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Monthly Archives: April 2025
Governor Kelly Signs Bipartisan Bills to Increase Government Efficiency
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly signed on Thursday a collection of bipartisan bills aimed at increasing government efficiency. These seven technical bills eliminate unnecessary requirements, clarify definitions, and streamline processes with the goal of achieving maximum government productivity.
“I am always looking for ways to make our government more efficient for the people of Kansas,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I’m pleased to sign bills into law that do just that.”
Governor Kelly signed the following bipartisan bills:
Senate Bill 104: Provides flexibility to the Shawnee County board of county commissioners to create a citizens commission on local government, giving local officials the discretion to create such a commission.
Senate Bill 77: Streamlines processes by removing state agencies that no longer exist from Kansas Administrative Regulations and establishing standards for public notice for the repeal of certain regulations.
Senate Bill 13: Reduces requirements for filings, registrations, and licenses certain businesses and organizations must submit to the secretary of state.
House Bill 2222: Requires ignition interlock device manufacturers to compensate the state for the administration of the ignition interlock program.
House Bill 2221: Transfers the alcohol and drug abuse treatment fund from the Department of Corrections to the Department for Aging and Disability Services, allowing for more efficient administration of the program and easier access to services for Kansans.
House Bill 2215: Modifies the definition of public-private partnership to increase the allowable cost-share for certain Department of Corrections projects, providing the ability for the Career Campus project to move forward.
House Bill 2110: Facilitates the State 911 Board’s transition to a state agency by establishing necessary budget funds and providing flexibility to ensure the agency can provide sufficient grant funding to public safety partners.
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Obituary of Conrad “Conard” Wright
Conrad “Conard” Calvin Wright, age 82, resident of Fort Scott, KS passed away Wednesday, April 2, 2025, at Medicalodge of Fort Scott. He was born April 8, 1942, in Dade County, MO the son of John “Sam” and Perna Jones Wright. Conrad graduated from FSHS with the class of 1960 and then FSCC in 1963.
He worked for Harlan Hardware in Fort Scott until it sold. He then was employed with Mayco Ace Hardware until his retirement. Conrad was a scoutmaster for 35 years. He enjoyed working in the garden and repairing just about anything mechanical. He loved spoiling all the neighborhood kids that knew him.
Survivors include two brothers, Robert Wright (Mary) of Garnett, KS, and John Wright of Sabetha, KS; and a sister Carol Fehr, Fort Scott.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Wanita Morehead, two brothers, Arthur and Marvin Wright, and his parents.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Monday, April 7th, at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Burial will follow in the Memory Gardens Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 10:00 AM until service time Monday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to Boy Scout Troop #114 and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, PO Box 347, 201 S. Main St., Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted online at cheneywitt.com.
Rogers Body Shop Closed Its Doors: Couldn’t Find Workers
Larry Rogers said he “always figured that they would be taking me from my shop to the undertakers”, and that he would continue the auto repair shop work he had done for 37 years until he died.
But he couldn’t find workers to do the jobs that needed to be done.
“With what we do, put vehicles back to pre-crash conditions, we have to have people that can follow directions and come to work,” Rogers said. “Getting people to show up was a problem, more for younger applicants.”
“It wasn’t something we planned on doing, it was the turn of events,” he said.
“There should be five workers in the building, it ended up just Ryan and I,” he said.
“We had hired and trained workers, but not for over one year.”
His son, Ryan, has worked with him for 17 years.
“He was going to take over, but decided he’d go to work for someone else and let them have the headaches (of not having enough workers).”
Rogers quit taking on more auto body repair work at the end of October 2024 and had enough work on the books until the end of January 2025.
“I’ve talked to plumbers, mechanics, electricians, and they also couldn’t find anyone willing,” he said. “Things were tough before COVID-19. After COVID-19 we didn’t have many applicants. It used to be you’d have people stopping in to ask if we were hiring.”
“There used to be tech schools to train people on auto body repair…a lot of them have closed down.”
Nationwide
It is a nationwide problem, according to an article from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Workforce participation remains below pre-pandemic levels. The United States is missing 1.7 million Americans from the workforce compared to February 2020, according to https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
According to the article
Employers are facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that there are 8 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.8 million unemployed workers.
If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have millions of open jobs.
Some of the factors for this, according to the article are:
Early retirements and an aging workforce
Net international migration to the U.S. is at its lowest level in decades
Lack of access to child care.
Some opened their own businesses.
Increase in savings: higher-income and savings bolstered people’s economic stability.
Future for Rogers
“I’m not retired, said Rogers, who is 63. “I still own the Alignment Service, east of this building.”
