FORT RILEY, Kan. – Fiscal year 2017 resource constraints and reductions
across the Department of Defense and the Department of the Army will have
implications on the services provided by Fort Riley’s Directorate of Family,
Morale, Welfare and Recreation to 1st Infantry Division Soldiers and
families. The Fort Riley garrison, in conjunction with the 1st Inf. Div.,
has conducted an internal review on the restructuring and reductions of
DFMWR to account for imposed reductions.

“We are faced with challenging decisions, as selected services will likely
be eliminated, others will be restructured, some services will be reduced in
hours and several may now incur a patron fee,” said Maj. Gen. Wayne W.
Grigsby Jr., 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley commanding general. “This
transformation is an Army-wide initiative to rebalance assets, focused on
building and maintaining readiness within the force. At Fort Riley, we will
implement these changes to DFMWR services during the first quarter of fiscal
year 2017.”

Some of the changes include:
–       Custer Hill Golf Course will close; the driving range and snack bar
will remain open
–       Riley Ride will be discontinued
–       Eyster Pool lap swim will now incur a charge after PT hours; hours
will change
–       Hours will change at the Fort Riley Marina and Warrior Zone
–       Trap and Skeet range will be by reservation only
–       Woodworking Shop will continue operations with the help of certified
volunteers

There will be minimal or no impact to the post’s fitness centers, Riley’s
Conference Center, library, mission swimming, parks, auto crafts and the
Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program.

“Personnel and budget challenges will continue for the foreseeable future,”
Grigsby said. “We can’t do it all; these are tough prioritizing decisions
and we will continue to do what’s best for the readiness of our Army. Be
assured, too, that we will continue to inform Soldiers, their families,
civilian employees, retirees and community members about any future changes
here at Fort Riley.”

“79% of our troops that come in to the military, come from military families…service has become a family tradition, a family business,” said Patrick J. Murphy, Under Secretary of the Army.

Murphy spent the day on Fort Riley emphasizing the Soldier for Life initiative.

When Murphy entered the civilian world, he said there were no programs to assist in transitioning out of the army.  Now, the Soldier for Life program helps veterans and retirees when they decide to leave service.

“Twelve to eighteen months before they leave, they want to make sure that our soldiers are transition ready, that they have a resume…it saves the American taxpayers money, because if our soldiers don’t have jobs when they leave the army, we have to pay them unemployment,” said Murphy.

Murphy said that in the last five years the Department of Defense has spent $4.6 billion paying unemployment, but the Soldier for Life  program is cutting a lot of that expense.

“When you look at even this past year for the first six months of our fiscal year, we saved tens of millions of dollars for our army because we have been very focused in making soldier for life a top priority,” said Murphy.

Veterans are more likely to serve active roles in the community, like little league coaches, pastors, and small business owners, and are more likely to be successful than non-Veterans according to Murphy.

“What really is important is the fact that you say you are a soldier for life, you are a leader of character for a lifetime of service; so whether you do three years or thirty years, you need to make sure that the expectation is that you will continue to serve,” said Murphy.

One area of the Flint Hills region that Murphy commended on their care for soldiers and veterans was Manhattan.

“The partnership with the Military Innovation Center at Kansas State and the partnership with the Big Red One is second to none in this nation – this really is the benchmark for how to take care of soldiers and their families so that transition can be as smooth as possible,” said Murphy.

Murphy added that both indirectly and directly, soldiers and veterans in the region make up for approximately $3 billion in the economy, making the relationships and positive partnerships with the local military that much more significant.

“We have about 155,000 American soldiers, veterans who live in the [Fort Riley] metro area, and those soldiers and their families are civic assets for our nation; they want to give back, they love our country, they leave our army with the love of country stamped on their heart, they want to keep continuing to give back and that’s what we’re seeing in places like Manhattan, KS which is pretty terrific,” said Murphy.

During his visit to Fort Riley, Murphy was able to view some live fire training exercises as well as take part in a ceremony for a soldier being awarded the Soldier’s Medal for active heroism while not in uniform.

A third generation Veteran, Murphy wanted to truly connect with the soldiers and leaders on Fort Riley and listen to their needs and concerns – his faith in the 1st Infantry Division is strong.

“This November they will have about 8900 of our soldiers who are deployed overseas; they are the tip of the sphere of our nation to keep our families safe here at home and they have great leadership, both NCOs and officers,” said Murphy.

No additional deployments have been announced for Fort Riley.

Murphy spent time today connecting with soldiers transitioning out of the army.

 

 

 

Sherri Childs and Susan Gabbard have served the people of Geary County for 35 years.

They were among long time Geary County employees honored during the annual Years of Service celebration at the County Office Building on Monday.

