KDOT to begin Bridge Repair on U.S. 69 June 9
The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) plans to begin a bridge repair project on the U.S. 69 bridge over Wall Street in Fort Scott the week of June 9.
Project activity includes patching and resurfacing the bridge deck.
One-lane traffic will continue through the work zone. Drivers can expect delays of no more than 15 minutes, weather permitting, through the end of December 2025.
KDOT awarded the $1.5 million construction contract to PCI Roads, LLC of St. Michael, Minnesota. People with questions may contact Construction Manager Warren Ebberts at (620) 901-6549.
KDOT urges motorists to stay alert and follow posted signs in all work zones.
For current road conditions, visit kandrive.gov or call 5-1-1. For updates on construction projects in Southeast Kansas, visit ksdot.gov/projects/southeast-
Change by Patty LaRoche
Author: A Little Faith Lift…Finding Joy Beyond Rejection
www.alittlefaithlift.com
AWSA (Advanced Writers & Speakers Assoc.)
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV)
From stumbling to soaring, we have a choice to make. We remember the stumbles, times we wish we could delete from our memories, times we needed to turn to the One who offers us the ability to soar and not tire out. Times when we need to change our ways, but who, except for wet babies, likes change?
We dig our heels in and justify our decisions to continue doing what requires no soaring or running or even walking. The couch becomes our safe place, and the television becomes our god. Easy peasy. Except it’s not the way God calls us to live.
Isaiah reminds us that when it comes to change, the eagle has much to teach us.
Did you know that the eagle has the longest life-span among birds? It can live up to 70 years, but to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard decision. In its 40s, the eagle’s long and flexible talons no longer can grab prey, which serves as food. Its long, sharp beak becomes bent, and its aged, heavy wings, covered with feathers that have grown thick over the years, become stuck to its chest, making it difficult to fly.
The eagle is then left with only two options: die or go through a painful process of change, which lasts 150 days. The bird must fly to a mountain top and sit on its nest. There it knocks its beak against a rock until the beak falls off. The eagle then will wait for a new beak to grow back, a beak used to pluck out its talons. When the new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking out all the old feathers. After five months, the eagle takes a famous flight of rebirth and lives 30 more years.
Like the eagle, we cannot “stay right where we are” and call ourselves Christians. God wants us to delete old memories, eliminate destructive (lazy?) habits, and soar like eagles. We just need to understand that faith does not come in one giant tsunami-like wave. It is a step-by-step process which calls on us to move out of our comfort zone, to pluck out whatever keeps us from soaring. We don’t have to wait until we believe it all, see it all or understand it all. We just need to take the first step.
That’s what the Israelites did after they escaped Egypt and 40 years later, found themselves camped on the bank of the Jordan River. Joshua 3 explains their dilemma. God asks them to step into the raging river (“at flood stage”) and trust that He will take them to the other side where the Promised Land awaits. The priests go first, as per Joshua’s instructions, followed by one man representing each tribe and then the rest of the Israelites. Not until the priests’ feet hit the water did God allow the river to open for them to pass through. One step. An act of trust that opens Heaven.
God offers us the same victory.
The next step is ours. We stumble or we soar.
Friendship and Dating Program at Tri-Valley
Tri-Valley Developmental Services Holds Friendship and Dating Class for Persons Served; Program Grant from the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation
Persons Served at Tri-Valley Developmental Services (TVDS) Fort Scott Service Center are participating in a Friendship and Dating Program that was made possible by funds from the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation. Grant money from the Foundation was used to purchase Friendships and Dating program developed by the University of Alaska – Anchorage.
The program teaches individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) how to build healthy, meaningful relationships and prevent interpersonal violence. “This program has made a huge impact on the individuals we serve,” said Bill Fiscus, CEO. “Persons served are having fun and are learning a lot through the program. We discuss communication skills (non-verbal and verbal) as well as emotions and feelings. This program is a success, thanks in part to our friends at the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation.”
The Fort Scott Area Community Foundation hosts individual charitable funds created by donors who have a passion for giving back to their community. Grants from these funds assist people throughout Fort Scott and Bourbon County. Call the Foundation at 620-244-6500 with questions about the Community Foundation.
Coming up in June at The Artificers!
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What’s Happening in Fort Scott May 29 Newsletter
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New K-State Extension Agent For Southeast Kansas: Sandy Haggard
Sandy Haggard is the new Southwind K-State Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Agent, who has an office out of Iola.
Haggard has been employed in the current Kansas State University Research and Extension, Southwind District since April 14
She felt this job was a good fit.
“I’ve often had a position where I coordinated a program or gave presentations, so I was looking for a position where I could use those skills. Also, at Neosho County Community College, I had been working in the same four counties with older adults who volunteered at non-profits, so I’m able to keep in touch with several of the same contacts. I had attended several K-State Research and Extension programs during the eight years I’ve lived in Kansas, so I was excited to work alongside the agents I’ve known for years. I’m looking forward to giving presentations on nutrition and health and getting to know more people in our four-county area.”
