Veterans who reside at the Valley View Senior Life and at Brookdale Senior Living in Junction City were honored during ceremonies on Friday.

Just ahead of this Sunday’s Veterans Day they were recognized for their service to our country, and presented with certificates and pins.

Keynote speaker City Commissioner Phyllis Fitzgerald said they wanted to send a message to the veterans. “That we thank them for their service, that we appreciate them, and we never ever will forget our veterans.”

There were 6 veterans at Brookdale, and about 25 at Valley View. Accord Hospice of Manhattan helped sponsor the events. Fitzgerald herself,  is a veteran, having served 21 years in the U.S. Army.

The Geary County Veterans Alliance will sponsor a Veterans Day ceremony Monday at 11 a.m. at the C.L. Hoover Opera House.

There were a small number of vehicle slide-offs in Geary County on Thursday, but Sheriff’s Department captain, Eric Coffman, confirmed late Thursday afternoon there were no injuries. ” We’ve had a few slide-offs due to bridges and overpasses.”

As far as Thursday evening caution applies when driving. Coffman stated, “Be a little bit more cautious of the snow starting to freeze, ice getting on the bridges and the roads themselves because they’re going to start cooling down. So there may be spots in addition to bridges and overpasses that will ice up or snow up a little faster.”

Cloud County Community College has cancelled their evening classes at both their Geary County and Concordia campuses.

 

 

Cloud County Community College has cancelled evening classes at both the Geary County and Concordia campuses.

All classes scheduled from 4 p.m. on through the evening were cancelled due to the weather.

The Salvation Army is looking for bell ringers for the 2018 Red Kettle season in Junction City. The volunteers will help raise money that stays in Junction City to help people in need throughout the year.

Mary Scott will oversee coordination of those red kettles and the volunteers who staff them from Black Friday through Christmas Eve.

Junction City is home to four kettle locations, two at the Walmart supercenter, one at Dillons and another at the Walmart Neighborhood Market. Donations collected at those four locations account for 90% of the Salvation Army’s  budget and funds available to assist people in need in Geary County. In 2017, 242 people in need received help, including rent assistance, emergency lodging and utility payments.

Scott will oversee staffing for all four locations for a total of 729 hours of bell ringing during the holiday season. If you would like to sign to bell ring contact scott at 816-269-8317 or

mary scott@usc.salvationarmy.com. Shifts are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

UPDATE:

Light ice has fallen in the Junction City area Thursday morning ahead of an anticipated snowfall. No accidents have been reported by law enforcement.

Caution is being urged as you travel, especially on bridges and overpasses. It is easier for those areas to become slick. The latest forecast is calling for up to 3-4 inches of snow.

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The National Weather Service has put in a winter weather advisory across portions of north central and northeast Kansas on Thursday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

They predict a snow and rain / snow mix on Thursday with snowfall totals in the 2-3 inch range over east central central Kansas. For the area that includes Junction City, Manhattan and Abilene 2-3 inches of snow are snow are possible.

Temperature lows are forecast to fall into the 20s on Friday and teens on Saturday mornings.

The registered voter turnout at the polls on election day in Geary County totaled 34.5%, or 5,990 people who cast ballots. That’s up from previous elections in recent years.

There were no contested races in Geary County but voters still cast ballots in races ranging from the election of a new governor to a new secretary of state.

County Clerk Rebecca Nordyke said for a gubernatorial election that is up for the county. “I know from being out at the polling places and hearing from our board workers they were just steady and busy all day long, and that’s great.”

Laura Kelly was elected Kansas governor, but in Geary County Kris Kobach was a narrow winner over Kelly by a vote of 2,681 to 2,593. In the secretary of state race Scott Schwab was the winner on the state level and in Geary County 3,161 to 2,554 for Brian “BAM” McClendon and 183 for Rob Hodgkinson.

Roger Marshall was reelected 1st District congressman and in Geary County alone he came out on top over Alan LaPolice 3,482 to 2,396.

In the State Board of Education race Ben Jones defeated James Hannon 2,588 to 2,225.

Lonnie Clark and Dave Baker were reelected to the Kansas House. Both were unopposed. Clark received 2,635 votes with 106 voters casting a ballot for a write-in. Baker received 2,089 with 58 voting for a write-in candidate.

In the Geary County Commission race incumbent Ben Bennett ran unopposed. He received 2,322 votes. There were 78 write-in votes in that election.

The Geary County Commission will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to canvass the votes from the election. Nordyke reported that there are 326 provisional ballots still to be reviewed. The staff will research the provisional ballots to determine the reasons those ballots were provisional. “We’ll make recommendations to the commission based on the laws and the standards that we have to follow.”

The 3d Design Development Drawings for the planned new Junction City High School were approved by the USD 475 Board of Education Monday night. The next step is for the architects and Hutton Construction to work together to assemble construction bidding documents for the project. The goal is to have the new high school open and in use by students by August of 2021. ( Drawings and meeting audio courtesy of USD 475  )

The USD 475 Board of Education Monday evening acknowledged completion of design development for the planned new Junction City High School.

The architects will be allowed to enter into construction document generation. The Board reviewed 3D renderings of the high school image. Here are two of the 3D renderings.

Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday at 2am. Set your clocks back 1 hour before you go to bed on Saturday.

Also remember to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and and weather radio.