Government, Kansas

Governor Signs Kansas Budget Bill

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Governor Kelly Signs Balanced Budget Strengthening Workforce and Economic Development Opportunities;
Addressing Water Issues

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today signed the state’s budget, Senate Bill 28, which allocates funding for Fiscal Years 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028. The budget makes expenditures to continue the Kelly administration’s progress to make Kansas the best place to live, work, and raise a family.

“Thanks to the work we have done to get our state’s economy where it is, we can use our record surplus to make a positive impact on communities across the state,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “The investments we make now in our infrastructure, our workforce, and our economic development put Kansas on a path of continued growth.”

The budget:

  • Makes critical investments in water projects and programs: The budget continues the state’s historic $35 million yearly investment in water infrastructure, conservation, and quality programs across Kansas. It also pledges an additional $10 million specifically for drinking and wastewater infrastructure projects in communities of less than 1,000. This funding will be essential to ensuring our small, rural communities have access to a clean and reliable water supply for years to come.
  • Strengthening economic development opportunities: The budget includes economic development projects that invest in communities in every region of the state. It also makes investment in industrial park projects, the infrastructure that is needed to get product to market, and moderate-income housing. These are key to attracting the jobs and workforce needed for communities looking to grow.
  • Ensures Kansas has a robust workforce and increases funding for post-secondary education: Provides historic funding to workforce training programs and post-secondary education to prepare students to enter the workforce for good-paying, in-demand jobs. When looking to put down roots or expand operations, businesses are looking for states that have a high-skilled, well-prepared workforce.
  • Invests in state employees: Provides pay raises to state employees to make state employment wages more competitive to the equivalent private sector work. Competitive wages are a step toward shrinking the number of unfilled state jobs and retaining employees.

Governor Kelly also line-item vetoed aspects of the budget. Find more information and her veto messages here.

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Art, Bourbon County, Business, Fort Scott

The Artificers Newsletter for May 2024

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The Artificers in May!

Check out the calendar below for all events happening this month!

Encore from

Jill Williams: Watercolorist!

Thursday, May 9th, 2024 Two exciting Classes!

Watercolor Landscape

Watercolor Landscape Clinic

For experienced beginners and intermediate watercolorists, Jill will lead you step by step into the anatomy of a landscape, establishing a strong composition, and using value & visual textures to create depth, space, and emotive impact. You’ll also learn to capitalize on the characteristics of your pigments and to serve your painting by maintaining loose, fresh brushwork. Join Jill for this half day workshop to develop new techniques and skills while creating 2 beautiful landscapes. Supplies are included!
Learn More

May Classes

Come into the studio from 12pm-4pm May 25th,

and Glaze all of your pre-made pieces!
Click Here to Join in the Fun!

Don’t Forget us For your Parties!
Call Here to Set Up a Time!
Bourbon County

Bourbon County Garden Club Plant Sale and Garden Contest Is Announced

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The Crane home was a pocket garden winner of the Bourbon County Garden Club in 2023. Submitted photo.

Plant Sale and Pocket Garden Contest

 

 

The Bourbon County Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale on the opening day of the Downtown Farmers’ Market, Saturday, May 4, from 8 a.m. until noon. Proceeds from the sale support beautification efforts throughout the community. The garden club partners with Tri Valley Developmental Services to sell a wide variety of plants, all of which are geared to our area’s weather challenges. Club members offer plants freshly dug from their own gardens, plus unique plant-filled pots. Tri Valley provides annuals, herbs, and both blooming and foliage hanging baskets. Among the variety of annuals this year are geraniums, calibrachoa, and begonias which are in bloom and ideal for Mothers’ Day gifts. Knowledgeable members and Master Gardeners will be available to offer advice and answer questions about plants during the sale.

 

A new feature this year is a children’s free activity area. There will be garden-related coloring sheets and crayons, plus rocks that children can decorate with acrylic paint markers. They may take the rocks with them or leave them around town for other children to find. The garden club will also be selling decorative rocks that Fort Scott Middle School students have painted.

