Excerpted stories in Crawford County newspaper archives

100 years ago

May 14, 1926

A father, his two sons and one other are dead - victims of a gas explosion at the old Cigaret mine, half a mile south of Cherokee, shortly before 2 o'clock this afternoon. The dead: James Jamison, father. Hallie Jamison. Crockett "Spider" Jamison. George Hollis. Full particulars concerning the accident may never be known, as only the two Jamison brothers were below the surface at the time of the blast. James Jamison and George Hollis were on top at the time. The tipple was wrecked by the force of the gas explosion and the men at the top were caught under the falling timbers.

All work will be suspended at the Kansas City Southern shops throughout the day next Thursday in order that the men may participate in the celebration of Pittsburg's golden jubilee, M. A. Hall, superintendent of machinery, informed Mayor C. Mart Montee, chairman of the executive committee, today noon. The shops will be closed all day. All stores in Pittsburg will be asked to close from noon until o'clock in the afternoon next Thursday was agreed this morning during a meeting of the Craw ford County Retailers Association.

State records for the shot put and the 120-yard high hurdles were broken in the early rounds this afternoon on Brandenburg field as 191 athletes from fifteen Kansas colleges staged their preliminaries for the final events tomorrow to determine the winner of the 22nd annual state track and field meet. Pittsburg placed three men in the finals of the pole vault, when Butterfield, Conner and Hatfield crossed the bar. Replogle of College of Emporia and Dobson of Southwestern were the others who qualified by vaulting 11 feet, 6 inches.

50 years ago

May 14, 1976

Robert Black, president of Alternate Systems, Inc., appeared in U.S. District Court in Kansas City Thursday and was charged with violating federal Private Express Statutes. The criminal misdemeanor charges assert that Black violated laws which give the government a monopoly on carrying first-class mail, an official in the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas City said in a telephone interview. "Black appeared by himself and was accorded what is called a Rule 5 hearing," the official said. "Basically, he was officially told what the charges were and released on a $500 recognizance bond.

Industrial recruitment efforts by southeast Kansas officials are adversely affected when the tax structure of Kansas is compared to that of competing neighboring states, Mid-America officials said. Statistics listed by Mid-America, Inc. Executive Vice President Roland Loveless, in an article published in the May 1976 issue of Southeast Kansas Business and Economic Review, illustrate the disadvantage southeast Kansas has in attracting industry while competing with Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

A former Pittsburg resident will receive a memorial membership in the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in ceremonies Sunday at Hereford, Tex. Karen Johnson, killed in an automobile accident in September, 1974, will have her name engraved on a plate to be displayed in the Hall. The Hall of Fame is currently under construction in Hereford, and is temporarily housed in the Deaf Smith County Library. Karen's parents, Alfred and Nadine Johnson, Route 3, plan to attend Sunday's ceremonies to present a $500 donation to the Hall's Founder's Club.

25 years ago

May 14, 2001

If you go to Pittsburg City Hall today to visit the parks and recreation office, it won't be there. City workers spent part of the weekend moving the Parks and Rec Department's belongings into its new home at Lincoln Center. It planned to have the new office open for business at 8 a.m. today. Kennedy said the space is more "usable" because it was designed specifically for his department. "We were really happy that we were able to design an office with us and our patrons in mind," Kennedy said.

The St. Mary's-Colgan Panthers have to play just one game to try to reach their fifth consecutive 2-1A state baseball tournament, but oh if it was that simple for the Pittsburg Purple Dragons. And, for that matter, everyone in the Class 4A and 3A regional that goes through Altamont and Baxter Springs. Regionals week begins in earnest today, and it's shaping up to be an interesting week of baseball. Colgan is one of three Crawford County teams who have earned the top seeds in their respective regionals.

TOPEKA - Leaders of both parties could agree on one point this year. The Legislature's session was too long. It lasted 98 calendar days. Lawmakers needed 13 days after returning from their annual spring break to finish their business, making it the longest wrap-up in state history. Under pressure from Gov. Bill Graves and education officials to raise taxes to put more money into public schools, legislators approved only modest tax proposals to help close a $206 million gap in the next state budget.