First Southern Baptist Church turned parking lots into pews last Sunday with “Drive-In” Church.
People were able to maintain social distancing by staying in their cars and listening to the service on 88.7 FM.
“Drive-In” Church will be held again this Sunday at First Southern starting at 11 am.
The church is located at 1818 South Main. Pastor James Collins will be preaching a Resurrection message from the Sixteenth Chapter of Mark.
Bourbon County remains at seven cases of COVID 19.
To see the state update:
Due to forecasted weather and the advice from our county officials, the Easter Drive-In Experience is now changing to the Easter at Home Experience. The service will be broadcasted on 103.9 FM and live via all our usual online channels (Church Online, Facebook, & Youtube). The service will begin at 10 am, please stay at home and we encourage you to find something your family can use for communion elements. We look forward to worshipping with you, the community, multiple churches – all with one purpose.
We are saddened to have to make this change, but we want to provide a great Easter Celebration and maintain everyone’s safety. Our disappointments are swallowed up by our excitement to celebrate the resurrection with you and the other churches! We are glad to still be able to do this Sunday service with them all.
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What: Easter ONLINE Experience – Multiple Churches, One Purpose.
Where: Wherever YOU are…your couch, kitchen, big screen TV, or on a walk.
How: Live Stream on Facebook via Community Christian, Faith Church, Fort Scott Nazarene, & Parkway Pages.
When: April 12 (Easter Sunday) at 10 am.
Why: Cause the resurrection changes everything.
He is RISEN! (He is RISEN indeed!!)
-Submitted by Clayton Whitson, Faith Church.
The American Legion’s success depends entirely on active membership, participation and volunteerism. The following monthly reports provide a summary of membership, participation and volunteerism making an impact in the lives of veterans, families and communities.
American Legion Posts can share the many ways Legionnaires are making a difference in their communities. To view the impact American Legion posts made throughout the year, please read the attached March 2020 membership impact report.
Please keep me posted as to any area Veterans who may be in need during these shut downs and business closures.
Carl Jowers. Post 25 Commander.
COVID relief: Speeding Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) loans
Topeka, Kan. – In an effort to speed relief funds in the face of the current public health emergency, the Department of Commerce is providing guidance on how CDBG funds, which are already in Kansas communities, can be loaned to area businesses more quickly.
Under certain circumstances these funds can be made available via local governments in just 24 hours.
“Local communities have a better understanding of the immediate needs in each of their communities,” Kansas Department of Commerce Secretary David Toland said. “The state stands ready to support them in making these funds available to communities across Kansas.”
There is currently about $6 million in CDBG funds that resides in communities statewide as local Revolving Loan Funds. The funds are administered by cities, counties and economic development organizations. Under normal circumstances when a community wants to issue a business loan, Commerce must conduct an environmental review that takes 30 days. The communities also must do public notice, which can also take 30 days.
If a revolving loan is for working capital, then environmental review is not applicable, and the public notice can be reduced to 24 hours. This allows communities to issue a loan in two days and not involve the Department of Commerce. This will speed the delivery of these funds to businesses that need it now.
Local communities are also empowered to make decisions on matching funds, collateral and interest rates, as well.
Secretary of Commerce David Toland will hold a conference call with CDBG communities Friday, March 20, 2 p.m., to promote the use of these funds to help ease the burdens of the coronavirus crisis.
For more information on Community Development Block Grants, visit: https://www.kansascommerce.gov/programs-services/community-development/community-development-block-grant-program/.
USD 235 has started teaching its students off-campus, following the closure of the county’s schools due to the pandemic.
The District Continuous Learning Plan officially started on Monday, April 6 and will run through Tuesday, May 19.
“It is not online learning,” Bret Howard, superintendent, said. ” This is a Continuous Learning Plan created as a response to unprecedented times. I think this is a very important distinction to make. Uniontown USD 235 is providing continuous learning opportunities for all students regardless of whether they have the internet or not.”
“We are all in unknown territory and Uniontown USD 235 wants everyone to know that we need to work together and communicate to have a successful conclusion to this school year,” Howard said.
“I am thankful for our teachers who are working extremely hard to meet the needs of our students,” he said.
“This is an amazing opportunity for the Eagle family to grow, support one another, and have compassion for all people.”
“We know this pandemic has caused stress to students, families, and our communities. Uniontown USD 235 will do everything in our power to make this a positive time for children and families.”
“We thank everyone for working to be true partners in education,” Howard said.
Howard answered the following questions via email:
What preparation did the teachers make? How did they decide the curriculum?
“Professional development for the district’s Continuous Learning Plan began the week of March 30 with an introduction, evaluation, and revision of the proposed plan to be presented to the Board of Education. Teachers engaged in a series of activities for the communication platforms they will use. The district’s behavioral health therapist through Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center introduced and provided Social Emotional Learning resources for teachers, students, and families. As grade level and content area teams, teachers identified untaught essential outcomes and planned meaningful and engaging ways to deliver the material to students.”
Do they teach from home or their schoolroom?
“The large majority of our teachers are teaching from home. Our teachers are not required or expected to physically be present at West Bourbon Elementary or Uniontown JH/HS. Some of our teachers have chosen to come to the school and do their Zoom Webinar meetings for their students. Some do so out of convenience and some out of necessity due to internet service and reliability at their homes. Right now we only have roughly 4-5 teachers in our buildings on any given day. We also have some paraprofessionals that work for the Special Education Interlocal coming to our buildings as well. They do so for the same reasons.”
In addition to teaching staff, others are working at the school.
“Several members of our food service staff are working multiple days a week to be able to provide meals for approximately 150 people ages 1 through 18.”
“Our custodial staff is working to clean rooms and areas used by our essential staff and employees who are coming into the buildings.”
