–USD 481 Hope / White City schools will be closed on Wednesday.

— Fort Riley military and civilian personnel were released early this afternoon due to inclement weather.  All Fort Riley MWR facilities closed at 2 p.m. Parents of children at the Riley CYS Child Development Centers were asked to pick up their children by 3 p.m.  Parents of students at the School-Age Center were asked to pick up their children by 4:30 p.m.

–Armed Services YMCA and Family YMCA are closing at 2 p.m.

–Geary County offices, except the Transfer station and essential personnel, are closing at 3 p.m due to the inclement weather.

— The JC Breakfast Optimist Club meeting tomorrow  (Wednesday) has been cancelled.

–The Dorothy Bramlage Public Library will close at 5 p.m. rather than 9 p.m. due to the weather. Library officials plan to resume regular hours at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

–Cloud County Community College – Geary County campus cancelled classes beginning at 12:30 p.m. They have postponed orientation that was scheduled at 5:30 this evening until Wednesday. Sessions are scheduled at 11 a.m. or 5 p.m.

–Ladies Bowling at JC Bowl has been cancelled.

–Junction City High School boys basketball and boys swimming that were scheduled in Topeka this evening are being cancelled. The new date for those events has not yet been determined. USD 475 announced all after school activities have been cancelled, and that will only affect the school district after the end of the normal school day. Buses will run as normal.

–USD 481 Rural Vista will be dismissing at 12:30 p.m. The high school basketball games have been postponed until Thursday, February 7th.

–Chapman USD 473 schools are dismissing at 1 p.m. There will be no after school activities.

–Wamego USD 320 will be dismissing classes at noon. Students will be served lunch before dismissal.

–USD 383 Manhattan / Ogden has cancelled all after-school activities.

Geary-

Including the city of Junction City

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT…

.TODAY…Breezy. Chance of rain, possibly mixed with freezing

rain in the morning, then snow, possibly mixed with freezing rain

in the afternoon. Little or no snow accumulation. Ice

accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Highs in the

lower 40s. Northeast winds 5 to 15 mph increasing to north 15 to

25 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

.TONIGHT…Colder. Mostly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of snow in

the evening. Patchy blowing snow in the evening. Lows around 17.

Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph.

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

The need to encourage the youth that it’s time to rise up was a central message from the keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Junction City, Tre Walker.

Walker stated on Monday the community was celebrating as one body because one man with a dream acted on it to intentionally make the world a better place. Walker said King’s life speaks for itself and justice is not for those of certain colors, but is for everyone.

Walker said there are issues that must be eradicated. ” I desire to communicate and articulate so that together we can rise up.”

He noted for those who do communicate on the issues with their youth the time is still not taken to act on the topic that was discussed. “We have youth that have lost loved ones to gang violence, we have youth who have been peer pressured into using drugs they did not want to use. We have youth that were taken advantage of by adults, beaten by loved ones, and molested by those they trusted. And until we learn to address the hurt that they’ve been through we’ll never be able to fix the pain that they express on the inside.” Walker made another key point. “In every award an adult can win and in all the accomplishments, and all that they know that could help youth succeed, “They do not care what you know until they know that you care.” Walker added young people are being missed because conversations aren’t occurring.

To the youth Walker said what they consume is more important than anything in this life. “Staying sober mentally, physically and emotionally is not tough when you choose to say know, but the sad reality is we have to some things to get ahold of our youth.” He pointed out If hard work, honestly and loyalty were intertwined with such things as video games we might be able to get youth to realize that there is a world outside of Junction City, “All we can do is beg you to rise up past the peer pressure and reach for sobriety farther than the producers.”

Walker, who received a standing ovation for his remarks, is employed by USD 475, has spoken at more than 100 schools in Kansas, is an ordained minister, and in the athletic arena a former former football player and coach at Kansas State University.

