Area News, Ascension Via Christi, Business, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Fort Scott, Health Care

CHCSEK Health Care Update From Krista Postai

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Krista Postai

Since taking over operations of the medical clinic from Mercy Hospital earlier this year, the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas has been working to add more doctors’ services.

Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, 403 Woodland Hills Blvd.

Added Doctors

The following doctors have recently been added or added more days available in the Fort Scott clinic.

Dr. Alicia Pino, D. O. is a board-certified pediatrician and holds medical privileges from Ascension Via Christi Hospital, Pittsburg.

 

Dr. Holly Gault, M.D. is a board-certified family physician with obstetrics and has medical privileges at Ascension Via Christi Hospital, Pittsburg.

 

“They aren’t really new,” Krista Postai, CEO and president of CHCSEK said of the two doctors. “Dr. Gault, a family physician, has been with us for more than three years in Pittsburg and lives near Arcadia so is actually closer to Ft. Scott. She has been seeing patients there one day a week and is increasing to two.”

 

“Dr. Pino joined us this summer; she is a board-certified pediatrician and is currently seeing patients one day a week in Fort Scott. She also sees newborns at Via Christi Ascension and patients in Pittsburg three days a week.”

 

“We thought it would be more convenient for those Bourbon County women delivering in Pittsburg to have both these doctors more available for follow up visits,” she said.

 

Dr.  Grant Hartman, a Fort Scott Chiropractor officially joins CHCSEK this month and, beginning in January, will provide chiropractic services at their clinics in both Pittsburg and Fort Scott, Postai said.

 

Dr. Bashar Marji is the latest addition of specialists added, Postai said. Marji is a cardiology specialist who will come to Fort Scott one Friday each month.

 

The following are the specialists currently in Fort Scott, with their frequency:

  • Cardiology – Dr. Markham (HCA) – the first, third and fourth Thursday of each month;
  • Urology – Dr. Tawil – every Thursday;
  • Orthopedics – Greg King, APRN (Freeman) – every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday;
  • Surgery – Dr. Hall (Allen County Regional Hospital) – Thursday afternoons, Friday all-day of every week;
  • Cardiology – Renae Bateman, APRN (Mercy) – every Monday;
  • Cardiovascular Surgery – the combination of Dr. Meyer/Dr. Brown/Pam Darnell, APRN/Amanda Lumpkins, APRN/Paige Palmer, APRN (all Mercy) – First and Third Friday of every month;
  • Cardiology – Dr. Marji – one Friday each month

 

New Clinic Building In Process

CHC/SEK will be building a facility on Horton, just west of the former Mercy Hospital building.

 

The move to build a new clinic on the Horton Street side of the former Mercy Hospital in on-going, Postai said.

 

Currently, CHCSEK is finalizing the donation of land from Mercy Hospital, she said. Additionally, they are working on the design of the new building.

 

“We are looking at eight acres including the helipad,” Postai said.  “We expect to have that done very shortly and are looking at a groundbreaking in the spring.”

 

 

Bourbon County, Business, Entertainment, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce

Chamber Coffee Dec. 5 at Fort

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The Chamber Coffee will be hosted by the
Fort Scott National
Historic Site
Old Fort Blvd., Fort Scott, KS
Join us for some coffee & good company at 8 am!
Join us at the Chamber Coffee Thursday, December 5th at
8 am at the Fort Scott
National Historic Site!
This will kick off the Candle light tours starting Friday, December 6th from 6:30 to 9 pm & Saturday, December 7th from 5 to 9 pm!
UPCOMING COFFEE SCHEDULES:
* December 12th ~ FSCC ~ Ellis Fine Arts Center
* December 19th ~ City of Fort Scott
* December 26th ~ No Coffee
Business, Government

Kansas Tax Reform Recommendations

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Meeting for the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform produces recommendations

 

The fourth meeting of the Governor’s Council on Tax Reform concluded this afternoon. The bipartisan group is performing an in-depth study of the state’s current tax system, and today submitted an initial round of recommendations for consideration by the Kansas Legislature in the upcoming session.

  

“I want to thank the Council for its work in preparing thoughtful recommendations, and look forward to their continued study in 2020,” Governor Laura Kelly. “The proposals they shared today reflect my vision for a fiscally responsible, fair and sustainable tax structure that will keep the tax burden as low as possible for Kansas individuals and businesses.”

