Pioneer Harvest Fiesta is almost here. Plan to come to the Bourbon County Fairgrounds for a fun weekend October 4, 5 & 6. Lots of activities on the east side of the green fence. Sorghum cooking has returned! Watch the hay baling, rock crushing, log cutting, blacksmith and see the vendors. The car show is on Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm
This year there is more than the beautiful quilts to see. Fiber Art is being added to the Quilt Show in the Myers Building. Come and learn a new hobby. There will be demonstrations during the day on quilting, tatting, rug hooking, needle felting and more. Lots of quilts on exhibit along with embroidery, cross stitching and knitting. Bring your needlework projects and share with others as we all learn something new. Take a chance of winning a heart quilt or a basket of sewing items and gift certificates.
Bring your quilts and fiber art items on Thursday, September 3, 9 am – 1 pm. If this time does not work for you call me to arrange another time, or if you have questions – Jackie Warren at 620-224-8161
“Quilts and More” will be open at the Myers Building Friday and Saturday 9 am – 4 pm. Also, open on Sunday noon – 3 pm. Your items can be picked up on Sunday afternoon 2 pm – 3 pm.
Don’t forget the downtown parade, Thursday evening October 3 at 6 pm. With the purchase of a PHF button, come and enjoy the bean feed Friday evening October 4 at 5 pm (or earlier if the beans are done),
Governor Kelly Directs Child Care Licensing and Background Check Fees Waived through 2025
~~Excess federal funds to cover fees associated with becoming a licensed
child care provider or renewing an existing license~~
TOPEKA—Governor Laura Kelly announced today the State of Kansas will cover the state licensing, background check, and fingerprinting fees for child care providers seeking initial licensure or licensure renewal through 2025 or until available funds are expended. Fee coverage will assist new child care providers by reducing start-up costs and continuing to support existing providers as they retain their licensure.
“I’m committed to expanding access to affordable, high-quality child care opportunities for Kansas children and families,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “These funds allow for continued support for child care providers by removing financial barriers.”
Since 2021, the State of Kansas has been covering the initial and renewal licensing fees for child care providers in the state through federal discretionary Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) assistance through federal pandemic relief legislation. Additional funding to extend this coverage is being provided through reallocated Governor Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding. The funding will be administered through an agreement between the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the agency responsible for child care licensing.
“This additional funding, and Governor Kelly’s commitment to directing it to child care licensing, will go a long way in allowing potential and current child care providers to continue the important work of creating and sustaining quality child care options for Kansas families,” KDHE Secretary Janet Stanek said.
“The Kansas Children’s Cabinet is happy to work collaboratively with KDHE Licensing to support child care providers across Kansas in all license categories by helping to offset the cost of being licensed in good standing,” said Melissa Rooker, executive director of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund.
Covering these fees will lower the total start-up cost for child care businesses—costs that often become too large of a barrier to overcome. Additionally, this action will incentivize more unlicensed providers to become licensed, ensuring safer care based on industry best standards. For current providers, the decision to cover these fees is another way the Kelly administration has invested in Kansas’ child care workforce and continues to provide them with critical support.
Local jurisdictions may charge fees unrelated to those imposed by the state. Providers should consult their local health departments or local resource and referral agencies to learn more about applicable local fees in their jurisdiction.
This Friday, October 4, the Linda Simons & Friends Band will be performing at the Pavilion in downtown Fort Scott.
The group will cover a variety of 70’s-era pop tunes, jazz standards and jazzy gospel.
The band is based in Mound City. Linda Simons, vocalist, is backed by her band, including Suzanne Thompson on piano, her husband Gary Thompson on bass guitar, and Steve Thompson on drums and harmonica.
Gary and Suzanne have performed at the Pavilion with the Hemphill Family Band and as the Gary Thompson Trio.
