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AD: The City of Uniontown Is Searching For a City Clerk

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Uniontown is located 17 miles west of Fort Scott.

The City of Uniontown is Searching for City Clerk

 

Would you like to make an impact in your community while broadening your skill set, connecting with people, working close to home, and receiving good pay & great benefits?

As Uniontown City Clerk/Municipal Court Clerk you can do all this and more!  This is a 40 hours per week position with above average wage and benefits, including:                        

  • Paid Time Off: 10 Holidays, 1-4 weeks Vacation, 12 days Sick Leave, & More
  • Retirement Plan: participate in KPERS (Kansas Public Employees Retirement System)
  • Health & Life Insurance available
  • Wage Scale: minimum $15.00, may be more depending upon experience

 

Personal Requirements:

  • You must be a Motivated, Self-Starter
  • High Attention to Detail
  • Basic Computer, Accounting, and Secretarial Skills
  • Ability to Maintain Confidentiality and Discretion
  • Live Within 10 Miles of Uniontown
  • Valid Driver’s License & Pass Pre-Employment Drug Screen

The Clerk position entails performing all duties as defined by Kansas State Statute and City Ordinances:  receive and disperse monetary funds and maintain financial records; complete various administrative reports; grant applications & administration; prepare, mail and apply payments of monthly customer utility billing; assist residents via phone or walk-in; attend and record minutes of all city council meetings, write monthly community newsletter; other duties as required (a more detailed job description and list of duties available upon application).

Apply in person at Uniontown City Hall, call 620-756-4742, or submit your resume via email to [email protected] .  Applications accepted until position filled.

 

Government, Kansas, Schools

Applications for KDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program now being accepted

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TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Transportation is accepting applications for the Safe Routes to School Program for its second round of Planning and Programming (P&P) grants.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. on May 3. KDOT will award up to five grants for the 2024-2025 school year.

The P&P grants fund the development of SRTS plans that will include an overview of existing conditions and public outreach. The plans should also identify potential infrastructure and non-infrastructure solutions to help more children safely walk, bike and roll to school.

All communities, school districts and organizations are encouraged to apply. More information on the P&P grant program, including the application, recordings of prior informational webinars and a question/answer sheet can be found at https://saferoutes.ksdot.gov/grants-and-funding.

About KDOT Safe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School is a comprehensive approach to getting more kids walking, biking and rolling safely to school. It provides kids and parents with a variety of activities, events and lessons, while also addressing local pedestrian, bicycle and personal safety concerns. Visit KDOT’s Safe Routes to School website at SafeRoutes.ksdot.gov to learn more and sign up for the quarterly e-newsletter.

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Government, Health Care

Kaiser Family Foundation Health News Investigation on Social Security Over Payments

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KFF Health News and Cox Media Group’s Series on Social Security Overpayments Wins the Goldsmith Awards’ Inaugural Government Reporting Prize

KFF Health News and Cox Media Group Television Stations announced today that they received the 2024 Goldsmith Awards’ inaugural Government Reporting Prize for their joint reporting in the series “Overpayment Outrage,” which exposed how the Social Security Administration routinely reduced or suspended monthly checks to take back funds to pay off large debts that were often created by its own miscalculation of people’s benefits.

 

The investigation revealed that more than two million people each year are hit with overpayments, including those least able to repay the debt, such as individuals who are poor, old, disabled, blind, or who suffer from a chronic illness.

 

The reporting triggered congressional hearings, a “top-to-bottom” review by Social Security officials, and increased Senate oversight. Commissioner Martin O’Malley also recently announced sweeping policy changes to stop what he called “clawback cruelty” and “grave injustices.”

 

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School honored KFF Health News and Cox Media Group at the Goldsmith Awards ceremony yesterday with the new prize, which recognizes reporting on how government and public policy implementation works, including how and why it can fail and how it can most effectively and efficiently solve problems.

 

“This series exposed the significant impact of these mistakes on millions of people, including those who had little to no ability to pay back the government, forcing some people to lose their homes, cars and savings,” said KFF President and CEO Drew Altman, who is the founding Publisher of KFF Health News. “This is why KFF reports on systemic issues like this through our news service—to reveal how people are affected by policy. ”

 

“We’re honored to receive this prestigious award because it reflects CMG’s commitment to local news and investigative journalism,” said Marian Pittman, CMG’s President of Content. “The team’s relentless efforts to uncover the truth behind complex government policies and their implementation has resulted in tangible changes within the SSA and will directly benefit millions of people impacted by overpayments.”

 

The series was reported by David Hilzenrath and Fred Clasen-Kelly of KFF Health News and Jodie Fleischer of Cox Media Group. A list of additional contributors is available here.

