Next time you happen to be down by the courthouse, be sure to glance up at the Union Soldier Statue. You’ll find a cleaner version of the tribute to volunteer soldiers who fought in the Civil War than the last time you looked his way. Workers used a lift and pressure washer to give him a bath on Friday evening.
Slick Rock Cattle Co., Fort Scott, has recently started delivering beef products in a strategy to market their product from farm to table.
“In the last three months, we have started delivering to Fort Scott, Overland Park, Girard, and Chanute at designated sites for pick up,” said John Erie, who is co-owner with Kevin Stark, of the cattle company.
Erie has been in the cattle business since childhood, working outside jobs, he said. Stark had a farming operation. They both attend the same church and one day started a conversation that ended in a cattle company partnership that has lasted 11 years.
“We had sold one-quarter beef, one-half or whole, and still do. Some people were wanting to buy certain cuts. Enough people asked, so we are going down that road,” Erie said. “Seems like people are wanting to help local farmers that produce hormone-free, grass-fed, grain-finished on-the-farm beef.”
“We reduced the number of cattle to specialize in a farm-to-table operation.”
They sell 12-month subscriptions, with the option of $125 per month over the years time. “Different cuts each month with ground beef. People can make their own bundle and it’s for people with not a lot of freezer space and not a lot of money at one time.”
“We can do 1/4, 1/2, or whole or all rib eye or all ground beef… a custom order,” he said.
The cattle are raised locally in northeast Bourbon County, and butchered and packaged locally at the Bronson Locker, in western Bourbon County, a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture-certified business.
This reduces the environmental impact (lower fuel cost) because of the lower mileage needed to reach the customer.
The business employs Erie, Stark, and Erie’s granddaughter Mia Bryant along with some high school employees at times.
The cattle company has an office at the Hammond Elevator, northeast of Fort Scott, and can be reached at 620.224.8033 or slickrockcattlecollc.com
This is part of a series featuring young entrepreneurs in our community. To submit a young entrepreneur, email [email protected] with contact information for that person.
Although only 25 years old, Henry Witt has 10 years of experience as a welder.
“I’ve been doing it in my garage since I was 15,” he said. “I bought my first welder at Tractor Supply and taught myself how to weld.”
With the products he made, he put himself through Missouri Welding School, Nevada, MO.
He is a full-service fabrication builder.
“It’s my passion,” he said. “I have always enjoyed doing something that lasts forever.”
“I spent four years as a union boiler maker in Emporia, KS,” he said. ” I decided to pursue my own business.”
The name of the business is H. Witt Fabrication.
“We do custom work. Anything metal you need to be built or repaired, we have full machining capabilities.”
Metal artwork, garden/lawn decor, and repair are some of the projects Witt has done.
“We can do prototyping, 3-D designs for customers to view the products,” he said.
His wife, Hunter, and he are both Fort Scott High School graduates, she in 2019 and he in 2018.
“She helps with everything and is an integral part of my operation.”
Witt can be reached at 620.469.0794 or H.Witt Fabrication on Facebook or [email protected]
A new ranch and farm supply store opened on April 1, two miles south on Hwy.69 at 2187 Hackberry Road.
Producers Cooperative Association, of Girard, is the owner of the store.
“All of your farm and ranch retail supplies, along with livestock feed, vaccines, pet food, fencing supplies, livestock equipment, and more,” will be offered at the store,” said Manager Kaylee Johnson.
“There was a soft store opening on April 1st with a Grand Opening to follow on May 8th,” she said.
The Location Supervisor is Will Wunderly, with three other employees.
In August 2024, the Producers Cooperative Association leadership began the process of expanding into Bourbon County, Wunderly said.
He said that the building was previously a tractor dealership.
Why a store in rural Bourbon County?
“With our main office being located just to the south, in Girard Kansas, we chose to expand with our growth into Bourbon County,” Johnson said. ” We have multiple customers in Bourbon County and saw it as an opportunity to expand our services for our customers.”