 

In addition, Bourbon County residents will have the opportunity at the plant sale to register for a free pocket garden. A club committee will collaborate with the winner to create a small garden with drought tolerant plants. Look for Garden Club Pocket Garden signs throughout Fort Scott to see what can flourish in small areas with challenging conditions. County residents can also enter to win on the Bourbon County Garden Club Facebook page now and until Tuesday, May 7.

 

Corner gardens designed by plant enthusiasts have existed in Fort Scott for years, Instead of trying to grow grass in adverse conditions where sidewalks intersect, gardeners have improved these areas by adding colorful, drought-tolerant plants. Bourbon County Garden Club members voted last year to extend the club’s beautification efforts beyond downtown, the city pool islands, and Riverfront Park to provide two pocket gardens in the county. Club members Sheryl Bloomfield, Maggie Davenport, Martha Jane Gentry, Janet Irvin, and Leah Lewis worked with the winning homeowners to develop the gardens. Two different gardening situations were addressed. A new garden by the front door was created at the Martin residence on Main Street. Perennials were planted last fall after the site was prepared. Cool season annuals were added this spring. At the Crane residence on Crawford, the committee added to an existing garden space at the corner by adding colorful annuals and perennials last summer. Spring-blooming bulbs were planted last fall, and annuals were added recently. With time, perennials will fill in at both pocket gardens, and some will reseed.

 

Support community beautification by shopping at the Bourbon County Garden Club Plant Sale at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday, May 4. Register to win a pocket garden at the plant sale or on

the garden club’s Facebook page.

 

Fort Scott, Government

FS Library Board Openings

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FORT SCOTT PUBLIC LIBRARY ANNOUNCES:

There are (2) open positions for the Fort Scott Public Library beginning in May. The function of the Library Board is to review requests about the library.  These are (4) year terms and the board meets the second Tuesday of each month. These are voluntary positions and board are not compensated.  Please send your Letter of Interest to the City Clerk at [email protected] (or City Hall, 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701) by May 13th, 2024 at 4:00PM, and PLEASE be sure to include your contact information.

 

All submitted letters will be presented to the Library Board for consideration. The board will then make a recommendation to the City Commission for approval. All letters will be posted on www.fscity.org, as they are included in the City Commission Agenda Packet and are a matter of public record (contact information will be redacted).

 

For further information or questions about the position, please contact Jennifer Gum-Fowler, Fort Scott Public Library Director at (620) 223-2882.

Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

A New Mural Welcomes Visitors to Fort Scott.

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Local artists who spent several days in the production of this mural on Wall Street, across from the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce office at 231 E. Wall Street. From left, Kadra Nevitt, Hayden Travis, Bre Eden, Katie Hueston, and Kate Freeman.

For their part, five local artists worked on a mural to beautify downtown Fort Scott, during the Fort Scott Clean-up Day on April 22.

The five artists began working on  Friday, April 19, work continued until Monday evening.

“This specific mural was designed to not only showcase the Bourbon County landscape, but be a beautiful backdrop and photo op next to the new arch welcoming visitors into Downtown Fort Scott.,” Kate Freeman, a member of the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Division, said.

“It took about a month, to locate a space, talk to all parties involved, create a design, and execute a plan,” she said. “I would like to thank the Bourbon County Arts Council for donating funds to purchase paint and supplies for the mural.”

The three sections of the mural are from actual photos from Bourbon County. “I used these photos as references for the sketch,” Freeman said.

“We worked on the mural for four days,” she said. “Each of us worked off and on taking as much time as we could spare on the days scheduled. This is a list of painters:  Kate Freeman, Katie Hueston,
Kadra Nevitt, Bre Eden, Hayden Travis, Macie Hueston and Kenlee Eden.

“It is always a great experience working with like-minded people who love doing their part to see Fort Scott flourish,” Freeman said. “It was wonderful to see what each artist brought to the table, you can definitely see a little bit of each person in the painting.”

