Amanda Bourassa, broker, and Scott Theis, associate broker, of Stutesman’s Action Realty Fort Scott.
Stutesman’s Action Realty, Nevada, Mo., opened an office on Fort Scott’s Main Street in August.
“This is an opportunity to get back and work with people I have known for years,” Amanda Mahlock Bourassa, broker, said.
She is a 1997 Fort Scott High School graduate, and a 1999 graduate of Fort Scott Community College.
“I love Fort Scott and this is an opportunity to help grow our town and community,” Bourassa said.
Theis is excited to be in Fort Scott because he sees the city as a community moving forward, he said.
“It’s exciting for me to be able to provide service to help with that agenda by helping individuals and families achieve their real estate goals,” Theis said.
Their agency provides residential and commercial property real estate service, provides property management (handling maintenance and rent duties), and provides relocation services.
The business is located at 119 S. Main, Suite A, between Fort Scott City Hall and Crooner’s Lounge. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and after hours and weekends by appointment.
The public was allowed a viewing of the new Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center Thursday. The project took one year to complete and will house 74 inmates.Residents, employees, and dignitaries mill around prior to the ribbon cutting at the new Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center Thursday afternoon.The project summary of the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center was on display at the public viewing.A pod for inmates at the new correctional center. Inmates should be at the new facility by the second week of November, according to Sheriff Bill Martin.Sheriff Bill Martin shows the command center at the new law enforcement center during a tour Thursday afternoon.Corrections officers get a look at the inmate recreation area at the new center. Daylight and fresh air must be provided inmates daily. The huge fan at the top, center, will provide the air intake for the room.The sallyport area where inmates are brought by vehicle into the center is shown by Sheriff Bill Martin.At right, Steve Smith visits with Sheriff Bill Martin. Smith is the president of Universal Construction, the general contractor for the project.Sheriff Bill Martin shows a handicapped accessible pod with special safety features.Sheriff Martin shows an honor pod, for model inmates who are allowed to work in the community with supervision. Model inmates will also prepare meals for the center with supervision, something not feasible at the old jail.An interview room at the center for inmates and attorneys.Employees, interested Bourbon County residents and dignitaries line the sidewalk in front of the center to prepare for the opening ceremony. The area surrounding the center is being seeded with grass, therefore there was no standing off the sides of the sidewalk.The address sign on the outside of the center at 293 E. 20th Street. It is located on the south side of Fort Scott.Signs upon entering the Bourbon County Law Enforcement Center.
Fort Scott Livestock Market is the fourth largest in Kansas, according to owner Larry Martin.
Four generations of Martins work in the Fort Scott Livestock Market, Larry Martin said following the Chamber of Commerce Coffee Thursday morning.
Jim, Larry’s dad, along with Tyler and Kyle, Larry’s sons, are the owners and managers of the business at 2131 Maple Road.
Now Tyler and Kyle’s kids work there too.
Gabby and Addy Martin help their grandmother, Deb Martin, in the office and Andrew and Eli Martin help where needed during the livestock auction sales that happen on Friday and Saturday.
Larry Martin speaks to attendees of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce weekly coffee.
Larry Martin said 60 to 70 people are working the sales on those two busiest days. There are 10 full-time employees.
“Last year we sold over 100,000 cattle,” Larry Martin told the Chamber Coffee attendees. “And about $10 million total dollars in sales. That puts money back into the community. Farmers will spend money on equipment.”
Martin told the attendees that the business is the fourth largest livestock market in the state.
The Martins leased the sale barn facility for 15 years and purchased it two years ago, he said.
They put up fences and added pens, he said
Martin thanked the Bourbon County Commission for the newly improved roadway in front of the business.
“We have the best road in Bourbon County,” he laughed.
Upcoming events at the market:
Equipment auction, 10 a.m. Oct. 19. Equipment can be brought to the site that morning and checked in.
Fort Scott Community College fall semester is in full force, and recently the administration approved the school’s budget.
FSCC Finance Director Julie Eichenberger provided Fort Scott Biz with information which was approved following a public hearing on August 14.
Information provided is on expenditures, leases/purchases, and tax rates.
Major expenditures in the budget are technical education and auxiliary expenditures.
