By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

The Corps of Engineers has to hold water in Milford Reservoir to avoid causing downstream flooding during the current wet spell.

The Project Manager for the Corps at the lake, Bill Whitworth, reported Wednesday, that the latest projection is that the reservoir will rise approximately four feet over the next nine days, given no significent change in precipitation. “The lake is nearly 14 feet higher than normal. Water won’t go over the emergency spillway until another 18 feet or so, which is not likely.”

Whitworth reported to a Milford Lake stakeholders meeting the Corps is maintaining increased surveillance of the Milford Lake Dam. He told JC Post, “The dam is holding up and doing everything it is supposed to do. It was designed to hold a lot more water than it is. We do check the relief wells and the other instrumentation to make sure that it’s functioning as it should.  Whitworth added there have been no other major issues.

As the water level rises Whitworth confirmed a number of individual camp sites and campground loops have been closed.  Boat ramps still available for use include the one at West Rolling Hills and Fort Riley Marina boat ramp. “Other boat ramps are open but they require shallow drafting boats. Some of the bigger V-bottoms won’t be able to use those.

A 20-year successful run for Coach’s Grill and Bar ended recently when the owners decided to close the establishment and move toward another business venture. The sale of items from that business held on Tuesday at the 720 Caroline Avenue location.

Items ranging from glasses and a walk-in cooler to a smoker and furniture were all put up for auction.

Adam Wilkey and Chris McCurdy owned and operated Coach’s. Wilkey told JC Post that Cole Auction of Topeka, a company specializing in restaurant auctions handled the auction on Tuesday. Explaining the decision to close the business, Wilkey said they been in operation 20 years. “It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of long days. Our kids are growing up, we ‘re looking to spend some more time with our families. It’s been a great run, real special here.”

So what’s next?

Wilkey said the plan is to open a real estate office and saloon at the 720 Caroline Avenue site.  The former restaurant dining area will be renovated into an office area for Homefront Real Estate Group. The former kitchen area in the building will be turned into a saloon, called the “Bird Dog Saloon.”

Wilkey said the Homefront Real Estate Group ownership group includes Jodie Wilkey who is the broker. Others include Chris McCurdy, Adam Wilkey, Sally Tran and Carla Beavers.

Wilkey explained the main focus is getting the real estate office operating, and the saloon would follow soon.

The hail that ripped through Geary County on Monday damaged crops and trees southeast of Junction City in the Clarks Creek Road area. Some of the hail was reported by emergency management to be golf ball size or larger in diameter.

Extension Agent Chuck Otte provided photos of the aftermath.

UPDATE:

The storm that moved through Junction City was strong, leaving up to quarter-size hail in its wake. it brought torrential rain, winds and lightning.

Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said the rain overflowed many of the streets, “making water and the runoff go from curb to curb.” No major damage was reported in Junction City, although Berges noted it was either a cable tv or phone line that came down in the 1000 block of West 6th.

East and southeast of Junction City the storm caused more problems. Berges said just outside Grandview Plaza on the south side of I-70 a large tree fell against a residence. Along Clarks Creek and Humboldt Creek there was golf ball and larger size hail. Windows were knocked out at mulitiple sites, tree limbs were down, and in points along Humboldt and Lower McDowell Creek Roads hail was anywhere from six inches to one foot deep.

Along K-177 highway southeast of Junction City one vehicle went off the roadway and ended upside down in a creek full of water,but the driver was able to get out of the vehicle.

No injuries were reported.

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Heavy rain, hail, winds and lightning swept through the Geary – Dickinson – Morris-Riley County area late Monday afternoon and early evening.

Police have not reported any injuries.

Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said the hail ranged in

size from pea to quarter size. There was flash flooding with water covering some streets.

Berges said, We knew were probably going to have some hail because the temperature dropped probably 10 degrees in two to three minutes. We knew there was a lot of cold air coming aloft.

Berges added with the amount of hail received some of the roads could be slick. That was accompanied by torrential rain. He noted the Junction City Fire Department was checking a report of a downed power line, possibly on a vehicle in the 1000 block of West 6th Street.

A check with Riley County Emergency Management revealed a barn was blown over near University Park, which is north of the city in rural Riley County. There were no injuries.

Heavy rain moved through the Manhattan area.

 

Members of Girl Scout Troop 1750 have completed a project for a free community free library on the outside of the Girl Scout House at 921 West 4th Street.

( L-R ) Payton Harbert, Brooklyn Granstra, Layla Bradley, Emily Kadzevski, Jalecia Norah, Kayla Parrish, Aliyah Brown, Lola Bari, Anna Stonerock, Aleesha Cobuluis, Mya Black, Ameris Blackmon, Lillian Noetzelman-Brennan, Seren Olsen, Alice North, Elizabeth Parrish and Leader Jennifer Parrish.

As of Saturday Wheels of H.O.P.E. had received donations of 13,453 food items and collected $1,034.36 through their two-day food drive in Junction City. Some more items are expected to come in. The drive was held at both Walmart outlets and at Dillons.

Board member Shelley Kite said officials were pleased with the kindness and compassion from the community for people who need a little help with their food. “We use it to purchase food primarily and take care of the upkeep of the Food Pantry ( at the First United Methodist Church ). We give out to our 80 to 85 families almost 6,000 items per month. ” Kite called the donation of 13,000-plus items outstanding and noted that it will provide help for about two and a half months.