The event will begin at 7:00 PM and the public is invited to attend
As I looked out my kitchen window one morning, I spotted that familiar lone dove that’s been around since 2021. Like me, I think she’s a female. Then I watched a small bird beat a worm to death before he ate it. (Silly me, I always thought worms were eaten alive.) Nature was happily doing its thing. Next, I spotted a hawk on the ground with a baby rabbit in its talons. I was not pleased with this nature scene. I thought, “How dare you snatch one of my furry little animals without my permission! You’re on my property and you do that! How rude!”
I then wondered how many times I do things that aren’t pleasing to God? How many times do I just do “whatever” without asking Him first? God doesn’t care what color of nail polish I choose, but He does care about my life-changer choices. It’s safe to say Christ-followers make too many decisions without consulting God. We treat too many big decisions like they’re nail polish choices — and that will always come back to bite us.
In the Old Testament, Joshua and his leaders made a pact with some foreigners without asking God about it. I’ve always thought this scripture intentionally sends a relevant message to believers today. “When the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves.” When the Gibeonite ambassadors arrived at the Israelite camp, they told Joshua and the men, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.” They lied through their teeth and the Israelites believed them. “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath” (see Joshua 9:1-14 NLT). Because God was omitted from their decision, this pact came back to bite them. God knew these ambassadors actually lived nearby instead of in a distant land, but no one consulted Him in order to make the right decision.
All throughout the Bible, God tells His children to “obey My voice.” He repeats Himself over and over and over, hoping we’ll get it. Believers need to keep His words in the forefront of our heart. Listening and obeying His voice is for our own good because we’re too much of a ding-a-ling to properly orchestrate our lives on our own. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’” (Jeremiah 7:23 NASB). As a good Father, He wants His children to have an abundant life, but there are certain conditions. He will absolutely do His part if we will hold up our end of the deal.
“I hear the words of the Lord and act upon them [obeying them] like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25 AMP). When life tries to beat the tar out of us, maybe it’s because we didn’t ask God for His advice.
The Key: Let’s learn to do life in God’s rhythm and wisdom.
Care to Share President Teresa Davenport and Vice President Cory Byers, speak about the community-helping organization on the first night of the event, September 27, 2024.
FortFest 2024 is a blues music festival that benefits Care to Share, a local helping organization.Bring lawn chairs to sit and listen to the blues music.
Community Vitality Agent, Amanda Clasen, [email protected] or at 620-244-3826.
One way to get a sense of a community is to drive or walk around, observing and taking note of the different characteristics and opportunities that the community may have to offer. A walk or a drive through a community may also serve as an assessment of what projects have happened or would like to happen.
Community Assessments are tools that allow interested citizens and community partners to gather and analyze information. This is typically to determine the current condition of a particular aspect of the community. While there are different modes of assessment, they are generally most useful when they capture the diversity of the community. In addition, the assessment may also be focused on a particular program, event or segment of the community.
Community assessments are often conducted to collect data that affects how programs get implemented. More specifically, they can:
Gauge public opinion, rather than rely on the opinion of a few key leaders or local gossip
Increase awareness of particular issues
Create an opportunity for community input and/or ownership of the process
Be required to satisfy a grant or program.
Important considerations before conducting a community assessment is the time available
for the assessment, the information needed from the assessment and the diversity being
captured in the assessment.
There are several ways to conduct community assessments and the most common techniques include taking assets walks, small group exercises or conducting a survey.
Other methods include: personal interviews, focus groups, public forums and informal group processing.
Today we will talk about conducting an asset walk. This technique works well for all group sizes and it can be part of a larger program or event, if time allows. To complete a Community Asset Walk simply WALK (this is key!) your group through your community.
Throughout the walk, ask those with you to write down and/or talk about what they observe-it could be vacant lots, buildings, businesses, people etc. Walking is key because it is slow, and it allows the group to interact and observe. The ideas are transcribed into a single list after the walk is completed.
You may also include voice recordings and have people take pictures of what they observe or simply record notes to discuss later. The time requirement for an asset walk maybe one or two hours to walk through a neighborhood.
To get a complete assessment of the entire community, it could require multiple walks.
