JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the October 2017 death of a confidential drug informant.

Steven Meredith was sentenced Monday for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the shooting death of 48-year-old Carrie Jones. Both were from Junction City.

Jones’ body was found by deer hunters in rural Riley County in October 2017.

Prosecutors contend Meredith shot Jones because he thought she would tell authorities that he was selling drugs.

Meredith pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in July, days before his trial was set to begin. He initially was charged with first-degree murder.

Meredith testified Monday that he was present when Jones was shot but said he did not shoot her.

By Dewey Terrill and David Gilbert

JC Post

There is a new Geary County Marine Unit that has been formed to provide life saving assistance on Milford Lake and other water ways. The members of that unit have just obtained dive certifications Jeff Freeborn of Flinthills Scuba,  following training at Beaver Lake in Arkansas. The next step will be to continue the journey to become a Certified Public Safety Dive Team. They will make a return trip to Beaver Lake in two weeks, to obtain their Advanced Diver Certification.

The entire process was the idea of Geary County Sheriff Daniel Jackson  when he took office. The county is home to Milford Lake, the largest man made lake in Kansas. He wanted to provide the Geary County community and those who visit Milford Lake with more readily available life saving measures, specially during the summer months and holidays when there are large increases of recreational boaters and boating activities.

From that idea the Geary County Marine Unit was formed through talks with members of the Sheriff’s Department and the Junction City Fire Department.  Both Jackson and Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson sent out a request for interest in a joint dive team within their departments.

Deputies and firefighters submitted letters of interest to be a part of the dive team, and on July 31st and August 2nd, Jeff Freeborn conducted underwater testing of all applicants. Those test results, along with a swimming assessment conducted by Junction City firefighter Jason Lankas, who also holds lifeguard and swift water rescue swimmer certifications, were provided to Sheriff Jackson and Chief Johnson,. Using the results a dive team was selected, which is comprised of the following Geary County Deputies and Junction City Firefighters.

Team Leader:       Lt. Thad Jones

Sgt. Shawn Weeks

Sgt. Kirt Nichols

Deputy James Regalado

Deputy Jason Everson

Deputy Clint Arnold

Fire Fighter Jason Lankas

Fire Fighter John Shepek

Fire Fighter Todd Bogenhagen

Fire Fighter Yeriela Bell

Fire Fighter Paul Rabek

The unit will be able to serve not only Geary County but other areas in Kansas when called to assist.

 

TOPEKA, KAN – A soldier stationed at Fort Riley was charged in federal court Monday in Topeka with sending over social media instructions for making bombs, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Jarrett William Smith, 24, Fort Riley, Kan., was charged with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction.

Smith, a private first class infantry soldier, joined the Army June 12, 2017, and was transferred to Fort Riley on July 8, 2019. According to an FBI investigator’s affidavit, Smith said on Facebook he was interested in traveling to the Ukraine to fight with a paramilitary group called the Azov Batallion.

During a Facebook chat, Smith offered to teach other Facebook users to make cell phone explosive devices “in the style of the Afghans.” On Aug. 19 Smith told an undercover investigator he was looking for “radicals” like himself. Smith talked about killing members of Antifa and destroying nearby cell towers or a local news station. On Aug. 21, Smith told an undercover investigator about how to make a vehicle bomb. When the investigator commented that most of the components were household items, Smith said: “Making AK47s out of expensive parts is cool, but imagine if you will if you were going to WalMart instead of a gun store to buy weapons.”

Smith also described in detail to the undercover investigator how to build a bomb that could be triggered by calling a cell phone.

“Be very careful with the fully armed device,” Smith warned the investigator.

If convicted, Smith could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi is prosecuting.

 

Troops returning from overseas deployments will be welcomed back during a Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council event on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the 5th Street Playground Park. MAC Director Craig Bender explained over the next few weeks more than 6,000 troops will be returning. “I just feel like as a community we owe it to them to give them a welcome home.”

Bender indicated that it will provide an opportunity to promote the new playground park. That would include the facilities that can serve children and adults at that location, in addition to welcoming the Soldiers. “We’re going to have free food for anybody with a military ID card, CG’s Mounted Color Guard will come out and do a presentation for us, some bounce houses, face painting and live music.”

Bender is hoping for attendance of 500 to 1,000 on Nov. 2.

