All posts by Loretta George

Vote Today for City of Fort Scott and USD 234 BOE Position 3

The vote here sign sits in front of the north wing of the Bourbon County Courthouse, 210 S. National.

The Bourbon County Primary Election is today, August 6.

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Exercise your right as a U.S. citizen to vote your conscience in this election.

From the Bourbon County Clerk Kendell Mason:

“This primary will only be for the City of Fort Scott and USD 234 position 3.  The other schools, cities, FSCC, Extension District, etc. will not be on the Primary ballot.”

The November general election will be for Bourbon County cities, schools and K-State Extension Board positions.

Vote at these sites (taken from the Bourbon County Kansas website)

1st Ward        Community Christian Church                    DRYWOOD        Grace Baptist Church

2nd Ward      Grace Baptist Church                                   FRANKLIN         Mapleton Community Building

3rd Ward       Grace Baptist Church                                   FREEDOM         Fulton Community Building

4th Ward       Community Christian Church                     MARMATON       Redfield City Hall

5th Ward       Community Christian Church                     MILLCREEK      Redfield City Hall

6th Ward       Community Christian Church                     OSAGE               Fulton Community Building

7th Ward       Grace Baptist Church                                   PAWNEE            Redfield City Hall

NORTH SCOTT       Community Christian Church

SOUTH SCOTT       Grace Baptist Church

TIMBERHILL        Mapleton Community Building

The Primary Election will narrow the candidates down to two times the number of positions open.

 

Public Health Department Moves: New Possibilities In Future

From left: Rebecca Johnson, BSN, RN, the administrator of SEKMCHD; Alice Maffett, Registered Nurse in Bourbon County and Kristi George, the administrative assistant. They stand in front of the new public health department facility at 6th and Horton.

The local public health department moved from behind the Bourbon County Courthouse to a more spacious building and reopened on July 29 to offer health services to the community.

The new space for Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department is located between 6th and Horton and 6th and Lowman Streets at 524 S. Lowman.

The Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department is located between 6th and Lowman Streets and 6th and Horton Streets.

 

In former years the building has been Mercy Home Health, Curves-a woman’s fitness center, then Cornerstone Bible Church.

The location on two main streets in Fort Scott will be an advantage.

“We hope this location makes people more aware of the health department,” Alice Maffett, health department nurse, said.

Now the employees can serve the community in a larger and more visible building with services such as physicals, immunizations, pregnancy tests, family planning, Kan Be Healthy Screenings, blood pressure and blood glucose checks, hearing and vision screenings, SRS referrals, Sexually Transmitted Disease testing and treatment, and lab/blood draws.

 

The Public Health Department, located at 6th and Horton Street, Fort Scott.

Rebecca Johnson, BSN, RN is the administrator of SEKMCHD and her primary office will be in Fort Scott. Maffett is the Registered Nurse in Bourbon County and Kristi George is the administrative assistant.

A physical exam and current immunizations are required for entrance into kindergarten.

New this year in immunizations, is the state-required meningitis shots for 7th and 11th-grade students, Maffett said, which the department offers.

The WIC program will be utilizing the building and also available are breastfeeding classes.

The health department board is working to build community partnerships.

“It is a great building and we are looking for other community groups or agencies to utilize our conference room.

The conference room is approximately 25 feet by 16 feet and has an adjacent kitchenette for use, she said.

Dave and Jan Elliott will be offering Love and Logic Parenting classes in the future.

The health department board is also interested in exploring the option of telemedicine in the future, Johnson, said.

Another possibility in the future is to hire a Nurse Practitioner, Maffett said.

The hours of operation: Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to noon and 12:30  p.m. to 5:30 p.m. For more information: 620.223.4464. The fax number is 620.223.1686. or www.sekmchd.com

 

 

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Inmate Release List Aug.1

293 E 20th St., Fort Scott, KS 66701
AgencyName Data

Inmate Released List

07/31/2019 to 08/01/2019
MCMULLEN, AMIL RAY 2019-000632
07/03/2019 7/31/19 12:25 PM
34 W M OWN RECOGNANCE
SELF

PASTRICK, WYATT READ 2019-000702
07/30/2019 22 W M 8/1/19 8:00 AM TIME
SERVED
SELF

BEALER, LACY WAYNE 2019-000310
04/02/2019 52 W M 8/1/19 8:02 AM TIME
SERVED
SELF

Total Inmates Released: 3

The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Arrest Report Aug. 1

07/31/2019 – 08/01/2019
293 E 20th St., Fort Scott, KS 66701
Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office
Arrest Summary Report

Charges, Bond Type, Bond Amt.

