FORT SCOTT, KS – Last Friday afternoon, a group of local young professionals gathered in a local pizza place for their monthly meeting. The meeting was the Young Professional League of Bourbon County (YPL). Heather Griffith, President, related the mission and vision of YPL is to engage young professionals to advocate for a better community through relationships and creative collaboration. YPL seeks to be a place for young professions who care about the advancement of Fort Scott and creates a place for their voices to be heard.

YPL was established in 2007 and continues to meet the first Friday of every month with varied topics of discussion. Mostly these are centered on economic and social issues within the city and surrounding areas. This also includes community members coming and giving presentations once a quarter about different activities and initiatives in the community.

This past meeting, the two candidates running for County Sheriff came and shared their platform, policy changes they would like to see in the future if they are elected and answered some general questions from YPL members. YPL is hosting a candidate forum October 20^th the high school. Candidates who will be on the Nov 4^th ballot will be present for comments and questions.

Other general announcements made at the meeting to give you a scope of other activities YPL participate in were: Decorating a pavilion at the Zombie Chase in Gunn Park, serving in the soup line November 5^th, prepping for the job fair for high school students in January followed by hosting a chamber coffee later in January.

YPL is always looking for more members and active young professional to join. Dues are only $35 a year and membership is a great way to meet new people and became involved in Fort Scott. If you have further question, you can check out their website by clicking here or you can contact Heather Griffith at her office:
Director of Economic Development
City of Fort Scott
620.203.0318
www.fscity.org

Fort Scott, KS – If you are interested in getting out and about this weekend, plan on stopping and spending time at the Gordon Parks Celebration of Culture and Diversity event this weekend. Many of you may know Gordon Parks was born in Fort Scott, but can you name the cultural impacts he made as an artist? He was mostly known for photography, but also was a writer, musician, film director and composer.

This weekend’s events serve to honor Gordon Parks but also to hold further discussion of the issue of poverty and the many social implications within our communities. As a tribute to Gordon Park’s love of photography, a central theme of this weekend’s celebration is telling stories through pictures. The 26^th annual Gordon Park’s Photography Competition finalist will be on display. You can view them by clicking here.

Here are two of the entries:

There are numerous events going on all weekend and most of them are free to attend. Certainly, you would benefit by participating all weekend, but if you need to pick and choose, you can click here for the entire weekend schedule. A few of the highlights include the “Poverty A-Z Exhibit,” a multi-media presentation incorporating photography and music. The display will be in the Ken & Charlotte Lunt lobby from September 19 – October 17^th. Karen Haas, Curator of the Lane Collection of Photography at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts will discuss Gordon Parks photography, Friday 1:15-2:45pm, free event in the Ellis Fine Arts building (theatre). Friday closes with a “Celebration Tribute Dinner” with presentation of the 2014 “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award.” Cost $30, Liberty Theatre, reservation required.

Saturday, “The Learning Tree,” Gordon Park’s biographical film will play in the Ellis Fine Arts Theatre at 9am. FREE. Finally, the weekend ends with “Picnic on the Patio” in the Ellis Center Geraldine and E.C. and Gordon Outdoor Patio – $8 (weather permitting).

For more information about this celebration or the life and work of Gordon Parks, please contact:

Jill Warford, Executive Director
Ft. Scott Community College
2108 S. Horton
Fort Scott, KS 66701
1-800-874-3722, ext. 5850 or
[email protected]

Fort Scott, KS –

Fort Scott is the county seat for Bourbon County, also comprising of the highest population density in the county. It only makes sense the Emergency Manager (EM) would be in the center of it all. William Wallace, a 12 years FEMA veteran, is at the helm of all disaster preparedness activities happening in the county.

It’s easy for the EM position to go unnoticed during times of nice weather and everything going smoothly, much like most people live their lives. However, it’s the careful planning and mitigation of the EM that helps coordinate the emergency services during incidents that can expedite recovery efforts and more importantly save lives.

An important aspect of Wallace’s job is investigating the county and ensuring municipalities have taken important steps to mitigate against potential disaster that could occur in the county. Wallace’s office keeps close tabs with Topeka and FEMA Region 7 in assessing threats and solutions for Bourbon County. Mitigation may include fortifying current systems, such as electrical, to ensure a more expedited return of power. Another great example, just as this article is being written, the CDC has just announced the first case of the Ebola virus in the US. This is an issue where the EM may consult with the county health department to ensure we have a strategy should action need to be taken.

“Another big job in emergency management is the facilitation of all emergency services,” Wallace said. “I knew we had an excellent team after the tornado incident in April,” commented Wallace. Inter-agency cooperation during an incident is a critical component to ensure effective and efficient response and recovery. “Relationships and communication are a key component to ensure this happens,” Wallace said. During the relationship building process is something known in the emergency field as ‘exercises.’ These can range from simple discussion based “tabletop exercises” to a full scale disaster exercise. Wallace mentioned they try to have as many exercises during the year as possible without disrupting the daily responsibilities of the emergency service personnel.

Wallace also has an interest in increased communication within the county during times of disaster. They are launching a new alert system called CodeRED, you can read more about it here. Just as the EM is responsible for mitigation on a county level, he is also concerned about families taking steps in preparedness within their home. The emergency service will work tirelessly during a disaster to reach families and ensure safety. However, Wallace highly recommended families take some basic steps to increase each family’s preparedness. His top three recommendations for preparedness are:

1. Be ready to sustain your family for a minimum of 48 hours. This includes: water, food (not requiring heat), power (batteries) and adequate clothing and shelter
2. Communication plan. This includes family, extended family, cell phones, phone chargers, etc. Make a plan on how you are going to be able to communicate and when, during a disaster. For example, during a disaster cell phones maybe tied up, but you can send text or try calling, but should only try calling at designated times to preserve cell battery. Or if you are close enough, arrange meeting places.
3. Pay attention to media. It’s important to be able to access the latest communication the EM is sending out. This could be through radio, television or CodeRED. However you choose, it’s a good idea to have a back-up and check batteries periodically to make sure they are still working.

Wallace also discussed the possibility of working with the Citizen Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. CERT is a nationally recognized program that aims to provide citizens with some basic preparedness and organizational training to respond to local disasters. There is a wealth of information online if community members are interested in learning more about preparedness and mitigating disasters, including FREE online FEMA courses.

For more information about Bourbon County Emergency Management:

210 S. National Ave.
Fort Scott, KS 66701
620-223-3800 x124
620-223-3234 fax
[email protected]

Additional Links:
Bourbon County Fire District #3 FB
Hazard Risk Assessment for Bourbon County
Sign up for CodeRED
Ready.gov
Additional links from Bourbon County EM Site