“Our technology staff works from the buildings several days per week as well as our administration and administrative assistants.”
“We are very thankful for all of the hard work put in by so many of our employees.”
What about those who didn’t have computers, smartphones,etc?
“Uniontown USD 235 is a 1:1 district for laptops, Chromebooks, and IPads. All HS (Grades 9-12) students already had a laptop computer that they could take home daily. All students in grades 4-8 had Chromebooks they used at school and students in grades PK-3 had IPads. If their parents requested a device through our parent survey, students in grades PK-3 were issued an IPad and students in grades 4-8 were issued a Chromebook. We asked a parent/guardian to sign a technology usage agreement before picking up the device. ”
How will the students be graded? How will this last bit of teaching affect their final grade?
“We have asked our teachers to have patience, flexibility, and grace during these unprecedented times. However, we do expect all of our students to participate in our Continuous Learning Plan either through the use of technology or through enrichment activities delivered to them via packets through US Mail or if they are participating in our food program they can be delivered to them through that avenue as well. If students do not participate in the Continuous Learning Plan, it will have a detrimental impact on their final grade.”
| MANHATTAN, Kan. — The State Conservation Commission will hold a conference call on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. This conference call is open to the public.
The State Conservation Commission consists of five elected commissioners; two ex officio members representing the Kansas State University Agriculture Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service; and two appointed members representing the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The KDA Division of Conservation consults with the SCC to protect and enhance Kansas’ natural resources through the development, implementation and maintenance of policies, guidelines and programs designed to assist local governments and individuals in conserving the state’s renewable resources.
To request a copy of the agenda or directions on how to participate in the conference call, please contact the KDA Division of Conservation at 785-564-6620 or [email protected].
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Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism to Suspend Sales of Nonresident Turkey Permits
PRATT – In an effort to protect the health of Kansans and prevent the spread of COVID-19, Governor Laura Kelly, with the support of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), is suspending sales of general nonresident turkey permits effective immediately. The suspension is made possible via Executive Order No. 20-21, signed on April 9, 2020 by Governor Kelly.
“During this unprecedented crisis, we must take every measure possible to protect Kansas lives,” Kelly said. “While turkey hunting is largely a solitary activity, the potential for inadvertent spread of COVID-19 due to travel associated with nonresident participation is something we simply cannot risk. Secretary Brad Loveless and his staff have done a tremendous job maintaining safe spaces for us all to enjoy, and I’m confident they’ll continue their good work as we encourage everyone to enjoy recreational activities locally this spring.”
“We’ve received a tremendous amount of feedback from concerned individuals and at the end of the day, we want to do what’s right by our fellow Kansans,” Loveless said. “Initially, this issue seemed self-limiting as nonresident permit sales lagged behind last year’s sales year-to-date. However, recently, as opportunities in other states began to diminish, nonresident demand increased at a rate we are no longer comfortable with.”
Nonresident hunters who made their spring turkey purchase prior to the order’s effective date may still participate in Kansas’ spring turkey season; however, because Kansas’ regular turkey season has yet to open (April 15, 2020), only a small percentage of the nonresident permits normally purchased have been sold. KDWPT is offering refunds and KDWPT gift cards in an effort to lower participation rates even further. Nonresident hunters may obtain a refund or KDWPT gift card by sending an email request to [email protected].
“There’s no doubt this will come as a disappointment to many of our out-of-state hunters and outfitters, and rightfully so. Kansas’ spring turkey season is something a lot of us look forward to,” Loveless said. “But I’m also confident many of these same individuals will understand and join us in ‘recreating locally’ this year until we can once again travel without fear of spreading COVID-19.”
For other KDWPT updates, visit https://ksoutdoors.com/COVID-19.
I don’t know who wrote this, but I love the optimism, the encouragement, the hopeful side to this pandemic. We need that confidence, don’t we? Bret Baier, a news anchor, daily offers a message of expectation when he ends his television program with this: “We are one day closer to putting this all behind us.”
I envision the day when Baier’s statement will be our reality and we can learn powerful lessons from it…lessons, I pray, we never forget.
We all know that this silent killer has sneaked in unnoticed, and as we battle this foe, I am mindful of another enemy we are warned about in Scripture. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) See any similarities?
Could there be a more frightening warning to those unaware of our enemy’s attempts to destroy? If we compare Covid-19 and Satan, we can’t help but recognize likenesses: Both prey on the weak; both remain unseen; both are contagious, and both appear intent on destroying humanity.
Still, if we remain vigilant, we can remain hopeful by understanding a few more things about these enemies:
Yet as contagious as this virus is, as contagious as sin is, the antidote is simple. We must isolate ourselves from anything that causes us to fall victim to their death traps. We must be mindful that there are bad things seeking to destroy us, both in the physical and the spiritual world. We cannot allow ourselves to so much as sniff these deadly evils. Instead, we must do what is smart…what is hopeful. Trusting in our medical professionals is one way to do that, but to be eternally careful, we must turn our lives to Jesus Christ and know that he is the ultimate hope.
So, as the meme above says, “Hang in there, World.” How do we do that? The answer is found in Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous… for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. One day we will “put this all behind us.” The choice we make now will determine what will lie ahead.
That, Readers, is the Hope that matters.
Click below:
Message Fort Scott Public Library through Facebook or email Miss Val at [email protected] before the start (10 am Tuesday) of storytime, and they will send you the link. The same link will be used for all future Zoom storytimes.
For activity suggestions and more see the library’s Storytime Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/fortscottpublic/story-time/.
Read digital books related to the theme at http://sunflowerelibrary.overdrive.com or https://www.hoopladigital.com/ (seknfind.org account required) or https://kslib.info/963/eBooks-for-Kids (for residents of Kansas only).
