A 48-year old Enterprise woman, Patricia Humes, died as the result of a fire last Tuesday.

When fire crews responded to the blaze at a home in the 200 block of South Lincoln in Enterprise they found it fully engulfed in flames. According to Dickinson County Sheriff Gareth Hoffman, once inside they found her body.

Now Geary Community Hospital officials have announced that they will host a bake sale Friday, October 20 to raise funds for the family of former employee Patricia “Shelley” Humes. Many of her family members either work or volunteer at GCH including husband Mike Humes, Interim Director of Facilities, son Chris Humes, Nutrition Services, mother Gloria Hohman, RN, Practice Management and father Ed Hohman, Auxiliary member. Shelley is also survived by her daughter, Cassandra, 16. She is a student at Chapman High School.

In an effort to help directly assist Shelley’s family with emergency funds for funeral costs, clothing and many other upcoming expenditures, GCH, is inviting anyone willing to contribute baked goods toward the sale.

The bake sale will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday in the main lobby at the hospital. If you plan to contribute baked goods bring your items to the Fegan Dining Room between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday.

If you have questions contact Renee Spellman, ext. 4190.

Freewill donations will be accepted.

The push to obtain another brigade of troops for Fort Riley continues.

Junction City Manager Allen Dinkel reported this week that the executive director of the Governor’s Military Council believes in working through the process, “Army will be adding another brigade and and hopefully it will land it here. And I think we’re in the hunt. The question is what it’s going to take to get them here.”

DInkel estimated the troop numbers at about 5,000 soldiers. He stated, The question is what can we do to get them here, all the political side and everything else.” Dinkel added he felt the connection with Wiggins, a retired lieutenant general and former Fort Riley commanding general helps. “But it’s the whole lobbying side, other states, everybody wants additional soldiers. And hopefully the Army is trying to grow look back a little bit, and I think that’s important. But I think we’re in the game and we’ll see where it goes.

Dinkel was a member of the local delegation that talked about the issue with Congressional staffers during a trip to Washington D.C. for the AUSA national convention this week.

Economic development officials have been researching the possibility of trying to attract a Tyson chicken plant to Junction City. The company originally targeted Tonganoxie in Leavenworth County, but that community did not support the plan.

In Junction City the Interim director for the  Chamber of Commerce Mickey Fornaro-Dean said they have looked at all their reg’s and what their requirements are. ” And at this point we’re still reviewing that. But I don’t know, this would be obviously be a city decision, but I think at this point….there’s a lot of the requirements that don’t’ fit us. ” Some of those include distance from development and number of houses needed “as in land for brooder houses, things like that.”

The original plan for the Leavenworth County site called for a $320 million project and 1,600 jobs.

FORT RILEY, Kansas – Military retirees will have the opportunity to be entertained and informed about the famed U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flight demonstration team when former Blue Angels pilot Steve Lambert addresses the lunch crowd during Retiree Appreciation Day here, which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 20.  Registration for the event starts at 7:30 a.m.

Retirees wishing to attend the luncheon must make advance reservations by 5 p.m. Oct. 16 by calling (785) 239-3320 or emailing the Retirement Services Office at georgia.a.rucker.civ@mail.mil.

Retirees of all military services, spouses, widows and widowers will betreated to an expanded event this year.  Attendees will be greeted by 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley Commanding General Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin and Garrison Commander Col. John Lawrence, followed by informative presentations by Glenn Suetter, TRICARE and healthcare expert; Col. John Melton, Irwin Army Community Hospital Commander; and Commissary and Exchange representatives.  An entertaining and informative presentation about the 1st Infantry Division’s 100th anniversary will be provided by Dr. Robert Smith,
Fort Riley Museum Complex director.

Additionally, attendees can get their Influenza shot and update other inoculations including Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis (Tdap), Pneumovax and/or Zostovax (shingles).  There will also be opportunities to learn through presentations on long-term care for military retirees and their family members; a federal legislative update by MOAA representative Paul Frost, and the U.S. Army’s “Recruiting for Our Future.”

Visitors to Fort Riley who don’t have a Department of Defense ID card will need to stop by the Henry Gate visitor’s center to get a one-day pass.

The desire of Junction City and Geary County elected officials to see an additional combat brigade team stationed at Fort Riley in the future was a topic when a local delegation met with Congressional staffers on Tuesday in Washington D.C.

Junction City Mayor Phyllis Fitzgerald said they discussed the available land at Fort Riley and the quick mobility to leave the area for deployments, “the communities that are surrounding Fort Riley and Junction City, our partnerships that we have with the Fort and our veteran population.”

FItzgerald said the staffers listen to what the local leaders say. “When the bills are being written they advise the Senators and the Representatives of the concerns of the communities, they help to make it be known what the needs are, and to fight for what our needs are that we want.”

The local delegation returns to Junction City on Wednesday.

      TOPEKA, KAN. – A Junction City man who took part in a woman’s kidnapping that led to her murder was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Christopher Pugh, 33, Junction, City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping. In his plea, he admitted participating in the kidnapping of Amanda Clemons, a 24-year-old woman whose body was found in February 2014 in Geary County, Kan.

In his plea, Pugh admitted that on Feb. 7, 2014, he was one of the defendants who met the victim, who was a prostitute, at a hotel in Junction City and kidnapped her. The defendants beat the victim in retribution for comments she had made on social media. During the beating, the defendants demanded the victim pay $300. They took the victim to another hotel room in an unsuccessful attempt to get the money, after which they transported her to a residence on Fort Riley where two of the defendants lived.

