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What’s Happening in Fort Scott! February 2nd Weekly Newsletter
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Pickert Selected as Fort Scott Chief of Police
Fort Scott Police Captain Jason Pickert has been promoted to the Chief of Police, according to a press release from the city manager on Wednesday.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce Jason Pickert as the new Chief of Police for the City of Fort Scott” said Interim Fort Scott City Manager Brad Matkin. “Pickert has been with the Fort Scott Police Department for the last 18 years working side by side, as Police Captain, with retiring Police Chief Travis Shelton for the last four years.”
Pickert started his career with the Fort Scott Police Department in 2004 after graduating from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in 2005, according to a press release from Matkin.
He was a patrol office from 2004 to 2006 before taking the role of detective in the fall of 2006, serving in that role for two years.
Pickert was then promoted to Detective Sergeant in March of 2008 and served in this role for over ten years before being promoted to Captain in December of 2018.
Among the many other certificates and continued education classes, Pickert graduated with a Certified Public Manager certificate in 2017 from the University of Kansas.
“We had some very good candidates, and I was very impressed with each of the candidates we interviewed,” Matkin said. “The interview panel and I feel Jason Pickert is the one that stood out among the rest and will do a great job.”
“Pickert is a strong leader, decision maker, and a valuable resource,” Matkin said. “I look forward to working more closely with Jason and am excited to see what the future holds for the staff and the department.”
Pickert will take over the Chief of Police role on March 1st, 2023.
Current Fort Scott Chief of Police Travis Shelton will be retiring at the end of February.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Feb. 2
Obituary of Sandra Woods
Sandra Kay (Laws) Woods, age 75, a resident of Bronson, KS passed on to her heavenly home on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, at St. Luke’s Hospice House in Kansas City, MO.
Sandy was born in Kansas City, KS on August 26th, 1947. She was the first child and only daughter of Lyman Allen Laws and Evelyn Ivon (Crowder) Laws. After moving to California at the age of 18 she met her future husband, Charles Austin Woods. The two love birds quickly started their adventurous life together. They married on October 27th,1968 in Fort Scott, KS and went on to have three sons, Randell, Christopher, and Brian. Nevada, Iowa, Arkansas, and Texas were all states they called home until 1989, when they planted roots in Sandy’s beloved childhood hometown of Bronson, Kansas.
Sandy lived life to the fullest. She loved traveling, reading, listening to music, playing pinochle, crafting, collecting chicken decor, picking up a great find at a garage sale or antique store, occasionally pulling the handle on a slot machine and cheering for her favorite Chief’s player, Travis Kelce.
Family was by far the most important thing in her life. When her health took a turn in later years, it never held her back from any event she wanted to attend.
She enjoyed talking, laughing, telling stories of the past and spending time with family and friends.
Sandy was always the biggest fan of her kids, grandkids and great grandkids at sporting events and everything else they participated in.
She was extremely proud of every family member, always celebrating each accomplishment in their lives and supporting them during hard times.
Sandy had a deeply loving passionate, opinionated, and devoted personality that drew others to her. She was a “people person” who never met a stranger. She was always in the loop about the latest happenings and eager to share her thoughts on any topic. As the Woods family grew throughout the years, Sandy continued to be the glue that brought everyone together for holidays and other events.
Through example, Sandy taught the importance of shopping local, having traditions, honoring family and loving the Lord.
Sandy is survived by her husband, Charles “Chuck” Woods of Bronson, KS; three sons, Randell and wife Sayda of Chanute, KS, Chris and wife Lael of Bronson, KS, Brian and wife Megan of Bronson, KS; two brothers, Ron Laws and wife Karen of Palacios, TX, Allen Laws and wife Karen of Magnolia, TX; nine grandchildren, Jordan, Logan, Alena, Kaydra, Makiah, Mackenzie, Daulton, Cayden and Nataliah; three great-grandchildren, Olivia, Copelan and Bryson; and many nieces and nephews.
Sandy was preceded in death by her parents and several other family members, including her beloved Grandmother, Ethel Crowder.
Funeral services will be held at the Cheney Witt Chapel on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023.
Visitation will begin at 1pm, with the service following at 2pm.
Burial will follow at Bronson Cemetery.
The family suggests contributions to the Sandra Woods Memorial Fund and may be left in care of Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main PO Box 347, Fort Scott, KS. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.
Preventing Fatal Crashes
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FS Golf Advisory Board Meets at City Hall on Feb. 3
Interim City Manager, Brad Matkin, has changed the location of the GOLF ADVISORY BOARD MEETING to CITY HALL (123 S. Main St.) in the Commission Room. This will allow for it to be available to citizens to view on the City of Fort Scott YouTube Channel.
The meeting date and time remain the same. It will be Friday, February 3rd at 12:00PM.
Obituary of Josephine McDaniel
Josephine G. McDaniel, age 94, a resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away early Tuesday, January 31, 2023, at the Girard Medical Center in Girard, Kansas.