For more information: 1-800-442-2809 (option 8 for Fort Scott) or
https://www.facebook.com/pcacoop
Larry Rogers said he “always figured that they would be taking me from my shop to the undertakers”, and that he would continue the auto repair shop work he had done for 37 years until he died.
But he couldn’t find workers to do the jobs that needed to be done.
“With what we do, put vehicles back to pre-crash conditions, we have to have people that can follow directions and come to work,” Rogers said. “Getting people to show up was a problem, more for younger applicants.”
“It wasn’t something we planned on doing, it was the turn of events,” he said.
“There should be five workers in the building, it ended up just Ryan and I,” he said.
“We had hired and trained workers, but not for over one year.”
His son, Ryan, has worked with him for 17 years.
“He was going to take over, but decided he’d go to work for someone else and let them have the headaches (of not having enough workers).”
Rogers quit taking on more auto body repair work at the end of October 2024 and had enough work on the books until the end of January 2025.
“I’ve talked to plumbers, mechanics, electricians, and they also couldn’t find anyone willing,” he said. “Things were tough before COVID-19. After COVID-19 we didn’t have many applicants. It used to be you’d have people stopping in to ask if we were hiring.”
“There used to be tech schools to train people on auto body repair…a lot of them have closed down.”
Nationwide
It is a nationwide problem, according to an article from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Workforce participation remains below pre-pandemic levels. The United States is missing 1.7 million Americans from the workforce compared to February 2020, according to https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
According to the article
Employers are facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that there are 8 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.8 million unemployed workers.
If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have millions of open jobs.
Some of the factors for this, according to the article are:
Early retirements and an aging workforce
Net international migration to the U.S. is at its lowest level in decades
Lack of access to child care.
Some opened their own businesses.
Increase in savings: higher-income and savings bolstered people’s economic stability.
Future for Rogers
“I’m not retired, said Rogers, who is 63. “I still own the Alignment Service, east of this building.”
Ryan went to work for a car dealership in Olathe in March, doing bodywork.
“I am basically trying to get ready for an auction, probably in June,” he said. “Trying to sort out and clean out the building. After 37 years in the business, there is a lot of stuff. The building will be for sale.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do after that,” he said.
Rogers bought the business from Frank Burchett in 1987 on East Wall Street. The building isn’t there now because of the new Highway 54 route. He built the current building at 120 W. 19th and opened his business in July 2003.
As high schools around the country look for ways to help students meet the two-year foreign language requirement, Fort Scott and Uniontown have come up with an innovative way to offer a new exciting option by pooling their resources to hire a new teacher for “pirate talk” classes at both highschools.
“It was really hard to find a teacher qualified to teach pirate speak,” said a school administrator who was hard to identify on this particular date. “Especially because most people who are good at speaking pirate, are usually looking for watery waves and less amber grain. But we are proud to announce that we’ve managed to procure the services of Captain Barnaby Blackwater as a teacher for the 2025 to 2026 school year.”
When asked about the compensation package offered Mr. Blackwater, the administrator seemed a big hesitant and mumbled something that sounded like “rum, doubloons, and more rum…” but it wasn’t clear exactly what they were trying to say.
Mr. Blackwater agreed to a short interview to answer some questions.
Captian Barnaby Blackwater, what convinced you to give up the high seas to come teach our high school students how to speak like a pirate?
Arrr, that be a fine question, matey! Truth be told, sailin’ the high seas be grand, but when the good folk o’ Bourbon County waved doubloons and barrels o’ their finest rum under me nose, ol’ Barnaby couldn’t resist!
Mind ye, I’m still scratchin’ me beard ’bout the notable absence o’ oceans ’round Kansas—makes sailin’ me ship, the Salty Grammar, mighty tricky—but the thought o’ teachin’ landlocked lads and lasses the sweet tongue o’ piracy warmed me black heart. And between you an’ me, I’ve a notion to recruit a few sturdy seniors to crew me ship once their diplomas be in hand! Harrr-harr-harr!