While at the residence, the defendants allowed the victim to call her young son and her mother. The victim’s mother realized the victim was in danger and called Junction City Police. When police called the victim’s number to check on her, the defendants listened to the call on speakerphone. At that time, Pugh left the house alone and did not take part in the murder.

Fearing that police were coming to arrest them, defendants Drexel Woody, Larry L. Anderson and Marryssa Middleton took the victim to a bridge in a remote part of Geary County. Once there, Anderson and Middleton resumed the beating and attacked the victim with a knife. The victim broke free and jumped off the bridge, falling 15 feet and breaking her ankle. Anderson and Middleton found the victim in the snow beneath the bridge and resumed the assault during which they cut her throat and killed her.

Co-defendants include:

Larry L. Anderson of Manhattan, Kan., who was sentenced to 28 years.

Marryssa M. Middleton of Fort Riley, Kan., who was sentenced to 28 years.

Drexel A. Woody, 27, of Fort Riley, who was sentenced to 16 years.

Shantrell D. Woody of Fort Riley, Kan., who is set for sentencing Nov. 20.

Beall commended the Junction City Police Department, the Grandview Plaza Police Department, the Geary County Sheriff’s Office, the Riley County Police Department, the Fort Riley Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Maag and Geary County Attorney Steven Opat for their work on the case.

Jim Cross

Public information officer for U.S. Attorney Tom Beall in the District of Kansas

A local delegation will meet Tuesday with members of Kansas congressional staffs in Washington D.C.  This is in conjunction with their trip to the Association of the United States Army convention in the nation’s capitol.

Junction City Mayor Phyllis Fitzgerald said they’ll discuss the strategic asset that Fort Riley is to the Army, and reasons why another armored combat brigade team should be assigned to the post. “There are a lot of good reasons why. One it’s the best training area. We’re going to talk about the acreage that’s available, usable acreage, there’s 92,000 acres that’s usable for the military. 76,000 of that’s maneuver.”

Fitzgerald added there are additional acres available on the Great Plains Joint Training Center area near Salina and there is also the unmanned aerial system corridor.

Nothing is imminent right now on assigning an additional combat brigade team to Fort Riley, but it is a goal of local leaders for the future.

Topics ranging from the shortcomings of the current building to the method of financing a proposed new Junction

City High School were outlined during a town hall meeting Saturday morning at the Warren Settles Auditorium.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Corbin Witt informed the audience of about 65 people in the auditorium and the radio audience listening to the 1420 KJCK AM broadcast that USD 475 has $41.5 million in federal heavily impacted aid in the bank for the project which has a cost estimate not to exceed $105 million. The remainder of the funding would come from the State of Kansas if voters approve a bond issue on November 7.

Witt said the State has agreed to fund 47% of the cost. “They will continue to do that and pay our bond and interest through the life of this bond. There is no worry about the State defaulting on that, they have never defaulted on one, they don’t plan to default on one and  I’ve been basically assured that that will not happen.” District officials have repeatedly made it clear that the project would not include any increase in the local property tax levy in USD 475.

The current high school facility needs constant repair and maintenance. JCHS Principal Melissa Sharp discussed infrastructure, where there have been 97 work orders during the first six weeks of school for infrastructure issues “significant to the roof, the HVAC system…we have three of those, three different HVAC systems, and the plumbing.”

Sharp noted the rain Friday night flooded the girls locker room. “It brought water into the commons area. We put sand bags up in the commons area to prepare for the rain that was coming. Anytime something like that happens a work order is prepared for our custodial crew to fix it or maintain it.” The principal also pointed out there is some technology in the building that is older than some of the students who attend the senior high.

Sharp reported through the school improvement initiative nationally high schools were asked to train students for the post-secondary job market. That brought the academy structure to JCHS. “So we have ( career ) pathways that train the future lawyers, police officers, nurses, EMT’s, robotics and engineers. So we have starting implementing pathways geared toward their career interests.” She added that will narrow down in the future to personalized learning or training. All children do not learn the same yet they’re being asked to go into the classroom together and learn at the same pace and deadlines. Sharp explained educators will be asked “in the next 10, 20, 30 years to plan personalized learning plans for students when they’re in high school based on their post-secondary needs.”

The large high school population resulted in student population being spread between the career academy facility and the Freshman Success Academy. The principal said their staff and mission is about having accessible programs for students in grades 9-12. “We would like to have freshmen here with us in the smaller learning community that they are. That’s caused issues with certification of teachers, students traveling between campus, teachers traveling between campus and access to programs for younger students.”

The Chief Operations Officer for USD 475, David Wild, reported that if the bond issue is passed by voters the next step would be a community design phase for a new high school, this project would not encumber all of the district’s funding, and the project would stay within the $105 million cap.  Wild explained that the project will not degrade the current operational cash flow for the district.

There were questions and comments from the public. Michael Gray suggested using available Land Bank lots where infrastructure is in place, which could save money.  Witt replied that there were discussions with Land Bank officials. “One of the concerns is the amount of property that we need. We would have to dislocate some people that have already purchased property in the Land Bank so that would not work. ” The district would, however be able to take advantage and have access to existing sewer and water lines type of infrastructure.

There were questions from others in the audience about the location of the proposed new school, with Witt making it clear the new school would be on the west side of the city. He explained that there are several places the school board is looking at and feels comfortable about, and that there have been conversations but no negotiations with property owners west of town.