.com.
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports Feb. 8
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Feb. 9
KGS Reponds to KCC Order
Kansas Gas Service is pleased with the Order from the Kansas Corporation Commission on its securitization mechanism to recover costs from the February 2021 winter storm. We prioritize keeping our customers safe and warm during these extreme weather events and aim to recover the unprecedented costs from the high natural gas prices due to the storm with fairness and minimal impact to customers.
| Submitted by: Bailey McBride |
| Public Relations Manager, ONE Gas |
KCC Approves KGS Recovering Winter Storm Costs
KCC approves settlement agreement allowing Kansas Gas Service to recover winter storm costs over time, using low interest bonds
TOPEKA – The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) has approved a settlement agreement outlining how Kansas Gas Service (KGS) will recover $366 million in deferred natural gas costs incurred during last February’s winter weather event. The utility, like others regulated by the KCC, was ordered to do everything possible to continue providing natural gas service to its customers, defer the charges, and then develop a plan to allow customers to pay the unusually high costs over time to minimize the financial impact.
Under the terms of the agreement, KGS will apply for Securitized Utility Tariff Bonds to obtain the most favorable financing to reduce costs to ratepayers. The 2021 Kansas Legislature passed the Utility Financing and Securitization Act, which allows utilities to use securitized bonds to pay for extraordinary costs at more favorable terms than traditional financing. The KCC will review the plan to ensure the lowest possible bond costs will be passed on to customers. The application and review process could take six to eight months.
Until the securitization process is complete, the exact dollar amount KGS customers will see on their monthly bills or the length of the payment period is unknown. Estimates range anywhere from $5 to $7 per month for a period of 5-10 years.
The Commission emphasized it was in the public interest for KGS to incur the extraordinary costs to ensure the integrity of the gas system and ensure continuous service to its customers.
“A lesser response could have resulted in catastrophic property damage and serious public safety implications, including potential loss of life. When extraordinary costs are unavoidable and necessary to benefit the public, it is in the public interest to allow recovery of such costs.”
Feb. 8 order states that any proceeds received by KGS from ongoing federal or state investigations into market manipulation, price gouging or civil suits will be passed on to customers. In addition, KGS has agreed to file a plan to assist low-income customers in its service territory by December 31, 2022.
A second order, addressing a proposed unanimous settlement on a waiver of penalties for gas marketers and transportation customers (large volume users that buy gas directly through natural gas suppliers or marketers using KGS to deliver the fuel) under KGS’ Tariff will be issued by March 7. A hearing on that settlement was held February 4.
Today’s order is available at:
http://estar.kcc.ks.gov/estar/ViewFile.aspx?Id=172a1653-5e64-4ecd-84d9-b42bd4da664a
A recording of today’s Business Meeting featuring comments by Commissioners on this order, is available on the KCC YouTube channel.