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Friends Now Accepting New and Renewed Subscriptions for U.S. Flags

The Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site Inc. is now accepting applications for new subscriptions and renewals for their Fly the Flag project. The project provides homeowners and businesses, within the city limits of Fort Scott, the opportunity to display “Old Glory” on five different flag holidays during 2025 without the hassle of purchasing, placing, and storing a flag and pole. You don’t even have to remember the holiday!
For $40 annually, the Friends will install a 3’x5′ flag on a 12-foot
staff at your home or business on each of the following Flag Holidays :
Memorial Day, May 26th
Flag Day, June 14th
Independence Day, July 4th
Labor Day, September 1st
Veteran’s Day, November 11th
Applications for new subscriptions can be obtained at the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce or can be requested by phone, text, or email. Call 417-684-2484 or email [email protected]. Renewal notices are being mailed/e-mailed to 2024 subscribers. Both new agreements and renewals must be returned by March 31, 2025.
All proceeds support programs at Fort Scott National Historic Site including the Naturalization Ceremony, Candlelight Tour, and Veterans Challenge coins among other special programs.
Show your patriotism and help our local National Park by lining the streets of Fort Scott with our nation’s symbol!
The Fly the Flag project is a yearly project sponsored by the Friends of Fort Scott National Historic Site. Once signed up, you will receive the option to renew annually.
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Black History Month Celebration Lunch and Learn Feb. 12


Chamber Coffee Hosted by SparkWheel on January 30

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Obituary of Goldie Weyant Arndt

Goldie Marie Weyant Arndt, age 94, a resident of Uniontown, Kansas, passed away Sunday, January 26, 2025, at the Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center in Chanute, Kansas. She was born April 27, 1930, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, the daughter of Willis William Wells and Goldie Belle Weston Wells.
Goldie was raised in the Uniontown area and graduated from the Uniontown High School. She married Miles Weyant on December 25, 1948. Together they had five children, Jim, Brad, Chuck, Mary and Matt.
Goldie loved to cook. She owned and operated her own restaurant, Goldie’s Place, located on the north side of the square in Uniontown, for many years. During this time, she made countless pies and was often called on to cater the annual Thanksgiving dinner for the employees of Bourbon County.
Goldie’s husband, Miles, preceded her in death on December 13, 1993. She later married Larry Arndt on October 4, 2003. They enjoyed several happy years together until his death in 2015.
Goldie was loved by many and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Survivors include her three children, Chuck Weyant (Donna) of Bronson, Kansas, Mary Beerbower (Alvin) of Uniontown, Kansas and Matt Weyant also of Uniontown and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving is a brother, Richard Wells (Sharon) of Poteau, Oklahoma.
In addition to her husbands, Goldie was preceded in death by her parents, two sons, Jim and Brad Weyant, three grandsons, Clayton Michael Weyant, Brandon Weyant and Tony Weyant, a granddaughter, Melanie Beerbower and a sister, Una Wells.
Rev. Marty Dewitt will conduct a memorial service at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, February 1st at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Uniontown.
Private burial will take place at a later date at the Uniontown Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the First Missionary Baptist Church and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Report Jan. 28
Ground(Hog) Breakfast Fundraiser On Feb. 1
JOIN US FOR OUR 6TH ANNUAL
“ALL YOU CAN EAT PANCAKES
WITH A SERVING OF GROUND(HOG)”
OR (added this year)
“ALL YOU CAN EAT BISCUITS WITH GROUNDHOG GRAVY”
DINE IN OR CARRY OUT
SILENT AUCTION & BAKE SALE
February 1, 2025, 8 A.M. – 2 P.M.
at First Southern Baptist Church
1818 South Main, Fort Scott, KS
Children 7 and under FREE
8 to Adult $5.00 in advance or
$6.00 at the door
for advanced tickets Contact
Ida Ford 417-262-3948 or
Terri Williams 620-215-3202
**All proceeds go to FSBC Building Fund
Program Helps Families with Eligible Children Offset the Cost of Food over Summer Break
DCF Announces 2025 SUN Bucks Application Period Now Open
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) announced Monday, Jan. 27 that the 2025 application period for SUN Bucks is now open. SUN Bucks, previously called Summer EBT in Kansas, is a federal program administered by DCF that provides a one-time benefit of $120 per year for each eligible school-aged child to help offset the cost of groceries over the summer.
“Children and teenagers need consistent access to healthy foods to grow and thrive, and summer is a time when many of them lose access to the healthy meals they receive at school,” said DCF Secretary Laura Howard. “SUN Bucks can help fill the gap by providing families a small boost with helping to put nutritious food on their tables.”
Many families will automatically get the SUN Bucks benefit without needing to apply. Households with an eligible child who can be identified by DCF will receive a letter from DCF in January 2025 notifying them that their child is eligible for SUN Bucks. SUN Bucks benefits will be added to an existing household Kansas Benefits Card (also known as an EBT card) or loaded onto a Kansas Benefits Card and mailed to their home in April.
If a household did not receive a letter from DCF in January regarding SUN Bucks eligibility, and they believe their child is eligible, they will need to apply. SUN Bucks applications will be accepted from Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, through 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, 2025. Families will need to use their existing DCF self-service account or create an account to apply through the DCF online self-service portal, dcfapp.kees.ks.gov. Benefits will be issued beginning in April 2025.
Eligibility:
Children may be eligible for the program if:
- The child attends a Kansas school offering the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program, and the household income meets the requirements for free or reduced-price school meals at any point since July 2024.
OR
- The school-aged child (7-17 years old) lives in a household where someone has received Food Assistance (SNAP) or TANF Cash Assistance at any point since July 2024.
Children in the custody of the DCF Secretary and enrolled in a Kansas school are eligible for SUN Bucks. Relatives, non-related kin, and foster homes will need to submit a SUN Bucks application for children in their care after April 1, 2025, to ensure the benefit is issued to the correct address. For any applications submitted after April 1, SUN Bucks benefits will be issued once the child has been determined eligible.
In 2024, the SUN Bucks program provided more than $15 million in benefits to 127,202 Kansas children. Learn more about SUN Bucks at SUNBucks.dcf.ks.gov.
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Updated Agenda for the Bourbon County Commission for Jan. 27
Bourbon County Courthouse
210 S. National Ave
Fort Scott, KS 66701
Phone: 620-223-3800
Fax: 620-223-5832
Bourbon County, Kansas
Brandon Whisenhunt, Chairman
1st District Commissioner
David Beerbower, Vice-Chairman
2nd District Commissioner
Leroy Kruger
3rd District Commissioner
Bourbon County Commission Agenda
Bourbon County Commission Room 210 S National Ave.
January 27, 2025, 5:30 PM
I. Call Meeting to Order
a. Roll Call
b. Pledge of Allegiance
c. Prayer – JD Handly
II. Approval of Agenda
III. Approval of Minutes from 01.20.25
IV. Consent Agenda
a. Approval of Accounts Payable Totaling $392,977.53
b. Approval of Payroll Totaling $295,830.74
V. Old Business
VI. Public Comments for Items Not on The Agenda
VII. New Business
a. County Clerk End of Year Reallocations
i. Reallocate Expenses from Public Safety to General $52,325.45
ii. Reallocate Expenses from Appraiser to General $4,500
b. Executive Session K.S.A.75-4319 (b)(1) – Whisenhunt (10 minutes)
c. Sheriff Salary Discussion – Leroy Kruger
d. Executive Session K.S.A.75-4319 (b)(3) – Whisenhunt (10 minutes)
e. Teri Hulsey, EMS Director – Ambulance Bids
f. John Heckman, Noxious Weeds Manager
i. Financial Report
ii. Weed Management Plan
g. Meeting Decorum – Whisenhunt
h. Noise Ordinance Discussion – Whisenhunt
i. Resolution Setting Legal Descriptions for Five Districts
j. Election Information for District #4 & #5
k. Board Seats
i. Southeast Kansas Health Department
ii. Soil Conservation District
iii. Juvenile Detention Center
iv. Bourbon County Senior Citizens
v. Bourbon County Redi
vi. Fair Board
l. Commissioner Comments
VIII. Adjournment
Electric Cooperative Youth Tour: All-expenses-paid Trip to Washington, D.C
Legislative Update by State Senator Caryn Tyson