Some people say that learning pirate speak isn’t comparable to learning a foreign language and students should be required to learn more traditional languages. What do you think of those claims?
Arrrr, poppycock and bilgewater, says I! Pirate speak be as foreign as any tongue sailed across the seven seas. Why, me hearties, Pirate speak is brimmin’ with culture, tradition, and adventure—enough to put French or Spanish to shame!
Besides, when was the last time ye heard o’ French helpin’ ye find buried treasure, or Spanish teachin’ ye how to properly swing a cutlass and shout fearsome insults at yer foes, eh?
Will Pirate Speak help students get positions in the job market?
Arrr! A wise query indeed, matey! O’ course Pirate speak be useful in the job market—more useful than a parrot that can recite poetry, I’ll wager!
Think o’ the skills these young buccaneers’ll master: assertive communication (“Hand over the doubloons, ye scallywag!”), leadership (“Hoist the mainsail and ready the cannons!”), negotiation (“Five barrels o’ rum or I be walkin’ away!”), an’ teamwork (“All hands on deck, ye salty seadogs!”).
Plus, should traditional jobs fail ’em, there’s always plenty o’ room aboard me ship, the Salty Grammar. Ol’ Captain Blackwater always be lookin’ for hearty new recruits with a flair fer proper Pirate speak! Harrr-harr!
Governor Laura Kelly announced on March 4 the appointment of Judge Lori Bolton Fleming to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Henry Green on the Kansas Court of Appeals, according to a press release from the governor.
That is the second of four steps in the process of filling the vacancy.
The next step was for the Senate Judicial to pick her for that role and the final step is for approval from the Kansas Senate, sometime in the next few weeks, Fleming said in an interview.
Fleming is a Fort Scott High School graduate and also taught there for a year, she said.
She was inspired to attend law school by some of her students who were in the foster care system.
“They were involved in the juvenile justice system, and I hoped to advocate, be a good voice for kids,” she said.
Bolton Fleming lives in Pittsburg, Kansas, and is the Chief Judge for the 11th Judicial District, which includes Cherokee, Labette, and Crawford counties.
“I am confident Judge Bolton Fleming will be an exceptional addition to the Kansas Court of Appeals,” Governor Laura Kelly said in the press release. “Her extensive legal career, commitment to public service, and strong reputation will make her an excellent Court of Appeals Judge.”
Fleming’s Background
Governor Sam Brownback appointed Bolton Fleming as a district court judge in 2012. As a district court judge, she handles a wide variety of cases including felony criminal, child in need of care, Chapter 60 civil, and domestic cases. She has conducted jury trials for high-level criminal and civil cases as well as bench trials and has frequently been invited to sit with the Kansas Court of Appeals and the Kansas Supreme Court to hear and assist in deciding cases. In total, she has rendered opinions in 38 cases as an assigned appellate judge.
Bolton Fleming was appointed as chief judge by the Kansas Supreme Court in 2021. In this role, she oversees the operations of the 11th Judicial District, which covers five courthouses in southeast Kansas. As chief judge, she is responsible for the creation of the 11th Judicial District’s first recovery court and serves as the administrator of the program.
“It is my honor to be selected by Governor Kelly to serve on the Kansas Court of Appeals,” said Fleming. “I intend to work hard every day to be the best possible appellate judge for all Kansans.”
She has spent her entire legal career in southeast Kansas and would be one of the few rural voices on the Kansas Court of Appeals. The majority of the justices come from Wichita, Topeka or Kansas City.
“I feel it’s important to have rural representation on the Court of Appeals,” she said.
Prior to her judicial appointment, Bolton Fleming served as an assistant county attorney in Crawford County before specializing in legal research and writing for Spigarelli Law Firm. She then practiced with Wilbert and Towner law firm, working on criminal, civil, juvenile, business, adoption, and probate cases.
