Christopher Briscoe was 15 months old when he suddenly passed away on April 5, 2015.

His death was attributed to Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood, or SUDC. Deaths in children ages 12 months to 19 years of age that can not be explained through investigation, illness or family history are attributed to SUDC.

Eden Briscoe, Christopher’s mother, said that awareness of the tragic phenomenon is increasing. “The CDC actually estimates that there is probably 400 children every year that pass away with no explanation why.”

Briscoe and her husband were like many parents in similar situations – heartbroken.

“As you’re going through one of the most unimaginable circumstances in your life, justice has to speak and [law enforcement] has to make sure that [the parent] is not a harm to anyone…you know you make it through it,” said Briscoe.

Since the untimely death of her son, Briscoe began work to bring awareness to SUDC through several events.

“Last year we did Christopher’s Pins for a Purpose and we raised about $5000 there; and the last two years we’ve done the Junction City German market hosted by the JC Arts organization and we’ve raised each year about $1400 there, we do an annual shirt sale online and we raise about $1200 each year through that,” said Briscoe. “We do a lot of different things and we do try to give back locally to the community through Delivering Change and through the Juvenile Intake Center,” said Briscoe.

Although her husband is deployed, serving with the Big Red One in Korea, Briscoe is hosting Christopher’s Pins for a Purpose again this year. “We’d love to make $2500 this year, that would be ideal; however, let’s shoot for the stars and shoot for $5000 again.”

The bowling event is Sunday, April 9th at Little Apple Lanes at 515 Richards Drive in Manhattan from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. You can pre-register for the event or join them at the door on Sunday.

The cost is $20 for bowlers of all ages, and that cost includes shoes and two hours of fun. There is also an option to add a 2-Liter of soda and a pizza for just $20 more.

All of the proceeds will go to the SUDC Foundation to fund research and assist bereaved families in the future.

For more information, to donate or find out how you can help visit https://sudc.org/christopher/.

The Junction City High School Chamber Choir has been selected to perform in New York City at the Lincoln Center of Performing Arts with guest Conductor Eric Whitaker.

The Lincoln Center is where the Metropolitan Opera sings.

Michael Brown, JCHS Choir Director, said that being selected is quite an honor. “Eric Whitaker is probably the most famous American choral composer currently, and he’s written over 35 works and has received Grammy awards and is also the creator of the virtual choir that you can see on Youtube.”

Ironically, it was one of Brown’s former students that suggested the current students audition for the experience.

“One of my past students actually said ‘Michael Brown, we need to audition for this’ and I saw a link from a company – DCINY – that is bringing Eric Whitaker in, and you had to fill out information and submit an audition” said Brown. “They initially closed the auditions because they had so many applicants go in and then you had to set up an appointment; and I set up an appointment to submit [an audition] and we used our state KMEA performance that we had from February…and we received a letter that we were accepted to perform.”

The trip to the Big Apple will be April 2018 and will also include a performance on the New York Philharmonic Stage.

Approximately 25 to 30 students will participate in the trip as well as five to seven chaperones. The cost is $1700 per person; fundraising efforts will begin in the near future for the trip.

The National Weather Service in Topeka has issued a Flood Watch for portions of east central Kansas, north central Kansas, and northeast Kansas, including the following counties: Dickinson, Anderson, Coffey, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Lyon, Morris, Osage, Shawnee, and Wabaunsee, Clay, Brown, Jackson, Jefferson, Marshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, and Riley.

This Flood Watch is in effect from 7 PM CDT this evening through Wednesday afternoon.

Recent rainfall has caused the ground to become saturated and the rainfall forecast for tonight and Wednesday morning is likely to run directly off into area streams and rivers. This could lead to flooding on rivers and streams.

Minor flooding of the flood plain along the rivers is the most likely impact. There could also be some moderate flooding on a small scale depending on where the heaviest rain falls. Moderate flooding could potentially close area roads.

A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on current forecasts.

Check with JC Post and 1420 KJCK throughout the day for updates and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.

Beginning July 1st, Kansas’ public universities, and hospitals, among others will allow the concealed carry of firearms in any public building that does not have additional security measures such as metal detectors.

While attending a Legislative Coffee in Junction City on April 1st, Kansas Senate Vice President Jeff Longbine said that much of the gun and knife legislation in the last few years has “gone too far”.

