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Rural Kansas Downtown Revive and Thrive Grants Announced
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Obituary of Robert Dean Griffiths
Robert Dean Griffiths, age 72, a resident of rural Bronaugh, Missouri, passed away Monday, January 26, 2026, at the Freeman West Health Center in Joplin, Missouri following a brief illness. He was born September 11, 1953, the son of Harold Griffiths and Betty Wunderly Griffiths. Bob grew up on the family farm near Bronaugh where he learned to love farm life and the hard work that came along with that lifestyle. After graduating from Bronaugh High School, Bob married Shanna Ruth Culp on February 15, 1975, at Ft. Scott, Kansas. Bob owned and operated his own trucking company. In earlier years, he drove all over the United States; later he settled into making short runs, hauling cattle and grain. Bob hauled his last load of cattle the day before he became ill. In addition to trucking, Bob also maintained his own farm and cattle operation. He wasn’t afraid of hard work and constantly kept busy tinkering on some sort of project. Bob’s wife, Shanna, passed away on March 4, 2022. After her death, Bob began a relationship with Glenda Leer. Bob and Glenda enjoyed his last years together.
Survivors include his two children, Doug Griffiths (Priscilla) of Fouke, Arkansas and Lisa Peterson (Shane) of Albany, Missouri; seven grandchildren, Emily Workman (Brett), October, Tatum, and Kutter Peterson, Jorja and Barrett Griffiths and Beau Hendershot and three great-grandsons, Jayce and Wade Workman and Augustus Peterson. Also surviving are his dear friend, Glenda, a brother, David Griffiths and two sisters, Carol Claflin and Joyce Agee, several nieces and nephews and a sister-in-law, Sarah McCully (Les). In addition to his first wife, Shanna, he was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Bill Griffiths and a sister-in-law, Sheri Daniels.
Following cremation, a gathering for friends and family will be held from 5 to 7 P.M. Friday, January 30th at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Bob and Shanna will both be laid to rest at the Worsley Cemetery west of Bronaugh at a later date. Memorials are suggested to Farm Aid 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.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Jan. 27
Letter To The Editor: Christa Horn
One Consistent Adult Can Change Everything: Why Our Community Needs More CASA Volunteers
By Christa Horn
The little boy sat in a plastic chair that was too big for him, his feet dangling inches above the floor. He was three years old and had already lived in four different homes. When the judge asked if anyone had anything to add before the hearing ended, one person spoke up.
His CASA volunteer.
She didn’t use big legal words. She talked about how he finally sleeps through the night now. How he runs to the door when he sees his foster dad’s truck. How he is learning his colors. How he still hides food in his pockets because he once didn’t know when his next meal would come.
That moment didn’t make headlines. But it changed the direction of that child’s life.
Court Appointed Special Advocates — CASA volunteers — are everyday people who step into extraordinary circumstances. They are trained community members appointed by judges to advocate for children who have been abused or neglected. In the middle of court hearings, case plans, placements, and uncertainty, the CASA volunteer becomes the one constant adult whose only job is to ask: What is truly best for this child?
In our community, too many children enter the child welfare system each year through no fault of their own. They lose their homes, their schools, sometimes their siblings, and often their sense of safety — all at once.
A CASA volunteer can’t fix everything. But they can do something powerful: show up.
They attend court hearings. They visit the child regularly. They talk with teachers, therapists, foster parents, and biological families. They make sure the child’s voice is heard in a system that can feel overwhelming and impersonal.
And the impact is real.
Children with CASA volunteers are more likely to receive needed services, succeed in school, and find safe, permanent homes sooner. But beyond the statistics, there is the human impact — a child who finally believes someone is paying attention.
I think of a teenage girl who once told her volunteer, “You’re the only adult who didn’t give up on me.”
I think of a sibling group who asked if their CASA could come to their adoption day because “she’s part of our family now.”
I think of a toddler who learned to trust again because one person kept their promise to come back.
Right now, there are more children in need of CASA volunteers than there are volunteers available. That means some children walk into courtrooms with no one whose sole focus is their well-being.
We can do better.