The new Bourbon County landscape mural is located on Wall Street, across the street from the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce office at 231 E. Wall and just at the base of the welcome arch.

Bre Eden is an art teacher at Winfield Scott Elementary School and Hayden Travis is an art teacher at Eugene Ware Elementary School in Fort Scott. Travis said the school district let them off their teaching duties to do this community service project.

Katie Hueston and Kadra Nevitt are semi-professional artists and Kate Freeman is one of the owners of the local art gallery, The Artificers, and is an artist.

Artists work on a mural on Wall Street during the 2024 Fort Scott Downtown Clean-up Day, The mural is across the street from the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce at 231 E. Wall.

“This is my first year on the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce Board, and part of the Downtown Division, along with John Crain, Bailey Lyons & Cathy Bishop,” she said.

Fort Scott, Schools, Youth

FSHS Thespians Perform Comedy Improv Show

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The Fort Scott High School Thespians perform their annual Spring Improv Comedy Show at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 27 at the FSHS Auditorium.

The show features improvised comedic scenes acted out on the spot using suggestions from the audience. Admission for the show is a free-will donation at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The Improv Troupe, named Scripted, is directed by FSHS teacher Mark Bergmann and sponsored by Thespian Director Angie Bin. Junior Cooper George serves as this year’s Improv Troupe Captain.

Fort Scott

Arch Ribbon Cutting Kicked Off Downtown Clean-up

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Jody Love and Rachel Carpenter, Health Bourbon County Action Team (facing camera) helped with cutting the ribbon for the new arch.

The ribbon cutting for the new  Welcome to Fort Scott downtown arch kicked off the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce Downtown Clean-up project on April 22 at 3 p.m.

From left are Brad Matkin with grandson, Jody Love, Rachel Carpenter and Lindsay Madison. In the background is the new mural going up on East Wall in back of the Ellis Foundation building. The mural was a part of the Downtown Clean-up.

The new arch is near the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce office at 231 E Wall.

Citizens gather for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new welcome arch in downtown Fort Scott.

The welcome arch was grant-funded, with a total cost of $150,000, Rachel Carpenter said in an interview.

Citizens line up for a group photo of the ribbon cutting in the middle of Wall Street beneath the new arch. Hwy.54 traffic (Wall Street) was diverted briefly for the event.

Grants were provided by the Patterson Family Foundation and a  #BCBSKSPathways and was a  #placemaking project, through the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team.

The project began in October 2021.

“The Chamber envisioned a downtown welcome sign,” she said. The HBCAT “Involved citizens throughout the process, with public forums, a survey, and was guided by a steering committee.”

Local tradesmen were used for the project when possible, “except for the steel component which was TL Steele of Burrton, KS,” Carpenter said.

The Patterson family and Pathways ended their grant period to the HBCAT with the finalization of this welcome arch project, Carpenter said.

The final stage of the arch project is side-column lighting and lighting of the sign letters, which  HBCAT is seeking another grant to finish.

Virginia Barnes, director of Blue Health Initiative, Topeka, speaks to the group..

During the public ribbon cutting, there were several speakers: Chamber CEO Lindsay Madison, Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin, Jody Love and Rachel Carpenter with HBCAT and Blue Cross Blue Shield Pathways Director of the Blue Health Initiative, Virginia Barnes of Topeka.

Obituary

Obituary of Larry Bradbury

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Larry Wayne Bradbury, age 78, a resident of rural Uniontown, Kansas passed away Saturday, April 20, 2024, at his home.  He was born May 29, 1945, in Uniontown, the son of William Lewis Bradbury and Vyrel Yenzer Bradbury.  Larry graduated from the Uniontown High School.

He later enlisted with the United States Air Force.  Following his military service, Larry returned to Bourbon County and began working in the printing industry.  He was employed by Ward/Kraft as a press operator for several years.

He later moved to Mansfield, Texas, and was employed for Holden Printing.  Following his retirement, Larry returned to the place of his roots in the Dry Ridge Community north of Uniontown.