The job is multi-faceted.
Her duties include leading the development, implementation, and evaluation of research-based educational programming related to nutrition, food safety, and health.
This includes nutrition through the life cycle, supplemental nutrition education, food security, consumer and food handler food safety, local food systems, physical activity promotion, and chronic disease prevention.
She will be covering four counties: Allen, Bourbon, Neosho, and Woodson.
In the next year, she hopes to have programs for ServSafe food handling, Dining with Diabetes, Food Preservation, and Basic Nutrition, she said.
She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and Secondary English from Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO, and Adult Education from Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona.
Haggard taught Adult Basic Education/GED Instruction at Northland Pioneer College, Winslow, Arizona.
She taught internationally as a Middle School English teacher at Morrison Academy in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and was a part of the English Faculty at Meiho University, Neipu, Taiwan.
Most recently, she has been the RSVP Director with AmeriCorps Seniors at Neosho County Community College (NCCC) serving Allen, Bourbon, Neosho, and Woodson Counties.
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Letter to the Editor: Randy Nichols
Electing Kansas Supreme Court Justices.
In her May 13 legislative update Senator Tyson supported changing the current nomination process for selecting Supreme Court justices. She supports electing our Supreme Court justices. The issue will appear on the August 2026 ballot. She alleges the current system came about because Kansas voters were thought “not smart,” that the nominating process is unfairly dominated by lawyers, that it lacks transparency, that it promotes “judicial activism” and that it has failed based on overturn rates of Kansas cases heard by the U.S. Supreme court. Please read her update and let’s unpack what she said.
The current nominating process came about in 1958 after then-governor Hall conspired with his lieutenant governor and a retiring supreme court justice to get himself appointed to the supreme court. (His action was labeled The Triple Play.) Subsequently, informed and intelligent Kansas voters supported the constitutional amendment defining the current judicial nominating process and have continued to support it since 1958.
The judicial nominating committee is composed of nine people. Two people from each of the four congressional districts. One is a lawyer elected by lawyers in their district. The second person is a non-lawyer appointed by the governor. The chairperson is a lawyer elected by a vote of all eligible lawyers across the state. The committee vets and selects three candidates. From these three the governor choses the Supreme Court justice. The process is transparent. All committee meetings are open to the public and press and responsible to the Kansas open records act. While no process is perfect this system gives equal representation to all areas of the state, it balances political influence and it avoids voting domination by large population centers.
It’s important to note that a Supreme Court justice stands for a vote of retention after their first year and every six years thereafter. We as voters therefore decide to retain or not based on an actual record not on campaign promises and special interest group influence as happens with elected politicians.
Senator Tyson states the nominating committee process has failed because of the number of Kansas cases overturned at the U.S. Supreme Court level. She states that it is “alleged” Kansas has the highest overturn rate per capita of any state. How do you even interpret this? The study is statistically skewed both by population bias and the fact the upper court does not hear all Kansas cases but picks and choses the ones it wants. A better study done by Washington University found that since 1966 the Kansas overturn rate was 66%. The national average was 77%.
Senator Tyson next implies elected judges would be less likely to engage in judicial activism. So ask yourself if a judge who made campaign promises and was supported by a large dollar special interest group, often with out of state ties, (think the recent Wisconsin supreme court election) would be more or less likely to engage in judicial activism? Senator Tyson goes further implying our appointed judges will be judicially active by conflating them with German judges from the 1930s. Those judges were antisemite, Nazi sympathizers appointed by Adolf Hitler. Is that really the comparison she wants to make?
To further illustrate her concern that cases heard by appointed judges are overturned at the U.S. Supreme Court level and that appointed judges are judicially active the Senator sites the court case of Kansas vs Gonzales. The case involves an undocumented immigrant using falsified federal and state forms. Obviously a hot button example. Please read the case yourself. It does not represent judicial activism protecting an undocumented immigrant. Rather it is a case defining if a federal law, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, supersedes Kansas law. It was overturned by a 5-4 decision. What the case actually represents is the system working the way it was designed.
Electing Supreme Court justices will introduce partisan politics, special interest group and outside the state dark money influence into the selection process. Preserving our system of checks and balances is critical. Electing justices is a bad idea.
Randy Nichols
Anthony Mansfield Escaped From Johnson County Work Release Facility
Minimum-Custody Resident Anthony Mansfield Escaped From Johnson County Work Release Facility After Not Returning To the Facility
~KDOC resident Anthony Mansfield placed on escape status~
NEW CENTURY, Kansas. – Kansas Department of Corrections resident Anthony Mansfield has been placed on escape status at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, after not returning to the Johnson County Department of Corrections (JCDOC) Adult Residential Center (ARC) or reporting to his job yesterday.
Mansfield, a 36-year old white male, is considered dangerous. He was reported missing when the resident could not be located at the minimum-security unit. This walkaway does not impact the security or operations of the medium-maximum secure compound.
