Wildcats ousted in 2-1A action

CHANUTE — Jayhawk-Linn High defeated Neodesha, 5-1, Monday in the opening round of the Class 3A Regional Baseball Tournament.
The Jayhawks advance to take on top seed Humboldt (12-2) in second round action at noon Wednesday at the baseball diamond at Neosho County Community College.
In other 3A action, third seed Burlington defeated Erie 8-4. The Wildcats advance to take on second seed Eureka (11-2) Wednesday with the winner playing the victor of Humboldt and Jayhawk-Linn in the championship game, scheduled for about 5 p.m. Wednesday at NCCC.

MEANWHILE, Arma-Northeast defeated Yates Center, 15-11, in their first round matchup Monday in the Class 2-1A regional. The Vikings advance to take on second seed Marmaton Valley, which received a first round bye. The Wildcats will play Northeast at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Yates Center, with the winner advancing to face either top seed St. Paul or fourth seed Lyndon. Lyndon defeated Uniontown 16-6 in their first round contest. St. Paul had a bye in the first round. The championship game will be at about 6 p.m. Wednesday in Yates Center.

MV season ends

PRETTY PRAIRIE — Marmaton Valley High’s golf team finished in seventh place Monday at the Class 1A Regional Golf Tournament, hosted by the Links at Pretty Prairie.
Leading the way for the Wildcats was Mitch Covey, who shot a 100 to finish in 18th place.
Others competing for Marmaton Valley were Mike Swift, 24th at 108; Lane Hamm, 30th at 114; and Joe Jefferis, 36th at 120.
Olpe captured the top team score of 359, followed by Pretty Prairie’s 374. Chetopa scored a 398 for third. All three schools advance to next week’s Class 1A state tournament in Emporia.
Olpe’s Chase Coble had the top individual score with a 71.

Schemper earns state golf berth

LEONARDVILLE — After cutting his teeth on grass greens through the 2013 golf season, Yates Center High’s Nick Schemper took to the sand quite nicely.
Schemper scored an 88 Monday to finish in 13th place at the Sand Green Regional Tournament, hosted by Riley County at Leonardville Golf Course.
Schemper advances to the State Sand Greens Tournament next Monday in Tipton. It marks the second consecutive year Schemper has qualified for state.
Yates Center’s other golfer, Derrick Heslop, carded a 115 and earned 26th. Rock Hills scored a 305 to win the team title. Riley County was second at 319. Both schools advance to state.
Rock Hills’ Devon Freeman shot a 72, one stroke better than teammate Samuel Flinn.

Lady Cubs blank SMC

HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High’s softball team bid a fond farewell to Manion Field Monday.
 The Lady Cubs played their final game at Manion — a new sports complex east of Humboldt is nearly finished — by thumping visiting Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan, 5-0.
The victory in the opening round of the Class 3A Softball Tournament, puts Humboldt (13-2) up against third seed Southeast this afternoon at about 4:45 at host Pittsburg State University. The winner will face either top seed Jayhawk-Linn or Riverton. Riverton edged Galena in the other first round contest. Jayhawk-Linn received a bye.
The championship game is tonight at about 6:30, depending on when the earlier games conclude.
Humboldt secured the win by piecing together rallies in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings.
“We only had two strikeouts,” Humboldt coach Brad Piley said. “We put the ball in play a lot, but right to their defense.”
Humboldt didn’t need much offense. The Lady Cubs’ Courtney Richey shut out Colgan on two hits and one walk with eight strikeouts.
“Courtney had another great night in the circle,” Piley said. “We also had a lot of great plays on defense.”
Richey aided her own cause with a single and triple with two RBIs. Breanna Kline had a run-scoring triple. Kasey Beeman had a double and RBI. Megan Hudlin singled.