Ryan went to work for a car dealership in Olathe in March, doing bodywork.
“I am basically trying to get ready for an auction, probably in June,” he said. “Trying to sort out and clean out the building. After 37 years in the business, there is a lot of stuff. The building will be for sale.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do after that,” he said.
Rogers bought the business from Frank Burchett in 1987 on East Wall Street. The building isn’t there now because of the new Highway 54 route. He built the current building at 120 W. 19th and opened his business in July 2003.
Fort Scott High School Football Booster & Athletes Fundraiser “Egg My Yard”
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The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports April 3
K-3 and K-7 resurfacing work to start soon
Tuesday, April 8, the Kansas Department of Transportation expects to start a 25.6-mile resurfacing project on K-3 and K-7 highways in Bourbon and Crawford counties. The work begins on K-3 at the K-39 junction and continues south to K-47. The contractor will then move to K-7, working from the south city limits of Girard south to U.S. 400.
Project activity includes a mill and overlay. Flaggers and a pilot car operation will guide one-lane traffic through the work zone during daylight hours. Expect delays of 15 minutes or less. The resurfacing work should be finished by mid-June, weather permitting.
APAC-Kansas Inc. Shears Division, of Hutchinson, is the primary contractor for the $5.5 million road work. Check KDOT’s updated traveler information website, www.kandrive.gov, for more highway conditions and construction details. Persons with questions may contact Bukola Oni at KDOT-Pittsburg, (620) 308-7617, or Priscilla Petersen at (620) 902-6433.
Starlite Family Community Education Meeting Minutes, March 2025
The March meeting of the Starlite FCE was held at the Presbyterian Village meeting room. President Glenda Miller called the meeting to order and led the club in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the Club Collect. Seven members and one guest were in attendance. The members reported eight hours of volunteer work and that they had recycled seventy pounds.
Glenda Miller gave the treasurer’s report in Doris Ericson’s absents. She also announced that April 1st is the Spring Fling. Doris, Deb, Karen and Glenda are planning on attending. The Area Recognition Day will be May 1st in Parsons. Doris, Glenda and Karen will be attending. Bourbon County will be responsible for the decoration at the Area Recognition.
Glenda Miller reported on the Congressional Medal of Honor for our citizenship minute as well as presenting the Myth of Hospice “You have given up.”
New business consisted of learning about Care to Share. Teresa Davenport, president of Care to Share, shared with the members about their mission and way that we could assist the Cancer Support group. Teresa presented upcoming opportunities to help including donating baked goods for the home show and Livestock Show. Glenda reminded members to bring candy to fill Easter eggs for Tri-Valley to the April meeting.
Letha Johnson moved that the meeting be adjourned, Betty Johnson seconded the motion, meeting adjourned.
After the meeting Terri Williams presented the lesson on “Sifting Though the Flour Bouquet.” Refreshments of Quinoa flour cookies, Almond flour brownies, Coconut flour blueberry muffins, oat flour pancakes and water were provided by Betty Johnson and Terri Williams.
Prepared by
Terri Williams
Government/Education Entities Updates at Community Connection on April 9
COMMUNITY CONNECTION PANELIST LUNCHEON
Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
11:45am to 1pm
Empress Event Center
7 N. Main St.
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An event to connect the community to happenings in the
City, County, School Districts, Community College, and more!
7-minute updates from each of the following entities,
ending with Q&A:
City of Fort Scott
Bourbon County Commission
FSCC
USD-234
USD-235
Lunch may be ordered on fortscott.com/events by Monday, April 7th, 10am.
Sandwich lunch for $10, choice of ham, turkey, or roast beef ~ gluten free available.
Sponsored by: Davis Accounting, Inc.
Town-Wide Rummage Sale is May 2-3
CHAMBER ANNOUNCES THE SPRING TOWN-WIDE GARAGE SALE IN FORT SCOTT
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce announces the Spring Town-wide Garage Sale will be held Friday and Saturday, May 2nd and 3rd. The Chamber encourages the community to register garage sales to be included on the official listing and map and to save the date to hunt for bargains on clothing, home décor, tools, and more.
The deadline to register a garage sale is 1pm, Tuesday, April 29th which can be done online at fortscott.com/events, calling the Chamber at 620-223-3566 and paying over phone by credit or debit card, or stopping by the Chamber office at 231 E. Wall St.
The cost to register a sale is $12. The Chamber also sells display ad spaces on the map to help make the sale possible, and those are $35 for a business card-sized ad or $25 for a smaller ad.
