Some USD 475 members spent two days this week participating in an Alice Training Institute program at the Larry Dixon Center in Junction City.

The Director of Emergency Management for USD 475, Scott Clark, noted the Alice concept dealt with an option based response program…the example in this session for an active shooter or violent intruders that could be in a building. The Alice acronym stands for Alert, Lock Down, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. “We have all of those options. They are not to be carried out in order. It’s whatever applies to your situation, and whatever would be the option for you to use at that particular time.”

Clark noted you might see the violent intruder. He said if they’re on the other side of the building it might be best to evacuate, but if they are close by that might be where you lock down and barricade.  “If they do come in then counter comes into play and that’s anything you do to distract that person from what they’re trying to do. So that can involve just movement,  it can involve throwing things, it’s proactive choices you make to deal and really enhance the survivability. And that’s the key concept of all those, enhancing survivability if something like this happens.”

Approximately 50 people participated in the training. They in turn will be able to train others in the district.

Thursday afternoon, the Brookdale Senior Living Facility honored the men of the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiment – The Buffalo Soldiers.

In 1940 Albert Curley joined the army just out of 11th grade. Needing parental consent to join, his mother refused and Curley’s brother signed using their mother’s signature.

Curley was sworn in as part of Troop A of the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Riley – the horse calvary.

The men were given the name “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Native Americans because buffalo were hard to kill as were the horse calvary soldiers.

The Buffalo Soldiers were an all African-American calvary, where some suggest the name by Native American came from the texture of their hair resembling that of the buffalo.

Retired First Sergeant Curley served 28 years in the US Army.

Curley was honored as one of the last survivors of the 9th Horse Calvary.

Other Brookdale Veterans honored at the ceremony include: Harold Buick, Harlan Henry, Daniel Vogler, and Phil Willhoite.

The proposed Sports Complex plans for Junction City are rolling ahead full steam, as they were discussed at the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Board meeting Wednesday morning.

Mick McCallister, Mayor of Junction City, says that the complex will help the community.

“If we can do more of those types of sports endeavors, it’s going to hlep our community EDC (Economic Development Commission) wise, CVB (Convention & Visitors Bureau) wise and it’s going to help the community; the more sales tax we can get from the folks coming up and down I-70,” said McCallister referring to the Babe Ruth State Baseball Tournament that was held in Junction City and finished Tuesday evening at Rathert Field.

McCallister added that our central location in the state and being just off of Interstate 70 makes Junction City a great place to bring a sports complex – but will that be enough to attract patrons?

“Based on all of the activities that go on in surrounding communitities around us, we’re missing the boat on this…just this past weekend, we had the 15 and under tournament, and there was a great economic boost to our community,” said McCallister.

The proposed sports complex is still in the very developmental stages, with the hiring of a Project Manager expected in the near future.

“We’ve got about 4 candidates that fit the criteria that we’re looking for, and we’re going to start doing interviews this week and next week; and we hope to have within 2 weeks somebody that we’ll appoint as that position,” said Dennis Beson, CEO of the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce.

Beson said the project manager will work full time at “pulling all

the loose ends together.” This includes looking at feasability studies and searching for grants to make this possible.

This project manager, as an independent contractor position, will report to Beson and the CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) Director and work directly out of the Chamber offices on 6th Street in Junction City.

The proposed sports complex has the potential to draw larger tournaments, lead to sales tax revenues and income for lodging, facilities, service stations, and restaurants.

Tell us:  What do you think of a sports complex in Junction City? Anneberg Park has been a very successful venture in Manhattan – could something similar to that work in Geary County? Did you attend the Babe Ruth State Baseball Tournament; would you attend similar events?

Respond in the comments.

The monthly Geary Community Hospital Board meeting provided some interesting figures.

While surgery revenues were up for the hospital, overall patient totals are on a downward spiral.

Joesph Stratton, Geary Community Hospital CEO says that this isn’t unique to Geary County.

“We do struggle some with keeping our inpatient numbers up and that’s not unique to us for a market of our size, and the payers be they the Medicare and Medicaid, the comercial insurance companies [like] Blue Cross Blue Shield, don’t want to frankly have people in the hospitals and we just as sure [want them to] not be here as well, but it causes a hardship on us in some ways and that trend has been taking place over the last three years and while we’re concerned about it, we’re doing what we can to staff appropriately,” said Stratton.

Stratton noted that the marketing team for GCH has been working hard to let the community know that when there is a need for hospital services, it can be done locally at Geary Community Hospital.

“We market ourselves as best we can and we try to have an aggressive campaign with that; Nikki Davies in the public relations and marketing department has worked really hard at that the last couple of years. I think we have more exposure in that way – in a [more] positive way that we’ve ever head before – trying to get the word out there about the services, but it’s a work in progress,” said Stratton.

The hospital CEO also noted that the season may have an effect on the newest figures for overall patient totals – people generally aren’t as sick in the summer months as they may be in the winter months.

The daily posting of the Geary County Booking Photos has become a staple for JC Post readers.

If you are one of our daily viewers you may have noticed a significant number of domestic related arrests in the county.

Tony Wolf, Geary County Sheriff, said that many of these cases have one unfortunate thing in common – the military.

“Well a lot of the stuff that we see, usually follows a deployment from the military out there; and I hate to blame it all on the military, but that is a very large portion of it,” said Wolf.

Wolf went on to explain the unfortunate types of scenarios that lead to these domestic related arrests.