Fighting tears, Gabbard, noted this meant a lot to her. Her sister Joni Braden, Manhattan, was a surprise guest. Gabbard also remembered how it began for her with Geary County. “I started out as temporary help and they never asked me to leave so I’m still here. ” Gabbard serves as an Assistant Bookeeper in the County Clerk’s Office.

Childs noted the recognition felt good. “It’s nice to be recognized for sticking it out.” She added she will continue in the job for a few more years.

Other County employees were honored for their years of service ranging from five to 30 years.

They included:

Five years: From the Sheriff’s Department — Clinton Arnold, Reyan Rikoric, Kelly Mann, Kyle Porter, Matthew Tyler, Patricia Wilson, and Aaron Parker Sr.  From the Appraiser’s Office — Debbie McCallister, Public Works– Steven Meyers and Chester Steinfort, Health Department — Tracy Sabo.

Ten years: Sheriff’s Department — Donna Regalado, Scott Wesoloski, Eric St. John, Treasurer’s Office — LouElla Black, Community Corrections — Steven Olson.

Fifteen years: Community Corrections — Vaughn DeGuzman.

Twenty years: Sheriff’s Department — Tony Wolf, Martin Snyder, Jeanette DeMars, Edna Kidwell, Public Works — William Hollis, Darryl Boller, Bradley Champ, Curtis Vannahmen, County Attorney’s Office — Kathryn Swartzentruber, Health Department — Tonette Hammond.

Twenty-five years: Public Works — James “David Harrel.

Thirty-five years — County Clerk’s Office — Susan Gabbard, Treasurer’s Office, Sherri Childs.

 

 

FORT RILEY, Kan. – Patrick J. Murphy, the 32nd under secretary of the Army
and chief management officer, will visit Fort Riley Sept. 20, meeting with
1st Infantry Division Soldiers and speaking with “Big Red One” leaders.

During his visit, Murphy will attend a Soldier’s Medal award ceremony,
observe training and have lunch with Soldiers who are transitioning out of
the Army.

The under secretary leads the management and operation of the Army. His
focus is on dynamic and efficient business operations, transforming the Army
to be more innovative and responsive, expanding the Soldier for Life
initiative, public-private partnerships and aggressively utilizing social
media to tell the Army story to new audiences in a more compelling way.

Murphy, a third-generation veteran, was commissioned as a second lieutenant
and later served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a
criminal prosecutor and as an assistant professor in the Department of Law
at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Following 9/11, he
served two overseas deployments – Tuzla, Bosnia, in 2002 and Baghdad, Iraq,
in 2003-04. While serving in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, he led a
Brigade Operational Law Team and earned a Bronze Star for his service.
Overseeing the justice system for the 1.5 million Iraqis in south central
Baghdad, he prosecuted two high-level terrorists in Iraq’s highest court.

From 2007-2011, Murphy served as the first Iraq War veteran elected to the
U.S. Congress, representing the Eighth Congressional District of
Pennsylvania and served on the Armed Services, Select Intelligence and
Appropriations committees.

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Bayer Construction will begin the KLINK overlay of Washington Street from Chestnut Street to the Roundabout near I-70 starting on Monday between the hours of 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Junction City Public Works said Washington Street traffic will be inconvenienced during the road repairs, and motorists will need to follow the posted work zone signage and pay attention to the construction traffic.

Full access to all businesses within the affected area will be provided.

The work involved will consist of overlaying the existing milled asphalt surface with two inches of hot asphalt mix.

The long running Daniel Edwards case in Geary County District Court will stretch into 2017. He is accused in the March 2015 death of Sharon Moody, 52, of Junction City.

Edwards earlier pleaded not guilty to First Degree Premeditated Murder, an alternative count of Felony First Degree Murder, plus Aggravated Robbery and Theft by Deception in connection with the case.

Geary County Attorney Steve Opat said the defendant has filed a notice of intent to rely upon mental disease or defect as a defense. “They presented an expert report. We’re going to have to hire, I think, our own expert to review their report and probably examine the defendant before trial. That’s necessitated a removal of the trial from its current trial date. The trial is now scheduled for January 30th to February 3rd of next year.”

Moody was was found dead at her 1015 West Ninth Street residence in Junction City on March 15, 2015. Edwards was arrested later that same night in Topeka, and transported back to Junction City.

The 6.1 increase in the mil levy for the county budget for 2017 was not met with warm regards – though the vote was unanimous by county commissioners, 3 to 0, there was clear dissent amongst the commissioners.

After expressed anger by many citizens, one of the commissioners, Ben Bennett spoke out about his opposition to the increase – now, County Commission Chair Florence Whitebread responds.

Whitebread was a guest on 1420 AM – The Talk of JC on Tuesday morning where she discussed the budget increase.

Whitebread says there are a number of factors that drove the mil levy increase up to 6.1.