She was born March 9, 1928, in Arcadia, Kansas, the daughter of Joseph William McDaniel and Gracie Melissa Ridgway
McDaniel. She was the oldest of the seven McDaniel children. Josephine never had any formal schooling, but she faithfully took care of her brothers and sisters and later her nieces and
nephews. She enjoyed cleaning house and cooking. She especially enjoyed making homemade bread with her mother. One of Josephine’s chores was to hang clothes on the clothesline, and
she didn’t like anyone doing her job. She enjoyed playing with her dolls, working in her coloring book and doing puzzles, but most of all she loved Jesus. Her mother often read the
Bible to her in the evenings.
Josephine seldom missed attending the Assembly of God/Life Point
Church in Ft. Scott. For the last several years of her life, Josephine lived with her sister, Frances, in Ft. Scott.
Survivors include two brothers, William Leroy “Bill” McDaniel of Ft. Scott and Darrell McDaniel of Bentonville, Arkansas and two sisters, Frances Pearson and Ellen Morrow all of Ft. Scott. Also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Joseph McDaniel, Jr and John McDaniel.
Rev. Steve Bell will conduct funeral services at 10:30 A.M. Monday, February 6 th at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Burial will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the
Josephine McDaniel Memorial Fund 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.
Community Christian Church Celebrates 50 Years
A local congregation is celebrating 50 years in the community.
Community Christian Church met for the first time on January 21, 1973.
“It was at the (Scottview Apartments) high rise,” Jerry Witt, who is serving on the planning committee for the anniversary celebration, said. “We were going to meet in homes but the phone rang off the hook that week and we knew we’d have too many for something like that.”
“Sixty-three people attended that first meeting,” he said. “It has never been below that number since. On charter Sunday, 111 people were in attendance and 70 of those placed their membership.”
In the earliest days, finding a place to meet was a challenge.
They met in the band room at the middle school, at Fort Scott Community College, at the high rise apartment complex, and at the old 4-H Building.
As the congregation grew, a more permanent and larger location was necessary.
Once they were able to start building the church facility, it was able to be purchased because all seven leaders: Max Hayden, Ron Billiard, Bill Douglas, Richard Hixon, Jerry Witt, Tom Armstrong, and Bill Underkofler put their homes up as collateral for the build.
Leon Weece was the only paid staff for at least a year, and volunteers cleaned the church.
Currently they have six ministry staff, two administration staff, and two janitorial staff members, with one intern.
The Mission
The mission of the first congregation was to start a fundamental, Bible-based Christian church, and there have been three mission statements in the church history.
The current one is “We are a community who loves Jesus, who want to see Jesus loved by our community.”
“We have changed the wording to become more modern over time but we have always stuck to those three basic missions of God, his plan, and his people.” said Karen Billiard, also on the anniversary committee.
The Anniversary Committee
The 50 year planning committee has nine people, and five were present that first service: Sharon Campbell, Karen Billiard, Judy and Jerry Witt, and Robin Billiard-Hartman.
Added to the 2023 anniversary committee are Rita Emmerson, and Billie Jo and Alan Drake, who all came to the newly formed church early in its history, along with Delynn Abati, who has attended Community since 1997.
The Current Congregation
Currently there are nearly 500 people attending Community Christian.
Members of the anniversary committee stated their reasons they attend the church:
“The love our church family has for each other,” said Robin Hartman.
“Knowing that we are a Bible-based church,” said Billie Jo Drake.
“The fellowship and care each person has for every other,” Billiard said.
CCC is a mission-giving church, increasing outreach of the congregants.
From the inception of the church, they pledged 10% of all income to missions, according to information from the committee. That number has grown to the 18% currently given to missions every month.
Plans for the 50th Anniversary
There will be one extended service on Sunday, February 12, which is Community Christian Church’s Charter Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m. that will highlight and recreate parts of the last 50 years.
Leon Weece, the church’s first minister, will preach. Additionally, there will be testimonies from some of the charter members and Timothys; people the church has sent out to serve in ministries throughout the world.
There will be a reception directly following the service, which will have a microphone set up for anyone wanting to share memories of their days at CCC.
On the Horizon
The church is currently remodeling the north wing of the facility to be a more inviting and accommodating space for the youth group. They are about 50% done with the remodel.
Services
The service times of the church: 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. every Sunday, with a study hour in between.
They also have programming for students pre-K to 12th grade from 6 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday evening, during the school year.
The church is located at 1919 S. Horton, Fort Scott.
For more information, phone 620.223.1500 or view their Facebook page.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital’s Newborn Screening Program receives recognition
Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg has been recognized for its Newborn Screening Program, a service done 24-48 hours after birth to identify and treat rare conditions.
The awards, given in partnership between the Kansas Hospital Association, Kansas Midwives Association and Kansas Department of Health and Environment, were assessed from 2021 qualifying criteria based on state screening goals. The hospital received recognition for its critical congenital heart defect, hearing, metabolic and genetic screenings.