 

The Council recommended:

 

  • A food sales tax rebate. The Council recommended a new Food Sales Income Tax Credit that would be refundable, have income limits based on Federal Adjusted Gross Income and be limited to taxpayers who were Kansas residents for the entire tax year. If the food sales tax rebate is fully implemented, it is estimated that over 400,000 Kansans would receive a refund.

 

  • A return to implementation of the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund (LAVTRF) as a way to help local governments keep their property taxes low. Previously funded by 3.63% of the state sales tax, the LAVTRF has not been funded since 2003. If fully funded again, local governments would once again have a strong tool to begin lowering local property taxes. 

 

  • Implementation of a tax on out-of-state marketplace facilitators and digital products. While the Department of Revenue notice earlier this year requires out-of-state retailers to register and collect and remit use tax on sales made in the state, existing statute does not allow the state to make the same requirements of marketplace facilitators. A marketplace facilitator is a person who facilitates a sale through an internet or physical retailer. The proposal related to digital products would apply the state sales tax to all sales of digital products and subscription services, such as digital books and music.

 

  • Caution by the Governor and the Legislature: Given the devastation prior tax policy has had on Kansas, the Council recommended the Governor and the Legislature be very cautious with proposals that diminish revenue until Kansas has fully regained its fiscal health. 

 

  • Property tax lid exemption for transportation:  The Council recommended that an exemption be made to the existing property tax lid for the funding of local transportation projects. A significant portion of expenditures at the local level are for road and bridge repairs and the property tax lid has far too often been a hinderance to those needs. During the Department of Transportation’s local consult meetings across the state, a number of communities expressed the need for this exemption.

 

  • Affirming the need to bring back the 3-legged stool: Additionally, the Council recommended the state strive to bring balance back with a 3-legged stool approach to taxes — income, property and sales.  During the past few months, the Council found evidence that the state’s current tax policy has an imbalanced tax structure with income taxes and property taxes being significantly out of balance. 

 

  • Future items to consider:  The Council also approved a list of items they are planning on studying and reviewing during the next calendar year. Those are:  broadening the tax base, tax exemptions, review of progressivity v. regressivity within the current tax system, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Global Intangible Low-taxed Income (GILTI), decoupling and overall property tax relief.

 

Over the course of its study, the Council will make additional specific statutory recommendations to state lawmakers on tax reform in Kansas. A final report is due in December 2020, in advance of the 2021 legislative session.

 

For more on Governor Kelly’s executive order establishing the Council, its membership and presentation materials:

 

https://governor.kansas.gov/newsroom/council-on-tax-reform/

Government, Kansas

Christmas Cash For Unclaimed Property

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Kansas State Treasurer launches Christmas Cash website to encourage Unclaimed Property searches

Topeka—Kansas State Treasurer Jake LaTurner today announced the beginning of their 2nd Annual Christmas Cash initiative with the launch of www.ChristmasCash.ks.gov. The website is a free search engine for Kansans to go online and find out if any of the $350-million in unclaimed property in the State treasury belongs to them. Last Christmas the website yielded over 40,000 searches and over $7-million dollars was returned to Kansans.

“We love putting this money back in people’s pockets, and what better time than Christmas for us to connect Kansans with a little extra cash,” said LaTurner. “Even if you’ve searched for yourself before and found nothing, search again. We get new property all the time, and would be thrilled to make the holidays a little brighter for you or someone you know.”

All searches on ChristmasCash.ks.gov are free and can be done for individuals and businesses. The State Treasurer’s office warns individuals to beware of anyone asking for a finder’s fee to return unclaimed property. Those types of solicitations are fraudulent and do not originate from the State Treasurer’s Office.

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Entertainment, Fort Scott National Historic Site

Fort Candlelight Tour: FSHS Drama Dept. Included

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Only a few days until the 38th Annual Candlelight Tour

 

Fort Scott Kan. – A few tickets still remain to participate in Fort Scott National Historic Site’s 38th Annual Candlelight Tour. Later tour tickets are still available by calling the Fort at 620-223-0310 (with a major credit card) or by stopping by the Visitor Center on Old Fort Blvd.

Tours on December 6 will begin at 6:30 pm and leave every 15 minutes until 9 pm.

On Saturday, December 7, the tours will start at 5 pm with the final tour leaving at 8:45 pm.

Please arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to park, present/pick up your ticket, and get oriented.

Tickets are $8.00 per person and non-refundable, children 5 and under are free. Participants are advised to please dress for the weather and the terrain, as they will be outside and on sidewalks.

