The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office daily reports can best be viewed on a computer. The office can be reached at (620) 223-2380.
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Category Archives: Submitted
Mercy Hospital Receives Grant For Mammograms
Women who cannot afford a mammogram will benefit from a $1,000 donation from HOPE 4 You Breast Cancer Foundation to Mercy Health Foundation Fort Scott. Funds donated by HOPE 4 You are used to provide mammograms and breast imaging for women who meet certain criteria.
This is the seventh consecutive year Mercy has received the grant.
“Far too often women neglect their own health care needs for other priorities,” said Christi Keating, Mercy Hospital Fort Scott executive director of patient care services. “Funds from this grant will give woman who might otherwise not get mammograms access to the life-saving screenings.”
HOPE 4 You’s giving capacity is based solely on donations from individuals, organizations and fundraisers such as its annual Race 4 HOPE, which will be held June 2.
“The purpose of HOPE 4 You is to save lives through screening and early detection,” said Tina Rockhold, executive director of the Mercy Health Foundation Fort Scott. “Their mission matches up very well with that of Mercy. The RACE 4 HOPE each year in June supports these programs at Mercy as well as other area hospitals. We are grateful for this donation which will provide screening and diagnostic mammograms for underserved women in our area.”
For more information about digital mammography or to schedule a mammography appointment, call Mercy’s Imagining Services at 620-223-7015.
Mercy Hospital Fort Scott is an acute care hospital with 46 licensed beds, offering comprehensive medical, surgical, OB/GYN, pediatric, homecare and hospice services. Inpatient care is provided with 24/7 physician coverage. In 2017, Mercy Hospital Fort Scott received The Leapfrog Group’s prestigious A rating. Mercy Clinic Fort Scott is located on hospital grounds as well as Mercy rural health clinics in Arma and Pleasanton.
Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2018, 2017 and 2016 by IBM Watson Health, serves millions annually. Mercy includes more than 40 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, 800 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 44,000 co-workers and 2,100 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In addition, Mercy’s IT division, Mercy Technology Services, supply chain organization, ROi, and Mercy Virtual commercially serve providers and patients in more than 20 states coast to coast.
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports May 3
The Fort Scott Police Department daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
The department is located at 1604 S. National, Fort Scott, KS 66701
and can be reached at 620-223-1700.
Click here to view the reports, then click on the image to enlarge:
Family Event To Raise Funds For Cystic Fibrosis Research
Family friendly event to raise funds to support a cure for a rare disease
Mark your calendars for May 5th and plan to come out to the Bourbon County 4-H Building, from 11 A.M. until 2. P. M. to help raise funds to cure Cystic Fibrosis. The day’s events are tentatively scheduled to include a bounce house, face painting, homemade sugar cookies, and a grilled hotdog, pop and chips lunch, available for a free will donation.
Cystic fibrosis is a rare, non-contagious, genetic disease that, most noticeably, effects the lungs. The median age for an individual with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is around 40 years old, but this age rapidly continues to increase with advances in medical science.
In and around the surrounding area, at least four people are affected by Cystic fibrosis, with ages ranging from a young toddler, to a teenager, to someone in their early forties. All of the money from this event will be donated to the Heart of America Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a charitable organization tasked with supporting the work of finding a cure. For more information about cystic fibrosis, visit the Cystic Fibrosis foundation at www.cff.org. For information about event on May 5th, contact Briana Petty at (620) 215-6141.
City Design Review Board Meets May 9
The Design Review Board will meet on Wednesday, May 9th, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. at the City Hall Commission Meeting room at 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas.
This meeting will be held to discuss a Certificate of Appropriateness for alterations to the building at 16 N. National Avenue and any other matters that may come before the Board. This meeting is open to the public.
Bickerdyke: Civil War Nurse Presentation At Milken Center
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports May 2-3
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
Click below, then click on the image to enlarge:
FS Christian Heights School Country Store, Auction and Fun Walk May 5
The annual Country Store and Auction at Fort Scott Christian Heights School, 1101 S. Barbee is May 5.
This is the annual fundraiser for the school.
Included is a 5K race/two-mile fun walk, which begins at 7:30 a.m.
The country store is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There will be a supper offered from 4-6 p.m. and an auction at 6 p.m.
For more information call 620-223-4330, or view the school’s Facebook page.
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports April 30-May 2
The Fort Scott Police Department daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
The dept. is located at 1604 S. National, Fort Scott, KS 66701 and can be reached at 620-223-1700.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports May 2
Canning Season Begins Soon
Kathy S. McEwan,Family, and Consumer Sciences Agent Foods & Nutrition, SNAP-Ed Coordinator, Southwind Extension District – Iola Office, P.O. Box 845, Iola KS 66749, 620-365-224, [email protected]
Time to get ready for canning season
Fresh pickles, ripe tomatoes, and other garden goodies may still be months away, but if you plan on canning those foods, now’s a good time to check on your supplies.
And if that includes buying a new canner, Kansas State University food safety specialist Karen Blakeslee says there is a lot to think about before selecting a canner.