The Wheels of H.O.P.E. food drive in 2018 brought in about 11,000 items.

Wheels of H.O.P.E. helps feed those in need of food in the Grant Avenue and Grandview Plaza areas.

 

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

Rathert Field and the Opera House to the Late Dr. John Brinkley are among the focus areas in the new exhibit that opened Saturday at the Geary County Historical Museum.

Curator Heather Hagedorn said the exhibit, called “G is for Goat Gland: An Alphabetical History of Geary County, “will be up for two years. It is located in the auditorium on the second floor of the museum. “We had about 40 people attend the presentation by Jerry Harper from the Humanities Kansas. “All About Dr. Brinkley” and then they looked around the exhibit for awhile.”

Brinkley is remembered for his medical procedure where goat glands were implanted into men back in the 1920’s. He owned the hospital, one of the early radio stations, KFKB and was an unsuccessful two-time candidate for governor.

Hagedorn said big scenes were created for the letters “O” and “R” which represented the Opera House and Rathert Field. “And then we have some really large photographs from the 1918 epidemic ( Spanish flu ) and from old Fort Riley that we blew up that people can kind of immerse themselves in, that I love.”

 

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

A former Geary County Sheriff’s Department employee and retired military service member, Daniel Jackson, is the person the Geary County Republican Central Committee is recommending to serve as the next sheriff.

The vote by the Republican precinct committee men and women totaled 27 votes for Jackson and 9 votes for current undersheriff Brad Clark. There were no other candidates nominated during the convention held Saturday morning at the Geary County 4-H / Senior Citizens Center.

According to Republican Party Central Committee Chair Rick Roberts the recommendation now goes to Governor Kelly. “She has two choices. She can sign off on it and it goes into effect immediately, or after seven days if she does not sign off on to it he will become sheriff of Geary County.”

Jackson will serve an unexpired term of sheriff that runs until January 2021. He will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tony Wolf, after Wolf was convicted of one felony count of theft and one misdemeanor count of Misuse of Public Funds.

Following the convention Jackson said it was a little overwhelming at the current time. “It’s just a lot to take in. I’m very excited. I’m think I’m very capable of filling this position, but it’s also at this moment in time very exciting.”

Jackson formerly served with the Sheriff”s Department where he was a deputy who was then promoted to lieutenant and served as a watch commander for a four-man shift. During a later stint with the Department he served as a detective. Jackson is a Geary County native. During his time in the military he served three tours in Iraq and in Afghanistan. He spent two years working at the Pentagon, and is a former employee of the Junction City Police Department. the I-135 Drug Task Force and the Grandview Plaza Police Department.

Jackson said he wants to see increased inter-agency cooperation with the Fire and Police Departments. One example would be to have fire department rescue swimmers on the boat with sheriff’s personnel when they’re patrolling Milford Lake.

Clark was asked for his thoughts on the outcome. “It is what it is and I’ll do what I can to contribute to the success of the department. I’m just relieved it’s over with.  I’m glad we’re moving forward.” Clark has served as Acting Sheriff since Wolf was first arrested in October of last year, and before that served as the undersheriff for the department.

 

The Geary County Republican Central Committee will meet at 10 a.m. Saturday to undertake the process of recommending a new Geary County Sheriff.

Committee Chair Rick Roberts said precinct committee men and women will be the delegates for the convention. “We’ll call it to order at 10 o’clock. It is open to the public but only the delegates will be the people submitting questions or making nominations for the position of sheriff.” The convention will be at the 4-H / Senior Citizens Center.

The process will include nomination of candidates, comments from the person making the nomination, and then the candidates themselves will respond to questions from the delegates. Voting on the candidates will follow. It is possible the process could take multiple ballots.

Once the top vote-getter is selected the Committee will submit the recommendation to the Governor.

The need to fill the vacancy in the sheriff’s post follows the recent resignation of Tony Wolf following his convictions on a felony count of Theft and a misdemeanor count of Misuse of Public Funds.

Junction City is one of eight pilot communities in Kansas that will get help from K-State graduate students this summer in planning for their future by enhancing their past. The work will be through the University’s Chapman Center for Rural Studies and its “making the Leap: The Future of Small Historical Societies and Museums” project.

The project is led by Chapman Center Director Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, who was awarded a $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities’ Public Access Grant in 2017.

Jacob Allen, master’s student in history and Jessie Carmichael , senior in landscape archtecture, will working with the historical societies in Junction City, Dickinson County, Ellsworth and Wilson.

 

The Geary County Historical Museum in Junctiuon City has long served the county in collecting and disseminating its history. Curators are seeking to bolster fundraising opportrunities for the museum’s programming, digitizing and archiving collections, and planning for the preservation of the St. Joseph’s Church and Cemetery along Lower McDowell Creek.

The Dickinson County Heritage Center in Abilene has a reputation for its visitor experience in the historical life of the midwest. The center is planning a museum expansion with upgraded facilities to accomodate larger historical presentations for school group tours.

Other graduate students will serve as museum consultants for museums and historical facilities in Council Grove, Clay Center, Cherryvale and with a historic Flint Hills ranch near Matfield Green.