During their first meeting of 2016, the Fort Scott City Commission approved the area airport’s five-year plan, including a variety of projects to be completed from 2017 to 2021.

Airport Manager Kenny Howard presented the capital improvement plan to the commission, which will then be submitted in order to receive federal grants to help cover the costs. Projects included replacing runway and taxiway edge lighting systems, land acquisition and runway extension.

Howard said the Federal Aviation Administration scores projects and  distributes funding based on those scores. If they do not receive as much funding as they would like, they will focus on projects they consider a priority and postpone others.

The total cost of the projects will likely reach more than $2 million, with about 10 percent of the fees being paid for locally.

The commission also agreed to a change in local election schedules after a recent decision by the state requires elections to be held during the November elections instead of the more common spring election, beginning during the November 2017 election.

While having a spring election meant the city had to pay extra for the separate ballots, city attorney Bob Farmer said most local government entities chose that schedule because it kept the local elections from being overlooked during November elections.

“Most of the counties felt that it was worthwhile because of the importance of the election,” Farmer said of discussions he participated in on the topic. “What we had worked fine, but a lot of things are being driven by pure economics now.”

Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer said she heard similar discussions during meetings she attended during the previous summer, and she heard many municipalities speak against the change, which will be applied to school boards as well.

Farmer said the state considered making the elections partisan, but decided against that change.

The current elected officials will continue in office through the November 2017 election, with new terms beginning in January of 2018. Lengths of terms and how many are elected at a time will remain the same after that point.

The commission approved the change with a 4-1 vote, with member Lucas Cosens voting against it.

Submitted by Ginger Nance

The Fort Scott Presbyterian Village will host a week-long quilt show that is open to the public for everyone to enjoy, January 5th – 12^th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

Bring a friend and come out to view the quilts on display during the event. Many varieties of quilts will encompass the show, ranging from old, new, hand-stitched, machine-stitched, large and small. No two quilts will be the same. The only common thread that each quilt has is that they are each pieced with love and artistry. Quilters from Southeast Kansas and Southwest Missouri will be featured during the show, all with a passion for rural living, family ties and a love of quilting.

In addition to viewing the display, join us for special guest speaker, Nancy Swanwick on January 7th at 2 p.m. at the Village for a “Quilt Trunk Show.”  Nancy will give information about how quilting can be the ties that bind us together over the generations. Her presentation is highly recommended by others as a must see and she has many treasures in her trunk to share.

For more information about the show or entering a quilt for the exhibit, contact executive director Ginger Nance at (620) 223-5550 or email [email protected]. All quilts are welcome, the more variety, the better the show. Fill your car with friends and come out to enjoy the show!

One of Fort Scott National Historic Site’s volunteers will have the opportunity this weekend to ride in the 127^th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., which will feature the National Parks Service’s Find Your Adventure theme in honor of its centennial celebration in 2016.

Barrett Young, a resident of Paola and Fort Scott Community College student, began volunteering at the local historic site in 2007, participating in numerous reenactments and other events at the fort since then.

Young was invited to ride in the opening theme banner float of the parade in recent months by Mike Matthiessen, president of the Tournament of Roses, who met Young in May of 2012 when he and his parents visited the Tournament House in Pasadena. Young will be representing the more than 220,000 volunteers in the National Park Service.

“When I got the email inviting me to ride the theme float in the 2016 Tournament of Roses Parade, I felt undeserving,” Young said. “At first I did not want to do it because I felt others deserved the honor more than I did.”

But Young said he accepted the invitation when he realized it would give him the opportunity to represent Fort Scott National Historic Site and other Kansas NPS sites.

Young was selected as a result of his support of and passion for the NPS, which has led him to visit all 50 states and 379 of the 409 NPS sites as well as 49 other NPS affiliated sites. He has also completed more than 390 junior and senior ranger programs and promotes the NPS by speaking at community events or organizations and setting up displays, such as at libraries, senior citizen meetings and rotary club meetings.

