The Sundown Salute celebration in Junction City is under way. It opened Friday afternoon with a performance on the concert stage downtown by “Revelation – A Journey Tribute Band.”

Sundown Salute Committee Chairman Terry Heldstab noted volunteers have worked a lot the past two days. “The carnival is all set up and our committee has done a great job. The 4 o’clock band is a Journey tribute band and they sound absolutely like Journey.”

Members of the public were arriving for Sundown Salute setting up their lawn chairs in Heritage Park for the concerts.

Later Friday evening the JC Has Singing Talent competition will run until about 7:30 p.m. and it then be red dirt country night on the concert stage, featuring the Aaron Woods Band. Sundown Salute continues through July 4th.

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Junction City, Kansas, have identified a woman whose body was found last month, and a North Carolina man has been charged in her killing.

Police on Thursday identified the victim as 59-year-old Tamra Ann Gibson of Asheville, North Carolina. She was last seen in Asheville on May 22 and was reported missing on May 24.

The body was found May 28 between two buildings in Junction City. Her car was found burned on June 1 in Laramie, Wyoming.

Authorities say 58-year-old Donald Mack Gray Jr. of Buxton, North Carolina, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery. Gray is in custody in Billings, Montana, on charges related to the death of an 81-year-old Montana man. Police say the two cases are not connected.

Susan Jacobs, Junction City, will be the new director of the Geary County Senior Center. Her hiring was announced Wednesday by the outgoing director, Debbie Engel.

Jacobs enjoys seniors. “I’ve been an assisted living director for 10 years, and there’s nothing closer to my heart than seniors. Jacobs moved to this community from Hiawatha where she served as an assisted living director. She added that her husband is a funeral director for Penwell Gabel so they moved to Junction City.

Jacobs submitted an application for the job at the Senior Center and was hired for the position. She will begin work Thursday.

Debbie Engel will retire, effective July third.

 

The Kansas Department of Transportation has been notified by Hamm Construction Inc. that the K-18  bridge over U.S. 77 on the west side of Junction City will open this Friday. (June 29th). While there will still be some work going on, traffic will be able to move through the area.

Due to be completed by Friday will be the road striping, lights and signage. Some miscellaneous road cleanup will remain to be competed after the bridge is opened for traffic.

The project has experienced delays but the bridge is due to open to traffic on Friday.

 

John Seitz and John Summers will serve as the grand marshals for the Sundown Salute parade on July 4th.

Parade Coordinator Tricia Verschage said both men have gone above and beyond for the City of Junction City in what they do. “John Seitz was the Military Affairs Council director for several years and he puts on the Veterans Ceremony every year. ” Summers was one of the founders of Sundown Salute and in the early years spent time coordinating the celebration.

Verschage said, “The two of them, they say JC Proud all day long. They are just proud of this community.” JC Proud is the theme of the Sundown Salute parade.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. on July 4th.

The Junction City Police Department has reported that about 7:30 p.m. Saturday a parent of a nine-year old boy reported her son was walking alone near Franklin Elementary School at 2nd and Madison Streets. A vehicle described as a blue 2-door Dodge Challenger occupied by two black men, possibly in their 30’s drove by him and asked if he wanted to see a dead body. The child ran to his residence several blocks away and reported the incident to his mother. The vehicle has not been located.

Police Captain Trish Giordano said the JCPD would like parents to take the time to talk their children about being approached by strangers. Have a plan and possibly a code word. If a person does not know the code word it will be an indicator to your child not to go with that person. Teach your children and call 911 if they have a cell phone and to answer all the dispatcher’s questions so police can get help to them as soon as possible.

If you observed a vehicle matching the description please obtain the license plate if possible, and call the police department at 785-762-5912.

 

The Sundown Salute celebration in Junction City opens Friday and continues through July 4th.

