The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office daily reports can best be viewed on a computer.
The office can be reached at (620) 223-2380.
Dramatic Rise in Kansas Suicides
CDC Report Outlines State Suicide Rates
Kansas ranks 19th overall, experiencing dramatic increase
TOPEKA – Suicide is a tragic reality in our state and throughout the rest of the country. Today, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released its latest Vital Signs series, which addresses a single, important public health topic each month. This month’s edition looks at suicide rates across the United States. The report details a dramatic increase in incidents of suicide in Kansas, particularly among females. The state ranked 19th overall, and fifth for overall change. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) also tracks this cause of death through its division of Vital Statistics. This information is shared with our federal partners for reports such as this.
“Many of us have been personally impacted by this unfortunate reality,” said Dr. Greg Lakin, KDHE Chief Medical Officer. “It’s important that everyone, whether it’s a medical professional, family, friends or co-workers, take an active role in offering help before it’s too late.”
The CDC report indicates the following:
- In 2016, nearly 45,000 suicides occurred in the U.S. among people 10 years and older.
- From 1999-2016, suicide rates increased in nearly every state, with 25 states experiencing increases of more than 30 percent each.
- Data from 27 states participating in the National Violent Death Reporting System in 2015 indicate that more than half of people who died by suicide did not have a known mental health condition.
- A range of factors contributes to suicide beyond mental health conditions alone, including relationship, substance use, physical health, job, financial and legal problems.
The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) offers programs and services to address suicide. It also heads the Governor’s Behavioral Health Services Planning Council, that produced the Kansas Suicide Prevention Subcommittee 2017 Annual Report, which outlines steps the State is taking to regarding this issue.
“Too many Kansans are lost to suicide each year,” said KDADS Secretary Tim Keck. “It’s imperative that we continue to make suicide prevention a top priority, by promoting public awareness of the issue, evaluating risk factors and encouraging appropriate treatments and interventions.”
Suicide warning signs include the following:
- Feeling like a burden
- Being isolated
- Increased anxiety
- Feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
- Increased substance use
- Looking for a way to access lethal means
- Increased anger or rage
- Extreme mood swings
- Expressing hopelessness
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Talking or posting about wanting to die
- Making plans for suicide
Suicide has risk and protective factors similar to other behavioral health issues. Kansas has many resources available, ranging from prevention and behavioral health promotion strategies to guidance in responding effectively to suicidal thoughts, plans, and actions. Learn more about how to support friends, family, and neighbors after a suicide attempt. To learn more, visit the Kansas Suicide Prevention Resource Center. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for Kansas at 785-841-2345, or 800-273-8255. Free and confidential crisis counseling is available 24/7. Other resources include Kansas chat, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and Lifeline Chat.
For behavioral health, mental health or medical resources in your area, please visit the Local Resources page of KansasSuicidePrevention.org or dial 211. KDADS also offers training regarding suicide prevention. The next session will take place June 28, in Hays.
2018 Notable Kansas Books
The State Library of Kansas Announces the 2018 Kansas Notable Books
15 books celebrating Kansas cultural heritage
Topeka, KS — Acting State Librarian Eric Norris announced today the 13th annual selection of Kansas Notable Books. The fifteen books feature quality titles with a wide public appeal, either written by a Kansan or about a Kansas-related topic.
“I am proud to present the 2018 Kansas Notable Book list. Choosing only 15 books is no easy task,” said Eric Norris, Acting State Librarian. “The selection committee began with a pool of over 100 submitted titles and worked diligently to identify the year’s best works by authors and illustrators from Kansas, as well as those works that highlight our history and heritage. Kansans are encouraged to visit their local public library and celebrate the artists and the artistry of Kansas.”
Kansas Notable Books is a project of the Kansas Center for the Book, a program of the State Library. The Kansas Center for the Book is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Throughout the award year, the State Library promotes and encourages the promotion of all the titles on this year’s list at literary events, and among librarians and booksellers.
An awards ceremony will be held at the Kansas Book Festival, Saturday, September 8, 2018, 9:30 a.m., at the State Capitol to recognize the talented Notable Book authors. The public is invited.
For more information about Kansas Notable Books, call 785-296-3296, visit kslib.info/notablebooks or email [email protected].
2018 Kansas Notable Books
Bad Kansas: Stories by Becky Mandelbaum (Rockport WA), University of Georgia Press
In this darkly humorous collection, Kansas becomes a state of mind as the characters struggle to define their relationship to home and what it means to stay or leave, to hold on or let go.
Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs by Carol Murray (Overland Park), illustrations by Melissa Sweet (Portland ME). Henry Holt & Co
Playful poems highlight surprising facts about the world of insects – from familiar ants and exotic dragonflies to cringe-worthy ticks and magnificent fireflies in this picture book for children.
Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West by Tom Clavin (Sag Harbor NY), St. Martin’s Press
Cowpokes, desperadoes, and lawmen: it wasn’t always easy to tell which was which. This rollicking tale of Dodge City brims with colorful characters. From frontier settlement to cattle drives, to a railroad town, the history of Dodge City is the story of how the West was won.
Feet of the Messenger: Poems by H.C. Palmer (Lenexa), BkMk Press Books
Between the horrors of the Vietnam War and the pacific silences of the Kansas prairie, these poems honor both the beauty of the English language and the ancient powers of poetry to speak experience without diminishing it.
Fireflies in the Gathering Dark: Poems by Maril Crabtree (Mission), Aldrich Press
These poems traverse landscapes, inner and outer: physical landscapes and metaphysical ones; the landscape of relationships; the landscape of age, from childhood to maturity; and the questing landscape that leads to new understandings.
Headlights on the Prairie: Essays on Home by Robert Rebein (Irvington IN), University Press of Kansas
These essays bring a storyteller’s gifts to life’s dramas, large and small. Moments of singular grace and grit encapsulate the lives of feedlot cowboys, long-haul truckers, and farm kids dreaming of basketball glory.
Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower’s Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy by David A. Nichols (Winfield), Simon & Schuster
This fast-paced account reveals President Eisenhower’s subtly clever role in the destruction of demagogue Joe McCarthy. Drawn from documents in the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Nichols presents a gripping story of a classic power struggle.
Kansas Baseball, 1858-1941 by Mark E. Eberle (Hays), University Press of Kansas
The early history of baseball in Kansas is the story of towns and the ballparks they built. It was a time when baseball was adopted by early settlers, then taken up by soldiers sent west, and finally by teams formed to express the identity of growing and diverse communities.
Kansas Guidebook 2 for Explorers by Marci Penner (Inman) and WenDee Rowe (Inman), Kansas Sampler Foundation
The ultimate guidebook for all things to see and do in Kansas features 4,500 attractions, 843 eateries, and more than 1,600 color photos. Counties are arranged alphabetically within six geographic regions as are the cities within each county. Entries include directions, hours and contact information.
The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James (Lawrence) and Rachel McCarthy James (Lawrence), Scribner
A baseball statistician and his daughter deliver a provocative story that aims to solve a 100-year-old mass murder case. The two painstakingly scoured thousands of newspapers and records to discover and reveal the identity of one of the deadliest serial killers in America.
Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Asheville NC), HarperTeen
While the stories of three women span multiple generations and thousands of miles, their lives are intertwined. Before leaving Kansas to go to Mars, Adri discovers Catherine’s journal of the Dust Bowl and Lenore’s letters about World War I. Each story weaves a unifying thread of hope.
The Shape of Ideas: An Illustrated Exploration of Creativity by Grant Snider (Derby), Abrams ComicArts
What do ideas look like? Where do they come from? These one- and two-page comics have been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and the Kansas City Star. They are a colorful look into the creative process.
Stark Mad Abolitionists: Lawrence, Kansas, and the Battle over Slavery in the Civil War Era by Robert K. Sutton (Bethesda MD), Skyhorse Publishing
In 1854, Boston was in an uproar. Businessman Amos Adams Lawrence was inspired to put his efforts and considerable fortune toward keeping slavery out of Kansas. The town that came to bear Lawrence’s name became part of a bigger story of people willing to risk their lives and fortunes for freedom.
That is My Dream! by Langston Hughes and Daniel Miyares (Lenexa), Schwartz & Wade
Langston Hughes’s inspiring and timeless poem “Dream Variation” comes joyously to life in a gorgeously illustrated picture book. Follow one child on a walk through his small segregated town in the 1950s. Then watch his mind take flight as he images a brighter, more inclusive world.
To The Stars Through Difficulties by Romalyn Tilghman (Long Beach CA), She Writes Press
Inspired by the women who built fifty-nine Carnegie libraries in Kansas, the No Guilt Quilters overcome numerous obstacles to build the Cultural Center on the Plains- proving that New Hope is more than just the name of a town.