TINDILL, CODY MATTHEW. 20, – 2019-000708
Warrant Type
7/31/2019 7:00:00 AM
SENTENCED * YES NO BOND 0.00
Bond Total 0.00

SPEARS, JOHNNY LEE, 32, – 2019-000709
Warrant Type
7/31/2019 7:12:00 AM
WARRANT BOURBON COUNTY ( FAILURE TO APPEAR) * NO 2017-CR-0358 CASH/SURETY 1500.00
Bond Total 1500.00

HOLLADAY, JOSHUA RAYMOND, 35, –
2019-000710
Warrant Type
7/31/2019 11:19:00 AM
INTERFERENCE WITH LEO; OBSTRUCT/RESIST FELONY NO CASH/SURETY 20000.00
POSSESS OPIATES/OPIUM/NARC DRUG AND CERTAIN STIM
NO CASH/SURETY 0.00
USE/POSS DRUG PARAPHERNALIA/HUMAN BODY NO CASH/SURETY 0.00
WARRANT BOURBON COUNTY ( FAILURE TO APPEAR) * NO 2018-CR-000525 CASH/SURETY 500.00
Bond Total 20500.00

GRANT, SHAWN TYREE, 55, – 2019-000711
Warrant Type
8/1/2019 8:00:00 AM
SENTENCED * NO NO BOND 0.00
Bond Total 0.00

Polling Places for August 6 Primary Election: City of Fort Scott and USD 234 Position 3

Voters at the Bourbon County Clerk’s Office.

 

The Bourbon County Primary Election is August 6, next Tuesday.

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Exercise your right as a U.S. citizen to vote your conscience in this election.

Correction from the Bourbon County Clerk Kendell Mason:

“This primary will only be for the City of Fort Scott and USD 234 position 3.  The other schools, cities, FSCC, Extension District, etc. will not be on the Primary ballot.”

The November general election will be for Bourbon County cities, schools and K-State Extension Board positions.

The following are a list of polling places in the county.

1st Ward        Community Christian Church                    DRYWOOD        Grace Baptist Church

2nd Ward      Grace Baptist Church                                   FRANKLIN         Mapleton Community Building

3rd Ward       Grace Baptist Church                                   FREEDOM         Fulton Community Building

4th Ward       Community Christian Church                     MARMATON       Redfield City Hall

5th Ward       Community Christian Church                     MILLCREEK      Redfield City Hall

6th Ward       Community Christian Church                     OSAGE               Fulton Community Building

7th Ward       Grace Baptist Church                                   PAWNEE            Redfield City Hall

NORTH SCOTT       Community Christian Church

SOUTH SCOTT       Grace Baptist Church

TIMBERHILL        Mapleton Community Building

 

 

 

 

Craw-Kan Taking Orders for Fiber Optic Internet

CRAW-KAN,
Your Community Technology Partner asks:
Hey, Fort Scott –
are you in the zone?
Hey Fort Scott –
are you in the zone?
CRAW-KAN is now taking business and residential orders for fiber optic internet, high definition TV and phone service in the GREEN shaded area on the map above.
Call 620-724-8235 to sign up,
or check out www.ruralfiber.org
for packages and pricing;
then click “I WANT FIBER” and enter your info to have us
contact you!
If you aren’t in the GREEN *yet* please be patient…
We are coming to the east side of town next year!!

Young Entrepreneur: Hannah Vann

Hannah Vann, owner of Quick & Clean Auto Detail. Photos Submitted by Erin Vann.

This is part of a series that features area entrepreneurs under 30 years of age.

If you know of someone deserving this publicity, email  [email protected] with your name, why you are nominating the entrepreneur, their name and email/phone number.

 

Hannah Vann of Fort Scott, 16, was nominated to be featured as a young entrepreneur by her aunt, Trisha Newton.
In May 2018 Vann started her business, Quick & Clean Auto Detail, working from her home.

