Stories from Sunday, December 4, 2005

Special to the Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- In just under eight hours, four babies were born Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Mercy Family Birthplace. Soon afterwards the babies were wrapped snuggly in their blankets and each one placed in a red Santa stocking complete with a gift tag wishing a merry Christmas and best wishes from the Mercy Health Center Auxiliary...

By Jason E. Silvers Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. --The Adopt-A-Child program needs help from those who wish to spread good cheer to the less fortunate this holiday season. The Beacon, a non-profit community assistance network that has provided food, clothing and other assistance to needy Bourbon County families since 1985, recently collaborated with the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program, to institute a more efficient holiday assistance program...

By Afton Bugg Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Crowder College is making changes to better suit their students this fall, by adding to the staff, facility and faculty. The first of these is a new director, Donna Thomas. No stranger to the college, she was head of Student Services for almost three years. ...

By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- At this time of year, thoughts often turn to children who may not have a Christmas without some help so they open their hearts and their pocketbooks. Nearly as often when one thinks of children they think of tykes, toddlers and pre-teens but not those who have reached the threshold of adolescence...

Although area health officials and agricultural experts are taking the threat seriously, the bird flu hasn't made it to the U.S. just yet; experts say both poultry and people in the U.S. are safe from this disease, for now. --- Herald-Tribune staff With stories about avian or "bird" flu permeating the news for the past several weeks, some people are wondering why the news coverage continues, and some are wondering whether they should cut poultry out of their diets...

Clyde Edwin Alexander, 87, Belton, Mo., died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005, at St. Joseph Health Center, Kansas City, Mo. Clyde was born Aug. 6, 1918, in Vernon County, Mo., the son of John H. and Lillie Belle (McDowell) Alexander. He married Artie LaVerna Miller on Jan. 24, 1942, in Cass County, Mo...

The Rev. Reed Hartford and Pastor Stephen Muhota conducted funeral services Friday at the First Christian Church for Richard Dale Hixon. Special remarks were given by Kenneth Lunt and Chip Albright. Music was provided by organist Pat Harry and vocalists Rahab Grace and Brother Mbuthia...

Last Monday, the College held a reception for Carolyn Sinn, honoring her 22 years at the college and her pending retirement on Dec. 1. One of the speakers was Keitha Bolander, who shared about teaching school in Walnut, Kan. and how she first met Carolyn when she was a little girl. In a special tribute, she presented Carolyn a pen made of walnut from Walnut, Kan...

Hi neighbors. This is the first combined Herald Tribune Sunday newspaper from Nevada, Mo. and Fort Scott, Kan. Hopefully that means more readers from both communities. As an informal introduction -- I have been a Nevada resident for more than 30 years. However, I did spend 10 years in Kansas. Knowing that Missouri and Kansas are getting along so well here by the border gives me a great sense of relief. Finally, years of confused loyalties can be dissolved...

Thinking back to the late 1940s and early 1950s, when my gang of same-age pre-teen youngsters and I were first introduced to the miracle of television, I tend to remember the events surrounding those shows as much as I recall the actual TV shows themselves...

By Scott Nuzum Herald-Tribune WILLARD, Mo. -- Fort Scott High School's boys suffered their second loss of the young season Friday night, falling to the host team 77-43 in the Willard Four State Classic. Willard is 2-0, winning convincingly for the second consecutive night after defeating Shiloh Christian 83-43 Friday night...

By Scott Nuzum Herald-Tribune WILLARD, Mo. -- Krista Goltra's "old-fashioned" three-point play put Fort Scott High School's girls ahead for good Friday night as the Tigers went on to a 51-45 victory over the hosts at the Willard Four State Classic. Goltra's score put Fort Scott up 46-45 with 1:07 remaining. It was the first lead for the Tigers, 2-0 in the round-robin tournament, since early in the first quarter...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune NEVADA, Mo. -- The Cottey Comets shot only 32 percent from the field and had only 10 second-half field goals as they fell to the Missouri Valley junior varsity Thursday, at the Hink. Combined with 25 turnovers, the low shooting percentage eventually pulled the Comets down, as Missouri Valley turned a five-point halftime lead into a 68-52 victory...

By Doug Tucker AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It seems to happen every year. Frost forms on the windows, Christmas decorations are hauled down out of the attic, and the Kansas City Chiefs become virtually unconquerable at home. To be sure, the Chiefs enjoy an advantage in noisy and perpetually sold-out Arrowhead Stadium at any time of year, come rain or come shine, in stifling heat or benumbing cold...

Herald-Tribune COFFEYVILLE, Kan. -- Fort Scott Community College's men's basketball team dropped an 84-72 decision to Cloud County at the Jayhawk Conference Shootout here Friday afternoon. The Thunderbirds, 8-3, shot 61 percent from the field in the game as they connected on 30 of 49 field-goal attempts. The Greyhounds shot just 36 percent on 25 of 70...

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico -- Vic Power, a flashy fielding All-Star and the last major leaguer to steal home twice in a game, died Tuesday. He was 78. Power died of cancer in a hospital in this suburb of San Juan, said his sister, Carmen Pellot Power. A four-time All-Star who won seven Gold Gloves at first base from 1958-64, Power was known for his showy, one-handed snags. He hit .284 with 126 home runs and 658 RBIs in a 12-year career, mostly with the Athletics, Cleveland and Minnesota...

**Dodge City rolls over FSCC women COFFEYVILLE, Kan. -- Fort Scott Community College's women shot just 37 percent from the field while Dodge City scorched the nets for 58-percent accuracy in taking a 77-57 decision at the Jayhawk Conference Shootout here Friday night...

Can the football season ever be rough on the psyche of a sportswriter trying to make predictions? I learned that the hard way last week as two upsets that I picked were oh so close to coming true. Of course, Houston and Washington both choked down the stretch and lost games in overtime, knocking some of the luster off the Kansas City win over New England...

Craig O'Keefe is one of those hunters who simply can't get enough of deer, pheasant, duck, goose and squirrel hunting. It's obvious to him that hunting means more to him than most anything. After the recent deer firearm season O'Keefe put up his rifle and picked up his shotgun to open the duck season in the South Zone, which opened the day after Thanksgiving...

This routine is becoming such a drag. I lost another friend after the World Series when Bob Broeg died at 87, of pneumonia, the same thing that killed my dad at 86. Broeg is the Hall of Fame former sports editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I first became acquainted with the name Broeg from reading his column "Broeg on Baseball" in The Sporting News, beginning in the 1960s...