“These screenings allow us to provide the best care for babies born in our hospital,” says Janelle Wade, director of inpatient services. “If needed, we are able to get the baby immediate care for conditions that may have gone unnoticed otherwise.”
The program, available to Kansas families at no cost since 1965, is a collaborative effort among public health, hospitals, providers and the parents of the babies screened. Newborn screening in Kansas consists of three types of tests: hearing screen to detect hearing loss, pulse oximetry screening to detect critical congenital heart defects and a heel stick to collect small blood samples which can detect 32 genetic or metabolic conditions.
“This achievement speaks to the high quality of care that every member of our team provides to our moms and babies,” says Drew Talbott, hospital president. “I am so proud of the collaborative effort of all involved in receiving this recognition.”
To learn more about Labor and Delivery at Ascension Via Christi, go to viachristibaby.com.
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About Ascension Via Christi
In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi operates seven hospitals and 75 other sites of care and employs nearly 6,400 associates. Across the state, Ascension Via Christi provided nearly $89 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2021. Serving Kansas for more than 135 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the leading non-profit and Catholic health system in the U.S., operating more than 2,600 sites of care – including 145 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities – in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.ascension.org.
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Feb. 1
Initiative For Expanding Employment for People with Disabilities
Kansas 1 of 10 “Core” States Selected to Participate in Initiative to Expand Employment Opportunities for People with Disabilities
TOPEKA – Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Laura Howard announced today that Kansas is 1 of only 10 states and the District of Columbia selected by the U.S Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) to participate as a “core state” for its National Expansion of Employment Opportunities Network initiative (NEON).
NEON is a technical assistance initiative that advances collaboration with national provider organizations (NPOs) to develop strategic plans for increasing competitive integrated employment (CIE) opportunities for the individuals they serve, including those with significant disabilities and those who have faced barriers to employment. Until now, NEON has focused primarily on advancing CIE by offering national provider organizations technical assistance from recognized subject matter experts and support for local provider organizations. By expanding participation to core states, NEON seeks to focus on promoting positive changes in state-level policies and systems.
“KDADS is honored to be selected as a participant in this initiative designed to make employment a reality for more people with disabilities,” KDADS Secretary Howard said. “We are committed to making competitive, integrated employment a priority and implementing a strategic plan that supports effective practices and promotes healthier workplace equality.”
Competitive integrated employment (CIE) is defined by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) as work that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis for which an individual is:
- Compensated at or above minimum wage and comparable to the customary rate paid by the employer to employees without disabilities performing similar duties and with similar training and experience;
- Receiving the same level of benefits provided to other employees without disabilities in similar positions;
- At a location where the employee interacts with other individuals without disabilities; and
- Presented opportunities for advancement similar to other employees without disabilities in similar positions.
Kansas’s participation in this initiative will help KDADS connect to consulting, capacity building support and ongoing mentoring as we seek to increase CIE for individuals with disabilities in the state.
Kansas has been designated to receive 100 hours of technical assistance from subject matter experts to be used by August 31, 2023, based on the state’s goals and needs with additional hours available as needed and approved by ODEP. This can include blending, braiding, and sequencing of funding, strategic planning, and data collection and analysis. KDADS will begin holding monthly stakeholder meetings to gather input.
Expectations for core states as set forth by NEON include a scope of work that includes the opportunity to work with a maximum of four subject matter experts (SMEs) who will provide virtual and onsite training, technical assistance and policy consulting to include:
- One-on-One (1:1) Policy Consulting: Individualized support in accomplishing 1-3 policy-specific outcomes to assist the state in developing or implementing technical assistance objectives with the alignment of policies, practices, and funding to support the state’s initiative to enact Employment First principles, assist providers in transforming their business model, and advance NEON’s National Plan to Increase CIE.
- Capacity Building Assistance/Training in Effective Practices: A combination of in-person and virtual capacity building assistance and training which will result in the accomplishment of 2-5 major outcomes that align with ODEP’s Criteria for Performance Excellence in Employment First State Systems Change and Provider Transformation.
In addition to the policy support described above, each NEON Core State will also have access to and be expected to engage in all ODEP’s National Employment First Community of Practice (CoP) activities, including but not limited to: monthly training webinars, a virtual policy platform, national inventory of resources to help providers achieve increased CIE, and timely updates from Federal officials on new policy developments and funding opportunities to support state NEON efforts.
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FS Parks Advisory Board Has Opening For a Member
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The function of the Fort Scott Parks Board Committee is to provide suggestions to the City Manager and Governing Body regarding all the parks within the City of Fort Scott. All boards and commissions of Fort Scott serve on a volunteer basis and are not compensated. If you have a desire to serve on this board, please submit a Letter of Interest to the City Clerk, Lisa Lewis, 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701 or [email protected]. The names and letters will be submitted for consideration to the City Commission. Please submit your letter of interest by 4:00 PM on March 3rd, 2023.
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