Election Prayer Night
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‘No Mercy’: What Happens to a Rural Town When Its Only Hospital Shuts Down? New ‘Where It Hurts’ Podcast From KFF’s Kaiser Health News and St. Louis Public Radio Documents the Economic and Emotional Fallout Sept. 23, 2020 “No Mercy,” the first season of the new “Where It Hurts” podcast from KFF’s Kaiser Health News (KHN) and St. Louis Public Radio, immerses you in the fallout experienced by one rural town, Fort Scott, Kansas, in the year after its only hospital was shut down by a distant corporate owner. In losing Mercy Hospital Fort Scott, the community lost not just health care but also one of its largest employers and some of its best paying jobs, sparking tensions, anger and fear for many. Fort Scott’s identity wavered as residents struggled to come to terms with losing the place where their babies were born and kids’ bones were set, and patients with cancer went to get chemo. Mercy Hospital served as a mainstay of the town for 132 years, and was a constant presence until faltering finances forced its doors to close in December 2018. The town felt abandoned. KHN senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who grew up in southeastern Kansas, returns to her roots to ask uncomfortable questions of town leaders and the Catholic nuns who once ran Mercy to find out why the hospital, like so many others in rural America, fell upon hard times and ultimately shut down. Tribble spent more than a year returning again and again to see how the lives of people changed. From a low-income senior who struggles to get to dialysis to the CrossFit-loving town manager and the nurse who became the hospital’s last president, their stories are full of grit and hope. Along the way, Tribble finds that the notion that every community needs a hospital deserves questioning. The new podcast is a collaboration between KHN and St. Louis Public Radio. Season One: “No Mercy” is the first offering in a new “Where It Hurts” podcast partnership. In future seasons, other storytellers will lead the reporting to highlight overlooked parts of America and show how health system failures can ripple through the social fabric of a community. Troubles similar to those in Fort Scott are plaguing rural areas all over America. More than 130 rural hospitals have closed over the past decade, including 18 in 2019 alone. These days, the added pressures of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic have forced even more small, rural hospitals to close their doors for good — 15 in the first eight months of 2020. “When Sarah Jane shared her reporting on the fallout from a rural hospital closing in her home state of Kansas, I said, ‘Wow, this has to be a podcast,’” said KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal. “I’m so thrilled that St. Louis Public Radio has jumped in wholeheartedly with us to make it happen!” “We’re proud to partner with the team from KHN to shed light on health care disparities,” said St. Louis Public Radio General Manager Tim Eby. “The powerful stories from ‘Where It Hurts’ will help listeners, no matter where they are, understand the health care challenges facing our nation. These are stories that bring context and humanity and need to be heard by audiences.” “Where It Hurts” is KHN’s third podcast project and the first to employ a narrative storytelling approach. It debuts Sept. 29, with episodes to be released weekly through Nov. 10, and will be available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and NPR One. Listen to the “Where It Hurts” trailer and find more information at whereithurts.show. Members of the news media can request an embargoed version of the entire first episode, “It Is What It Is,” by filling out this form. “Where It Hurts” is St. Louis Public Radio’s seventh podcast currently in production, the most distinguished being “We Live Here” — a two-time international Kaleidoscope Award winner for outstanding coverage of diverse communities and issues. About KFF and KHN: KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) and, along with Policy Analysis and Polling, is one of the three major operating programs of KFF. KFF is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. About St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis Public Radio is an award-winning news organization and NPR member station, providing in-depth news, insightful discussion and entertaining programs to a half-million people per month on air and online. With a large, St. Louis-based newsroom and reporters stationed in Jefferson City and Rolla, Missouri, and Belleville, Illinois, the station’s journalists find and tell important stories about communities across the region and help people become deeply informed about the issues that affect their lives. Broadcasting on 90.7 KWMU-FM in St. Louis, 90.3 WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, 88.5 KMST in Rolla and 96.3 K242AN in Lebanon, Missouri, and sharing news and music online at stlpublicradio.org, St. Louis Public Radio is a member-supported service of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues, KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. |
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There has been some recent activity at the former Price Chopper Supermarket on South Main.
Equipment in the store has been taken out.
“We have been working on taking all of the equipment out to remodel a store in Overland Park,” said Barry Queen, the owner.
The store closing was devastating to the Fort Scott community and Queen.
“It closed in January of 2019 after just being open a little over a year because business was really soft, compared to projections.”
“I hate it, I’ve had a lakehouse at lake Ft. Scott for 20 years and love the community,” he said.
“It is owned by Associated Wholesale Grocers,” Queen said. “I am on a 20-year lease and still paying rent/taxes/insurance/utilities/etc…(I would) love it if you can help us sell it and get me out of the rent.”
The commercial building, located at 2322 S. Main, is for sale or lease, with the owners willing to split into smaller parcels, according to information provided by Jody Hoener, Bourbon County’s Economic Director. If the purchaser is retail, there is a TIF/CID in place that will transfer to the new owner. If not a retailer, the purchase price can be negotiated without incentive.