Post-secondary technical education expenditures are for ” all the classes considered tech education,” Eichenberger said. “Those would be nursing/allied health/EMT, John Deere, construction trades, cosmetology, welding, Harley Davidson, agriculture.”
Total for this line item in the budget is $3,294,586.
For auxiliary expenditures – the dorm, cafeteria, and bookstore, the line item is budgeted for $2,073,486.
The cafeteria is an auxiliary budget item.
$8,458,958 are current funds unrestricted in the general fund.
The tax rate has stayed about the same, according to FSCC President Alysia Johnston.
Eichenberger provided Fort Scott Biz with the recent history of the mill levy and the statement of condition lease, lease purchase and certification of participation.
Cosmetology equipment, the environmental lease (formerly Chevron), the City of Fort Scott, Ellis Fine Arts Center, the baseball scoreboard, and the John Deere Building are all line items in the statement provided below in the link.
In addition, Johnston provided student enrollment information.
The full-time student headcount at the college is 1,792 for 2017 fall semester.
“About even from last year,” Johnston said Wednesday.
Tuition waiver for Bourbon County residents
Fort Scott Community College has expanded its tuition waiver for Bourbon County residents who wish to take classes at the Fort Scott campus or online, according to a press release from the college. FSCC will waive the tuition costs, up to fifteen credit hours, for any Bourbon County resident who enrolls at FSCC. Students will be responsible for covering fees and purchasing books.
FSCC students can take general education classes for transfer to a four-year institution or pursue a certificate or associate degree. FSCC offers 55 courses that are guaranteed by the Kansas Board of Regents to transfer to any public college or university in the state of Kansas.
To apply for the waiver, students should contact the FSCC Admissions Department at 620-223-2700, ext. 3520 or ext. 3530. Students must also complete a Bourbon County Tuition Waiver Form and return it to the Admissions Department prior to the start of the semester.
Ellis Fine Arts Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, 2401 S. Horton.
Gordon Parks Museum is located on the campus of Fort Scott Community College.
The audience listens to leaders of the group, Live Local BB, on Thursday.
Live Local BB is a grass-roots organization that had a public introductory meeting Thursday at Sharkey’s Pub and Grub.
BB stands for Bourbon County and Live Local BB encourages growth of local businesses in the county.
“We want to educate the community on how it benefits the community to live locally,” Geoff Southwell told the group of interested people. “Use local whenever possible. Money stays in the community. It’s creating and maintaining wealth and jobs”
Board member Geoff Southwell addresses a group of interested people Thursday at the initial public meeting of Live Local BB. Board member Melissa Wise listens in the background.
The group’s board members are Cindy Bartelsmeyer, Richard Goldston, Bryan Holt, Dave Lipe, Chris Maycumber, Andy Norris, Angie Simons, Southwell, Rebecca Sutterby and Melissa Wise.
Live Local BB Board Members Rebecca Sutterby, left, and Melissa Wise, facing away, sign in interested attendees at the initial public meeting of the organization.
Live Local BB board members from left: Andy Norris, Dave Lipe, Bryan Holt, Chris Maycumber and Richard Goldston listen as Geoff Southwell addresses the attendees at the initial meeting.
Fort Scott City and Chamber of Commerce officials “have jumped on board with us,” Southwell said.
The City of Fort Scott presented a $500 check to the group Thursday evening at the initial meeting.
To get the word out, the 65 businesses who have joined so far are encouraged to tell about their business on the local radio station.
“There will be 2 to 3 radio spots a day for the first twelve months,” Southwell said. “Talk in microphone, they will edit that. KMDO brings it together and it’s good. Volunteers are needed to get the word out.”
The group also has a Facebook page, Live Local BB.
Live Local BB is a grass-roots organization just formed in Fort Scott to encourage residents to buy from local businesses.
Construction is winding down on the highway improvement project through Fort Scott.
A construction crew of up to 10 men a day has been working on a section of U.S. Hwy. 69 that snakes through Fort Scott since April 2016.
“Hopefully, (the project) will be completed in the next two weeks,” Bob Vipt, superintendent for Laforge and Budd Construction, Parsons, said Tuesday.
The highway improvement project extends from the driveway of Extrusions Inc. north to Briggs Fort Scott on South Main Street, he said.
