Aleeya Williams and Rylie Ellis have been named the Geary County 4-H Queens for the coming year. They were crowned at the close of the 4-H Public Revue Thursday night in Junction City.

Williams, who will be a senior at Chapman High School, is a member of the Lyons Creek 4-H Club. As far as the coming year is concerned she wants to provide a good influence for younger 4-H members. “I just hope to make a good impression on the future kids coming up that would be running for queen, and keep them entertained and having fun in 4-H.”

No 4-H king was named this year because there were no applications for the position so two queens were selected instead.

Ellis, who will be a junior at Junction City High School. “I really want to promote 4-H and give it a good face, and recruit new younger members and maybe some older ones. ” Ellis is a member of the Humboldt 4-H Club.

Extension Agent Ginger Kopfer estimated 50-60 youth participated in the Public Revue, where they modeled clothes they either purchased or made.  There were divisions with grand champions and reserve grand champions.

In Clothing Construction Eliot Oentrich was the Junior Division Grand Champion and Jacob Roeser Reserve Champion. Paige Roeser was the Intermediate Division Grand Champion and Tava Gustafson Reserve Champion.

In Constructed Fashion Revue Jacob Roeser was named Junior Division Grand Champion and Eliot Oentrich Junior Division Reserve Champion. Paige Roeser captured the Intermediate Division Grand Champion ribbon and Morgan Nabus Reserve Champion. For the Senior Division Jada Nabus was the Grand Champion.

In Boy’s Buymanship Brock Nabus was the Junior Division Grand Champion winner and Tyler Proietti Reserve Champion, Grady Oentrich Grand Champion in the Intermediate Division and Ethan Goodyear Reserve Champion, and in the Senior Division Marques Story was the Grand Champion and Calen Boller Reserve Champion.

In Girl’s Buymanship Olivia Kline was the Junior Division Grand Champion and Olivia Harold Reserve Champion, Karley Kramer Intermediate Grand Champion and Clara Gfeller Reserve Champion, and in the Senior Division Lindsey Ascher was the Grand Champion ribbon winner and Aleeya Williams the Reserve Champion.

 

The American Red Cross is facing an emergency need for blood and platelets after a significant shortfall in donations during the Fourth of July holiday week and ongoing challenges to find new donors.

More than 450 fewer blood drives were held the week of July Fourth than during an average week, which led to about 17,000 fewer blood donations than needed for patients. Right now, the Red Cross has less than a three-day supply of most blood types available – and less than a two-day supply of type O blood. Blood donations are currently being distributed to hospitals faster than donations are coming in. More donations are needed to replenish the blood supply.

Account Manager II, Kristi Ingalls, of the Red Cross said there will be a blood drive in Junction City on Tuesday, July 23rd from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Wednesday, July 24th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Junction City Municipal Building.

Call 1-800-REDCROSS ( 733-2767 ) or go to www.redcrossblood.org or https://www.redcrossblood.org for an appointment. Walk-in donors are accepted.

The National Weather Service has put a heat warning in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday.

Assistant Geary County Emergency Management DIrector Curt Jahnke passed along tips from the National Weather Service. “They’re recommending keep hydrated, check on those without air conditioning, especially the elderly. Limit strenuous outdoor activities, and hope for the cooler temperatures expected on Sunday.”

With the humidity factored in with the temperature heat indices may run anywhere from 103 to 112 degrees. This heat is more intense than normal. Jahnke explained that’s his view. “Because we haven’t had a lot of lead up to it, we just kind of got pounded.”

Officials confirm that the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library is a place where you can go to cool off and get out of the heat, and the Municipal Building gym is open for that purpose from  8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday if other scheduled events are not occurring there.

 

The 4-H Public Revue will be held Thursday evening ( July 18 ) at 7 p.m. at the 4-H Center on South Spring Valley Road. This comes just ahead of next week’s Geary County Free Fair ( July 22-25 ).

The 4-H youth will model their clothes, some of which they have made and some that have been purchased. Extension Agent Ginger Kopfer stated, “We have a script, it’s just kind of a fun night. We’ll decorate. The theme this year is “A Masquerade” so lots of fun decorations related to that.”

Kopfer explained at the end of the public revue champion ribbons will be presented for clothing and fashion review, and two queens will be crowned. There are four candidates for queen but no one applied to become king, so this year there will be two queens crowned instead of one king and one queen.

Other activities this week include the Junction City Rodeo Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. plus a Special Needs Rodeo at 10 a.m. Saturday. The 4-H Dog Show will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education toured the site of the new Junction City High School project this week.

The Chief Operations Officer for the district, David Wild, said they wanted to keep the Board informed of the construction progress. “Took them up to the ball field, the baseball diamonds, the softball fields, put them right out in the center of that letting them look over the rest of the construction so that they can get an idea of the scope of the project and placement of the fields, and then of course looking over at the new school where it will be erected.” Wild added they also had a chance to view where the new football field is beginning to take shape as is the gymnasium.

Wild said the site pad for the building is also under development.

The goal is to have the project completed and the new school use by August of 2021. The site is on the west side of Junction City, north of K-18.

Brace for the heat wave.

The National Weather Service has put the region under a heat warning from 1 p.m. Wednesday until 8 p.m. Saturday. It will be very important to keep hydrated.

Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson said check on those who do not handle heat on a regular basis. “Number two get a fan. If you don’t have a fan let somebody know. Maybe somebody can help you find and get one.” Johnson also stressed you should drink water. “No carbonated drinks ( sodas ), nothing like that, just water, stay hydrated.” Johnson also advised that you should stay in the shade and if you’re lucky enough to have it stay in the air conditioning if you can’t deal with the heat outside.

The Fire Chief noted that if you’re working outside and you stop sweating you should take a break. “Slowly cool down, drink room temperature water, don’t drink ice water. Your body will react to it like it was going into shock. So you want to just take your time and cool down. When you start sweating again you’ll know you’re okay. If you don’t start sweating call 911.”

Expected high temperatures ranging from mid 90’s to around 100 degrees will combine with humid conditions to bring afternoon heat indices into the 103 to 110 degree range.

If you must venture outside drink plenty of water, wear light and lose fitting clothing and reduce strenuous activities.

 

 

Road work on Henry Drive, which provides access to Fort Riley from Exit 301 off I-70 begins next Monday, July 22. There are seven phases to the project that is expected to be completed in March of 2020. During construction, traffic will be limited, delayed or detoured, depending on the project phase. The projects run from the frontage road at Exit 301 to the railroad bridge north of the Kansas River.

Beginning Monday, traffic will be reduced to one lane, controlled by a traffic signal, from the Kansas River bridge to the railroad bridge. Drivers should expect major delays during this phase, which is expected to be competed by mid-September.

Construction crews will also be working on the shoulders from the frontage road to the Ray Road roundabout beginning July 22. That work is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Drivers may want to consider may want to consider alternate routes during this constructon. Fort Riley officials urge all drivers to be alert, use caution, obey reduced speed limits and be prepared to slow down or stop. The Visitor Control Center at Exit 301 will remain open during this project.

Construction updates will be posted on the official Fort Riley Facebook page and the Fort Riley website.

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

Work is beginning to upgrade Freedom Park overlooking I-70 across from the Marshall Army Airfield at Fort Riley. That park, now closed to the public, is the site for Atomic Annie the large cannon that has existed there for many years.

Geary County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Director Michelle Stimatze said the CVB and a group of business leaders have been meeting for about one year on this project. “We have finally been able to get it approved. The National Guard is doing some training on the hill, where Atomic Annie is. They’re going to be doing some atomic work and some other things.”

Stimatze stated the plan is to get the hill cleaned up for tourists traveling on I-70 to visit the site. The goal is to return the park to normal. “A couple of years ago when they were burning fields some of the fields burned and so did the trail up to the cannon. And so we’re working on that project to get it completed and get things back to where they used to be.”

Stimatze noted the long-term goal is to restore site for visitors to park in the parking lot at the bottom of the hill and then travel up to the top to Atomic Annie. “That’s the whole goal of this. Starting with the National Guard, and them there’ll be some other groups that will be going up there. And we’re going to clean it up and make it like it used to be a few years ago.” Right now the trail leading from the parking lot up to the top of the hill is closed due to liability concerns.

The National Guard is expected to work and train on site for about two weeks. Stimatze confirmed during that time concrete will be poured, and they’re hoping to get the cannons repainted. Other former military items including World War II era howitzers and an obsolete command track vehicle are located on the side of the hill at Freedom Park.

She noted the overall  project, which also would include new signage and repainting of picnic tables, has been approved by the county commission. The cost must be kept under $50,000, but Stimatze said she expects the actual cost to be about $10,000. The money will come from the CVB budget via a one percent transient guest tax collected by the county. That tax is paid by those who use motel and hotel lodging facilities in Geary County. The funds are gathered for use on special projects like the Freedom Park improvements, or the recent effort to upgrade the playing field at Rathert Field.

The cannon was initially on loan from the Smithsonian Institute. According to the CVB there were 20 of the cannons manufactured. They were deployed overseas to Europe and Korea and often shifted around to avoid detection and targeting by opposing forces. Due their size, limited range, the development of nuclear shells compatible with existing artillery pieces and the development of rocket and missile based nuclear artillery, the M65 was effectively obsolete soon after it was deployed. However it remained a prestige weapon and was not retired until 1963.

Only eight of those cannons remain on display today through throughout the United States.

 

UPDATE:

The 911 service has been restored. Police dispatch confirmed the service was restored about 4 a.m. Tuesday. There were problems with the system that began about 5:30 p.m. Monday but the system is now working.

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The 911 system for Junction City and Geary County is currently experiencing issues. Century Link has been contacted as officials work to make repairs.

If you experience an emergency call 785-210-4709 for assistance.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Kansas man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first degree murder in the killing of a confidential drug informant whose body was found by deer hunters.

33-year-old Steven Meredith, of Junction City, entered the plea Friday. His trial had been scheduled to start Monday.

Prosecutors said that Meredith killed 48-year-old Carrie Jones in October 2017 because he believed she would provide information about him in a drug case in which he was later convicted. Her body was found in rural Riley County.

Meredith’s sentencing is set for Sept. 23. Assistant Riley County Attorney Kendra Lewison says the state agreed to seek a lesser sentence of 20 years in prison. Meredith will be allowed to ask for no less than 15 years.