Category Archives: Bourbon County

The Beacon Has A New Director

Gary Murrell. Submitted photo by Carol MacArthur.

Gary Murrell has pastored churches for 38 years in Kansas, Missouri, and Louisiana through the Church of God, headquartered in Anderson, Indiana.

As of August 7, he is now the director of the Beacon, a helping agency in Fort Scott.

“Through ministry, you help people in various ways,” Murrell said. “I feel comfortable in that….this is an opportunity to help people.”

“This is a  great opportunity to grow myself and the Beacon,” he said.

“The Beacon serves Bourbon County with food and clothes, to help those that qualify. The community is welcome to come by and get to know the Beacon.”

The agency is located at 525 E. Sixth St. on the city’s east side and is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To donate food, clothing or money, contact the agency at 223-6869.

The Murrell’s are Bourbon County transplants.

In 2014, Gary and wife, Fannie, purchased the Perry property, near Redfield.

They have two daughters, Hanna Malveaux, Fort Scott, and Rachael Woosley, Chandler, Arizona, and six grandchildren.

 

Boer Goats: Good For 4-H and FFA Kids

The Boer Goats are coming! The Boer Goats are coming!

And due to a happenstance, they have been coming annually to Fort Scott for three years.

“This will be the third year ( the Heartland Showcase Boer Goat Sale)  will be held in Fort Scott as we are in the middle of the area of people raising Boer Goats,” Allen Warren, with the Bourbon County Fairgrounds Board, said.

What is a Boer Goat?

“The development of the Boer goat in the early 1900’s can be traced to the Dutch farmers of South Africa. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer.  With meat production setting the selection criteria, the Dutch farmers developed the Boer goat as a unique breed of livestock. The Boer goat has a rapid growth rate, excellent carcass qualities and is highly adapted to different environments,” according to  http://abga.org/about-abga/history/

“They (the Heartland Showcase Boer Goat Sale organizers) originally held their first sale in Columbus,” Warren said.

There was a lack of hotels and restaurants in Columbus, according to Warren.

“As some of the officers were on their way home to Nebraska, they drove through Fort Scott  and decided to see what kind of a Fairground  and facility we had to offer,” Warren said. “The next day they called the K-State Extension Office and got my telephone number.  This developed into the relationship we have today.  They feel our facilities and our community has a lot of what they were looking for.”

“We heard that they were a good location, centrally located. Fort Scott seemed to be the perfect fit,” Lisa Stripe, co-owner of the sale, said. “We generally have 12 different farms bringing their goats into the sale. Usually the crowd draws 100-150 people.”

The Stripes are from Humeston, Iowa.

“We personally got started because as a kid Ithought it would be fun to have some. Later, I bought some behind my husband’s back.”

“They are good animals  for kids in 4-H or FFA because they are gentle, the kids are less likely to get hurt versus a cow or calf.”

“I  would like to thank the businesses , the motels the fairgrounds,” Stripe said. “We couldn’t ask for a better place to have the sale.”

 

Viewing of the animals is from 4-6 p.m. Saturday, August 18 and again Sunday August 19. The sale will be Sunday at noon at the fairgrounds.
You may contact Lisa Stripe at 402-759-5497 or Jill Lanham at 402-984-8344 for more information about this event

 

New FSCC Biology Teacher: Heather Davis

 

Heather Davis is the biology instructor at Fort Scott Community College.

This is part of a series of profiles of new teachers in our community.

Dr. Heather Davis is the new biology instructor at Fort Scott Community College.

Name: Dr. Heather Davis

Title of position: Biology Instructor, Fort Scott Community College

Education: Fort Scott High School 2006, Associate of Science- Cowley College 2008, Bachelor of Science in Biology- Pittsburg State University 2010, Master of Science & Doctor of Chiropractic- Logan College 2014

Experience: No prior formal teaching experience, but extensive education and background in the sciences.

Age: 30

Family: Husband-Dr. Grant Hartman, children-Zoey (age 2) and Zeke (age 3 months), late father-Tom Davis, mother-Cindy Davis, parents-in-law- Brad and Robin Hartman, Grandparents-in-law-the late Ron Billiard and Karen Billiard.

Affiliations:

“I have been in private practice with my husband at Hartman Spine & Joint for three years practicing functional medicine, which relies extensively on knowledge of human biology, anatomy, physiology, laboratory evaluation, nutrition and performance. While I will still be practicing part time, I am excited to start my teaching career.”

Why did you choose education as a career?

“I found that in private practice, I was teaching patients one-on-one every single day, something I did not realize would happen to this extent. I finally recognized my passion for teaching and, paired with my love of science, formal teaching just made sense. It is also a way for me to be more involved in the community, develop relationships, influence more people, and be involved in something bigger.

What is the first on your list of priorities for the position?

“Ensure each and every student in my classroom develops a basic understanding of the world around them, lead more students to the sciences, and foster relationships with local high schools to enable students to work ahead.”

 

New FSCC Harley-Davidson Teacher: Alex Mason

This is part of a series of new teachers in our community.

Alex Mason is a new Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Technician Training and Development Program instructor at Fort Scott Community College.