Mansfield is 5-feet, 8-inches tall, and weighs 185 pounds with an average build. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with black designs, long black sleeve undershirt, brown boots, brown baseball hat and stonewashed jeans .
Mansfield was convicted in Johnson County for eight-months of incarceration for criminal damage to property convictions. He is serving that sentence at the JCDOC-ARC from which he walked away. Under an agreement between the KDOC and JCDOC, residents who have release plans that are appropriate to Johnson County are housed at the ARC.
Anyone with information on Mansfield can call EAI at 816-266-2102, JCDOC at 913-715-6539, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (800) 572-7463 or local law enforcement at 911.
Kansans can also contact EAI via email at [email protected].
The walk-away is being investigated. New information will be released as it becomes available.
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Obituary of Patricia Eastwood
Patricia Ann Eastwood, age 83, a resident of Ft. Scott, Kansas, passed away Wednesday, May 28, 2025, at her home in Ft. Scott. She was born July 26, 1941, in Iola, Kansas, the daughter of William Charles Hoggatt and Virginia Ann Thompson Hoggatt. Pat attended schools at Iola, Hoisington and Ft. Scott.
She was united in marriage to James L. Eastwood on February 10, 1957, at Ft. Scott. Pat was a devoted wife and mother. After raising her family, Pat chose to continue her education. She graduated from Ft. Scott Community College in 1988 and went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State University in 1990. In 1992, she became a licensed adult care home administrator.
Over the years, Pat worked at Key Industries, Western Insurance Company and Great West. She later served as administrator of Ft. Scott Manor. During Pat’s tenure, the nursing home received three deficiency-free surveys; this was due to the dedication of the staff.
Pat was an active member of the Community Christian Church.
She enjoyed reading and camping at the lake. Pat liked to sew and used her talent to make comforters for the “Bags of Love” project which helped children in need.
Survivors include a son, Jim Eastwood (Paula) and two daughters, Susan Carnes (Mike) and Shelly Brennon (Kenny) all of Ft. Scott; nine grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. Also surviving are a sister, Judy Button Hobbs of Ft. Scott and a brother, Vernis Hoggatt of Springfield, Oregon.
Pat was preceded in death by her husband, Jim, on August 14, 2018. She was also preceded in death by a great-grandson, Weston, a brother, Bill and a half-sister, Verlyne.
Rev. Paul Martin will conduct funeral services at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, May 31st at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
Burial will follow in the Clarksburg Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 P.M. Friday at the Cheney Witt Chapel.
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.
Local Students Graduate From Freeman Health System Nursing School
Mission Accomplished
Dozens of New Graduate Nurses Recognized During Special Ceremony
Joplin, MO. – Nearly 30 nurses were warmly welcomed into the Freeman fold Tuesday night during a graduation ceremony that’s unique to this area.
Resembling athletic signing day celebrations often seen at high schools and universities nationwide, these graduate nurses – who have completed their two years of schooling but have yet to take their National Council Licensure Examinations (NCLEX) to become registered nurses – inked their signatures on dotted lines while loved ones looked on and future Freeman co-workers cheered and applauded their accomplishments.
“I am very appreciative of those around me and how hard they’ve worked to become nurses,” said Camrie Davis, a graduate nurse who will work for Freeman orthopaedics. “Anybody who you went to school with, they all become a sort of fellowship to you.”
Nurses serve as linchpins to any functional hospital or healthcare system, said Freeman Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Fry, speaking to the assembled graduate nurses and their families at the Ron Richard Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus.
“A patient spends five percent of their time with physician and about 95 percent of their time with a nurse or nurse tech,” Fry said, “So, it is truly vital to us that we bring nurses into our system who are consistent with our mission, vision, values. I think we’re confident today that everyone joining the team fits that bill.”
The graduate nurses recognized during the ceremony included: Shelby Blythe, Karen Gonzalez, Aiddenn Vanatta, Jadyn Fox, Victorea Stephenson, Jaylen Evans, Adeline Vanderpool, Karleigh Schoenberger, Paige McIntire, Amber Opel, Alexia Ingold, Esmeralda Martinez, Jacob Pearce, Danielle Russell, Mickayley McCluney, Heather Autry, Blair Wilson, Taylor Young, Madison Burkhart, Amanda Weaver, Rylie Tyer, Dylan Byrd, Camrie Davis, Molly Kesler, Mackenzie Droessler, Megan Blair, Brittney Clark, and Anistyn Honey.
To learn more about Freeman Health System’s nursing programs, visit freemanhealth.com.
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About Freeman Health System
Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center – the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services – as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. In 2024, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers and their experiences. U.S. News & World Report named Freeman Health System one of the Best Hospitals for 2022. With more than 320 physicians on staff representing more than 90 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, children’s services, women’s services, and many others for all of the Four State Area. Freeman is also involved in numerous community-based activities and sponsored events and celebrations. Additionally, in the Joplin/Pittsburg areas, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com.