The Junction City Police Department has reported the arrest of two California residents on I-70 about eight miles east of the city on drug related allegations.
They include Staci Noel Vanhouse, 46, Ukiah, California on suspicion of Transporting Drug Proceeds, Possession of Marijuana, Improper Turn and Unsafe lane Change, plus James Peter Carlton, 48, WIllits, California on suspicion of Transporting Drug Proceeds, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Geary County land owners were recognized Thursday night for their dedication to the stewardship of soil and water.
Honored with the Grassland Stewardship Award were Don and Florence Whitebread. The fourth generation of the Whitebread family is now managing their native range acres off of K-57 and Clarks Creek Road off of Highway K-57 and Clarks Creek Road.
The Craig and Brandon Dibben family were recognized with the Banker’s Award for Soil Conservation. There was a presentation highlighting some of the Dibben’s conservation work on the property that they own and manage. Brandon and Dianna Dibben’s work with programs such as Ag Day, the Conservation District and Kansas Association of Conservation Districts was also highlighted.
Craig and Brandon Dibben Family
A video of Chuck and Deanna Munson’s operation was shown. That video was produced in conjunction with their nomination, and subsequent regional win, of the NCB Environmental Stewardship Award. The Munson’s will go to Phoenix next month to be honored at the national meeting along with the five other regional winners.
Students from Sheridan and Washington Elementary Schools were also recognized for their award winning posters on the theme “Watersheds, Our Water, Our Home.” The first place entries will be forwarded on to a statewide competition which will be held this fall.
Approximately 160 Geary County residents and friends gathered for the annual meeting of the Conservation District at the 4-H / Senior Citizens Center. The catered meal and dessert was provided by the Geary County Banker’s Association. Member banks include Central National Bank, Exchange Bank, Intrust Bank, Millenium Bank, KS State Bank and Landmark National Bank. Geary County K-State Research and Extension agent, Chuck Otte, emceed the evening. There was also a presentation on the Water / Ways exhibit which is currently on display at the Geary County Historical Museum.
Approximately 280 tickets have been sold for the Sundown Salute fundraiser Saturday night at the convention center.
There will be cocktails and dinner followed by the entertainment “Dueling Pianos.”
Sundown Salute Committee Co-Chair, Terry Heldstab, noted that there will be some other activities Saturday night to help get a foothold in the fundraising for the Fourth of July celebration. “We’ve got wrist bands to sell, we’d like to sign people up to add a dollar to their water bill, we’ll do a 50-50 drawing. ”
Heldstab said they will also discuss upcoming fundraising events for the Fourth of July celebration. Two of those will include a roast of Junction City Police Captain Trish Giordano on March 3rd and Mudd Bogg on May 19th.
Tickets for the event Saturday night are $40 per person or $300 per table. Call Michelle Stimatze at 785-307-1476, Kim Roberts 785-223-08, or Janie Murk at 785-341-5181 for tickets.
68th District State Representative Dave Baker is preparing to introduce a tax bill to make a correction on the sales tax for automobiles.
Baker explained the measure would make the sales tax collected on an automobile go to the zip code where the vehicle is registered. “So if you buy a car in Topeka, Kansas and you live in Ness City that county and Ness City would collect the city and county tax. The dealer would send that back to where the car is registered. The way it is currently, the sales tax stays at the point where the car is purchased.”
Baker noted he didn’t think that was ever the intent of the law to award car dealerships in metropolitan areas with sales tax dollars from other parts of Kansas. “I’m getting a lot of support. Got a couple of senators and some representatives in the metropolitan areas that will probably be voting on the other side of that. But I’m optimistic that I’m going to get that through. I’ve got a lot of support from some of my fellow representatives.”
Baker stated that is one of his big goals to try and accomplished this session.
The Community Health Needs Assessment results were presented to the Geary Community Hospital Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
According to the Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Hospital, Nikki Davies, many of the challenges discovered are similar to those uncovered in a 2014 assessment. “A lack of available healthy food options, fewer environments that support physical activity, too much access to alcohol and tobacco. We are the number one food insecure county in the state, but also the number one obese county in the state, highest smoking rate as well as the highest drinking. These are categories that we are number one in that we do not want to be number one in anymore.”
Education and collaboration among local organizations and initiatives will be necessary to meet the challenges. Davies noted work has begun in the past two years, especially with the Hospital, Live Well Geary County and the Health Department to address these issues. She added the needle doesn’t mover overnight and it is a long term endeavor to make positive change. The success by Delivering Change in helping decrease the infant mortality rate in the community was one positive result cited by Davies.
She said, “This Blue Cross Blue Shield grant that Live Well received is a $500,000 grant, and granted is a drop in the bucket compared to what we really need to do long term, but opens the doors to more funding so we can be sustainable long-term and expand the initiatives we already have. Such as the Farmer’s Market which is a great resource for our community and different educational events that we can maybe provide for the community, and educating our community on really what’s available.”
Davies and Geary Community Hospital CEO Dr. Joseph Stratton will discuss the Community Health Needs Assessment Thursday on 1420 KJCK during the JC Now program at 7:48.