“The first thing to think about is what kind of cooktop do you have on your stove,” said Blakeslee, who is also the director of the university’s Rapid Response Center. “The cooktop is going to dictate what type of canner you’re going to get.”
She said most canners will work on a gas stove or a coil-type stove. But the newer, smooth top stoves could create some problems with some canners.
“Some of the smooth top stoves have automatic shutoffs on them if they get too hot,” which could mean the food is not properly heated and thus preserved, according to Blakeslee.
“The other thing to think about is the weight that you’re putting on that stove top. Canners are heavy, and when you add water and full jars of food, that increases weight, and you could end up cracking your stovetop because of the weight and the heat.”
She recommends following the stove manufacturer’s recommendations for using canners on a smooth stovetop.
“There are some canners that I would not recommend using on a smooth top surface,” Blakeslee said. “One example is a water bath canner like the old Granite-Ware, which are speckled blue or black enamel canners. Many people have them and they work great, but the problem with those is they have the bumpy bottoms. On a smooth cooktop surface, you do not get maximum heat contact from the burner into the canner, so it takes forever to heat up water.”
Blakeslee, who teaches classes on canning through K-State Research and Extension offices in the state, suggests a stainless steel water bath canner sold by the Ball company that has a flat bottom. Presto is another company that says its product can be used on a smooth top, but Blakeslee says “make sure that your burner is as large as possible.”
She adds that the bottom of the canner should not extend beyond the burner more than one inch to get maximum heat transfer from the burner into the canner.
Canners sold by All American and Mirro warn consumers not to use them on a smooth cooktop.
“An alternative to using your stove top for water bath canners is an electric water bath canner sold by the Ball company,” Blakeslee said. “This is a stand-alone canner; it has its own heater/burner system and is separate from your stove, so you don’t have to worry about what kind of canner to use on top of your stove.
“This is a good investment if you do a lot of water bath canning. It can also be used for general cooking such as making soup or stew.”
Blakeslee has some other timely tips leading up to canning season:
Use a canner that is recommended for the type of food you want to can. “If you’re canning plain vegetables, like green beans, you have to use a pressure canner because green beans are low acid foods,” she said. “Plain vegetables like green beans, carrots, corn, even meat…those types of foods must be pressure canned.”
She added that you can use a water bath canner for such foods as fruits, jams, jellies, and pickles.
“A pressure canner can be used like a water bath canner. Just leave the weight off so the pressure is not applied,” Blakeslee said.
Have your dial gauge tested. Southwind Extension offers this service for free. Gauge brands that can be tested include Presto, National, Magic Seal and Maid of Honor dial gauge pressure canners.
“Check dial gauges every year so you know how accurate the gauge is reading,” she said.
Check your canning supplies. The food safety specialist says you should check to make sure jars are not scratched or chipped and that the rims of jars are not damaged. A damaged jar could crack inside a canner, “and that’s not good,” she said.
Other supplies you may need to have in stock include pectin for jams and jellies; lemon juice or citric acid for tomatoes; and other supplies that vary based on the type of food you plan to can.
“We want you to be smart and safe when it comes to home canning,” Blakeslee said. “It’s a great way to preserve produce you grow or buy from a farmer’s market. Be smart about how you’re canning food. While there are some things that haven’t changed over the years, there are some procedures and methods that have changed, so make sure you’re up to date on what you’re doing when it comes to home canning.”
As part of our Grow, It Prepare It series, I will be offering preservation classes in Iola beginning May 9 with Preservation 101. This class is a pre-requisite for the other “hands-on” classes to follow. For more information or to register for the Preservation 101 class, call Kathy at 620-365-2242. Class details are available on the Southwind District website at www.southwind.kus.edu.
Sen. Hilderbrand’s Weekly Newsletter April 27
State senator Richard Hilderbrand 13th district
communications from the state capitol
April 27, 2018, ∙ Week Twelve
Quote of the Week:
“On every occasion [of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823
HARD FACTS:
- Preliminary estimates reported by the Kansas Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics show a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.4 percent in March. This was unchanged from February and down from 3.7 percent in March 2017 (Kansas Department of Labor).https://www.dol.ks.gov/Uploads/LR_Mar2018_News_Release.pdf
- Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total Kansas nonfarm jobs increased by 2,100 from February. Private sector jobs, a subset of total nonfarm jobs, increased by 2,200 from the previous month (Kansas Department of Labor). https://www.dol.ks.gov/Uploads/LR_Mar2018_News_Release.pdf
- Since March 2017, Kansas gained 10,700 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs and 9,400 private sector jobs (Kansas Department of Labor). https://www.dol.ks.gov/Uploads/LR_Mar2018_News_Release.pdf
Student Success Skills Center helps students develop skills that are vital for success in high school, college, and in life. This online resource from the State Library of Kansas has interactive tutorials on multi-tasking, time management, and information literacy. Skills featured for new high school students cover study and classroom skills, finding good sources, and how to cite work and avoid plagiarism. College students receive tutorials on organizational strategies, using campus resources, and personal skills like money management, healthy habits, and understanding insurance, credit, and taxes. Go to https://kslib.info/LEL and click on the tile for Student Success Skills.