“As the exemptions expire, and concealed and open carry become realities in those places that some people don’t want, then one of two things will happen – number one is [we] will either get a comfort level that carrying weapons in those facilities is okay, or the public outcry will be so great that it will make the Legislature go back and revisit those,” said Longbine.

Noting those two situations (above), Longbine said that he doesn’t see a strong pull in either direction. “We certainly don’t have the comfort level, and the public outcry has been there but it hasn’t been enough to push the Legislature into making a concerted effort to move.”

Longbine noted that he and other Senators are on the lookout for bills that may be germane to campus carry, and hospitals. “I hope there’s an effort this week to run a bill that would exempt KU Hospital, our State mental hospitals and our local County hospitals from the requirement of providing adequate security measures.”

If the public outcry isn’t loud enough now, Longbine is confident that by late Summer, early Fall it will increase.

“The best example I can give is the first K-State football game – as you have 50, or 60,000 people trying to enter Bill Snyder Family Stadium through two entrances that have metal detection and you’re in line for an hour and a half trying to get into that stadium – we may get some public outcry,” said Longbine.

Longbine noted that due to financial constraints, it’s unclear how K-State, for example, will keep weapons out of the football stadium. “They’re going to have to do metal detection to keep weapons out of the stadium; so how they implement that, what they can afford to implement, how many entrances will be available to the public are yet to be determined, but it will slow things down and I think the public will get a better understanding of the challenges and the frustrations at that point.”

Richard Myers, Kansas State University President, has been vocal in his discontent with the new law.

The 2nd Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms; but are weapons necessary on college campuses, and hospitals (for example)? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Road to Calvary is an outdoor dramatic presentation of the life of Christ produced by the Drama Ministry at the Church of the Nazarene in Junction City.

Susie Haddix, Drama Ministry, said that the Church of the Nazarene has gained notoriety over the years through their large scale productions.

“We haven’t done [large Easter productions] regularly for quite some time and so we’re trying to get that started again in our church,” said Haddix. “The first idea was to do it for a Christmas type theme, but we have a live nativity that we do every year at our church – so we decided to make it an Easter theme.”

The full presentation/production will be approximately 45 minutes to an hour in length with several different skits within the larger story.

“We have the Shepherds in the manger, then we have Joseph and Mary talking about losing Jesus at the temple, John the Baptist talking about Jesus’ baptism, and a group of people in a market scene talking about the miracles [Jesus] performed,” said Haddix. “Then we go to the upper room where they talk about the last supper, we go to the garden where they talk about [his] arrest; then we go up to pilot where they talk about condemning him, and there is a cross scene where he will be put on the cross and crucified – and the empty tomb is the end.”

The different scenes will be set up like stations on the “road to calvary”.

Groups will meet at the church beginning at 5:30 pm in 20 minute intervals where they will be transported by van to the site of the performances. For example, a group will be taken to the show at 5:30 pm and the second at 5:50 pm. Spectators will be staggered through the various scenes/stops. The final group will finish around 8:50 pm.

The show will be on Thursday, April 13, Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15th. 

Tickets are available at the Church of the Nazarene located at 1025 S Washington Street or by calling 762-4402. The show is free, but tickets are required.

 

Junction City High School students in HOSA ( Health Occupation Students of America ) were represented at a Health Expo at the C. L. Hoover Opera House in Junction City on Saturday.

The instructor, Nancy Detmer, said HOSA is an organization at the high school for students interested in pursuing a career in the health field. It is tied in with the Medical Explorer Program at Geary Community Hospital.

Detmer reported that the students also recently participated in different events in a competition at Pittsburg State University. She noted that Jacob Lovell and Taylor Rich did EMT. And they took third place in their event. ” The biomedical debate teams came home with second and third place finishes. So there’s a wide variety of events that they can participate in that is really tailored to their interest in the health field.”

Jacob Lovell said when he joined HOSA he thought EMT would be a good way to learn where he is at compared to others in the state and his class. “Practice for our clinicals and practicals coming up in May. We take a test when we get there and that is a good way to study my knowledge, see what I know and need to focus on for national registry tests after the class is completed.

Long term, Jacob wants to attend college and medical school to become an OB/GYN.