1,000 candle lanterns illuminate the site and 100 reenactors (including you) bring the fort to life. “This year’s tour will include the audience in the tour stops. It will feature six stops around the site beginning with the enlistment and ending with reassignment of release from service,” said Betty Boyko, Superintendent, Fort Scott National Historic Site. “We encourage everyone to dress up (in modern or period clothes) and step back in time.” Take the tour under the identity of one of our own Fort Scott soldiers. Enlist in the U.S. Army stationed at the Fort; learn about life on the frontier; the ups and downs of payday; celebrate the holidays 1840’s style; find out how much the officer’s wives appreciate all of your hard work; and after an memorable career, receive your discharge or reassignment stamp.  Keep your enlistment card to remember your journey through time.

“Our fourth scene was written and will be presented by the Fort Scott High School drama students,” Carl Brenner, Park Ranger noted in a separate press release.

 

-NPS-

Fort Scott was an active military post from 1842-1853, which was a time of rapid growth and change in the country.  As Fort Scott was being built, the nation grew west, expanding all the way to the Pacific Ocean. With this growth, Fort Scott changed, the mission of its soldiers changed, their experience changed, the environment changed, and the nation changed. Soldiers at Fort Scott lived their lives to the fullest despite the constant change.

Obituary

Obituary of Jack Avery Young

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Jack Avery “Babe” Young, age 90, a resident of Leawood, Kansas, passed away Sunday, December 1, 2019, at the Glenwood Village in Overland Park, Kansas.

He was born January 17, 1929, in Ft. Scott, Kansas, the son of Jack Young and Geneva Wollard Young. He graduated from the Ft. Scott High School with the Class of 1945.

From an early age, Babe showed an interest in music. He played the clarinet and saxophone in the school band and often performed in a jazz band for area dances.

He served with the United States Army during the Korean Conflict. While in the Army, Babe was a member of the Signal Corps and also performed in army bands.

He married Marilyn Phillips in July of 1954, at Ft. Scott. Babe and Marilyn later relocated to the Kansas City area where he was employed for many years for Bendix Corp.

Following his retirement, his loved of performing was rekindled and he and some friends formed a jazz band which played for various occasions in the Kansas City area.

In addition to playing music, Babe enjoyed hunting and fishing as well as reading Old West magazines.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; his son, John Young and wife, Jeri, of Garland, Texas and a granddaughter, Lauren Minyard and husband, Kyle, of Lebanon, Oklahoma. A great-grandchild is expected in March.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Donald Young and a sister, Wilma Neaderhiser.

Graveside services will be held at 1:30 P.M. Friday, December 6th at the U. S. National Cemetery in Ft. Scott, Kansas. Military honors will be conducted at the cemetery.

Family and friends may meet at the Cheney Witt Chapel prior to leaving for the cemetery at 1:15 P.M. on Friday.

Memorials are suggested to the Disabled American Veterans 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.

Bourbon County, Business, Fort Scott, Fort Scott Community College, Government

Businesses, Colleges, Assisted Living Centers: Mobile Driver’s License Office Service

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Division of Vehicles makes Mobile Driver’s License Office available across the state

 

Topeka – The Kansas Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles launched its state-wide mobile driver’s license office as another avenue of convenience and added service for large groups needing to obtain a driver’s license or identification card. When a visit is set up with the mobile unit coordinator, a link is made available to individuals to schedule their visit.

 

“The mobile unit is for locations like businesses, assisted living facilities, colleges, and universities,” David Harper, Director of the Division of Vehicles said. “This is another way we are cutting back on wait lines and the anticipated rush of people coming into the offices as we get closer to the Real ID implementation deadline.”

 

Real ID is a set of federal guidelines for traveling on commercial airlines or entering federal facilities where identification is currently necessary. If choosing to be Real ID compliant, the deadline is October 1, 2020.

 

The Division of Vehicles stepped up its efforts in offering mobile driver’s license office solutions this past spring with two pilot programs. One, to help Sedgewick County Correctional inmates, who were transitioning out of the correctional facility, get state identification cards. The other was for students completing driver’s education in the Blue Valley School District in Johnson County to get their learner’s permit.

 

“The feedback we received from those pilot programs helped us test the idea and now launch the mobile driver’s license office,” Harper said.

 

Employers or organizations wanting to host the mobile driver’s license office are encouraged to contact Ethan Davis, Mobile Driver’s License Office coordinator, at [email protected].

 

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Bourbon County Local News