You don’t need to be a lawyer. You don’t need a social work degree. You just need compassion, reliability, and the willingness to stand beside a child when their world feels unstable.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make a meaningful difference — not in theory, but in one real child’s life — this is it.
One consistent adult. One steady voice. One advocate.
Sometimes, that is enough to change everything.
To learn more about becoming a CASA volunteer, contact Program Director Christa Horn at 620-215-2769 or email [email protected] of Form
Nevada Welcomes New Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
NRMC Welcomes Child Psychiatrist
Nevada Regional Medical Center (NRMC) is pleased to welcome Dr. Janell Tabora to our team of specialty physicians. Dr. Tabora is a Board Certified Psychiatrist, specially trained in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Focusing on a holistic approach to treatment, Dr. Tabora enjoys listening to a patient’s life journey to select the right path toward mental health and wellness. Some common conditions that Dr. Tabora can evaluate are the following:
- ADHD
- Anxiety disorders
- Attachment disorders
- Autism
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
- Early Onset Schizophrenia
- Eating disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Oppositional defiant disorder
- Panic disorder
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Dr. Tabora is accepting new patients, ages 5 to 25, via convenient telehealth visits. When on-site, her office is located within the Primary Care Clinic. Appointments can be made by calling 417-448-3600.
From the Bleachers-747 by Dr. Jack Welch
FROM THE BLEACHERS-747
BY DR. JACK WELCH
When College Football Became Professional
The national title game between Miami and Indiana will be remembered not just for the final score, but for what it represents. Indiana, a program long respected for basketball stands as the national champion for the first time in history. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. In today’s college football landscape, it makes perfect sense.
Indiana didn’t stumble into a national championship. They built it the modern way, through the transfer portal and NIL. This was not a slow build; multi-year plan defined by redshirts and recruiting classes growing together. This was a rapid transformation fueled by money, movement, and immediate results.
College football has abandoned tradition, it has become professional sports. The programs willing to change and invest accordingly have a chance to win. That is what Indiana did.
College football is no longer amateur athletics. Indiana’s football roster reportedly carried roughly $21.1 million in NIL spending, with marquee players like quarterback Fernando Mendoza earning more than $2 million. When you factor in total football operations expenses surpassing $61 million, the scale begins to resemble professional franchises more than traditional college programs.
Miami was in the same boat. Both teams took the field with rosters assembled less like college depth charts and more like professional free-agent lists. These weren’t freshmen growing into men within a system. These were proven players, recruited nationally and internationally, placed into schemes designed to win now.
History will judge today’s college coaches differently than those of the past. Yesterday’s great coaches were measured by how they built programs, developed players, and mastered the game itself. Today’s coaches are increasingly evaluated by how well they build rosters, manage NIL, navigate the portal, and assemble talent. The question for the future won’t be whether one era was better than the other, but whether coaching greatness can still be defined by teaching and leadership in a game now driven by acquisition and economics.
Indiana’s national championship is not an anomaly. It’s a blueprint. Spend wisely. Win the portal and raise the necessary funding. If done correctly, history can be rewritten in a single offseason.
College football didn’t die, it evolved into the professional ranks. Make no mistake, what we watched between Miami and Indiana wasn’t amateur athletics. It was professional football wearing college uniforms.
Thought for the week, “Change is inevitable. Those who adapt thrive, those who resist get left behind.” Jack Welch
Dr. Jack Welch serves as President of Fort Scott Community College. With a career spanning professional sports, public education, and rural community development, he brings a servant-leader mindset and a passion for building trust-driven cultures that empower people to thrive in the classroom, on the field, and in life. He is also the author of Foundations of Coaching: The Total Coaching Manual.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Jan. 26
I Was Born to Do This by Carolyn Tucker
Keys to the Kingdom
By Carolyn Tucker
I was Born to Do This
I had a 14-inch-diameter corner post that had been useful in years past, but was no longer needed. It was nothing more than an annoyance to mow around. Naturally, the responsibility of removing the post fell to my son. I watched Aaron on the tractor as he expertly operated the tractor’s front-end loader and pulled up the huge corner post. I was impressed with how easy Aaron made this massive chore look – it was like pulling a toothpick out of an ant hill! I walked over and complimented him on a job well done! He shot me a subtle smile and matter-of-factly said, “I was born to do this.” I wasn’t about to argue with him because the proof was in the pudding.