“A part of it is the Sheriff’s Department and things like ATA Bus is a little over a mil, it’s just issues like that across the board; Public Works did not go up, however we need some new equipment and some of our equipment is very old,” said Whitebread.

Whitebread complimented the Public Works department on their maintenance of city and county buildings saying that if these buildings weren’t maintained and properly kept up then the county would be running in to a similar situation as the School District with Junction City High School.

The Sheriff’s Department was cited more than once as a large factor in the property tax mil levy increase.

“One of the departments that takes a lot of funds is our Sheriff’s Department, and in comparison to Riley county right now we are running double what we ran last year when we budgeted in the jail because we were running 70 to 80, now we’re running 150 to 170 people in the jail, and Riley county runs between 70 and 80 people in their jail,” said Whitebread.

Why are our jail populations so much bigger than Riley county – a county that arguably has more residents.

“Part of it probably is because we’re on the interstate and we’re on [Hwy] 77 and a number of [inmates] are picked up traveling on the highways…I do know that we serve civil process on Fort Riley, Riley county should be serving it and a lot of times they were sending it to us…and when Fort Riley calls for arrests, we’re the ones going out and making the arrests,” said Whitebread.

Whitebread cited a newspaper article from the past year to speak on the amount of criminal activity in Geary county.

“September 2nd: In the past 24 hours the police had gone out on 101 calls, the Sheriff’s department had gone out on 104 calls and there had been a total of 12 arrests made in those 24 hours – that’s just one 24 hours in a month,” said Whitebread.

Whitebread said that she doesn’t know why Riley county is making the number of arrests that Geary county is, but the lack of assistance in dealing with Fort Riley, as previously mentioned, was one reason.

Outside of the Sheriff’s Department, Whitebread says there are many agencies funded that aren’t necessarily “departments” in the county.

“There are so many things that we fund that are not departments; we are in collaboration with Pawnee Mental Health, we fund there, we fund with Big Lakes, the developmental center…and these were regional areas that were put together years ago and so we are required, or asked to fund because we are part of that – and that’s just a couple, there’s just numerous areas that we fund,” said Whitebread.

And choosing not to fund these entities would be immoral according to Whitebread:  “When you’re looking at for instance Three Rivers out of Wamego, you’re looking at 24,000 and that’s a very small thing in your budget; and they had like 40 people here in this area they had helped in that past year, they kept 40 something people in their homes – that’s 40 people that are still owning their home and paying taxes and helping us out…these are almost a moral issue to help someone.”

Whitebread added that many of our woes are not necessarily self-imposed expenses.

“Many of these have come on in the last years because of the state cutbacks; we now give $1000 a month, and I think next year it’s a little more than that, to the Open Door because at one point several years ago we had people sitting up at the hospital at night,” said Whitebread.

Again, Whitebread cited a moral obligation to help citizens in need.

Though the expenses for Public Works did not go up in the 2017 budget, according to Whitebread, there is a big strain on the roads.

“We are a county that so much traffic goes through…our roads are in high demand all the time, and our count on our roads is really high compared to a lot of the counties,” said Whitebread.

It is worth noting that Riley county, which may see just as much if not more traffic, approved a mil levy increase of .767 for 2017.

The full audio can be accessed here and here.

Geary County Clerk Rebecca Bossemeyer talks about the Tax Lid Bill that will go in to effect before next year’s budget proposals in Segment 2 of that audio.

 

The Geary county jail population remains high – there were 147 inmates on Monday.

Geary County Commission Chair Florence Whitebread reported the high number during the Monday county commission meeting.

“Our numbers are running very high…it just seems to be a lot of activity in town that is not kosher,” said Whitebread.

Whitebread says that many of the inmates suffer from mental health issues and are waiting transport to a mental health facility in Larned, KS.

“Some of these people have been in and out of jail because of mental health…it is truly a problem and there are many mental health issues out there,” said Whitebread.

The inmates that need to be transferred often end up waiting an extended period of time in the Geary County jail because of the high demand in Larned.

“The other day Tony [Wolf] was here and he had somebody he needed to get in and they were 17th on the list,” said Whitebread referring to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf.

Whitebread says that she is unsure what can be done about the situation.

SFC ( Ret. ) Nolan Self, 98, of Junction City, died last Friday, September 9,  at Valley View Senior Life Center.

Self was a former Buffalo Soldier in the 10th Cavalry. He served in multiple campaigns including World War II and was stationed at Fort Riley during a portion of his military career. He retired later from the City of Junction City.

Visitation will be held Thursday, September 22 from 6-8 p.m. at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home and Crematory, 203 North Washington Street. Home Going services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, September 23 at the C.L. Hoover Opera House. Burial with full military honors will follow at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery.

Self was among those recognized during the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Junction City last January at the C. L. Opera House.