The Friday night entertainment lineup includes red dirt music. There will be a Journey Tribute Band performing on the stage downtown adjacent to Heritage Park from 4-5 p.m. The time period from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. has been set aside for the finals of the JC Has Singing Talent, 8-9 p.m. the Jason Callahan Band, and 9:30 – 10:45 p.m. the Aaron Woods Band will perform.

Country and western music is scheduled Saturday evening with the Adam Capp Band performing from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Jaron Bell from 8-9 p.m. and 9:30 – 10:45 p.m. Ty Herndon.

Christian Music is on the agenda on Sunday with Nichole Nordeman performing from 6:30 – 7:30 and Aaron Shust from 8:15 – 9:15 p.m.

The Old Abilene Town Gun Fighters show will be held in Heritage Park on Saturday at noon, 1 and 4 p.m. and again on July 4th at 1, 3 and 5 p.m.

The Car, Truck and Bike Show is scheduled Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the area of 5th and Washington Street. Trophies will be awarded at 2 p.m.

The Sundown Salute Joint Church Service is on Sunday from 9:30 – 11 a.m. in Heritage Park.

Musical entertainment will continue Monday – Wednesday July 2nd, 3rd and fourth.  There will be a fireworks display on the evening of July 4th at 10 p.m.

The Ottaway Amusement Carnival will operate downtown from Friday evening through July 4th.

 

States will be able to force more people to pay sales tax when they make online purchases under a U.S. Supreme Court decisiion this past week.

One attorney involved in the case said consumers can expect to see sales tax charged on more online purchases — likely over the next year and potentially before the Christmas shopping season — as states and retailers react to the court’s decision.

In Kansas, 68th District State Representative Dave Baker, Council Grove, said nobody knows how big the impact will be. “I will tell you those in the rural areas, the more rural an area is the more they shop on the internet.” Baker stated, “It has been an extremely unfair situation for a long time. It has cost the state of Kansas billions of dollars, local governments have suffered immensely from this.”

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 opinion overruled a pair of decades-old decisions that states said cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue annually. The decisions made it more difficult for states to collect sales tax on certain online purchases, and more than 40 states had asked the high court for action.

Baker feels the ruling help retail development throughout the nation. “The problem is going to be we’ve let it fall down so far I’m not sure we’ll bring it back to the level we once had. Internet shopping is here to stay, delivery systems are getting faster and faster. It will never be as it was.” Baker added is hopeful this decision will provide a way to level the playing field.

The Junction City street maintenance program for 2019 includes a plan for a new roundabout at McFarland and Eisenhower Drive.

That information was provided by the City’s Public Works Director, Ray Ibarra during a visit on the JC Now program on 1420 KJCK AM. “In addition to the roundabout we will do a mill and overlay on McFarland from the roundabout all the way to 77 ( U.S. Highway 77). ”

Ibarra stated other projects will include mill and overlay work on Eisenhower Drive from Ash Street to 6th Street, and Miller Drive from McFarland to McFarland.

JUNCTION CITY, KAN. – Geary County Schools USD 475 announced this week that, Mrs. Shannon Molt has accepted the position of Principal at Fort Riley Middle School, which became open following former principal, Heather Oentrich’s move to Junction City Middle School.

Shannon Molt received her Bachelor’s Degree from Kansas State University in Secondary Education (2001) and her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from KSU (2007). Molt began her career in 2002 as a seventh and eighth-grade Math Teacher at Fort Riley Middle School. She then moved to the position of Instructional Coach at Fort Riley Middle School from 2008-2017. Mrs. Molt was then named the Assistant Principal at FRMS in 2017.

Mrs. Molt was a member of the USD 475 Professional Leadership Academy (PELA) from 2005-2007. She has presented at many local, regional and national conferences, and is a member of a variety of district-level committees and task forces. She is a leader in math education and instructional pedagogy at the district, state, and national levels.

Molt loves Fort Riley Middle School, her home for the last 15 years, and looks forward to the many more years ahead as the building principal.

Posted by USD 475