His statement, “I was born to do this,” reminded me of a song that the Happy Goodman Family made popular when I was in my teens. “Born to Serve the Lord” has been recorded by various artists, but nobody sings it like Vestal Goodman. The straightforward lyrics, penned by Bud Chambers in 1959, are as follows:
“From the dust of the earth my God created man. His breath made man a living soul. And God so loved the world He gave His only Son, and that is why I love Him so. My hands were made to help my neighbor. My eyes were made to read God’s Word. My feet were made to walk in His footsteps. My body is the temple of the Lord. I was made in His likeness, created in His image. For I was born to serve the Lord. And I can’t deny Him, I’ll always walk beside Him for I was born to serve the Lord.” Believers can be like Apostle Paul who had one passion, and that was to serve Christ by serving others.
Sometimes, when a subject of interest is over my head, I’ll ask an “expert” to explain it to me as if I’m in third grade. I like to challenge the individual to put it in the simplest terms so I can understand the answer as clearly as possible. Often times, Christ followers make following Jesus more complicated by thinking they’re supposed to be doing something earth-shattering for the kingdom of God. But Jesus very simply explained how we’re supposed to live as believers.
Jesus told His disciples, “You will lead by a completely different model. The greatest one among you will live as the one who is called to serve others, because the greatest honor and authority is reserved for the one with the heart of a servant. For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served by everyone, but to serve everyone, and to give His life in exchange for the salvation of many” (Matthew 20:26-28 TPT). In our dog-eat-dog world these scriptures seem ridiculous to nonbelievers. But when we are good and helpful to others, we’re actually loving and serving God.
Believers were born to serve the Lord so, instead of being afraid that God will call us to go to Africa as missionaries, it’s more likely He’s calling us to get off the couch and do good to the people we rub shoulders with and also strangers. Jesus plainly states that, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. …Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:35-36,40 NKJV).
The Key: Let’s jump in with both feet and serve the Lord! We were born to do this.
Bourbon County Commission Jan. 26 Meeting Agenda Summary
Bourbon County Commission Meeting Agenda: January 26, 2026
Date: January 26, 2026 Time: 5:30 PM Location: Bourbon County Commission
Meeting Agenda Outline
01.26.26 Agenda
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Call Meeting to Order
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Roll Call
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Pledge of Allegiance
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Prayer
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Introductions
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Approval of Agenda
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Public Hearing (5:35 PM) – Vacation of Road
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Resolution 08-26
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Minutes
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Commission Minutes 01.12.26
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Commission Minutes 01.15.26
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Approval of Consent Agenda
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Accounts Payable 1.23.26 ($1,123,999.50) & 1.22.26 ($98,394.22)
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Tax Corrections
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Citizen Comments
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Executive Session
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K.S.A. 75-4319 (b)(1) – Motley
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Department Updates
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Payroll update – Milburn-Kee
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Courthouse Space – Lora Holdridge
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Inventory – County Clerk
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Commission Minutes – County Clerk
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County Clerk Procedures
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2025 End of Year Financials – County Clerk
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Old Business
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Sewer update – Milburn-Kee
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Handbook Follow-ups
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New Business
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Strategic Planning – Motley
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Commission Calendar – Motley
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Create Agenda for Next Meeting
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Commission Comments
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Adjournment
(Agenda source: Page 1)
Detailed Information Packet Summary
Resolution 08-26: Road Vacation (Page 3)
The commission is considering the vacation of a 62′ wide by 125′ section of 267th Street located in Woodard’s addition to Garland, Kansas. This resolution follows K.S.A. 68-102, which allows for the vacation of roads consisting of less than two consecutive miles. If approved, the County Clerk is instructed to publish the resolution for two consecutive weeks in the Fort Scott Tribune.