 

 

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

The sale of apple pies made using Libby Custer’ recipe are always one of the highlights of the Fall Apple Day festival at Fort Riley.

One of the Pie Queens for the event, Yvonne Gutierrez explained that volunteers gathered all of the ingredients needed to make 1,733 apple pies. Funds raised from the sale of the pies supports the Historical and Archaeological Society. “The money that goes into HASFR helps restore Fort Riley and keeping everything the way it was. And also, a lot of it goes into scholarships.”

In addition to apple pie sales there were numerous other activities ranging from performances by the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard to static equipment displays. The festival serves as an annual open house at Fort Riley.

FORT RILEY, Kansas -Fort Riley Soldiers are set to receive a major combat upgrade as the U.S. Army begins fielding the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular next week.  The event includes a Soldier demonstration and media round table with senior Army leaders.

The ENVG-B will make the warfighter more lethal and more mobile and will increase situational awareness. The device features augmented reality and data overlay, allowing the Soldier to follow GPS coordinates, view messages, and export their view to a remote screen. The ENVG-B can also pair with an automated weapon sight, increasing Soldiers’ lethality and survivability.

The delivery of the ENVG-B to the 1st Infantry Division, America’s most historic combat force, comes little more than a year after Army Futures Command opened its doors in Austin, TX and demonstrates the success of their
rapid prototyping process. To meet the U.S. Army’s modernization priorities, the design and development process followed an aggressive timeline and demanded constant feedback from Soldiers testing the new technology under a variety of challenging conditions.

Fort Riley troops who have been deployed overseas will be returning to the post in the next few weeks.

The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council will host a 1st ID Welcome Home event on Saturday, Nov.2 from noon to three p.m. at the 5th Street Playground Park in Junction City.

There will be food — free for those with a Military ID, performance by the Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard, Bounce Houses, Face Painting and Live Music. The information was provided by MAC Director Craig Bender.

USD 475 has announced that the City of Junction City has issued a construction permit for the new high school. That will allow for the start of concrete work and vertical construction immediately.

“Fire Chief Terry Johnson and his staff have poured themselves into completion of construction plan reviews, ” said David Wild, USD 475 Chief Operations Officer.

The city staff has recorded more than 600 hours of review time and has obtained expertise from Hutchinson, and a consultant from the Kansas City area.

“Allen Dinkel and the Chief recognized the enormity of the review consisting of approximately 1,200 pages of plans and future inspection tasks. They then assembled a team of qualified personnel to perform the review,” Wild added.

Costs associated with reviews and inspections are offset by permit fees paid by the District.

The recent approval of construction costs for the building and athletic facilities by the board of education is allowing Hutton Construction to make final subcontract awards and prepare a construction timeline.

The high school project remains on schedule for completion in time for an opening of the new school in August of 2021.

Junction City Police Chief Dan Breci retires today ( Friday ).

He has served in law enforcement for 46 years including nearly 20 with the Junction City Police Department. That includes the last three years as police chief.

He addressed the Junction City Commission this week. “After 14 years of attending almost every city commission meeting this is it for me. This is my last one.”

Breci called it a great experience. “I really appreciate the honor of serving as your chief of police in Junction City.” Breci received a long round of applause from commissioners, staff and others in attendance at the commission meeting.

Lt. Kurt Nichols will serve as the interim police chief while the search is under way for a permanent successor.

By Dewey Terrill and Javon George

Junction City provides ambulance service including EMT’s and paramedics for all of Geary County. Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson said they average about 3,000 calls per year for EMS so they reach about 10% of the community every year. “We run two ambulances fully staffed and one is semi-staffed. We have an aerial truck that we have to staff as well. That crew can either operate the aerial.”

They also provide transfer of patients from Geary Community Hospital to hospitals in other cities across Kansas. There are approximately 400 to 500 transfers per year. “The care that a patient can get can range from jut basic life-support care to a full life-support care depending on what their needs are.”

All personnel are required to be either an emergency medical technician, advanced emergency medical technician or a paramedic. “In my opinion they get the most excellent care available.

Junction City and Geary County jointly fund the ambulance service.

Junction City High School student Javon George provided photos of the equipment and personnel. He visited Fire Station Two in the Jack Lacy Industrial Park.