The Devin Center, site of the Monday Board of Education meeting
The Geary USD 475 Board of Education was presented with two options Monday for live streaming their meetings online from the Devin Center. They will consider the options at their February 5th meeting.
One option involves use of the Ross system, explained BOE President Ferrell Miller. “That’s a system that could allow us to do closed captioning, to slice video on the fly and send that information to You Tube so it could be seen live.” The estimated cost would be approximately $68,000 with annual updates totaling about $14,500.
The second option involves the TriCaster system, including the use of staff would cost approximately $56,600. Miller stated, “We could even skype that. Students could be trained to use it. It could be a good entry level experience for them as part of their career options. TriCaster equipment has already been utilized in the past at Junction City High School.
There will also be immediate work to put a sound system in place to amplify the Board members voices during their meetings so they can be better heard.
The topic has arisen in response to public input and interest in having the meetings televised or live streamed. Public input on the proposal to stream the meetings live is welcome.
The Board has also decided to move their meeting start times to 5:30 p.m. at the Devin Center beginning in February. The first half hour would be allotted for teaching and learning presentations, with the business portion of the agenda including the public comment session starting at 6 p.m. That is being done to allow members of the public to get off work or eat an evening meal before attending the Board meeting.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed a 21-year old Fort Riley soldier, Dakota Blake Noah, shot himself Sunday evening and later died at a hospital.
The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement reporting that at approximately 5:25 p.m. Deputies and Grandview Plaza police officers were dispatched to the 11000 block of J Hill Road for a third party report of an armed and possibly suicidal subject, inside a vehicle.
Upon their arrival contact was made with a man sitting inside a vehicle that was parked in an access driveway. Deputies attempted to communicate with him, but a short time after attempting communication, he shot himself. Noah was transported to Geary Community Hospital where he later died.
Fort Riley officials have reported that Pvt. Dakota Noah was an infantryman with Company b, 1st Combined Arms battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.
Noah joined the Army in September 2016 and arrived at Fort Riley in January 2017. He had not deployed. His home of record was Wellington, Colorado.
First responders on the scene of Monday’s fatal crash -photo courtesy WIBW TV
DOUGLAS COUNTY— A Kansas woman died in an accident just before 2:30p.m Monday in Douglas County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire driven by Kristina Lisa Robinson, 37, Junction City, was eastbound on U.S. 40 just east of Bob Billings Parkway. The driver failed to negotiate the curve and lost control of the vehicle. It slid sideways, crossing into the westbound traffic. An eastbound 2013 Chevy Malibu driven by Elijah Joseph Garcia, 20, Lawrence, struck the Sunfire in the passenger side right front quarter panel.
Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene. Garcia was transported to KU Medical Center.
A passenger in the Malibu Phillip Kwabena Amfoh Afful, 18, Lawrence, was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
Robinson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
The commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, Major General Joseph Martin, issued a statement Saturday.
Big Red One Team,
In light of the government shutdown, Fort Riley will continue life health and safety services. Soldiers will continue their work building readiness in order to provide safety and security for our nation and a limited number of Department of the Army civilian employees will continue supporting them.
All other DA civilians will be furloughed until directed to return to work. All active duty military personnel will continue in a normal duty status. 1st Infantry Division leadership values your service and dedication to our nation.
I ask that you remain focused on building readiness as you continue to make this division the best in the army. #DutyFirst
The statement was issued via social media, the 1st Infantry Division Facebook page.
Washington D.C.- Congressman Roger Marshall, M.D. issued the following statement after Senate Democrats voted against the bill to keep our government open and extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
“I am deeply disappointed that the Democrats decided to shut the government down. Perhaps Democrats do not fully understand what this will mean for our military, our children, and millions of families across the country. I will be donating my pay every single day this government is shutdown to USO Fort Riley. This organization supports military families and spouses who are coping with long deployments and separations from their loved ones in uniform”
It’s frustrating to me that at a time when our nations is seeing incredible successes, with our military, our economy and our national security, that Democrats are turning a simple CR into political games. They are hanging their hats on a DACA solution by creating arbitrary deadlines. Here are the facts, we have until March to pass a DACA deal, and this Congress fully intends to do so. However, we do not need to tag DACA legislation on a simple CR that funds our military and extends CHIP funding, which serves more than 9 million uninsured children.
In Kansas, there are 79,000 kids using CHIP. Yesterday the House passed a CR which included a six-year extension for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
“As a doctor and a father, I couldn’t imagine voting against a bill that ensures children get access to the care they need. Yet Nancy Pelosi says that she is proud of her party and this shutdown. I can’t understand how Mrs. Pelosi can support a shutdown, with more than 107,913 children in her district, this shutdown will leave a large percentage of those kids without health insurance.”
“Holding our military and our kids hostage over this issue is just not acceptable. We need to pass a DACA bill separately, and I have complete confidence that we will meet that deadline. I came to Washington to help end these political stunts, but Dems can’t seem to operate any other way.”
The Junction City Police Department has reported the arrest of two California residents on I-70 about eight miles east of the city on drug related allegations.
