Stories from Saturday, December 15, 2007

Our beloved Francis "Leroy" Gazaway, 65, Nevada, went home to be with his Lord on Dec. 12, 2007, after a lengthy illness. He was born April 14, 1942, in Crawford County, Kan., to Clifford Gazaway and Frances Pearl Portwood Gazaway. He married Cathie Diane Dirr on Feb. 27, 1965, in Garden Grove. Calif., and she survives of the home...

Preschoolers in the Nevada R-5 school district may soon move into a new location -- currently unused rooms at Cedar Ridge State School's facility. Like many state schools, Cedar Ridge has been running at a low enrollment for several years. This year, there are only eight students attending, leaving a large portion of the 22,500 square-foot building unused. ...

Temperatures will drop into the lower teens Saturday and Sunday night, the city of Fort Water Department reminds homeowners to follow tips that will prevent frozen water pipes. Temperatures Saturday night will dip to 12 degrees, according to forecasters. On Sunday, temperatures will inch up to 19 degrees...

Fort Scott National Historic Site is pleased to announce its first ever children's Winter Assembly program, one of the new programs to be presented in the next year. The program will be held on Dec. 27 and 28, from 9 a.m. to noon, both days. The program is open to children ages 8 to 14; there is no charge to participate. To get a child enrolled for this program, call (620) 223-0310. Program size is limited to 15 participants...

Fort Scott, Kan. -- Crews are set to begin work in January on construction of the 33,000-square-foot Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center at Fort Scott Community College, FSCC officials said Friday. An extensive amount of site development has taken place during last couple of weeks, including excavation and the installation of utility lines and cables, FSCC President Clayton Tatro said...

The National Weather Service, a division of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, has forecast more severe winter weather over the weekend. When severe weather is anticipated, NOAA suggests, everyone should listen to NOAA Weather Radio or commercial radio/television to stay informed about winter storm watches, warnings and advisories...

Nevada, Mo. -- "Look what I can do!" The statement, uttered by tiny voices, rings in the gymnasium at the Osage Prairie YMCA. With winter in full swing, the Osage Prairie YMCA is sponsoring indoor youth tumbling classes for children ages 18 months to 7 years. Led by instructor Janie Terry, the baby tumble, tiny tumble, and kids tumble classes are slated to start new sessions on Jan. 8, 2008...

Eight players representing two area high schools recently received All-Class football honors from Kansas two major newspapers. The highest honors went to one player each from Fort Scott High and Pleasanton. FSHS senior Clint Lawrence was honored by both the Topeka Capital-Journal and the Wichita Eagle as an All-Class 4A first team linebacker. ...

Christmas has a way of sneaking up on many outdoorsmen who are and have been busy doing their thing in December with the duck season going on in the north zone until Christmas and continuing through New Years Day in the middle zone and all the way until Jan. 21 in the south zone. And then the antlerless deer firearm season runs through Sunday and muzzleloaders have just finished their successful season, so gifts for outdoorsmen aren't in the thoughts of many shoppers...

The Hume Hornets varsity basketball game rolled their way to a win over Heartland Thursday night. The 74-31 victory for the Hornets puts their overall season record at 4-1, with a conference record of 2-0. Led by the night's leading scorer's, Cameron Hinton and Cody Franklin, with 18 an 17 points in the game respectively, the Hornets ended the first quarter with a 24-12 lead and never looked back...

Facing our challenges: When Missourians were asked what the Department of Conservation could do to better serve the people of our state, the most frequent response was "educate the public." In today's busy society adults struggle under the burden of too little time to get everything done and children are more likely to play a computer game than to play in a stream or catch fireflies. ...

Almost every week between Thanksgiving and the end of February basketball fans get an opportunity to watch area high school players compete. Many of these outstanding athletes, like Lori Nichols, Greg Campbell, Hillary Adams, Jordan Webb, Jordan Kerbs and Lacy Leonard honed their basic basketball skills on traveling youth basketball teams...

Hi neighbors. I hope you have your Christmas shopping finished. There are only eight more shopping days you know. And some of them may be pretty difficult to maneuver through. Do any of you shop on the Internet? Many people do these days. I suppose shopping online is today's version of the mail-order catalog...

In December of 1862, the Civil War was only 19 months old and Fort Scott had become a large military complex that was much bigger than the original fort of the 1840s. The town was occupied by Union forces and would remain so throughout the entire war. ...

Ford Motor Company likes to talk about their pickups being built "Ford Tough." Here in Bourbon County, many of us had the experience of knowing Martha Ford, who passed away last week at the age of 87. If ever there was a pioneer woman, she gave new meaning to the term, "Ford Tough."...