“Lots of times we see that a lot of the soldiers that come back from deployments and things they will find out that their wives have been stepping out on them…I’m not saying all of them, but that is a common occurence…these guys come back and find that their wives have done things that they shouldn’t have done – and the fight starts, and it usually escalates in to a physical altercation,” said Wolf.

Notably, a significant number of domestic related arrests are females.

Wolf explains what constitutes a domestic dispute:  “…any kind of battery that takes place – shoving, pushing – anything like that is an arrestable offense; and also, destroying property. If [we] arrive on the scene and the aggressor, whether it be the male or female, has destroyed (for example) a dresser…well they get arrested for domestic criminal damage to property; even though they own half of it – it’s a communal property – but they get arrested for destroying the victim’s half of it.”

Wolf added that signs of physical contact during the altercation can obviously land [you] in jail.

Per the state statutes, Wolf said that [they] law enforcement pursues charges when arriving on the scene of domestic incidents. 

“It is no longer a situation where the victim has to pursue the charges,” said Wolf adding that “it used to be like that and the reason for the change is that lots of time you have a victim that is scared of the aggressor and they would not want to pursue charges fearing retribution.”

Wolf said that when law enforcement arrives on the scene and has sufficient evidence to make the arrest it is “us making the decision to arrest, us being law enforcement.”

While there is no excuse to resort to physical violence, it is a reality for many. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence or abuse there are resources available to assist you.

As a victim, do not try to retaliate and risk a permanent stain on your record, jail fines and court costs – ask for help before it’s too late.

Please visit The Crisis Center for contact information and access to a 24 hour crisis hotline.

In Junction City call 785-762-8835, Manhattan call 785-539-2785, and other areas can call toll free 1-800-727-2785.

 

 

 

Tim Huelskamp accompanied by three fellow conservative members of Congress made Junction City a stopping point as part of a series of Town Hall meetings in Kansas on Monday.

Huelskamp is being challenged in the Republican primary election by Roger Marshall of Great Bend in the race for the First District seat from Kansas in Congress.

Huelskamp told an audience at the American Legion that Washington D.C. is broken and the political system is corrupt. He said if you stand up to it they come after you. “And if you look at every one of these television ads, is that I don’t spend enough money, that I don’t get along with the people in Washington that want to spend a lot of money. ”

There has been much mention of Huelskamp being kicked off the House Agriculture Committee. “Yeah I was kicked off the Ag Committee, I really was. You know why? Because I wouldn’t vote the way John Boehner ( former House Speaker ) told me to vote. He told me to raise taxes, raise the debt ceiling, work together with Barack Obama more. I am not kidding, and I said at the end of the day I take an oath to the office. It’s not an oath to you Mr. Boehner, it’s not an oath to you Mr. President.” Huelskamp added it was his responsibility to work for his constituents.

Accompanying Huelskamp on the visit to Junction City were Congressmen Steve King of Iowa, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma. All support of Huelskamp in Congress. Topics covered in the forum, which included a small number of statements and questions after the comments by the Congressmen, dealt with subjects ranging from sequestration and national security to the need to stand up to special interests.

Junction City will be one of the stopping points in a series of town hall meetings in the First District of Kansas on Monday.

Congressman Tim Huelskamp has announced he will do the tour with three fellow conservatives from across the country. They include Congressmen Jim Jordan of Ohio, Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

The town hall meeting in Junction City is scheduled from noon to one p.m. Monday ( July 25 ) at the American Legion at 201 East 4th Street. The topics of the meeting will be National Security and Veterans.

The congressman will also conduct town halls Monday in Saint Marys, McPherson, and Salina. There will be different topics for each of the sessions.

Get involved in your community and vote.

Advanced voting for the elections on August 2nd began last week and will continue until Friday, July 29th.

To get an advanced voting ballot:

1.  Print and fill out the advanced voting form on voteks.org.
2. Once form is completed, return to Geary County Clerk Rebecca Bossemeyer to receive a mailed ballot for advanced voting.

The advanced voting ballots must be returned to the County Clerk’s office by the end of election day, 7:00 pm on August 2nd.

The office is located at 200 E 8th Street in Junction City.

In person advanced voting hours are as follows:

• Wednesday, July 20: 1:30pm – 5:00p,
• Thursday, July 21: 8:30am – 5:00 pm
• Friday, July 22: 8:30am – 5:00pm
• Monday, July 25 through July 29: 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
• Saturday, July 30: 9:00am – 1:00pm
• Monday, August 1: 8:30 am – Noon

A photo ID is required on election day.  Examples of IDs accepted include drivers licenses and military IDs.

To view your voter registration, party affiliation and a sample ballot for the August 2nd election visit voteks.org.

In Geary County, there are 14,528 registered voters; 4165 Democrat, 5369 Republican, 96 Libertarian and 4898 are unaffiliated.

Voters that are not affiliated with a particular party can select the ballot they’d like on election day.

Voters registered to a party must vote on that party’s ballot.

Kansas is state that has a “closed primary” meaning that you will either have a Republican ballot, or Democrat ballot when you vote – you can’t go back and forth between parties.

The polling locations in Geary County are:

• 12th Street Community Center
• City Building in Grandview Plaza, Junction City, and Milford
• Immanuel Lutheran Church
• Geary County Office Bldg. – Commission Chambers
• 4H/Senior Citizens Building

If you have any questions, call the office of Rebecca Bossemeyer, Geary County Clerk, at 785-238-3912.