Stories from Sunday, October 15, 2006

Betty June Ernst, 80, LaCygne, Kan., died Friday, Oct. 13, 2006, at the Life Care Center of Burlington, Kan. Betty June has been cremated. A memorial graveside service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 16, at the New Lancaster Cemetery. The family suggests contributions to the LaCygne Library Building Fund...

Robby Stafford and Stephanie Overton, Nevada, are proud to announce the birth of their son, Robby Dean Stafford Jr. Robby was born at 3:45 a.m., Oct. 12, 2006, Nevada Regional Medical Center. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces, and measured 19 inches. Paternal grandparents are Elsie Ann Stafford, El Dorado Springs, and Rick Allen Stafford Sr., Lamar. Paternal great-grandparent is JoAnn Stafford, Independence, Mo...

Hi neighbors. Have you been watching the new television shows? If not, you haven't missed much. There's better shows on outside your window. Like most movies, popular television series are more about shock than fact. When it comes to a good mystery, I prefer the puzzling aspects of trying to figure out who did it and why instead of attending the autopsy...

I remember hearing about Columbine when I'd just been sprung from a Kansas City hospital for getting over one of the number of countless physical miseries that were driving me to early retirement. Late that week, I read the TIME article about the debacle and about the two high school kids who had perpetrated it. ...

Son number two and I planned a fishing trip for Stockton Lake. As I was getting the boat and trailer ready, I thought maybe I had better take a flashlight along in case I broke down, since I was heading east from Fort Scott at 5 a.m. That turned out to be an unnecessary precaution...

On Oct. 15, 1864, while Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis was concerned with defending "Kansas" against an invasion by the Confederate Campaign in Missouri he responded to a letter from a civilian U.S. Attorney in Denver, Colorado. During the Civil War, the Colorado Territory was part of the Department of Kansas that was commanded by General Curtis. ...

Lawrence Russell and Fleta May (Harper) Wright, formerly of Uniontown, Kan., will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on Monday, Oct. 16, 2006. They were married in Fort Scott on Oct. 16, 1946. The Wrights have three children: Larry Wright of Galena, Mo., Garry Wright, of Fair Oaks, Calif., and Linda Wright Bolsenga, of Kansas City, Mo.; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild on the way...

Amber Davis became the bride of Travis Shelton on Oct. 7, 2006, at the Northwoods Wedding Chapel. Betty Plush officiated the ceremony. Parents of the couple are Cathy and James Davis, of Nevada, Tom Shelton, of Stotesbury, Mo., and Sheryl and Steve Birkner, of Linn Creek, Mo...

By Scott Nuzum Herald-Tribune IOLA, Kan. -- Iola thought it had an upset in the making. Chris Banks changed those thoughts in an instant. The Fort Scott High School senior running back scored three touchdowns on his first four touches -- gaining 172 yards on those plays -- and helped the Tigers outlast a pesky Iola team in the first round of Kansas Class 4A, District 3 play at Riverside Stadium Friday night...

Herald-Tribune UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- Uniontown won its first Three Rivers League-Upper Division championship since 2002 Friday night as the Eagles defeated Pleasanton, 40-6. The Eagles finished the league portion of their schedule with a 3-0 record while improving to 6-1 on the season overall and winning their first game in Kansas Class 2-1A, District 5 play. ...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune NEVADA, Mo. -- McDonald County's Greg Dodson turned a short pass into a 31-yard touchdown with 49 seconds to play in the game as the Mustangs escaped Logan Field with a 27-24 victory over the Nevada Tigers Friday. Dodson's score provided the final of four lead changes in the second half and gave the Mustangs (3-4 overall, 1-1 in the conference) their first Southwest Conference win of the season...

In the week just gone, I suppose 50 or so persons have asked me if I knew Buck O'Neil. To them, I was pleased to answer, "Yes, I knew Buck." In fact, I first met Buck long before he became a national celebrity after being discovered by Ken Burns, who did a nine-part series on baseball that included several interviews with O'Neil...

It's that time of year when it's hard to know whether you should pick up a fishing rod, a shotgun or bow. Fishing is going strong and hunting seasons are opening or are already open. What's an outdoorsman to do? For a lot of outdoorsmen, there is an easy answer, do both...

By Ralph Pokorny Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Friday afternoon, the Nevada City Council voted 4-0 to hire William Kelly as city manager, pending the mayor's meeting with him and the council's approving the final salary and benefit package. The city has been looking for a new city manager since Craig Hubler resigned as city manager in April. ...

By Ralph Pokorny Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- "I do not know why we are doing this, since it is a done deal," councilman Bill Edmonds said before the city council voted 3-1 during a special council meeting held at 1:30 Friday afternoon to pass an ordinance terminating the city's contract with Jim Adams for architectural and construction services for a new terminal building at the Municipal Airport...

By Michael Glover Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- Lane Farrell didn't have much time to react. On Thursday, the 16-year-old was driving on U.S. 54 Highway near 195th Street when a deer darted in front of his truck. He slammed into the deer, killing the animal and disabling his 1998 Chevrolet S-10 truck...

By Colette Lefebvre-Davis Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Dr. Maryann McKay sat obligingly in front of a Cottey Cultural Anthropology class, as her introduction was being read. McKay is a press attaché to the U.S. Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro. She visited Cottey College as part of the U.S. Department of State's Home-town Diplomat program...

By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Business people, potential business people and organizations that cater to them were all gathered in the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts Thursday to share ideas on entrepreneurial enterprises. The conference was designed to bring together successful business people from the surrounding counties that comprise the Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission's area to share their insights on growing businesses, obtaining financing, managing employees, using technology and more.. ...