Sellman earns 3A state berth

PITTSBURG — Humboldt High’s Robbie Sellman is state-bound.
Sellman carded an 81 Monday at the Class 3A Regional Tournament, good enough for fourth place.
Sellman finished four strokes behind the top individual, Jayhawk-Linn’s Rece Dawson.
The Cubs took seventh as a team at Pittsburg’s Crestwood Country Club Golf Course.
Others competing for Humboldt were Rhett Smith, who finished 22nd at 97, Tanner Porter, who finished 40th at 130, and Conner Roseberry, who shot a 159 to take 48th.
The top three teams, plus the top five golfers from other schools, advance to next Monday’s Class 3A state tournament at Spring Creek Golf Course in Seneca.
Colgan shot a 351, four strokes better than runners-up, Fredonia and Erie.
Humboldt shot 467 as a team.

Short-handed Iola squad falls, 3-1

A short-handed Iola Blue and Gold Soccer Club came up just short on the scoreboard Sunday.
Iola hosted Independence in the team’s final regular season match of the year with first place in the Southeast Kansas League on the line.
Independence scored two first-half goals, then increased its lead to 3-0 early in the second half, before withstanding a furious Iola rally down the stretch.
Blue and Gold’s Matt Karr drove home a penalty kick with about 30 minutes left in the match, but several other scoring chances came up empty in the 3-1 loss. Iola missed on a pair of free kicks in the final 15 minutes, and Kendall Jay’s shot was blasted just left of the goal with about five minutes left.
The victory puts Iola in second place in the final SEK standings.
Braden Plumlee corralled eight saves.
Iola was without two of its leading scorers and its starting goalie, who missed the game because of other commitments.
“They were all at the high school graduation, where they should have been,” Iola coach Brek Ulrich said. “The kids played well. We just came up short.
“I was asked why I would schedule a soccer game at that time,” he continued with a laugh. “I had nothing to do with that. The schedules were set by the league.”
The traveling soccer team, consisting of players 14 and under travels to Leawood Saturday and Sunday for its final tournament of the year.

Flexibility Act puts workers and employers in bind

The initial response was disbelief. Republicans in Congress voting for workers’ rights?
“This pro-worker, pro-family bill will help get Washington out of the way and empower hardworking Kansans by giving them more control over their work schedules and more freedom to be there for their families,” Rep. Lynn Jenkins wrote in her most recent newsletter to constituents.
She was referring to her vote for the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which passed with a lopsided margin of 220 Republicans and three Democrats.
The act, Jenkins said, will allow employees to exchange being paid time-and-a-half for overtime for compensatory time so they could go to their child’s soccer game, if they want.
 “As a working mom I understand the challenge parents face when balancing family and work responsibilities,” Jenkins said.
In truth, the legislation is family-friendly only if your children are grown and out of the house, and only if you don’t care when the comp time happens.
Jenkins failed to mention employers will have discretion as to when employees can take the comp time, which may or may not coincide with Susie’s soccer game. Jenkins also omitted the legislation fails to have any safeguards for employees, such as if an employer discriminates against an employee who would prefer to have the extra cash, thank you, instead of the extra free time. The legislation, in fact, overwhelmingly favors an employer by giving him leverage to direct overtime to those employees who take it as comp time and short-changing those who need the overtime work as added income.
Why is it not surprising Congress doesn’t understand that most people don’t have the means to forego the extra income of overtime, even though yes, of course, they would like to see their child play ball. Truth is, they feel a greater responsibility to put food on the table. For most, overtime pay is figured into their take-home pay, and not as a bonus.

REPUBLICANS are also misguided if they think the Flexibility Act is all that business-friendly. Unlike the federal government — which is the model from which they devised the plan — the private sector has payroll to meet and a product to produce.
Most businesses can ill afford a loss of production and the scheduling nightmare the Flexibility Act could cause. It’s a sure thing Billy’s ball game is going to interfere with second-shift production at Gates.
In essence, the Flexibility Act, which now goes to the Senate, puts employers and employees in a bind. If you want to help the American worker, raise the minimum wage to be a living wage. Then there’d be no need for this kind of legislation where nobody wins.
— Susan Lynn