The King observance also included time spent remembering the founder and organizer of the annual celebration, the late Ruby Stevens. She organized the first local King celebration in Junction City 34 years ago, and organized the event for many years. A Co-Chair for the organizing committee this year, Daphne Maxwell, said, ” We are blessed to have labored alongside a woman of God, of honor, integrity,good character, strength and courage.” Maxwell said the committee is dedicated to continue honor and uphold the service, mission, vision and legacies, “united one in spirit in celebration and hope.”

The ceremony include the presentation of Coretta Scott King Humanitarian Courage Awards to Mary Lee Walls, Bernice Bullard and Margaret Kilpatrick, ( Photos L-R below ) and the unveiling of a Martin Luther King quilt ( photo top of the page ). After the ceremony indoors at the Opera House there was a march through a ones-square block area of downtown Junction City in honor of those who marched for civil rights many years ago. ( Photos of march below ).

“It was a grand celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Ruby Stevens but with word and praise and prayer with songs. Everyone just had a great grand time today.”

Those were the words of Daphne Maxwell, Co-Chair for the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee following a gospel celebration Sunday at the Second Missionary Baptist Church. The event marked the beginning of the observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and also remembered the late Ruby Stevens, the founder of the King celebration in Junction City.

Stevens began the celebration when she oversaw the Komomantyn Club at Junction City High School 34 years ago. In later years it moved to other public locations including the C. L. Hoover Opera House. Maxwell said the thoughts about Ruby and her legacy dealt with how she began the celebration years ago. “And how the Lord put that into Ruby Stevens, how she acted on it and as it grew more and more over the years, of course her passing this past year in 2018, and how the celebration is taken a little higher and a little higher each and every year.”

The guest speaker for the event Sunday was Dr. Desmond Lamb, from Forrest Grove Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kansas. He was accompanied by singers from his church as well. Maxwell stated, “He talked about a Christian coalition, but what it really means to not only to speak what you say but is to follow on what you say.”

The observance continues Monday at 10 a.m. at the C. L. Hoover Opera House. Maxwell said they will capture the life of Ruby Stevens and give three awards, unveil a quilt, there will be singers, and USD 475 educator Trey Walker will be the guest speaker. There will be a traditional walk through the downtown area following the ceremony at the Opera House.

Christy Rodriquez has spent three months listening to the needs in the Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie County area.

She is overseeing a region reimagined project to help identify needs and plan for ways to address them. “If more than one jurisdiction has a similar need then to me it kind of rises to that regional level. ” Rodriguez said there is then a decision point. “Are there things we can do collectively to then leverage the resources to save ourselves money, maybe resolve something in a more efficient way.”

Rodriquez explained a goal is to leverage resources where challenges as a region can be resolved, and there can be work toward regional prosperity.

Rodriguez updated the Junction City Commission this week.

Junction City Mayor Pat Landes has suggested a new idea about revisiting the sale of vacant Land Bank lots.

Approximately six months ago the idea of giving vacant Land Bank lots to USD 475 employees to encourage them to live here was suggested, but some current home owners who have to pay special assessments on their lots were opposed out of concern it would end up devaluing their property. They felt developers could come in and purchase large numbers of lots, build homes and then sell them for less than current owners could sell their homes if they had to move, for example due to military orders.

But Landes pointed out this week in recent months most of the lots in the Land Bank have been purchased by existing home owners and not builders. It will be spring in a few months, and the mayor wants to revisit the issue. “I’ve think we’ve had kind of a trial session of six months nearly, and this idea that people’s houses are not going to be worth anything is not true.”

Landes said he doesn’t think offering Land Bank lots should be opened up for everyone. “USD 475 is one of the biggest employers in the area. I would still want to use this as an economic development tool to try to lure companies here, to get their employees to come.”

In the latest suggestion Landes would want the buyer to pay $5,000 for a lot, build their home, obtain an occupancy permit, present it to the listing agent and then they would get their $5,000 back. If you purchased a vacant lot and did not build a house on it your funds would not be returned. The mayor noted that way the City sees a house built and gets something in return. He stated, “We want houses built.”