Stories from Sunday, July 9, 2006

By Brett Dalton Herald-Tribune This time of year, mosquitoes can become a nuisance for anyone who spends time outside. While most people gripe about the itchy bumps mosquito bites can leave, as late summer and early fall approaches, those bites can be more than annoying -- they can become dangerous. It's during that time mosquitoes are most likely to be carrying the West Nile virus...

Herald-Tribune Summer school students from area schools, like the group of nearly 75 students, parents and staff from Sheldon schools have been making the trek to a local seasonal attraction -- the Two-By-Two Zoo near El Dorado Springs. Owned and operated by Clint and Tammy Markham, the zoo has more than 100 animals, including birds, lions, tigers, and bears -- and monkeys and several other exotic creatures from around the world...

By Michael Glover Herald-Tribune HIATTVILLE -- Once again a Hiattville resident has contacted a government agency for what he said are dangerous structures in his neighbor's yard. Gary Skinner wrote a letter to Kansas Department of Health and Environment on June 26, claiming his neighbors, Stephen and Phyllis Plaster, have five open wells scattered on pasture land behind their house...

By Michael Glover Herald-Tribune UNIONTOWN, Kan. -- A Uniontown woman died from injuries suffered in a two vehicle injury accident shortly after 8:30 a.m. Friday at the intersection of Kansas Highway 3 and Maple Road. Virginia Dare, 79, was driving west on Maple Road when she failed to yield at the intersection and was struck by a truck going southbound on K3, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Steve Shephard, 55, of Bronson, was driving the truck...

By Steve Moyer Herald-Tribune The Vernon County Sheriff's Office faces yet another problem with its antiquated jail facility -- mold. The problem is not unique to the jail, or even to old buildings. Mold is ubiquitous and even some modern buildings can have a mold problem...

By Brett Dalton Herald-Tribune Fort Scott -- The USD 234 Board of Education will hold its regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday at the USD 234 Board of Education office, 424 S. Main St., Fort Scott. During that meeting, the board will vote to approve many items on their consent agenda. ...

By Colette Lefebvre Herald-Tribune Nevada, Mo. -- The heat bears down upon the local farmers at the Nevada Farmers Market. Their trucks are parked behind them as some sit under the shade of their tarps and tents. It's a typical July morning. In addition to potatoes, radishes, pies, muffins, nightcrawlers and mealworms are a vailable -- new addition to the traditional vegetables and baked goods that have been so commonly seen in the past. ...

Virginia Dare, age 79, resident of Uniontown, Kan., died Friday, July 7, 2006, at St, John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., following an automobile accident in Uniontown. She was born Jan. 27, 1927, in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Ralph Cecil Bolinger and Janie Frances Bolinger Asher. ...

c, 90, passed away Thursday, July 6, 2006, in Nevada, Mo., where she had been a resident of the Barone Alzheimer's Care Center for the past three years, and where she received excellent care. Goldie was born on Dec. 7, 1915, in Arma, Kan., the daughter of Manuel and Evaline Swafford. ...

Hi neighbors. Pour a cup of coffee and take some time to enjoy the view from your porch. I realize the Bushwhacker Days celebration is long gone, but I wanted to catch you up on some news. Thomas Gregory, the gentleman who portrayed a Buffalo soldier at Bushwhacker Days had called me to say how much he enjoyed being in Nevada. ...

In Fort Scott In the summer of 1862, the town of Fort Scott, Kan., was not the huge Union military complex that it would become from 1863-'65. There was a small Union garrison in Fort Scott, because most of the troops that had been stationed at and around the town in the spring of 1862 were participating in the "Indian Expedition" which was the first Union attempt to re-occupy the Indian Territory (present Oklahoma)...

The following on "Choice, Not Chance" is from "You, Inc." by Burke Hedges: "R.J. Wrigley, the founder and president of Wrigley Chewing Gum, was one of the first businessmen to take full advantage of advertising. "While his competitors were spending thousands of dollars on advertising, Wrigley was spending millions. In the 1940s it was hard to open a newspaper or drive by a billboard without seeing a promotion for Wrigley Chewing Gum...