Legislative Update by State Senator Caryn Tyson
January 24, 2025
The past week eyes were on Washington D.C. and the swift actions taken by our President. He has established a path for states and a constitutional government dealing with illegal immigration, tax reductions, runaway spending, and government efficiencies. The Kansas Senate is on board with the President.
Illegal immigration will be debated on the Senate floor January 28; Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 1602, requesting the Governor fully cooperate with federal enforcement of immigration laws. The opponents cried foul in committee debate because the SCR would support President Trump’s attempts to deport illegals, especially those who continue to break federal and state laws. Citizens have been put in harm’s way by the open border. Just ask Mr. Hopkins whose daughter was killed and his granddaughter brutally attacked in Kansas City. Ask the lady that was attacked by an illegal immigrant near Garnett while riding on a bike trail, or the youth that was violently raped in Topeka by an illegal. Are the opponents more concerned for the criminals than the victims?
Some of you may remember the illegal immigrants who committed identity theft and were prosecuted. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled they couldn’t be prosecuted because, in the Court’s opinion, the criminals couldn’t be held accountable for breaking State laws because they had illegally entered the United States and that was a federal issue. That doesn’t even make sense. Thankfully, Kansas Attorney General Schmidt took it to the U.S. Supreme Court and the opinion of the Kansas State Supreme Court was rejected. The three illegal immigrants who stole Social Security numbers and committed identity theft were convicted and Kansas laws were upheld. It’s past time that federal immigration laws are upheld.
Property Tax will also be debated on the Senate floor next week; Senate Bill (SB) 10 exempting ATVs, electric wheelchairs, golf carts, watercraft and other items from property taxes; and SB 35 repealing the 1.5 mill the state collects in property taxes. I’ll let you know the results.
Budget work has begun. This year the legislature established a new process. Instead of using the Governor’s proposed budget as a baseline, last year’s budget with all the one-time spending and other reductions will be the baseline. Let’s hope it helps reign in runaway spending. According to Legislative Research, State General Fund (SGF) spending increased 7.3% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and 18.1% in FY 2025. The state FY is from July 1 to June 30 the following year, so FY 2024 is from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
The Senate Committee On Government Efficiencies (COGE) was established this year. The Committee is intended to align with President Trump’s plans for an unofficial federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
All bills, hearings, and floor debates can be found at www.KSLegislature.gov.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12th District State Senator.
Caryn