Bids and Dibs Offers $5-A-Bag Sale June 7-8
June 7 and 8, Bids and Dibs Consignment Store, 19 S. National Avenue is having an all-you-can-cram-into-a-bag-sale for $5.
The hours of the shop are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Red Ram Motel Gets Repurposed
Fort Scott Community College closed on the purchase of the Red Ram Motel, 701 N. National Avenue, on May 30, 2018, for $90,000.
“The Patel’s (the former owners of the motel) donated $20,000 to the FSCC Endowment Fund,” FSCC President Alysia Johnston said.
The FSCC plan is to repurpose and clean up the property to be used for student housing for the college, according to Johnston. The property will become a part of the campus and therefore tax exempt.
When complete, the new student housing will be called the Greyhound Lodge.
“We are getting a code footprint on it by Ag Engineering (Uniontown), when that is done we will send it to the state and the city,” Johnston said.
Currently, the college is taking bids for cleaning the property of trees and other unwanted items, she said.
“We had at least three people interested in the Red Ram Motel sign,” Johnston said. “Rhonda Dunn (Fort Scott’s Community Development Director) suggested using it for a fundraiser.
There are 21 units at the lodge, with the possibility of 42 students.
Each room will have a small refrigerator and microwave oven.
Students can still purchase a modified meal plan if they will be eating on campus, which is across town to the south of the lodge property.
A two-bedroom apartment on the property will be remodeled for an assistant coach to live in for security and supervision duties, she said.
The current lobby area will be turned into a computer lab.
Behind the lab will be a student laundry facility and behind that will be a student lounge with adjacent student kitchen.
The old swimming pool area will be converted into an outdoor eating area complete with grills, a gazebo, and picnic tables, Johnston said.
“The cost to students will be $300 per month, which includes everything except food,” Johnston said.
The lodge is expected to be ready for students in mid-August, Johnston said.
“It’s been fun to start the transformation,” Johnston said. “We hope to have a ribbon cutting at some point.”
Seeking Nominations of Women and Minority Businesses
Kansas Department of Commerce accepting nominations for Minority Enterprise Development Week awards
TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Commerce Office of Minority and Women Business Development is accepting nominations for Kansas minority and/or women-owned businesses, advocates, young entrepreneurs, and corporations. These nominations celebrate National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, October 14-20, 2018. Nominees and winners will be recognized at the annual Kansas Minority and Women Business Awards Luncheon to be held on October 11, 2018, at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka.
“Minority and women-owned businesses are essential drivers of our Kansas economy, and this special awards ceremony will honor the tremendous accomplishments of these amazing entrepreneurs in our state,” said Robert North, Interim Secretary for the Kansas Department of Commerce.
The deadline to nominate a business or individual is June 15, 2018. Online nomination forms can be accessed at KansasCommerce.gov/MEDweek.
The 2017 award winners included:
Kansas Women-Owned Businesses
- MySmartPlans – Kansas City (Construction Firm)
- Advanced Welding Technologies, LLC – Wichita (Manufacturing Firm)
- FSC, Inc.- Overland Park (Professional Service Firm)
- Toronto Lumber Company – Toronto (Retail Firm)
- Sage Restoration LLC – Overland Park (Service Industry Firm)
- International Express Trucking, Inc. – Kansas City (Supplier/Distributor Firm)
Kansas Minority-Owned Businesses
- Recyclable Materials Relocating, LLC – Kansas City (Construction Firm)
- Quik Tek Machining, LLC – Wichita (Manufacturing Firm)
- LaborMax Staffing KC Metro – Kansas City (Professional Service Firm)
- Paleterias Tropicanas – Kansas City (Retail Firm)
- Project Fitness LLC DBA Project Fitness CrossFit – Garden City (Service Industry Firm)
- Sarin Energy Solutions – Overland Park (Supplier/Distributor Firm)
Minority Business Advocate
- Sandra Olivas, Bank of Labor – Kansas City
Women Business Advocate
- Debra Kunz, Center for Deliberate Growth™ – Mission
Young Entrepreneur
- Paul Kaster, Crooked Branch Studio – Leawood
Corporation of the Year
- Textron Aviation – Wichita
About the Kansas Department of Commerce Office of Minority and Women Business Development
The Office of Minority and Women Business Development provides assistance in business management, identifying resources for financing and establishing contacts in the public and private sectors. The office is responsible for certifying minority- and women-owned businesses as small disadvantaged businesses for procurement and subcontracting opportunities.