The crew has added a turning lane at the intersection of National and U.S. Hwy. 69 and also at 23rd Street and U.S.Hwy.69
The intersection of U.S. Hwy. 69 and South National Avenue, Fort Scott, where new traffic lights were installed and a turning lane added as part of a highway improvement project.
“I think these were congested intersections at times,” Vipt said.
Newly installed traffic lights and a turning lane at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 69 and 23rd Street in Fort Scott.
Also included in the construction project paid for with federal, state and city funds are:
two new stop lights
new storm drains on the east and replaced storm drains on the west side
new curb and guttering
New curb, guttering and storm drains recently installed on U.S. Hwy. 69, also known as South Main Street in Fort Scott.
new sidewalks
A new sidewalk lines the west side of U.S. Hwy. 69/South Main Street in Fort Scott.
new asphalt surface
new striping down the middle
new landscape sod
To be completed are the new surface with roadway striping and also placing sod along both sides of U.S.Hwy. 69 adjacent to the project.
Laforge and Budd Construction is the general contractor, RFB Construction, Pittsburg, is a subcontractor on the project.
Highway expansion south of Fort Scott
Construction crews are also busy expanding a six-mile section of U.S. Hwy. 69 south of Fort Scott and north of Arma.
The section is being upgraded to an expressway, which is a four-lane highway but with access points.
This project was started in March 2017 and is scheduled for completion in November 2018, according to Priscilla Peterson, a Kansas Department of Transportation Public Affairs Manager.
RFB Construction workers were on site Tuesday in Fort Scott, working on the turn lanes..
Mercy Clinic staff in Fort Scott welcomed Amanda Stice on August 5, 2017 as a new nurse practitioner.
As a registered nurse, Stice decided to take on a bigger role in patient care and went on to become a family nurse practitioner.
Specializing in family medicine, she is board certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and earned her master’s degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, according to a press release from Mercy.
She offers routine health care, management of chronic diseases, wellness exams, well woman exams, sports and school physicals, vaccinations and immunizations, treatment of minor illness and injuries and more.
Experiences in her practice have created many rewarding moments, Stice said.
“These experiences are what keep me passionate about my career and role in my patient’s health,” she said.
Previously, she worked for nearly six years at University of Kansas Hospital as a registered nurse in acute care units.
After earning her master’s degree, she worked in urgent care in Independence, transitioning into primary care at the same location.
She and her husband live in Fort Scott with their two children.
Stice will see patients at Mercy Clinic Suite A, located in the hospital.
Zoe Self reacts to the surprise announcement that she is a winner of the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes 2017 Discovery Award.
Local Fort Scott High School student Zoe Self was the recipient of an award that gifted her with $7,500 in unrestricted funds Friday.
Prior to the announcement, students and staff gathered in the school’s media room, where Lowell Milken told the audience that the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes “considers ourselves incubators of history.”
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Discovery Award is an international competition that awards creative projects highlighting role models whose positive impact on history remains largely unnoticed.
Self created a performance which depicted the story of Lilla Day Monroe.
Monroe was a Topeka-based suffragette who advocated for women’s rights. She established and edited The Club Woman and The Kansas Woman’s Journal. In addition, she served as the president of the Kansas State Suffragette Association.
“Lilla Day Monroe was the first female lawyer in Kansas,” Self told the audience. “She helped pass the Nineteenth Amendment…she was determined to effect change by working through the court system. She was an incredible woman.”
“This unsung hero project changed my life,” she said.
Fort Scott High School staff along with Lowell Milken Center staff pose with Discovery Award recipient Zoe Self. From left are FSHS Principal Shawn Thomas, Lowell Milken, Self, LMC Program Director Megan Felt, USD 234 Superintendent Bob Beckham, FSHS Gifted Instructor Angie Kemmerer and LMC Director Norm Conard.
Fort Scott High School students and staff listen to Lowell Milken preceding the surprise announcement of Zoe Self’s winning the Discovery Award.
In the Discovery Award process, students in fourth through twelfth grades are invited to use their creative talents to develop projects that feature people from history who demonstrate that one person can make a positive change in the world. Projects can take the form of documentary/multimedia, performance or website. Projects must show potential for the ability to inspire people to take sustainable actions that carry out the legacies of their subjects, according to an LMC press release.
