Stories from Sunday, December 25, 2005

By Jason E. Silvers Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- Tony French will get the ultimate Christmas gift this year -- spending the season with his family. French, Fort Scott, a sergeant in the 891st Engineer Combat Battalion's Alpha Company, is one of about 30 Bourbon County soldiers who returned home last weekend after serving for nearly a year in Iraq. ...

By Mitzi Shead Herald-Tribune Fort Scott, Kan. -- That lovely Christmas tree may be welcomed in your home now, but in the weeks after Christmas, trees of all shapes and sizes will be looking for a new home. The city of Fort Scott offers a Christmas tree disposal program for the convenience of city residents...

By Rusty Murry Special to the Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- Now that Christmas day is here and all the presents have been opened we are all faced with the dilemma of what to do with that Christmas tree. There are many ways that you can recycle your Christmas tree and give it a second life this holiday season. After you get rid of the small mountain of boxes and wrapping paper that litter your house this morning, try using your tree to benefit wildlife...

By Michael Glover Herald-Tribune Reporter's note: The following story is the first in a series of articles describing the ongoing community revitalization project in Fort Scott facilitated by Terry Woodbury, president of Kansas Communities L.L.C. The following articles will be published on Jan. 8, 15 and 22. The stories will lead up to a "community vision retreat" held in Fort Scott on Jan. 26. The report on the retreat will be published on Feb. 5...

By Ralph Pokorny Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- The Nevada City Council failed to pass the 2006 annual city budget during a special meeting Thursday night following questions during a public hearing on the budget, after a number of citizens raised issues relating to the clarity of the document and other aspects of the budget...

By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune The wind was blowing and the sun hid behind a cloud, children played beside their parents. Suddenly the sun came out, the wind died down and the sound of sirens broke through the sounds of people milling around and talking in small groups...

William Dennis "W.D." Butler, Joplin, Mo., died Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin following a lengthy illness. He was born Jan. 26, 1941, in Wheatland, Mo., to William Harvey Butler and Vada Faye Weaver. He married Vivian Lucille Miller on June 10, 2005, and she survives of the home...

Mildred Helen (Whitehead) Belcher Holland, 87, Nevada, Mo., died Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005, at her home. She was born Sept. 25, 1918, in Vernon County, to L.E. Whitehead and Laura Maude (Hunt) Whitehead. She married Marvin Kenneth Belcher on March 6, 1938, in Carthage, Mo. He preceded her in death on Dec. 30, 1969. She later was married to L. Garratt Holland on Oct. 16, 1985, at Lake Lotawana, Mo. He preceded her in death on May 4, 2005...

Not everyone can say on their resume that they've built a plane. And very few people could say that they flew the plane they built before they were even able to get a driver's license. For Fort Scott's Levi Self, now at the ripe age of 16, all these things are true. He can actually fly his plane next to his dad's plane. Max Self, a local physician and a private pilot, could not be more proud of his eldest son. And rightfully so.

Hi neighbors. I thought it might be interesting to learn about holidays being celebrated this month. The birth of Jesus Christ has been celebrated by Christians for more than 1,600 years. Christmas (from Old English Cristes maesse or "Mass of Christ") is observed annually on Dec. 25 although the exact date of Christ's birth is not known. The Christmas season begins on the First Sunday of Advent and ends on Epiphany...

When the young Nash family moved to Nevada, Mo., some 31 years ago, I was somehow chosen to become a member of the Nevada Public Library Board of Directors. As a new professor of English at Cottey, I was quite flattered, and proceeded to act in a way I thought was constructive, but which I now realize was diametrically opposed to the understood rules and regulations that had grown up to suit the needs of the Nevada community. ...

Battlefield Dispatches is a new column featuring original documents from the era of "Bleeding Kansas" (1854 -- 1861) and the "Civil War" (1861- 1865) west of the Mississippi River. It will be submitted periodically and includes commentary by Kansas State Historical Society Historian Arnold W. ...

NEVADA, Mo. -- When you talk to Nevada Lady Tiger head coach Brent Bartlett, you can tell he's big on family. It doesn't matter what topic you get into, the conversation has a way of going back to either Bartlett's family at home, or his family on the court...

I have not written a commentary in a few years. This is mainly due to the fact that I tend to write one of these things the same way I speak. This means that in about five paragraphs, chances are you'll be beating yourself on the head and screaming, "All right! We get the point! Move on already!"...

Herald-Tribune Both Fort Scott and Nevada area basketball teams will be taking a break as the schools have let out for Winter Break. The same is true for Cottey College and Fort Scott Community College. Since none of the area teams have games, and most aren't even practicing this week, there will be limited coverage of them through next week...

By Doug Tucker AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- If anybody knows how to win in Arrowhead Stadium in December, it's Donnie Edwards. Before he was a standout linebacker for Marty Schottenheimer's San Diego Chargers, he was a standout linebacker for Marty Schottenheimer's Kansas City Chiefs...

By Steve Brisendine AP Sports Writer LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Darnell Jackson, suspended by the NCAA for the first nine games of the season, scored a career-high 12 points in his return to help Kansas beat Northern Colorado 85-62 on Thursday night. The sophomore forward had been suspended for taking impermissible benefits worth about $5,000 from a Kansas booster while still attending high school in Oklahoma City. ...

Gosh, it doesn't seem like 34 years ago, a whole lifetime. My home is more or less a tribute to things long past. In the living room I have that large picture with the poetic title of 21st & Lehigh. It is a painting of Connie Mack Stadium (Shibe Park) in Philadelphia, and used to grace the wall behind my desk at the Nevada Daily Mail. ...

Only the Christmas spirit could pull me out of the depression I was feeling as the Redskins waxed the Cowboys last Sunday. Luckily, I had the decorating of a tree to take my mind off my sorrows. It was just a bad weekend for football. Dallas lost. The Chiefs lost. The Colts (who I was rooting for just to permanently shut up the smarmy old Dolphins) lost...

To the seasoned waterfowler, the adventure starts when he steps from the solid ground onto the edge of a marsh, lake or river as his hip boots sink into the muck. It's still dark as he plods along the well-beaten path to a cold blind as the December wind makes him pull down the flaps of his cap. After breaking ice around his blind, he sets out a spread of decoys and waits...