Shelly Peterson, adorned in an ivory two-piece, strapless gown, with chapel-length train, became the bride of Doug Scotten on April 29, 2006, at the Whitney Mountain Chapel, in Garfield, Ark. Jack Galbraith officiated the ceremony. Parents of the couple are Greg and Ginger Peterson, of Garfield, Kay Julian of Nevada, Mo., and Dick and Angela Scotten, of Walker, Mo...

By Joe Warren Herald-Tribune A college kid is driving through Nevada one summer night when the cops pull him over. The young driver is a little erratic on the road, perhaps weary from spending hours on a bus, riding back to town from Liberal or Elkhart. The car swerves a little and Nevada's finest call him on it...

It took some time, but I finally figured out what became of softball in good old Nevada, Mo. I know there are undoubtedly hundreds of young, sports minded folks around here who are mindfully unaware of just how big softball was in the administrative transition from Nixon to Ford to Carter years. I can't remember for sure, but it seems to me that softball began to die out in this area at about the time Reagan took his oath of office...

Most fishermen wouldn't very seriously consider going fishing on July 4, in the heat and traffic on the lakes, but once again I have learned that you shouldn't pass up a chance to go fishing. Several years ago, I had some friends ask me to go to the lake to fish on July Fourth, but I told them that would be a bad day to try to catch fish with all the activity on the water. However, I told them I would take them out just to show them how bad the fishing would be...

Genevieve Marie Klassen and Benjamin Alexander Walsh were married on Saturday, May 27, 2006, at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Kansas City, Kan. Genevieve is the daughter of Ron and Jean Klassen of Fort Scott, Kan. Her grandparents are Len and Fran Klassen of Hacienda Heights, Calif. The bride is a graduate of Kansas University and Arizona State University with degrees in French horn performance...

Megan Dawn Stewart and Kenneth Paul Felt were married at 5 p.m., June 3, at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Uniontown, Kan. The bride is the daughter of Mark and the late Debbie Stewart, Bronson, Kan. She is a 2003 graduate of Uniontown High School and will graduate in December 2007, from Pittsburg State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Management and Marketing. She is employed by The Medicine Shoppe in Pittsburg...

Jerry and Nancy Stoughton of Fort Scott, Kan., and David and Martha Byram of Sheldon, Mo., wish to announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their children, Susan Renee Stoughton, Sheldon, and Kevin LLoyd Byram, Sheldon. The wedding will take place on July 29, 2006, at the Sheldon Baptist Church...

Tim and Marsha O'Connor, Neodesha, Kan., announce the engagement of their daughter, Deidra O'Connor, to Matthew Howard, son of Kenny and Trisha Howard, Fort Scott, Kan. The bride-elect graduated from Neodesha High School in 2001. She went on to receive her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Emporia State University. She plans to teach Special Education at Winfield Scott Elementary during the 2006-'07 school year...

Karen Beth Butler is engaged to marry Chadd Wayne Clary. She is the daughter of Dr. Doris Butler and W. Michael Butler, of Wichita, Kan. He is the son of Shawnee and Kenneth Clary, of Fort Scott, Kan. Karen graduated with honors from the University of Kansas in the spring of 2006. She holds bachelor's degrees in communication studies and art history. After a summer internship at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., she will return to KU to pursue a master's degree in indigenous nations studies...

Dr. Bernard James Maguire and DeEtta Overman Maguire, of Tulsa, Okla., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 9, 2006, with a family reunion. The event was hosted by their children and grandchildren. The couple were childhood sweethearts. ...

Charles and Helen Land of Nevada, Mo., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception on Saturday, July 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the B.I.L. Lodge on South College Street, across from Radio Springs Park. Family and friends are welcome to help celebrate the occasion; omission of gifts is requested...