More on “Overpayment Outrage”
Each year the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues billions of dollars in overpayments to recipients whose incomes or other qualifying criteria have changed. Under federal law, the SSA is required to demand repayment of this money, treating it as a debt to the federal government. These clawbacks can happen even decades after the initial overpayments.

 

In “Overpayment Outrage,” Cox Media Group and KFF Health News examined the overpayment issue and the impacts clawbacks have on vulnerable people. They found that overpayments happen due to rules that are complex and hard to follow, inadequate SSA staffing, outdated limits on assets and lagged or otherwise inaccurate data on income and other beneficiary information. The reporting also laid out potential solutions to address the legislative, funding, and process failures that cause this systemic problem.

 

About the Reporting Partnership
KFF Health News and Cox Media Group television stations used FOIA requests, reports by the inspector general and SSA, and interviews with agency employees, advocates for the disabled, and dozens of beneficiaries to piece together the story. What emerged was evidence of a systemic problem in which the SSA routinely reduces or halts monthly benefit checks to reclaim billions of dollars in payments it sent to beneficiaries then later said they should not have received.

 

After they published the series, hundreds of disability beneficiaries came forward with troubling accounts, including that the government sent them overpayment notices without explanation and threatened to cut off their main source of income with little warning. The agency has since restored benefits to several of the beneficiaries featured in the reporting.

 

About KFF and KFF Health News
KFF is a nonprofit health policy research, polling, and news organization. Our mission is to serve as a nonpartisan source of information for policymakers, the media, the health policy community, and the public. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth and award-winning journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF. KFF Health News has been recognized repeatedly for its journalism, with awards honoring its investigative reports on the American health care system.

 

Other major KFF programs include Policy Analysis; KFF Polling and Survey Research; and KFF Social Impact Media, which conducts specialized public health information campaigns. A new program on Health Misinformation and Trust will be launched soon.

CONTACT:

Tammie Smith | 202.654.1410 | [email protected]

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Bourbon County

Bo Co Coalition Minutes of April 3 Meeting

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Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition

General Membership Meeting Minutes

 

April 3, 2024

 

 

  1. Welcome:  Twenty-two members representing eighteen agencies attended.  Billie Jo reminded members that the 2024 family swim pass applications to the Aquatic Center are available at Buck Run and The Beacon; applications must be returned to Buck Run by the end of April.

 

  1. Member Introductions and Announcements:
  • Elizabeth Schafer, Pioneer Kiwanis and CASA – CASA needs volunteers!
  • Angela Handly, Compassionate Ministries: There will be a bake sale fundraiser Friday, May 5, at the First Baptist Church.
  • Lindsey McNeil, COPE: Since the COPE grant will be ending at the end of the month, she will be moving to a position with KRI.
  • David Gillen, Beacon: 266 families and 614 people were served in March, twelve of the families were new.  They had forty hours of volunteer service for March.
  • Craig Campbell, GNAT and FSACF: GNAT is in the spring clean-up mode; April 22, 4-6 p.m. is the scheduled date for the Downtown Clean-up; contact Bailey Lyons to volunteer.  Fort Scott Community Foundation grant applications open August 1; check the website for grant information.
  • Tammy Alcantor, Crawford County Health Department: They are working toward virtual pre-natal classes for Bourbon County moms; this will eliminate the need to travel to Pittsburg for classes.
  • Travis Wilcoxen, Angel Care Home Health: The specialty this month is wound care; they can help with this according to doctor’s orders.
  • Nick Johnson, USD 234 Pre School: Kindergarten round-up will be held on April 10; Pre School round-up will be held on April 12.  Spring Fling family night is April 18; contact Nick if you wish to have a space for your agency.
  • Rachel Carpenter: The SEK Childcare Conference will be on April 20; the Dare to Dream Women’s Entrepreneurship conference will be held on June 14-15.  Flyers for these events will be sent as an attachment with the minutes.

 

  1. Program:  Mike Sharpmack, Executive Director, Kansas Renewal Institute (KRI) explained the concept behind the first ever institute of this type.  Phase 1 of KRI will be a residential hospital with 58 beds in the adolescent unit, twenty beds in the adult unit, and an adult detox unit.  Phase 2 will include an ER, hopefully within six months.  Doors will open on April 15 with the first ten patients.  The education proponent will be done in cooperation with USD 234.  Ribbon cutting for this new facility will be April 18; 11:00 a.m.