Faith Christian church is hosting a garage sale this Saturday starting at 8 am. Items will be sold for a donation and the funds will go to help the 10 Guatemala Mission trip team members and provide for the ministry activities on the trip.
Ministry activities will include: home visits to two impoverished families to pray and deliver food staples along with gifts, ministry to students at a local school, visit and prayers for patients at a regional hospital, and building a house for a homeless family. The sale will be held at 1201 S. National. Maybe you don’t have extra cash, but need to clean our your garage, you can drop off your things to sell starting at 1 pmon Friday at the sale location.
If you have further questions, please contact Matthew Wells 417-684-1714.
Top picture is Tomasa, a widow and two of her five boys during a special visit in her home last year. The second picture is the guys with a mother and daughter after making much needed repairs to their home last year. All four of those guys will be going again the year. Team members this year are: Greg, Carie, Connor, and Gibson Fess; Rhonda Myers; Matthew Wells; Paul Wilson; Kasey Eaton; Kaylee Coombs; and Brady Simpson.
Fort Scott, Ks –
The Bourbon County Art Council is hosting their annual art exhibit and sale. This year marks the 23rd year the exhibit has been on display. Yesterday morning community members gathered in the Ellis Fine Arts building to participate in the exhibit and the Chamber coffee.
Over 35 artists contributed to the exhibit this year. Artist ranged in age from 16-82 years old, including various types of media, from 19 cities across the region. Winners have been selected and the prizes have been provided by area businesses who support the arts including: H&H Realty, Landmark Bank, City State Bank, McDonald’s, Union State Bank, H&R Block, The Liberty Theatre, Fort Scott Broadcasting, Ward Kraft and individual donors.
If you haven’t made it out to see the exhibit, today is the last day the art display will be open, Friday, March 13th from noon to 7pm.
Fort Scott Community College has had a rodeo program for nearly 40 years. Through those years, many students have been educated in many aspects of not only rodeo, but teamwork and many aspects of livestock, not to mention a few bumps and bruises.
The rodeo can bring upwards of 3,000 visitors to our community which provides many economical benefits. The rodeo kicked off last Friday with events lasting through Sunday. Many events included: calf roping, breakaway, saddle bronc, goat tying, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding are a few of the highlights.
If you missed this years rodeo, you’ll want to come and participate in the event. 2014-15 Rodeo Team consists of: Dillon Adolf, Cooper Belt, Austin Bond, Jaice Cross, Hunter Deckard, Colton Delgado, Dakota Eagleburger, Alex Edmonds, Brenton Esslinger, Enzo Ferretti, Sandro Ferretti, Nick Franchett, Amanda Garrett, Trey Gates, Wyatt Gewinner, Colton Goad, Austin Graham, Lane Hamm, Wyatt Hoggatt, Heather Humphrey, Colton Jennings, Matthew Jordan, Cody Kendall, Alex Lee, Wyatt Maines, Boyd Miller, Ryan Myers, Dylan Schulenberg, Katelin Silovsky, Dillon Sondereggor, Ty Swiler, Timothy Tippman, Colton Wagoner, Jennifer Wisniewski, Breanna Wortman. Coached by Chad Cross and Assistant Coach Cali Griffin
Fort Scott, KS – Have you been looking for a new Italian restaurant that serve authentic Italian dishes in Fort Scott? You need to make sure and stop in for a meal at Bella Roma. Bella Roma was started by Giovanni and Eddie Elezi. The brothers have several other successful restaurants in the South Eastern part of the state. After some consideration, they decided it was time to establish a restaurant in Fort Scott.
Bella’s has been open almost two months now. Those who have discovered the restaurant already will find Fridays and Saturdays are full and may even end up on a waiting list. Giovanni, one of the Chef’s preparing the fare is from Palmera, Italy and their family has been making food for over 30 years.
Located at 302 East 1st street, they have transformed the space into a cozy Italian dining experience. The wait staff are friendly and enthusiastic about the restaurant and the vision the owners have for the new space.
This weekend, they are offering a “Lover’s Special” Valentine’s Meal. This includes salad, entrée, drinks and cheesecake dessert for two for $39.95. Make sure and give them a call for all the details!!
Bella Roma
HOURS: 11am – 9:30pm
302 East 1st Street
Fort Scott, KS 66701
620-223-2633