Jeri Ornelas-Jones

Jeri (Handshy) Ornelas-Jones, 56, of Iola, passed away from her earthly home on Friday, May 10, 2013, surrounded by her family and friends.
Jeri was born Dec. 27, 1956, in Parsons, to Joy Mae Handshy and Farris Thomas. She graduated from Pittsburg High School and Pittsburg State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work. She worked for the State of Kansas Department of SRS for 33 years until her retirement in July 2012.
She was a member of the Church Of Christ and an animal rights advocate. She also was a diehard KU (Rock Chalk) fan and a KC Chiefs fan.
Jeri loved life and she loved to help people. She was always trying to see how she could make the people around her enjoy life and see the blessings that God has bestowed upon us all. Jeri always had a kind word and a gentle pat on the back to encourage someone. She always saw the glass half full, and always tried to see the good in everyone. She was a very trusting person who loved life and she will be missed by all who knew her. As Jeri would say, peace to everyone and love one another. God bless you all.
She was previously married to Donnie Joe Ornelas. She is survived by the love of her life, her husband, Richard (Bud) Jones, married Feb. 10, 2001; her parents, Joy and Frank Rudnik of Pittsburg; her brothers, Jimmy Handshy, Arma, and Randy (Pam) Handshy, Aurora, Mo.; daughters, Melissa (Kenny) McCann, Liberty, Mo., and Kristen (David) Jones, Lawrence; granddaughters, Lynsey and McKayla McCann and Milah Elmer, and a host of nieces and nephews which she will be missed by.
Jeri was preceded in death by her only son, Dustin Joe Ornelas and an infant brother, Steven Lee Handshy.
Visitation is 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Chapel in Iola. Funeral services are at 11 a.m., Wednesday at the chapel.
Burial is in Highland Cemetery, Iola.
Memorials may be left to Happy Tails Dog Park or Iola Church of Christ and left with Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel, which is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.

Lucille Bruner

Lucille Evelyn Bruner, 87, former resident of Bronson, died Friday, May 11, 2013, at the Wellsville Manor Nursing Home in Wellsville. She was born Feb. 20, 1926, in Pleasanton, the daughter of Andrew Wesley and Elsie Mae Gillispie. She graduated from Fort Scott High School in 1944. She then moved to Kansas City and worked for Pratt & Whitney manufacturing airplanes during World War II.
Following the war, she returned to Fort Scott and worked for S. H. Cress & Co. and later for Western Insurance Company.
She married Irwin William Bruner on July 20, 1952. To this union were born two sons, David Irwin and Daniel William. Lucille dearly loved caring for her sons and grandson. She enjoyed cooking and writing in her diary. She also enjoyed reading her Bible which she often read through three times each year. She attended Hope Chapel Assembly of God.
Survivors include sons David Bruner and Penny, Ottawa, and Daniel Bruner and Trisha, Bronson; three grandsons, Jason Bruner, Brett Bruner and Chad Bruner, a step-grandson, Michael Rogers and wife, Jessica, a step-granddaughter, Katie Rogers; and two great-grandsons, Bryson and Ethan.
Also surviving are sisters Lois Stewart, Moran, and Doris Garrett, Adrian, Mo.; three nieces, Elaine Lackrone, Lois Conyers and Cheryl Garrett, and three nephews, Larry Stewart, Mark Stewart and Dale Garrett. She was preceded in death by her husband Irwin, in 1985; her parents and a brother, Andrew Gillispie.
The Rev. Marshall I.J. Lackrone D.D. will conduct funeral services at 2 p.m. Tuesday, at Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel. Burial will follow in the Bronson Cemetery.
The family will receive friends on Tuesday from 1 p.m. until service time at the Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel. Memorials are suggested to the American Heart Association or the Arthritis Foundation and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel, 301 Pine, P.O. Box 93, Bronson, KS 66716. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

{Engagements} Durossette-Craft

Angela Durossette and Christopher Craft have announced their engagement to be wed April 2014.
Angela is the daughter of Irvin and Dorinda Durossette, Fort Scott, and the late Iona and Johnny Love.
She attended Graceland University, Fort Scott, and is a certified nursing assistant.
Christoper is the son of David and Shirley Craft, rural Iola. He is employed by Allen County Public Works Department.
They plan to be married in Fort Scott.