Meeting Minutes Summary: January 12, 2026 (Pages 4–8)
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Reorganization: The board appointed Samuel Tran as Chairman and David Beerbower as Vice Chairman.
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Board & Liaison Assignments: Commissioners finalized their roles on various boards (e.g., Fair Board, SEK Mental Health) and department liaison duties. Greg Motley was assigned Finance, while Samuel Tran took Public Works.
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Public Safety: Mark McCoy discussed the critical need for a trained Emergency Manager and the current status of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
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Software Upgrade: The commission approved the purchase of “Hey Gov” software for approximately $1,100 to manage meeting agendas and minutes more efficiently.
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Contract Approval: A contract with Schwab Eaton for annual bridge inspections was approved for a total of $43,910.
Special Meeting Minutes Summary: January 15, 2026 (Pages 9–16)
This meeting focused almost exclusively on a methodical review of the 65-page County Employee Handbook. Key updates included:
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Elected Officials: Added language clarifying that while the handbook establishes general policies, independent elected officials maintain statutory discretion over certain operational matters in their offices.
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Probationary Period: After debate, the commission settled on a 90-day probationary period for new employees.
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Sick Leave Payout: A new policy was established allowing a 25% payout of sick leave for employees with at least 10 years of service.
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Inclement Weather: Essential personnel will now receive time-and-a-half pay during courthouse closures, while non-essential staff receive regular pay.
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Law Enforcement: Specific biweekly work schedules (86 hours) and overtime triggers were added to accommodate the Sheriff’s department.
Financials and Accounts Payable (Pages 17–81)
The packet includes extensive line-item documentation for accounts payable.
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January 23rd Totals: $1,123,999.50. This includes significant payroll clearing accounts for various departments including the Appraiser’s office and Ambulance services.
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January 22nd Totals: $98,394.22. Notable expenses include $19,589.36 for District Court (including courtroom hearing devices and software) and $10,443.72 for the County Treasurer’s department.
County Commission Calendar (Page 82)
The packet concludes with a 2026 statutory calendar outlining critical deadlines for tax foreclosures, budget certifications (due to the State by September 20th), and strategic planning sessions scheduled for February and March.
Obituary of Rose Mary Bailey
Rose Mary Bailey, 95, of Fort Scott, passed away Wednesday, January 8, 2026, at the Credo Senior Living Center in Fort Scott. She was born March 6, 1930, in Eve, Missouri, the daughter of Joseph Ray Clyburn and Edna Pauline (Weber) Clyburn. She married Arthur Leon Bailey December 18, 1949, in Garland, Kansas, and he preceded her in death on May 29, 2009.
Rose was active in Shriners Mobile Noble and Eastern Star, achieving her 75-year pin in the Topaz Chapter O.E.S. She was secretary of the bowling league, and also enjoyed playing cards.
Survivors include her son, Larry Bailey, of Fort Scott; her daughter Debra Holt and husband Randy, also of Fort Scott; six grandchildren, Justin Bailey, Jeremy Bailey, Ryan Bailey, Clint Holt, Ross Holt, and Haley Fry; twelve great-grandchildren, Dakota, Trevor, and Brayden Bailey, Madison Brothers, Shelby Bailey, Myla and Dani Bailey, Julian and Mara Fry, Rhys Holt, Knox and Eastyn Holt; two great-great-grandchildren, Kinzer and Colyns Brothers. In addition to her husband Arthur, she was also preceded in death by her parents, a sister, Margie Martin, and three brothers, Earl Clyburn, Joe Clyburn, and Donald “Bill” Clyburn.
Graveside services have been postponed due to weather. Memorial contributions may be made to Care To Share or Shriner’s Hospital and may be left in the care of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall Street, P.O. Box 309, Fort Scott, KS, 66701. Friends and family may sign the online guest book and share memories at www.konantzcheney.com.
Death Notice of Jason Thomas Buffington
DEATH NOTICE
Jason Thomas Buffington, age 53, resident of Fort Scott, KS passed away Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at the Olathe Medical Center, Olathe, KS. There was cremation. Memorial services will be announced at a later date by the Cheney Witt Chapel.