Starting Thursday, May 1st at 10am, copies of the official garage sale map may be found at the Chamber office as well as local stores 5 Corners, Bids & Dibs, Casey’s, Don’s Smoke Shop, and all Pete’s locations. The map may also be found on the Chamber website fortscott.com or on Facebook on the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce page.
Contact the Chamber for more information at 620-223-3566.
CHAMBER PREPARES FOR ANNUAL DINNER & AWARDS CELEBRATION TO BE HELD THURSDAY, APRIL 24th
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce will hold the 2025 Annual Dinner & Awards Celebration Thursday, April 24th at The River Room, 3 W. Oak St. The evening will be a “70’s Disco” themed event with a message of “We Are Family, Come Together and Celebrate Community”. All are welcome to attend as Chamber members, guests, and the community come together to recognize businesses, organizations, and individuals who contribute greatly in different ways to benefit Fort Scott and Bourbon County.
The Chamber is now accepting nominations for awards to be presented that evening. Links to both online and printable nomination forms may be found on fortscott.com on the event link. Hard copy forms may be picked up at the Chamber. Nominations are due by Thursday, April 10th.
Awards to be presented include Large Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, New Business of the Year, Agri-Business of the Year, Businessperson of the Year, Community Spirit, and Young Professional of the Year. Additional awards to be presented include the Keystone award, selected by the Chamber Board of Directors, the Mayor’s Citizenship Award selected by the Mayor and City of Fort Scott.
The Annual Dinner is one of the primary fundraisers for the Chamber to fulfill their mission to serve members and the community, and donations of silent or live auction items would be greatly appreciated. Chamber members are also invited to decorate a table at the event in coordination with the theme which is great advertising and promotion for the business or organization. One of the fun awards presented at the event is for the best decorated table.
The Annual Dinner event will start with the social hour and silent auction at 5:30pm, followed by dinner, awards, and a live auction at 6:30pm. Reservations are $40 for individuals, and table pricing and sponsorships are available. Those wanting to attend may contact the Chamber at 620-223-3566 or email rsvp@fortscott.com. by Friday, April 18th.
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Commerce Announces New Opportunity for Transformative Art in Public Spaces
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Commerce today announced the launch of an innovative program to support the enhancements of often overlooked public infrastructure to help drive economic growth and community vitality. The Transformative Art for Public Spaces (TAPS) grant will invest in projects that leverage creative placemaking to attract visitors, encourage local investment, and support small businesses. A total of $150,000 will be available.
“The TAPS grant program is about more than making every-day objects look more presentable,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “Having attractive public gathering spots encourages more people to utilize them, stay for longer periods of time, and spend more money at local establishments. These small investments will have long-term economic benefits for communities across the state.”
The TAPS grant offers awardees amounts of $1,500 to $2,000 per project to cover materials, supplies and artist compensation. Interested applicants are encouraged to collaborate with local artists, students and community members by offering them opportunities to contribute creatively to their communities. Repurposing these mundane or unsightly objects will give the community assets that reflect local pride and long-term economic resilience.
Approved and funded fixtures and overlooked structures include:
- Electrical boxes
- Fire hydrants
- Trashcans
- Water utilities
- Other infrastructures
Applications will be accepted through December 5 or until funds are depleted. Priority will be given to projects in communities that have not received funding from Commerce during the previous three years.
“The TAPS Grant is an exciting way to celebrate community identity while offering artists and residents the chance to make a lasting impact on their surroundings,” Assistant Secretary of Quality Places Matt Godinez said. “We can’t wait to see how these projects inspire collaboration and connections among our Kansas communities and residents.”
Organizations may submit proposals for multiple projects within a single application, provided each project meets the program’s guidelines. A maximum of five projects are allowed per applicant. Projects that will not be supported include:
- Signs promoting businesses
- Murals or large-scale wall installations
- Live performances or temporary art
- Large undertakings requiring structural modifications
Applicants must work with their local municipality or property owner and be permitted to create art on the proposed structure. Documentation of this permission will be required for the application.
For more details, application forms, project examples and resources, click here.
Questions about the TAPS Grant can be directed to Quality Places Manager Sara Bloom at Sara.Bloom@ks.gov or (785) 506-9278.
About the Kansas Department of Commerce:
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses. Through Commerce’s project successes, Kansas was awarded Area Development Magazine’s prestigious Gold Shovel award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and was awarded the 2021 and 2022 Governor’s Cup by Site Selection Magazine.
About the Quality Places Division:
Established in 2024, the Quality Places Division at the Kansas Department of Commerce exists to improve quality of life in communities across the state through various programs and services. The Kansas Department of Commerce understands the immense role played by strong communities in economic development and prioritizes investments in people and communities as major contributors to the overall strength of the Kansas economy. To learn more, click here.
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