“Last year when trying to work while being involved in sports and school she was finding it hard to find a job that worked well with her schedule,” Newton said. “So she decided to start detailing cars during her spare time.”

Hannah said the original reason for learning to detail cars was an argument with her mom.

“I started my business after my mother and I got into an argument over me being sassy,” Vann said. “As a punishment she made me clean our Suburban.”

“She and my aunt always said it would be nice to have a good clean, rather than a $100 detail, of their cars,” Vann said. “I realized I had an amazing opportunity to start a successful business, that also worked around all of my sports and school activities.”

Hannah is the daughter of Tarrell and Erin Vann.

“The unique part about her detailing is that she is not charging a ton like a normal detail costs, instead making it an affordable, quick clean,” Newton said.  “Your basic vacuum/wipe down etc. for those busy people on the go and don’t want to spend an arm and a leg!”

The service includes an interior vacuum,  and cleaning of windows, floor mats, dash, console, doors, door and seat trim.

“I charge $35 for cars and trucks and SUV’s start at $45,”  Vann said.

“She has kept very busy all summer and continues to work hard for her customers,” Newton said.

“I have approximately 40 costumers,” Vann said.

Van can be reached at 620-224-8555.

Cherry Jammers Perform at Friday Night Free Concert

The Friday Night Free Concert at Heritage Park this week will feature the Cherry Jammers music ensemble from the Cherry Grove Baptist Church.

It is held at 7 p.m. at the corner of Main and First Street in downtown Fort Scott.

“This group is one of our favorites who have performed for us for many years,” Ralph Carlson, event organizer for the Chamber of Commerce, said. “The group sings hymns and gospel classics. The group combines vocal and various musical instruments.”

Come early and bring a lawn chair as seating is limited.

In the event of bad weather the event will move to The Common Grounds Coffee Shop on Main Street.

Text 911 When You Can’t Call

The 911 text console located in the Fort Scott Police Department Dispatch Center. Submitted photo.

The Fort Scott Police Department launched a service to help people who might not be able to talk in an emergency situation.

“Text to 911 Service is a service that is now available for individuals to be able to text 911 calls if they do not have the ability to call,” Traci Reed, Fort Scott Police Department Dispatch Center Manager, said. ” For example if an individual is somewhere and they may not want someone to hear them making the call because of immediate danger, they have the ability to text the information instead of calling, or a caller may not be able to get through on a phone call due to service, but may be able to get through as a text.”

The service, Text to 911, was launched on  April 12, 2018.

“We integrated the NG911 system on this date as well and the Text to 911 was one of the services that were included in the system,” Reed said.

“The Text to 911 benefits the citizens of Bourbon County ensuring the safety of our community, which is our number one priority,” she said. “Citizens know that they not only have the option to call 911 in a time of need but they have the ability to text as well. Text 911 then you send a message just like you do when sending any other text. Our emergency dispatcher types back and forth to the sender requesting information the same as when an individual calls in.

The system is located in the Fort Scott Police Department Dispatcher Center, 1604 S. National Avenue.

The Fort Scott Police Department electric sign stands outsite the department, located at 1604 S. National Avenue.

Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Released Report July 31

AgencyName Data
Inmate Released List 07/30/2019 07/31/2019

COOLEY, BRYON RAPHAEL 2019000531        05/31/2019 7/30/19 9:06 AM B M21 TIME SERVED
SELF

DECK, ERIC ALTON 2019000698       07/28/2019 7/30/19 10:12 AM W M44 NOTHING FILED
SELF

JOHNSON, PATRICK LEE 2019000704      07/30/2019 7/30/19 2:51 PM W M55 SURETY BOND
ABLE BONDING

MERRIMAN, CALEB ANTHONY
2019000579      06/13/2019 7/30/19 5:30 PM W M25 SURETY BOND
ABLE

Hemp Production Comes to Kansas AND Bourbon County

Hay bales in a Bourbon County field July 2019.

Hay bales, wheat, soybeans, and corn, those are the normal scenes in rural Kansas during the summertime.

But a new alternative crop is possible in the summer of 2019.