Bolton Fleming is active in her local community through many volunteer efforts, including partnering with Pittsburg State University to create a pre-law internship program to help address the rural attorney shortage. She has also served on several Kansas Supreme Court committees, including the Rural Justice Initiative, the Pretrial Justice Task Force, the Kansas Digital Evidence Advisory Group, the COVID Jury Trial Advisory Group, and the Cybersecurity Committee.
Prior to joining the legal profession, Bolton Fleming served as an elementary music and English teacher at Fort Scott High School and Leavenworth Public Schools.
Bolton Fleming graduated from the Washburn University School of Law in 2001, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the Washburn Law Journal. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from Pittsburg State University in 1996.
Folkstyle Wrestling is a combative sport where one wrestler tries to physically control the opponent against their will without injuring them, according tohttps://www.indeewrestling.com/folkstyle-wrestling-rules/
When two wrestlers wrestle each other, both wrestlers must weigh within one weight class of each other. You win a match by pinning your opponent, by scoring more match points than your opponent, or by disqualification if your opponent breaks certain rules. according to the website.
“You have to qualify from your district and place top four to make it to the state tournament,” Miles said. “Luci has won District 1 five times in a row. She has been in the state finals for the past five years. She has been runner-up for the past 4 years. This year she finally broke through and won the under 90 lb. girls division.”
The 2025 Kansas Kids Folkstyle Wrestling State Championship Tournament was March 14-16 in Topeka.
The tournament features wrestlers in four age divisions, boys and girls: 8 and under (8U), 10 and under (10U), 12 and under (12U), and 14 and under (14U). This tournament aims to provide a platform for showcasing boys and girls in age groups wrestling talents. As young wrestlers from around the country gather, they will compete with the top competition around the country with hopes to becoming National Champions, according to the website.
Regi Casner is back to teaching fitness classes in Fort Scott once again, after a hiatus during the pandemic.
Her classes are at the Buck Run Community Center and also in Mound City, where she lives.
“I am teaching at Buck Run on Mondays and Fridays. I teach a 10:15 a.m. stretch class and a 12:15 p.m. Align/Pilates class.
“The stretch class moves slow and the Align/Pilates class flows through yoga poses with some strength work and Pilates blended in,” she said.
“The target audience age is 40-60s. I have a couple in the 30’s. I was hoping the noon class would be helpful for gals still working, and taking a lunch break.”
She will offer a free introductory class in April and early May.
About the Instructor
Casner “has taught fitness classes for a long time, completed a ton of training over the years, and wellness is my career and lifestyle,” she said.
“I first fell in love with group fitness when I took a step class in college(Pittsburg State University). It was love at the first step and downbeat.”
“The Fitness Nook was started because I believe small towns also deserve great fitness classes and the opportunity to sculpt, stretch and sweat together! “
“I love teaching group classes for many reasons. My top three are: 1. seeing people show up for themselves, and then realize than can do more than they think they can… and then doing it. And doing it again. It’s more than the mountain climber or plank. It is about showing up. 2. Sweating together is just downright awesome, especially when the music and company is good. 3. Helping people feel better in their bodies.”
“I’ve been married to Mat for almost 30 years, we have four grown adult children and one granddaughter (all of the above are my favorites). Besides the studio in Mound City, I work as the Wellness Coordinator at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, and teach fitness in Fort Scott.”
“My own personal fav workouts are: a strong yoga class, and a Pilates/Barre class-with some decent weight work included—and a great playlist. “
“I really do enjoy burpees, I don’t like mountain climbers (even though we almost always do mountain climbers). I love jumping jacks and backbends, I don’t enjoy twists, esp. twists in chair pose.”
If interested in classes, please send her a message
“And if you were interested until you read the words: burpees, mountain climbers, and/or jumping jacks, come to stretch class. Those words and actions are never mentioned there.”