Young said he hopes to have a career in the NPS, and has ever since he began volunteering and reenacting with his parents.

Submitted by Amber Toth, USD 234 debate coach, Dec. 20

We started Christmas vacation with the regional debate tournament in Parsons. There were six schools in our 4A regional. We competed against Coffeyville, Independence, Chanute, Wellington, Mulvane and Parsons.

The team of Joe Adams and Isabella Provence were the Affirmative and went undefeated. The negative team of Zach Humble and Seth Cross only dropped two rounds. Our alternates were Breana Mooney and Hunter Parker.

We walked away with a regional championship. Mulvane came in second. These students, along with the two-speaker teams of Sebastian Loyd/Charlotte Hutchison, Garrett Tatro/Darby Toth, Tayton Majors/Sara Al-Shawish, and Jake Province/Suzi Owen will be representing us at state. Rebekah Sweyko and Ethan Tatro also qualify for state as novices. Unfortunately, due to the cap on entries, the younger team will not be competing at state.

I am so proud of this team. They are strong across the board. State will be in Independence on January 15th and 16th. The very next weekend we will begin our forensics season. Enjoy your break. I know we will.

In recent weeks, equipment has been spotted at the old grain elevator located at Wall Street and Highway 69 as crews begin work to repair the old concrete in preparation for other improvements and changes.

Neil Burkhardt, who is overseeing the Wall Street Properties and is assisting in the project plans for the building on behalf of its owner, said the goal is to turn the building into a facility for entertainment and recreation, such as repelling or other physical activities.

“It’s to try to create some activities for local people and bring people from out of town,” Burkhardt said, saying they are researching what would work with the building and what the city allows. “That’s in the process of being thought out and checked out.”

Burkhardt said those involved in the project are still kicking around ideas, but while doing that the building is being cleaned, repaired and painted. The goal is to have a plan in place by late spring.

“Just keep an eye on it,” Burkhardt said of the project.

In the last basketball games of the 2015 calendar year, neither the varsity boys nor girls teams could hold off the Chanute Blue Comets Friday evening, despite hard-fought games and loud support from their fans.

The Tigers boys’ team just narrowly missed ending the year with a win after leading by seven points at half time, only to score a total of nine more points the remainder of the game, which included four minutes of overtime.

The Tigers lost the lead before the end of the third quarter, but managed to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter to take it into overtime. But with one second left in overtime, trailing by just one point, the Tigers lost possession and then the game to the Comets, 37-35.

While their defense kept Chanute to well below their average points per game for the season, their own offense ultimately kept them from ending the night with a win, despite 16 points including three three-pointers from senior Kaleb DeLaTorre and six points apiece from seniors Josh Hudiburg and Austin Cook.

The girls also struggled with offense as they faced a taller team in the Lady Comets, with a 3-2 lead in the early minutes of the game being their only lead of the evening. Despite holding Chanute to only seven free throws and no field goals in the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers fell 59-35.

Senior Ashley Cook led the team with 11 points, including three three-pointers, while junior Emily Hale added seven points. The Tigers play again in Fort Scott on January 8.

A portion of the student section in attendance came dressed in Star Wars costumes in honor of the movie’s recent release and bearing signs with words of encouragement along the same theme, including ‘May the Fort be with you.’

During a Christmas party Saturday, the Fort Scott Public Library gave children an opportunity to decorate Christmas cookies, wrap gifts, make crafts, hunt for candy canes, earn prizes and even have a “snowball” fight.

Youth librarian Valeta Cannon and other library staff and volunteers from the community helped organize and run the event that split the children up into separate groups in order to participate in age-appropriate activities.

Throughout the year the library has provided a reading time each Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. for those children not in school yet, reading stories on specific themes, singing songs and doing crafts before ending with a snack time. A holiday story time will be held Tuesday morning for families with children before taking a break for the holidays.