There will be a change in the Geary County Appraiser position.

County Commission Chairman Ben Bennett confirmed on Monday the move impacting Appraiser Della Rowley. “We did inform Della today that we will not extend an appointment for her on July 1.” Bennett said her current appointment expires on June 30th and the commission will not extend a renewal of it. When asked why the governing body had made this decision he responded by saying, “That’s a personnel matter and we don’t comment on personnel matters.”

Rowley is completing her fourth year as the county appraiser. JCPost.com asked her for a response to the decision by the governing body. “My contract is up, with the four-year at the end of the month. The commissioners informed me it would be not be renewed. That’s the end of that, and I’ll walk away from it and be fine.”

Bennett confirmed the Commission will appoint an interim appraiser,  and then have six months to find a replacement to fill the position.

District leaders across the state are eyeing the State Legislature as they wait for a final school finance formula that adequately supports all 286 school districts.

The Legislature has not yet reached a deal on education funding; a new larger plan was in the works to phase in an estimated $293 million over two years by increasing income taxes. This plan was defeated in the House today. When a future plan is successful in both the House and Senate, Governor Sam Brownback and the Kansas Supreme Court would have to then sign off and approve the bill.

Dr. Corbin Witt, Superintendent of Schools USD 475, said that the waiting game is just beginning, noting that it will take an additional three to five weeks for a decision once the bill reaches the Kansas Supreme Court.

“[It will take time] for them to see if it reaches the adequacy component; so I think that there’s a shot this year that we may have deal with some sort of closing, so we’re watching it very closely to see,” said Witt.

Executive staff in the District will talk about the steps that may have to occur if there is a school closure situation.

“If we can’t be in cleaning our schools, or finish our construction projects and things like that – then how is this going to affect the start of school,” said Witt. “Worst case scenario, it could have an affect on the start of school – we would have to move back the start of school – we’re hoping we don’t have to do that and the Legislature and the Governor get something done, but that is a possibility at this point.”

Witt speculated that this could play out similarly to 2005 when the Legislature was called back into session to act quickly to solve the funding issue before the State Supreme Court shuts down schools.

The Three Little Pigs will open at the C.L. Hoover Opera House on Monday, June 5th.

There are two sides to every story and this theatrical version will tell the side of the “big bad wolf.”

There will be two shows on Monday – the first at 1:00 pm and the second at 6:30 pm.

Admission is free.

The 8th annual National Biplane Fly-In proved to be a big attraction at Freeman Field in Junction City on Saturday.

One of the coordinators Marvin Hornbostel estimated the total for the day would be between 100 and 150 planes would be involved in the event, with pilots bringing them from across the country. He believed the oldest plane in the show was a 1929 Waco.

For Hornbostel the older planes are a highlight. “The Waco and the Stearman’s around here, they go way back. ” He added it doesn’t make any difference if a plane has two wings or one wing. “It’s been around a long time. It still draws interest from the people in the community and the pilots. ”

One of the pilots in the Fly-In, Dave Allen of Albert Colorado said it was a Waco Straight Wing. “It’s been completely rebuilt. It was all but destroyed in a 1941 crop dusting accident. We began the restoration in the mid 90’s and finished it in 2002.” Allen said they built the wings and a fuselage, tail feathers, landing gear and engine mount.  Allen said the plane is ensured for $125,000.

The plane was kept in Florida over the winter and flown to Junction City from there before it is flown on to Colorado.

There was a good turnout from the public to view the planes. There was also a Chris Cakes pancake feed and the Geary County Historical Society served lunch at the Fly-In.

PRESS RELEASE

The Rago Radiology Department at GCH was recently awarded accreditation in Computed Tomography (CT) by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the largest and oldest imaging accrediting body in the U.S. and a professional organization of 34,000 physicians.

“This achievement is another example of our commitment to deliver high quality care to our patients,” said Dr. Joe Stratton, GCH Chief Executive Officer. “It’s especially important to note this accreditation achievement is a voluntary effort on behalf of the GCH Radiology Department. We are proud they have gone above and beyond to ensure our patients are receiving the nationally-accepted standards of care.”

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. “This accreditation tells our patients and families they can expect to receive the best standard of care at GCH,” said Pat Small, RT and Director of Radiology. “Every aspect of the ACR accreditation process is overseen by board-certified, expert radiologists and medical physicists in advanced diagnostic imaging. There are several requirements and standards that have to be met before accreditation is awarded.”

“Roanna Fultz, one of our Radiology Technologists, was instrumental in getting us accredited in CT,” said Small. To achieve the ACR Gold Standard of Accreditation, Geary Community Hospital’s personnel qualifications, equipment requirements, quality assurance, and quality control procedures have gone through a rigorous review process and have met specific qualifications. “It’s a pretty extensive procedure to be accredited,” said Roanna Fultz RT. “We began the application in November, 2016 and throughout the process we’ve implemented additional protocols and standards required by the American College of Radiology.”

The first Geary Community Hospital Farmer’s Market of the season produced a full slate of 32 vendors.

The Marketing Director for the hospital, Nikki Davies, reported some of the vendors were from the Abilene and Manhattan areas, and not just Junction City. “Actually had no vacancies in our stall spots. Usually on  the first day we have a few open spots but we had a full turnout as far as vendors and those in attendance.

Items ranging from tomatoes and lettuce were sold along with baked goods. Chocolate chip cookies were a prime item sampled by JC Post.

The Farmer’s Markets will continue at Geary Community Hospital on Thursdays this summer from 4 to 7 p.m. in the front parking lot at the hospital.