The 39, 425 square foot building is on 4.5 acres. There is carve out pad site availability.
The building was fully renovated in 2017.
Click below for the announcement of the closing in January 2019:
FORT SCOTT PRICE CHOPPER TO CLOSE DOORS
Click below for photos of the store opening in Dec. 2017:
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I want to assure the public is able to attend this Lake Advisory Board meeting this coming Saturday.
It’s open for all.
We have a big enough area to be socially distancing.
Submitted by
Nancy K. Van Etten
Lake Advisory Board Chair
Agenda
Lake Advisory Board – Fort Scott Airport – Ellis Hangar – 1869 Indian Road
September 26, 2020 @ 9:00 am
Call to Order: Nancy Van Etten
Flag Salute and Opening Prayer: Jeff Fischer
Roll Call and Special Recognition for Tom Brink: Nancy Van Etten, Nancy Maze, Jeff Fischer, Dean Striler, Shane Wood, Kevin Allen, Don Banwart, Debbie Mc Coy.
City Staff: Dave Martin, Tom Graham
City Commissioners: K. Allen, P. Allen, R. Nichols, L. Watts, J. Mitchell
Other Attendees: Board and City Staff can attend in person. To observe meeting go to the City of Fort Scott’s You Tube Channel.
Approval of July 18, 2020, meeting minutes.
Safety Update Will Always Be First: Tom Graham. In addition: Follow up on private buoys, replacement of rubber bumpers on public docks, safety signs and broken down docks.
Old Business
New Business
Public Comments:
Next Meeting:
Adjournment
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“We had an exceptional day collecting signatures to place on a ballot for the voters to decide that the SEWER AND STORM SEWER FUNDS will be remain in the City of Fort Scott budget for that purpose. Many Electors voiced their opinion “Our sewers are in serious need of repair and the City must stop moving the money around and not fixing things!”We are well on the way to the required number of signatures required to place this referendum on a ballot, but organizers will be available to collect signatures in front of the Fort Scott Post Office on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 1pm until Oct 13th. We can also assist with registering to vote until that date which is the deadline to vote in the National election on November 3rd.”
SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
FORT SCOTT CITY COMMISSION
CITY HALL COMMISSION ROOM
123 S MAIN STREET
SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
11:00 A.M
I. ROLL CALL:
K. ALLEN P. ALLEN NICHOLS WATTS MITCHELL
1. CONSENT AGENDA:
Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1271-A totaling $428,590.44.
Certificate of Appropriateness – 113 S. National – Signage and Alterations to building
II. CONSIDERATION:
City Insurance Liability Update – James Charlesworth
Acceptance of Community Development Block Grant No. 20-CR-004 – Mayco Ace Hardware – Approval to accept grant and for Mayor to sign all pertinent documents
Kansas Housing Grant application opportunity
Lauber Municipal Law Firm July Billing Statement
Consideration of application of Cost Sharing Program through K.D.O.T.
III. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT: ROLL CALL
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on movie theaters throughout the nation.
It has also impacted Fort Cinema, located at 224 W. 18th.
“We have lost 70% of our revenue during the same time frame from a year ago,” Brent Cavin, who has worked and managed the theater since 2007, said. “Blockbuster movies continue to be pushed back by studios.”
In spite of this, the cinema owners have had community support.
“The community has been great about supporting us with purchasing of concessions and gift cards. We take it as a sign that our citizens want to make sure the theater remains in Fort Scott.”
Cavin is co-owner of Anderson and Cavin LLC, with his brother-in-law, Chris Anderson, and they have been in talks with the current theater owners, Des and Amanda Hale, about purchasing the theater, he said.
The business has been practicing measures to ensure safety for its customers.
The theater requires employees to wear masks during customer interaction, they have put seating gaps in the viewing parties and they “deep sanitize” all heavy traffic areas in-between shows and while open, he said.
“The (gaming) initiative was created as a means to provide a safe environment to gather and have fun during a pandemic,” he said. ” We have had a few parties already that asked privately if they could connect a console to our projectors. When we realized that the content looked incredible on our screen we decided to go public with the idea. We have had a lot of success with opening our theater to private movie parties in the last few months and wanted to expand upon that premise.”
Rentals take place outside of normal business hours, Monday through Thursday. A theater can be rented anytime before 4 p.m. or after 8:30 p.m. On Friday through Sunday, they can be rented anytime before 1:30 p.m. or after 8:30 p.m.
Video game rental prices are $100 for two hours, with additional hours at $50 an hour.
Any wireless controller console can work, and WiFi is available for online gaming.
The cinema also offers theater rentals for movies: Classic movies are $100, new releases are $200.
“I would also like the public to know that we are open every day of the week with new movies again,” Cavin said.
Contact on Fort Cinema Facebook page via Messenger, or call (620) 223-3366 during the business hours of 6:00 to 9:00 nightly.
