There will be a Meet and Greet event with Kelley Zellner, the new City Manager, and the five city commissioners held on Thursday, January 20th, 2022, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the lobby area of The Ellis Fine Arts Center on the campus of Fort Scott Community College, located at 2108 S. Horton Street.
Even though a majority of commissioners may be present, no city business will be conducted.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to a Chamber Coffee this Thursday, January 20th at 8 a.m. hosted by new Chamber member Spyder, Inc., located at 102 W. 2nd Street.
Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
Spyder, Inc combines their experience of solutions, compliance, and technology together to launch an eCommerce portal and document storage solution purpose-built for insurance agents and financial service providers that makes their job of selling, growing, and managing their business easier.
Spyder is a female-founded business whose leaders offer deep fintech experience, both designing software and growing companies. They are passionate about their products and what they can do for the insurance and financial service industries. Their belief is to improve the lives of their clients, their employees, and their community by serving them in the highest level of regard. Transparency, honesty, and kindness are values that they hold dear.
Join the Chamber in welcoming this new company to Fort Scott. Visit their website spyderloop.com for more information. Any member business or organization wanting to host Chamber Coffee in 2022 is encouraged to contact the Chamber to save a date by calling 620-223-3566 or emailing [email protected].
January 14, 2022
2022 Session Begins
You thought last year was a mess – well – here we go again. With the increased COVID-19 cases, variants, and major inflation, 2022 is going to be another challenge. I am confident that we can meet these challenges with perseverance and by remembering the words of our Founding Fathers, that our government is of “We the People” and that every decision we make as legislators must be in support of our Constitution.
Wildfires
December 16, 2021, several communities in Kansas were devastated by wildfires. The high winds, storms, and fires resulted in loss of life, homes, and livelihoods. There has been an outpouring of help, but more is needed. The Senate Tax Committee passed Senate Bill (SB) 318 out of committee. This Bill would allow a sales tax exemption on fencing material purchased as a result of losses from the wildfires. The legislature has passed similar legislation in the past. The difference in SB 318, is that it would not sunset so with any future fires the exemption would be available.
I offered an amendment to SB 318 that provides an option for County Commissioners to abate property taxes on agriculture or commercial property destroyed in a Governor declared disaster. It passed unanimously. Currently, County Commissioners have an option to abate property taxes on homes but they cannot abate property taxes on other property in a disaster. It was reported that a Senator was concerned about the optional abatement because it might decrease K-12 funding from the 20 mil property tax. Can you imagine losing almost all of your property and still having to pay property tax on it as if it wasn’t destroyed?
Personal Note
In less than a two-week period we lost several friends and family. Two of them died from COVID-19, but the rest died from other causes. We also have friends and family who are in the hospital and fighting to recover. It has been a difficult time, but with God’s grace we find strength.
Some media and now social media allow people to make false claims about me not taking COVID-19 seriously. This is fake news. I have and will continue to take precautions and hope that you do also. I will also continue to fight for your life, your liberty and your pursuit of happiness so that you may decide for yourself, not your government mandating and stripping you of your freedoms.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12th District State Senator.
Caryn
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Trauma Program (KTP) continue to highlight the importance of blood donation amid increasingly critical blood shortages experienced across the state and nation. Blood shortages can pose risks to hospitals in performing necessary patient care. As January is National Blood Donor month, KDHE and KTP encourage those able to schedule an appointment to donate blood. In recent weeks, the Red Cross has declared this the worst blood shortage in over a decade, with less than a one-day supply of critical blood types. The Community Blood Center for our region is at a 1-2 day supply.
“We encourage Kansans who can donate blood to schedule an appointment today,” Janet Stanek, Acting Secretary, said. “Blood donation helps ensure our hospitals can continue their operations and has the ability to save lives.”
Updated policies and practices allow for safe donation during the pandemic. Donation centers provide specific guidance on the blood donation process and safety measures taken within their centers. The National Institutes of Health have found blood donations to be safe under current COVID-19 screening guidelines.
Locations for blood donation can be found at organization websites such as savealifenow.org, AmericasBlood.org, or redcrossblood.org.
Fort Scott native Kim Carpenter, 56, is the owner of a new business called Writer’s Edge, LLC.
Carpenter’s business provides proofreading and copyediting services for a variety of written materials including ads, reports, books, articles, blog posts, and more.
Her Background
She has 14 years of experience as an elementary school teacher.
