The Open Door homeless shelter in Junction City needs funding assistance.

The financial difficulties being encountered surfaced during County Commission discussion this week. Commission Chair Ben Bennett said one reason for the financial difficulty is that the Open Door is not receiving a lot of funding from the churches that helped establish the operation. “The Ministerial Alliance went together several years ago and formed the Open Door as an emergency shelter for people who find themselves without  a home, without a place to live, and without a job.”

Bennett added the idea was to have a place for people to come to, and help them and require them to secure employment.

The County provides $12,000 per year for the facility to help pay utilities. The Commission will look into other funding possibilities.

Open Door Director Flora Lewis informed JC Post they have just made payroll, which averages about $4,000 per month. There is only $2,000 remaining in the checking account, but there are some state emergency solutions grant funds that will be received. “We get the ESC grant, but I have to submit a report and then we get that money. But it just depends on what our bills are for the month as to how much I will get back. The upcoming one is probably only going to be about $3,000.

When asked if the Open Door is in danger of having to close, Lewis responded, “I hope not. I really hope not. Right now we’re working paycheck to paycheck.”

Lewis confirmed there are discussions under way between her board of directors and the Ministerial Alliance on the situation.

The number of Westar Energy customers in Junction City without electricity has dropped considerably by Tuesday morning.

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday there were four outages reported, affecting a combined total of 11 customers, or locations.

At one point this past weekend during the ice storm there were more than 3,000 customers without electricity.

Westar Energy continues to work to restore electricity in Junction City following the weekend ice storm.

As of 7:00 p.m. Monday the company reported on their web site there were 65 remaining outages, affecting 250 customers, or locations.

Earlier Monday company spokesperson Yvonne Etzel stated they hope to restore service to all customers by Tuesday. Right now Westar Energy has 150 personnel working in the Junction City – Manhattan area. On Monday additional crews joined Westar from neighboring states. To find out a specific time for your neighborhood you can learn more on the Westar Energy outage map on their website or via a mobile app.

The problem is the ice, the overnight rain on Sunday which caused additional ice accumulation on power lines, more ice on limbs on trees, and melting ice that has caused trees to snap back up and hit other power lines. “It’s just kind of a big mess overall.”

The Westar Energy outage map showed five power outages in Manhattan with 24 customers affected.

The freezing rain has resulted in major electrical outages and downed tree limbs and branches in the Junction City – Abilene area as well as other locations around the state such as Abilene, Hutchinson, and Emporia.

Yvonne Etzel of Westar Energy said Sunday morning there is a lot of damage in those areas. “Currently we’re looking at about 10,000 customers that are out right now. This is all due to the freezing rain that occurred last night that’s caused a lot of downed power lines and tree limbs in all these locations.”

Etzel reported in the Junction City – Manhattan area the Westar Energy outage map shows it could be Tuesday before electric service is restored to all customers. “As our crews get into all the different neighborhoods and start making repairs we’ll be able to get more accurate estimated restoration times and you can find those on our outage map on our website.”

Etzel said 13 crews have been called in to assist in the Junction City – Manhattan area. Seven crews have been called in to help in Abilene and Hutchinson, and five in Emporia. “It’s just such a big mess, that until we get in there, and get our crews in there and figure out where we can restore the most customers the fastest….that’s what we’re dealing with.”

Ice is coating trees resulting in damage. Cracking and popping of limbs and branches from the weight of the ice can be heard frequently.

 

 

Today: Cloudy. Chance of light freezing rain and sleet in the morning…then light freezing rain likely…possibly mixed with sleet in the afternoon. Little or no sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Highs in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Tonight: Cloudy. Chance of light freezing rain and sleet in the evening…then light freezing rain likely…possibly mixed with sleet after midnight. Little or no sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Near steady temperature in the upper 20s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Sunday: Cloudy. Chance of light freezing drizzle through the day. Chance of drizzle in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 30s. Northeast winds around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Sunday Night: Cloudy. Chance of rain and freezing rain in the evening…then rain and freezing rain after midnight. Near steady temperature around 30. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.