 

May program:  Amanda Classen, K-State Research Community Vitality Agent

June program:  Tara Solomon Smith, QPR Suicide Prevention

 

 

  1. Open Forum:  Nothing further came before the membership; Billie Jo did remind members that we do not meet in July.

 

 

  1. Adjournment:  The next General Membership meeting will be May 1, 2024.

 

Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

Raptors Are Coming To Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes

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Once again, EVERGY has awarded the Lowell Milken Center with a Community Impact grant for $1,500 to bring a Golden Eagle and Bald Eagle from Operation Wildlife (OWL) to Fort Scott, Kansas.

 

The “Raptor Birds” presentations will honor the Unsung Hero and Holocaust survivor Pavel Weiner. Pavel was a teenage boy who survived the Terezin Concentration camp by writing in his diary and helping to create 10 secret magazines about his and his roommates’ experiences in Terezin. These magazines were later used at the Nuremberg Trials. The young men called themselves “Nesharim” which in Hebrew mean “Eagles!”

 

The event is planned for Wednesday, April 17th, at the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. Pavel’s museum panel will be unveiled at 1:00pm followed by a presentation from Jessica Rockhold, Executive Director of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education in Overland Park, Kansas who will speak about Terezin. The eagles will be outside in the Lowell Milken Park at 2:30pm and 4:00pm. Everyone is welcome for all or part of the event!

 

“This is a really special treat to see two eagles at once and get to hear Jessica Rockhold who is an expert on all things Holocaust!”  said Ronda Hassig, a spokesperson for the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes.

 

About the Lowell Milken Center: The Lowell Milken Center is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that works with students and educators within a range of diverse academic disciplines, to develop projects focused on unsung heroes.

About Evergy:  As an energy provider, Evergy is committed to creating a sustainable energy future and minimizing our environmental impact. They do this through the advancement of clean energy resources, education, stewardship, and environmental actions and activities. 

 

Fort Scott, Government

Correction to FS Public Library Has Two 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 in reference to 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 April 16th, 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa A. Lewis, City Clerk

Bourbon County, Business, Food, Fort Scott

The Farmers Market Vendors Meeting Starts the 2024 Season This Evening

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Tomatoes for sale at Fort Scott Farmers Market in 2018.

After several years of planning and execution, the Fort Scott Farmers Market will be under the new pavilion on North National Avenue on May 4.

Tonight is the first vendor’s meeting of the season. This meeting is for returning vendors and anyone interested in becoming a vendor in 2024, Teri Hamilton, president of Fort Scott Farmers Market said.

Teri Hamilton. Submitted photo.

The meeting is at the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team office at 104 N. National Avenue,  across the street from the pavilion, from 6-8 p.m.

At tonight’s meeting, there will be introductions,  information about market guidelines, applications, and fees “and a time to get to know each other a little better,” she said.

Vendors are not just farmers, “but we give preference to farmers and agriculture businesses,” Hamilton said.

“There are also baked goods and craft vendors,” she said. “We have 15 returning vendors.”

“We have space for up to 24 under the pavilion,” Hamilton said.

“The vendors will park in the parking spaces under the pavilion and the customers will go around to each vendor in the parking stall,” she said.

If more than that number of vendors want to be a part of the market, the vendor spaces will have to be reconfigured, and will be thoroughly discussed, she said.

The Farmers Market Committee comprises Hamilton, owner of Hamilton’s Artisan Bakery, as president; Ethan Holly, treasurer,  of Still Waters Farm; and Leanna Cain, secretary, of Sweet County Farms.

Vendors pay $5 a week for a vendor space, and if payment is given for the whole year, it is $4 a week, she said.

The market is open on Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, starting on May 4 and continuing until the end of October.

There is a Healthy Bourbon County Action Team workshop on April 15 that will focus on how to get a license to sell at a farmers market, food laws and food safety.

“We want our vendors to have access to that resource,” she said.

Hamilton said the group is so thankful for the new space.

“The pavilion is so wonderful,” she said. “We are so thankful for the project and all the fundraising that took place and they didn’t have to give us the priority,” she said.

On opening day, May 4, there will be a ribbon cutting, live music and speakers for the pavilion’s first farmers market, Hamilton said. The Bourbon County Garden Club always has a live plant sale on the first day of the market season as well.

For more information, call Hamilton at 816-491-7884.

To see the latest on the Fort Scott Farmers Market:

https://www.facebook.com/fsfma

A view of a 2017 Fort Scott Farmers Market on Skubitz Plaza.
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AD: Key Apparel Is Seeking a Sales Professional

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Key Industries Inc. is located at 400 Marble Road, in Fort Scott’s Industrial Park, parallel to Hwy. 69.

KEY Apparel is searching for an entry-level Business to Business Junior Sales Professional to join our KEY For Business team.

The focus will be developing KEY’s direct sales customer base, including sales to businesses and government entities.

Visit https://www.keyapparel.com/careers-at-key/ for more information.

Bourbon County Local News