An Oswego teenager, Stuart Keener, is in Denver auditioning for the ninth season of American Idol — along with 15,000 others.
Stuart and his family left on Friday for preliminary auditions which were set for Tuesday. Stuart is the son of Walter and Beverly Keener of Oswego and he is a 2009 graduate of Oswego High School.
Sunday was spent standing in line for hours to register, according to his father.

Read the entire story in this week’s Labette Avenue.

Finally, Altamont gets its new grocery store. Since the first of the year, Dean and Debbie Fouts have been working on their new store.
According to Debbie, the store will be housed in three 100-year-old buildings which needed a lot of repair before the store could be opened. The volunteers who came from everywhere in large numbers have helped tremendously to get the store open.
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There are several special opportunities for youth 15 years and under, who are 4-H members and non-members, to enter in the open class divisions at the fair.
The public sometimes considers the fair only for 4-H members and adults; this isn’t true in Labette County. Youth have always been able to enter in all divisions, but there are divisions in “Clothing-Textiles”, “Foods”, “Photography”, “Special Crafts” and a new one this year–”Canning” especially for 15 years and under.
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Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger announced the annual Firefighters Relief Association monetary distribution of funds to state and local firefighter relief organizations.
More than $9.2 million will be distributed among 582 local Firefighters Relief Associations (FRAs) across the state. That is an increase of more than $300,000 over the 2008 total.
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KOAM has been televising a commercial entitled Imagine created by Oswego High School sophomore Clint Rea.
Rea entered the contest as a freshmen sponsored by the Kansas High School Activities Association last March. He received word in May that his entry had won the state-wide contest and television stations throughout the state would be airing his very creative video. He was presented a very nice framed certificate at the award’s assembly in May.

See this week’s Labette Avenue for complete story.

Labette Avenue is glad to have Beth Conrad with her photographic talents as we start into fair week, July 27-Aug. 1. Beth worked for several years for Taylor Newspapers in Oswego before finishing her education and working for Coffeyville school system and now at Labette County High School. Beth will be on hand each day of the fair to make sure the top two award-winning animals are pictured. Labette Avenue also will be taking the usual pictures of the top 4-H exhibits, and all will be featured in the Labette County Fair Scrapbook which will be printed two weeks after the conclusion of the fair.

Final details of the Labette County Fair continue to be nailed down as the event, July 27-Aug. 1 draws closer.
Next week’s Labette Avenue will carry full details about the fair, and the newspaper’s website (taylornews.org) will carry late-breaking announcements about the 98th annual fair.
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