For more information: http://www.kansascommerce.gov/322/MED-Week-Awards
Obituary for Wilda June Falls
Wilda June Falls, age 88, a resident of Pittsburg, KS, died early Tuesday, June 5, 2018, at Medicalodge of Pittsburg.
She was born on June 19, 1929, in Mound City, MO, the daughter of Samuel and Martha Wherli Taylor.
She married Louis H. Wessley in August of 1947, in Kansas City, MO. They later divorced. She married Clifford J. Falls in 1985 in Garnett, KS. He preceded her in death in 2014.
Wilda worked for the Burnige Oxygen Supply Co. in Kansas City for many years. She later opened Blooming Balloons by Wilda after moving back to Garnett. She enjoyed playing bingo and visiting the Casinos. She was an animal person and loved spending time with her grandchildren. She thought of others before herself. The family wishes to thank the staff of Medicalodge of Pittsburg for Wilda’s wonderful care.
Survivors include two daughters, Patty Lewis and husband Jerry, Arma, KS, and Jeanie Thomas and husband Joe, Grain Valley, MO; 3 grandchildren, Zach Howard, Jeffery Carpenter, and Joseph Thomas, Jr.; 9 great-grandchildren, Bryer Carpenter, Samuel Carpenter, Valeria Brady, Jerry Lewis, Jr., Alexus Howard, Dylan Howard, Isabella Howard, Jaimie Brady, and Casey Lopez; and 1 great-great-grandchild, Roanin Carpenter; as well as several nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband Clifford, she was preceded in death by a brother, Wayne Taylor; and her parents.
Rev. Randy Woods will conduct funeral services at 11:00 AM Friday, June 8th, at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Burial will follow in the Old Arcadia Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to SEK Humane Society and may be left in the are of the Cheney Witt Chapel, PO Box 347, 201 S. Main, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
Chamber Coffee at The Keyhold Thursday at 8 a.m.
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WEEKLY CHAMBER COFFEE REMINDER
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Cornerstone Bible Church Purchases New Property
Since March 2018 there has been new activity at the long-vacant building at 6th and Lowman streets.
The old medical office building is being transformed into a house of worship by a Southern Baptist Church Plant, Cornerstone Bible Church.
The church is a Southern Baptist Cooperating Church, a part of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“From what I gather, it was a church plant to reach those without a church,” Pastor Ben Workman said.
The church plant was started about eight years ago.
Workman has been the pastor for five years.
“I came here as a single man, got married and have two kids now,” Workman said.
“They took a chance with a young seminary guy.”
The people met in a home for a period, then rented the Old Congregational Church at 502 National Avenue for a few years, he said.
“We loved working with the HPA (Historial Preservation Association) but couldn’t do anything in the building (to modify it) and we had to work around the events they have,” Pastor Workman said.
Presently the church has 16 adult members, average attendance is 25, Workman said.
The church body is in the process of renovating the former office building at 524 S. Lowman into a worship center with the help of the Oklahoma Baptist Association.
“They are doing a mission trip to come here providing labor and some materials for the renovation,” Workman said.
Members of the church will provide meals, hospitality and provide some labor for the reno project, he said.
The project will be June 18-22 at the church site.
The church is having a garage sale Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 to help raise funds for materials for the renovation.
On Saturday, the church will be selling biscuits and gravy for breakfast and a hot dog and chili lunch to help raise funds as well.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports June 6
Business Pick of the Week: Mercy Health For Life
The Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce has selected Mercy Health For Life business pick of the week.
CONGRATULATIONS TO MERCY HEALTH FOR LIFE FOR BEING THE PICK OF THE WEEK!!!
Mercy Health For Life is located at 405 Woodland Hills Blvd. in Fort Scott. They provide many opportunities to help you perform your very best! Come check out this wonderful business and thank you for 20 years of health and fitness services you have provided for this town.
Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Featured Job of the Day
JOB OF THE DAY – LIBRARY CUSTODIAN – FORT SCOTT PUBLIC LIBRARY
Fort Scott Public Library has an opening for a part-time Custodian. Responsibilities include cleaning the library, some yard work, clearing snow/ice from sidewalks, and minor maintenance work as necessary. Positions opened until filed.
Applications available at 201 S. National Ave. No phone calls, please. Bourbon County residency required. An Equal Opportunity Employer.