Name: Alex Mason

Title of position: Harley-Davidson Instructor

Education: AAS FSCC Harley-Davidson

Experience: Technician at Gail’s Harley-Davidson, Grandview MO

Age: 28

Family: Wife is Holli Mason, a daughter, Lucy.  Parents are Steve and Kendell Mason.

Why did you choose education as a career?

“This is an opportunity for me to apply my skill set closer to home, so I may spend more time with my family.”

What is the first on your list of priorities for the position?

“Implementing my experience at an H-D dealership in order to help create better-prepared technicians for the field.”

Kale Nelson Handing Out $1 For Each Random Driver Who Is Buckled Up

Bucks Rewarded to Drivers Who Buckle Up

Safe Kids Kansas, State Farm and KDOT Partner for Safety Message

TOPEKA, Kan. – Thousands of vehicles will be traveling the Kansas roadways during the Labor Day weekend. Many families will head out on one last camping trip or getaway as the school year begins.  The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Safe Kids Kansas, State Farm and the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) want to encourage families to buckle up and drive safely to protect their most valuable asset, their families.

From Aug. 26 through Sept. 9, a safety belt awareness campaign called “Bucks for Buckles” is being held in 56 cities across Kansas. One dollar bills are being distributed by local volunteers to drivers who have all occupants buckled up securely in their vehicle. Those riding unrestrained will receive educational materials about the effectiveness of seat belts and child safety seats in saving lives and reducing injuries.

“No one can predict when they will be involved in a motor vehicle crash, yet almost all of us will be involved in an automobile crash in our lifetime. Last year, 382 people lost their lives on Kansas roadways and 50 percent of them were unbuckled,” said Cherie Sage, State Director for Safe Kids Kansas. “The single most effective means of protecting the lives of you and your passengers are wearing seat belts and using appropriate child restraints every time you ride in the vehicle – even short distances.”

Local Agent Kale Nelson with State Farm Insurance will be participating in this program to promote wearing seatbelts, in both Fort Scott and Uniontown.

Exact dates will not be announced.

One dollar bills are being distributed by local volunteers to drivers who have all occupants buckled up securely in their vehicle.

 

 

County Commission Canvasses 2018 Election Aug. 16

Agenda

Bourbon County Commission Room

2nd Floor, County Courthouse

210 S. National Avenue

Fort Scott, KS 66701

Thursday starting at 9:00

Date: August 16th, 2018

1st District-Lynne Oharah Minutes: Approved: _______________

2nd District-Jeff Fischer Corrected: _______________

3rd District-Nick Ruhl Adjourned at: _______________

County Clerk-Kendell Mason

10:00-Canvass for the 2018 Primary Election

Justifications for Executive Session:

          Personnel matters of individual non-elected personnel

          Consultation with an attorney for the body or agency which would be deemed privileged in the attorney-client relationship

          Matters relating to employer-employee negotiations whether or not in consultation with the representative(s) of the body or agency

          Confidential data relating to financial affairs or trade secrets of corporations, partnerships, trusts and individual proprietorships

          Preliminary discussions relating to the acquisition of real property

          Matters relating to the security of a public body or agency, public building or facility or the information system of a public body or agency, if the discussion of such matters at an open meeting would jeopardize the security of such public body, agency, building, facility or information system

Bourbon County Declared In A Drought Emergency

Drought Declarations Updated in Kansas Counties

The Governor’s Drought Team examines declining surface water conditions

 

Topeka – While there have been some recent rains, drought conditions for many areas of the state, especially eastern Kansas, continue to worsen.

 

Declining livestock water and feed supply continue to be reported. This has resulted in emergency status being added in eastern Kansas for any county with a U.S. Drought Monitor Severe Drought (D3) status, contiguous counties and reported issues. This now moves 10 counties into Emergency status from a Watch and 12 into Emergency from a Warning. Below are the counties listed in Bold indicating these changes.

 

Drought Watch counties (18): Cheyenne, Cloud, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Jewell, Logan, Mitchell, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Rawlins, Republic, Rooks, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas

 

Drought Warning counties (15): Allen, Chautauqua, Elk, Ellis, Greeley, Lane, Ness, Rush, Russell, Scott, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson, Woodson

 

Drought Emergency counties (72): Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Brown,  Butler, Chase, Cherokee, Clark, Clay, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Edwards, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Grant, Gray, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, LabetteLeavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Miami, Montgomery, Morris, Morton, Nemaha, Neosho, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Riley, Saline, Sedgwick, Seward, Shawnee, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Wabaunsee, Washington, Wyandotte

 

Counties in emergency stage are eligible for emergency use of water from certain state fishing lakes. They also become eligible for water in some Federal reservoirs.

 

Individuals and communities need to contact the Kansas Water Office (KWO) for a water supply request prior to any withdrawals from lakes. They will in turn be referred to the appropriate office to obtain the necessary permit to withdraw the water.

 

The Governor’s Drought Response Team will continue to watch the situation closely and work to minimize the effects the drought has on Kansans.

 

For more detailed information about current conditions, see the Kansas Climate Summary and Drought Report on the KWO website at: www.kwo.ks.gov.

 

 

Note to Editor:  The Americans with Disabilities Act, (42 U.S.C. 12101), requires the Kansas Water Office to print the reasonable accommodations messages.