Hemp production has come to Kansas following Former Governor John Colyer’s enactment of the  Alternative Crop Research Act in April 2018.

Bourbon County Counselor Justin Meeks,  of the Bourbon County Commission, was asked to provide information to the commission on hemp.

“Hemp is not marijuana,” Meeks said. “The size is different, the hemp plant is much bigger. And you can’t get high from hemp.”

There are three people, called licensees, legally planting hemp in Bourbon County, according to Jason Walker, Public Relations Director for the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

Regulations and procedures for planting hemp in Kansas are quite rigorous, Meeks stated.

None the less, there are those who have started planting.

“As of  July 22, 2019,  the Kansas Department of Agriculture has received the notification, through required planting reports, that roughly 1170 acres of industrial hemp have been planted in Kansas,” Walker said. He noted that 65 acres are licensed (potential) acres in Bourbon County.

Joe Bisogno, Jr. started growing hemp on eight acres on a small acreage in Bourbon County this month, he said.

He prefers not to give the location of the area where he is growing the hemp “So people won’t try to come to look at it,” he said.

“When you license to grow hemp, you can’t have anybody in the designated area, they can’t come on the property,” Bisogno said.

“The application process involves each person that touches the field (where hemp is produced) has to get a background check,” Meeks said.

Bisogno said he traveled the country to see how to plant, process and harvest the plant first hand, before taking the plunge into growing hemp.

“Joe Bisogno Jr. and Joe Bisogno Sr. have done a lot of work at the legislative level for hemp production,” Meeks said. “They deserve credit for that.”

The recent planting on Joe Jr.’s small acreage is for research purposes, he said.

“I’m doing research on the hemp,” he said. “I plan to compare how hemp grows in two different soil types.”

“I’m planting it for CDB oil,” Bisogno said.

CDB is an abbreviation of cannabidiol, a compound found in marijuana plants, according to https://sciencetrends.com/what-does-cbd-stand-for/

Bisogno is planting the hemp for economic reasons.

“You can make money on a small acreage,” he said.

“It’s easily a billion-dollar industry,”  Meeks, said. “There are thousands of articles that can be made from hemp, such as flooring and clothing.”

Here is the history of how Kansans came to grow hemp, provided by Kansas government links.

Then-Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. signed Senate Bill 263 ( K.S.A. 2-3901 et seq.) in April 2018, which enacted the Alternative Crop Research Act allowing the Kansas Department of Agriculture to oversee the cultivation of industrial hemp in a research program, according to the website https://www.agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/plant-protect-weed-control/industrial-hemp

“The KDA legal staff and plant protection and weed control program staff quickly began the process of developing regulations and other administrative documents and procedures to guide the Alternative Crop Research Act, according to the website.

“Since that time, KDA staff participated in more than 14 public outreach events across the state, which began with an open dialogue and information exchange at a public forum May 11 and included a public hearing prior to publishing the regulations.

“The regulations were approved by the Department of Administration and the Attorney General and reviewed by the Legislative Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations before final regulations were published in the Kansas Register on Jan. 24, 2019. They became effective on Feb. 8, 2019, 15 days following their publication.

“The Industrial Hemp Research Program became possible because the 2014 Farm Bill included a section to allow for universities and state departments of agriculture to begin cultivating industrial hemp for purposes of research, provided that the growing and cultivating of industrial hemp is allowed under state law.

“Industrial hemp is defined by SB 263 as all parts and varieties of the plant cannabis sativa L that contain a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

“The recent passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed federal restrictions on the establishment of commercial hemp programs and allows individual states to develop a plan to license the commercial production of hemp and further directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a plan for states that do not do so.

“In order to establish a program for the commercial production of industrial hemp, Kansas must develop a plan through KDA, in consultation with the Governor and Attorney General. Any such plan must be submitted to USDA for approval.

“The opportunity to grow a new specialty oilseed crop in Kansas offers potential for diversification for Kansas farmers looking for an alternative crop, or for new farming enterprises interested in cultivating industrial hemp.

“The Kansas agriculture industry has developed a statewide strategic growth plan in recent years, and is committed to pursuing new and innovative opportunities to grow agriculture.

“The research generated by participants of this new industrial hemp program will be valuable data in identifying the growth potential offered in this sector.”