In earlier years, Larry enjoyed building dune buggies and working on Volkswagen automobiles.  He also enjoyed woodworking.

He was a member of the Dry Ridge Baptist Church.  Special thanks are extended to Harry Hynes Hospice, Lori Bancroft, Tom Bradbury, Brenda and Norman Hunter, Glen A. Pearson, Jr. of Your Home Town Medical Equipment, Inc. and Care to Share who all helped care for Larry during his final days.

Survivors include his three children, Larry Bradbury (Angela) of Allen, Texas, Brenda Hunter (Norman) of Uniontown, Kansas and Tim Bradbury (Katricia) of Frisco, Texas; eleven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, a great-great-grandson, and his beloved cat, Sami.  Also surviving are four brothers, Bill Bradbury (Carole) of Michigan, Michael “Mick” Bradbury (Wilma) of Hammond, Kansas, Thomas Bradbury (Myrna) of Uniontown, Kansas and Max Bradbury (Betty) also of Hammond, Kansas; a sister, Margaret Epp (Glendon) of Nebraska and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

Larry was preceded in death by his parents, William Bradbury and Vyrel Bradbury Nitcher and two brothers, Gerald and Don Bradbury.

Following cremation, a memorial service will be held at 3:00 P.M. Friday, April 26th at the Cheney Witt Chapel.

Military honors will be provided by the American Legion.

Private burial will take place at a later date in the U. S. National Cemetery.  Memorials are suggested to Care to Share 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.

Government

Statewide Grants For Clean Energy/Fueling Options Announced

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In honor of Earth Week, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas State Director Christy Davis announces more than $5.3 million for seven clean energy projects to lower energy bills, expand access to domestic biofuels and create jobs and new market opportunities for Kansas farmers, ranchers and businesses.

“The USDA is helping expand access to clean energy and fueling options that promote energy independence and save Kansans money,” Davis said. “We are excited to partner with farms and small businesses to address energy solutions, economic growth and keep rural communities strong.”

The details of the Kansas projects are:

  • A $44,940 grant will help purchase and install a 35 kilowatt solar array for Flint Hills Designs LLC of Newton. The project is estimated to replace 52,111 kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power four homes.
  • A $396,305 grant will help purchase and install a 330 kilowatt solar array for New Age Industrial Corporation Inc. of Norton. This project will realize $46,597 per year in savings and will generate 446,400 kilowatt hours, enough electricity to power 41 homes.
  • A $394,440 grant will help purchase and install a 149 kilowatt and 225 kilowatt solar array for CNL Ranch LLC in Stanton County. This project will generate 623,061 kilowatt hours per year, enough electricity to power 57 homes.
  • A $452,500 grant will help purchase and install miscellaneous energy efficient equipment for Nesika Energy LLC of Scandia. The project is estimated to save 1,181,689 kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power 111 homes.
  • A $572,968 grant will help purchase and install a 445 kilowatt solar array for White’s Kingco, Inc., a grocer in Kingman and Lindsborg. The project is estimated to replace 637,326 kilowatt hours per year, enough energy to power 60 homes.
  • A $500,000 grant will help purchase and install energy efficient improvements for North Star Feeds of Atchison. North Star Feeds will replace their existing boiler with a more efficient model, insulate and shorten their water and steam lines, install a return to conserve energy and water, replace existing tanks with new insulated storage tanks, and replace existing truck-mounted diesel pumps with efficient electric models. The project is expected to save 850 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, 8,692,000 cubic feet of natural gas, 17,755 gallons of diesel fuel, and 3,410 gallons of unleaded gasoline per year, which is a 73 percent reduction in energy use and enough energy to power more than 300 homes. The project is expected to save the company $154,886 per year in energy costs.
  • A $3,000,000 grant will help create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels through Blue River Valley LLC’s site in Potwin. This project will consist of rebuilding two two-million-gallon ethanol storage tanks, loading equipment, and site controller. This project is expected to increase the amount of ethanol sold by 238,710,000 gallons per year.

Bourbon County Local News