Matthew Wells, president of the Friends of the Fort Scott National Historic Site, told the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce about the consequences of the recent cuts to the National Parks Service by President Donald Trump at the weekly coffee on March 13.
Wells encouraged the community to call their elected representatives to tell them how important the fort is to the city of Fort Scott, with the historic site averaging 25,000 tourists a year.
In a later interview, Wells said that currently, Fort Scott National Historic Site is operating with less than 50% of its normal staffing levels.
“This has led to multiple-day closures of the park, a drastic cancellation of all interpretive programs, and a significant reduction in staff-led tours and educational events, that have historically been at the heart of this site’s appeal,” he said. “All of the activities that the Fort personnel do every year have been cancelled. But they are still trying, as staffing will allow, on a case-by-case scenario, to find educational opportunities with educators. With this loss of staffing, the essential public services and programs that are critical to the park’s mission have been disrupted, resulting in a diminished visitor experience.”
Wells said the reduction in staffing and closures have far-reaching consequences.
“As a gateway community, Fort Scott relies heavily on tourism dollars and taxes, with Fort Scott National Historic Site being one of the primary attractions drawing visitors. These cuts not only harm the park but also undermine the economy of the entire region, negatively affecting local businesses, hotels, restaurants, and other tourism-related services. The loss of visitors directly impacts local revenues, jeopardizing the livelihoods of residents and business owners who depend on tourism as a vital part of their income.”
“This ongoing situation is causing irreparable harm to Fort Scott National Historic Site and our community. With all Government credit cards being limited to $1, vital repairs can no longer be accomplished. Even the purchases of everyday items such as toilet paper are not possible, and trash services have been disrupted as payments cannot be made. We fear that if these issues are not addressed promptly, the future of the park could be in jeopardy, as could the economic and cultural vibrancy of our town. The historical significance of Fort Scott is irreplaceable, and we cannot afford to lose this essential part of our heritage, nor can we afford the continued erosion of the tourism-based economy that sustains our community.”
“Right now, two of our Friends (of Fort Scott National Historic Site organization ) board members are volunteering to keep the visitor center open,” Wells said. “Friends members are working multiple days a week. Both of them have taken the specialized training required by the federal government in order to be volunteers in that capacity. Others are volunteering as living historians to roam the grounds and to keep the smallest amount of interpretive program growing. Friends of the Fort is active and helping the fort in any way that we can.”
Carl Brenner, FSNHS Program Manager said the fort will be open to the public Friday through Tuesday from 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the fort will be closed because of a staffing shortage, like last summer. During these times, the buildings will be closed but the public can walk the walking trails in the park.
Brenner referred this reporter to the Midwest communication contact person, who referred to the news media contact at the National Park Service. There has been no response to questions that were sent as of the time of this publication.
To contact the representatives(taken from the Bourbon County Kansas website:
U.S. Senators for Kansas
Roger Marshall – (Republican)
PO Box 1588
Great Bend, KS 67530
(202) 224-4774
Jerry Moran – (Republican)
PO Box 1372
Pittsburg, KS 66762
(620-232-2286
U.S. Representative for Kansas
A rotted pole at Fort Scott Community College collapsed onto the fence of the ball field just North of Ty Cullor field.
A crack repair project on U.S. 69 in Fort Scott is underway this week. The 2.1-mile project area starts at 23rd Street and continues north to U.S. 54. Traffic is reduced to one lane at the work zone, according to a press release from KDOT.
“They are moving pretty fast on it,” said Priscilla Petersen, public relations officer with the Kansas Dept. of Transportation in Southeast Kansas. “It is a crack repair with asphalt.”
“There are alternating lane closures for U.S. 69 traffic at the work zone. There should be no significant delays to traffic. The work should take one week, weather permitting,” she said.
Pavement Pro’s of McPherson is the contractor. The cost of construction is $81,593.
”