Carpenter earned her Associate of Science degree from Fort Scott Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Pittsburg State University, and a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from William Woods University.
Her hometown is Fort Scott.
She is married to Jon Carpenter and has four children, two that live in Fort Scott: Jana Johnson, and Jon T. Carpenter.
She is a member of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of Faith Church.
“In my free time, you might find me hiking the Gunn Park trails, kayaking the local waterways, or shopping at area flea markets,” she said.
A New Adventure
“Writer’s Edge was born out of a passion to read, write, and a desire to pursue a new career,” she said.
“I have been an elementary educator for 14 years,” Carpenter said. “I loved the opportunity to be a constructive influence in children’s lives. Yet, I felt the pull to pursue a different path in which I can also have a positive impact. As I am a strong advocate of reading and writing, this adventure felt like a perfect fit for me”.
After extensive research, Carpenter learned what was needed to transition from full-time teacher to full-time proofreader, copyeditor.
First, she graduated from an educational course with certification in professional proofreading and editing and confirmed her grasp of advanced grammar as well as strong oral and written communication skills, she said.
Next, Carpenter converted a spare room into an office space, and with the help of her friend and fellow entrepreneur, Lori Sherrell Cable, built her LinkedIn profile, resume, and her website.
In addition, she attended meetings with the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team (HBCAT) and the Kansas Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to make the dream a reality. The team of Jody Hoener, Dacia Clark, and Rachel Carpenter worked with her to formalize her business and develop a business plan.
“The whole process was very easy, and the team was so great to work with. They explained everything and answered all of my questions. They truly have a heart to see people succeed and are very knowledgeable in the process,” Carpenter said.
She also looks forward to working with students, researchers, and business owners to improve written communications from social marketing to printed materials and no project is too big or too small, she said.
Carpenter’s website www.writersedge.page will be up soon, but for now, she can be reached at [email protected]
TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) today announces that as of Feb. 1, 2022, COVID-19 contact outreach and monitoring, otherwise known as contact tracing, operations will be discontinued at KDHE. KDHE contact tracing staff will be reassigned to contact investigations. County Local Health Departments have already begun to wind down contact tracing and K-12 schools who were participating in contact tracing as part of the Test to Stay program may temporarily suspend contact tracing as well. Contact tracing is when Public Health notifies close contacts to let them know that they were exposed to an infectious disease and tells them about the signs and symptoms to watch out for. Participation with contact tracing has always been voluntary. The decision to end contact outreach and monitoring was made due to the surge in amount of positive COVID-19 cases and the public’s willingness to participate has diminished since the beginning of the pandemic.
“As we enter the third year of this pandemic, public health has to begin to adjust the level of response to help alleviate the strain on the Public Health system,” Janet Stanek, Acting Secretary, said. “The pandemic is far from over, but this step is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease. The responsibility of protecting yourself and others belongs to all of us.”
Individuals who are positive for COVID-19 will now be responsible for letting their close contacts know about their potential exposure. Additionally, if the individual with COVID-19 exposed others at high-risk settings such as schools, correctional facilities, long-term care facilities, homeless shelters, daycares and churches, KDHE or the local health department will notify the setting. The setting will be responsible for identifying close contacts and notifying them about the potential exposure.
Individuals who are positive for COVID-19 or a close contact of someone with COVID-19 can find information on what to do here.
KDHE urges Kansans to use the following tools to protect against COVID-19 and the Omicron variant.
Mommy and Me is a support and education program for mothers with children or who are pregnant.
The support group meets monthly at the Southeast Kansas Multi-County Health Department in Fort Scott at 6th and Horton.
The next one is scheduled for Wednesday, January 19 at 4 p.m.
The group meets once a month, with a topic of discussion.
As an encouragement to attend the meetings, diapers are given to participants each meeting, Holly Fritter, Healthy Start Home Visitor, said.
“We give away a packet of diapers every time they attend because we want people to be supported, and educated,” she said.
The program was created to help support moms in taking care of their babies and themselves.
“Discussions in the past have been breastfeeding, formula feeding, prenatal care, postpartum care, postpartum depression and other maternal warning signs, stages of labor and what to expect, nutrition, baby basics, parenting, things like that,” she said.
“We want people to know that they are not alone, they have someone to talk to and someone to listen.
Click below for the Bourbon County Commission agenda with accompanying documents.