Plan for a few hours to transcribe notes and assemble photographs into a meaningful format to be shared with others.
In addition to being an assessment tool that can identify opportunities in your community, this technique can be a great conversation starter for a group, organization, or community. It can get people talking to one another and from this, they are able to identify areas of common interest to pursue more deeply.
Larger groups are often broken into smaller groups of 8 or less people. Remember to make sure your groups are mixed appropriately.
Once the observations are collected from those participating in the walk, simply tally the number of times a particular theme, observation, specific asset or idea is made. By doing this you can possibly pursue a program or project and eventually make plans for a planning group discussion.
The next step is to take your observations and plans a step further and fully develop them in a facilitated group exercise that results in a community development action plan to move forward.
For More information, contact Community Vitality Agent, Amanda Clasen at [email protected] or at 620-244-3826.
Tara Soloman-Smith, Family and Wellness Agent, Sunflower District of Kansas State University’s Extension Office. Submitted photo.
Did you know that you can review and change your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan annually? Medicare Annual Election Period, running from October 15th-December 7th, is the time to do just that!
On Tuesday, October 29th, from 9:00am-2:00pm, at 735 Scott Avenue, Fort Scott; area Senior Health Insurance Counselors for Kansas (SHICK) will be available for you! Call 620-244-3826 to schedule an appointment.
Even if you have been happy with your plan in the past, plans and your medications do change! It is a good idea to compare options to see what meets your current needs. Last year, counselors helped beneficiaries save on average $1,075.00 per person changing plans.
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Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service
K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director of K-State Research and Extension, Kansas State University, County Extension Councils, Extension Districts.
City Hall Commission Room – 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701
October 1, 2024 – 6:00 P.M.
Call to Order
Roll Call
Tim VanHoecke, Matthew Wells, Dyllon Olson, Kathryn Salsbury, Tracy Dancer
III. Pledge of Allegiance
Invocation
Approval of Agenda
Consent Agenda
Approval of Appropriation Ordinance 1369-A – Expense Approval Report – Payment Dates of September 11, 2024 – September 24, 2024 – $449,830.43
Approval of Minutes for September 3, 2024, September 9, 2024, September 17, 2024, and September 24, 2024.
Request to Pay – Heck & Wicker, Inc. – Project No. 24-414 – Horton St. & 6th Improvements – Application for Payment No. 3 – $60,439.46
VII. Public Comment – Sign up required before the beginning of the meeting on register at the entrance of the Commission Room. Public Comments are for any topic not on the agenda and limited to five (5) minutes per person, at the Commission’s discretion.
VIII. Appearances – Must be scheduled with the City Clerk at least (1) week prior to the meeting you wish to address the Commission. You will be scheduled on the agenda to speak on your topic.
Scott Flater/Water Utilities Director – ADM Update
Unfinished Business
Status of Building at 118 E. Wall – Requested documents from owner due per September 24, 2024, Special City Commission meeting.
Consideration of Approval of Certificate of Substantial Completion – Project No. 22-031B – Fort Scott Pavilion – Sprouls Construction, Inc. – Tabled from September 17, 2024
Request to Pay – Sprouls Construction, Inc. – Project No. 22-031B – Fort Scott Pavilion – Payment Application No. 5 – $8,075.00 – Tabled from September 17, 2024
Request to Pay – Sprouls Construction, Inc. – Project No. 22-031B – Fort Scott Pavilion – Payment Application No. 6 FINAL (Retainage) – $10,397.85 – Tabled from September 17, 2024
New Business
Public Hearing:
Consideration of Submission of Application on behalf of the City of Fort Scott to the Kansas Department of Commerce for a CDBG Grant under the Community Centers & Parks Category for improvements at Memorial Hall – M. Wyatt
Action Items:
Consideration to Approve Renewal of the Downtown Historic District and Riverfront Park Common Consumption Area Permit (existing Ordinance No. 3756) – annual permit expires November 21, 2024– L. Lewis