If the page above asks for a Kansas Library eCard number, you may get one at any library in Kansas. Most people will be automatically recognized as being in Kansas and will not need this step. Easy registration and self-supplied password are necessary in order to save your work and revisit any practice tests or tutorials. Questions: [email protected] or 785-296-3296.
WEEKLY OVERVIEW:
The legislature reconvened on Thursday, April 26th for the start of Veto Session. This week the Senate voted on eight Conference Committee Reports and two bills. The Senate will continue to work until Sine Die on Friday, May 4th.
FLOOR ACTION:
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS (HB 2438): House Bill 2438 would prohibit state agencies from contracting with a vendor on an information technology project if that vendor prepared or assisted with:
- The preparation of the program statement;
- The project planning documents;
- Any other project plans prepared prior to approval of the project by the Chief Information Technology Officer of the relevant branch of government.
Information technology projects with estimated cumulative costs less than $50 million would be exempted from the provisions of the bill. This bill passed the Senate 38-0.
KANSAS RACETRACKS AND CASINOS (SB 427): Senate Bill 427 would amend the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act and the Kansas Pari-mutuel Racing Act concerning racetrack gaming facilities and lottery gaming facilities. SB 427 would require racetracks with slot machines to pay back about 22 percent of their earnings to the state, the same as state-owned casinos. Currently, racetracks are required to pay 40 percent of earnings back to the state. SB 427 would also allow for greyhound and horse racing in Kansas. This bill failed on a vote of 17-20. (I voted against this bill. I had many concerns with this bill. The treatment of the greyhound dogs. This bill had a clause that would allow the owner of the race tracks the ability not to open any facilities if they were not able to open the Wichita track. There is also some concern that the Wichita track will be the only track that opens.)
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORTS:
(SB 56): Senate Bill 56 would create the Kansas Cybersecurity Act and would amend the membership and the frequency of required meetings for the Information Technology Executive Council (ITEC). The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 37-2. (I voted against this bill. I had some concerns about the cybersecurity reports being open to KORA.)
(SB 217): Senate Bill 217 would update several statutory references in accordance with enacted 2016 SB 449 and Executive Reorganization Order No. 41. The bill would replace the term “mentally retarded and other handicapped persons” in statutes with “individuals with intellectual or other disabilities” in accordance with current law. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 39-0.
(SB 272): Senate Bill 272 would amend the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways regarding the passing of waste collection vehicles, length and weight limits for certain vehicles, the fine for improper passing of a school bus, and operation of golf carts on city streets. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 35-4. (I voted for this bill)
(SB 282): Senate Bill 282 would amend the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and certain statutes pertaining to crimes involving controlled substances. The bill would amend the definition of “marijuana” to exempt cannabidiol. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 39-0.
(SB 307): Senate Bill 307 would make amendments to the Kansas Amusement Ride Act. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 37-1. (I voted for this bill)
(SB 331): Senate Bill 331 would add to the list of designated state parks the Flint Hills Trail State Park located in Miami, Franklin, Osage, Lyon, Morris, and Dickinson counties, and Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park located in Logan County. SB 331 would also establish the Flint Hills Advisory Council, which would study and assess the development, staffing, maintenance, and promotion of the Flint Hills Nature Trail. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 27-12. (I voted against this bill. I think that the state shouldn’t be taking control of private property and the land should be reverted to the landowners. There are over 117 miles of land that will be affected by this. There are also concerns that the state has accepted the liability of some ongoing issues regarding land usage.)
(SB 335): Senate Bill 335 would amend the State Banking Code related to savings and loan associations, savings banks, and the Kansas Money Transmitter Act. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 39-0.
(SB 348): Senate Bill 348 would authorize electronic delivery as the standard method of delivery for certain health insurance related documents and require the State Employees Health Care Commission to provide coverage for amino acid-based elemental formula, as specified. The Conference Committee Report was adopted by a vote of 35-4. (I voted against this bill. It has language in it that will mandate and expand the state’s role in medical insurance.)
Below are links to make it easy for constituents to follow the Kansas Legislature:
Website – www.kslegislature.org. It is great for looking up bills, calendars, journals, as well as, the roster in each Chamber.
YouTube of Legislature – http://bit.ly/2CZj9O0 Did you know the legislature is now streaming its proceedings? The YouTube page has an archive of the sessions thus far – including the State of the State and the State of the Judiciary.
Committee Streaming – http://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00287/Harmony/en/View/Calendar/ The Kansas Legislature is also streaming committees, with every committee room equipped with audio streaming technology.
Thank You for Engaging
Thank you for all your calls, emails, and letters regarding your thoughts and concerns about happenings in Kansas. Constituent correspondence helps inform my decision-making process and is taken into great consideration when I cast my vote in the Kansas Senate. I hope you’ll continue to engage with me on the issues that matter most to you, your family, and our community. If you are on Twitter or Facebook, I encourage you to follow along with the #ksleg hashtag for real-time updates on legislative happenings in Topeka.
Please know that I am fully committed to addressing the current issues in our state, and I am proud to be your voice in the Kansas Senate.