Monday: Cloudy. Light freezing rain and sleet likely in the morning…then chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 30s. East winds up to 5 mph shifting to the west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Slight chance of rain and snow. Lows in the mid 20s.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 40.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s.

Wednesday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 40s.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows around 20.

Thursday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 40s.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 20s.

Friday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

The National Weather Service out of Topeka has cancelled the Winter Storm Warning that had been in effect until 6 AM Saturday, and in its place put a Winter Weather Advisory into effect.

The warning is in effect for Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie, Dickinson, Jackson, Wabaunsee, Morris Counties. This includes the cities of Junction City, Manhattan, Abilene, Wamego, Council Grove and Alma.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR A WINTRY MIX…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST SATURDAY. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

* TIMING…PERIODS OF SNOW, SLEET, AND FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING…LIKELY DECREASING BY THIS AFTERNOON.

* SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS…1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE ARE EXPECTED…WITH MINOR SLEET ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE.

* OTHER IMPACTS…ACCUMULATION OF SLEET, SNOW, AND FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

The Central Flint Hills Quilt of Valor Project will continue into 2016.

That was announced Wednesday morning by the projects coordinator, Donna Martinson.

“We have purchased some supplies and have some long-armed quilters lined up who have committed to 50 (quilts),” said Martinson. “We will have nomination forms available for potential recipients at Quilters Yard or online at the Military Affairs Council site for the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce.”

To date the project has awarded 116 Quilts of Valor to area veterans, with plans to present two more before the end of the year.

The project will take a short break in December before gearing back up after the first of the year.

Geary Community Hospital has announced their partnership with the Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center to provide orthopaedic clinic services and perform surgeries in Junction City.

Through the partnership Dr. Adam Chase and Dr. Peter Hodges will rotate and operate the clinic four days a week, Monday through Thursday. They will both perform  orthopaedic surgeries and utilize GCH’s supplementary services.

Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center will take over the Flint Hills Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic formerly operated by Dr. Allan Holiday Jr., who was released by the hospital in September.

“There was never once, with some of the things that have gone on the last few months around here, that we weren’t going to do orthopaedics,” said Dr. Joe Stratton, GCH CEO. “It was a matter of how can we do orthopaedics and who can we do it with and OSMC out of Manhattan is the best fit by far.”

All of the same services that were offered before through the Flint Hills Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic will be offered again through OSMC. Those surgeries include sports injuries, partial and total joint replacements, and numerous other orthopaedic procedures.

OSMC is an independently owned medical practice out of Manhattan and serves various locations including Clay Center, Council Grove, Herington and Wamego. Patient clinic services and surgeries will begin at the GCH Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Clinic in January, 2016.

A dump truck hauling rock overturned at the U.S. 77 – K-57 Highway intersection just northwest of Junction City Monday morning.

According to Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges, the driver of the truck,  Earnest Williams III, Topeka, was transported to Geary Community Hospital for treatment for complaints of pain to his left side.

Berges said the truck was northbound coming down a large hill on U.S. 77. “He was going to make a turn onto 57 to go in towards Junction City. The vehicle turned on its side, went against a center protective barrier wall. He was able to climb out.”

Cleanup crews were on the scene at mid-day loading the big rocks that were in the truck, and the truck was uprighted.

 

A Union Pacific train struck an abandoned 2003 SAAB passenger car in an early Saturday morning accident in the area of Old Highway 40 and South Crider Road.

Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf said his office was notified by Union Pacific Railroad at 3:50 a.m. about an accident involving one of their trains. Deputies responded to the site and found the SAAB passenger car with extensive damage. The vehicle was unoccuppied at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported. The car had been parked on the train tracks at a private crossing.

The Union Pacific train was headed west toward Salina from Kansas City when it struck the vehicle.

The Sheriff’s Department said Johnathon Hansen, 20, Fort Riley, was identified as the owner of the 2003 SAAB. The Sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the incident in conjunction with Union Pacific Railroad authorities.