Storm cloud near mile marker 294 on I-70 on the southwest side of Junction City. ( photo courtesy of Nicola Christina Tomacelli-Tiberi )
A series of tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service late Tuesday afternoon and early evening for multiple counties, including portions of Dickinson, Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie counties. No injuries or major damage have been reported.
The storm packed torrential rain, rotation in the clouds identified by the National Weather Service, and in some locations 70 mile per hour wind gusts.
During the storm Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said authorities were in contact with Dickinson County. At that time he reported a wall cloud was being reported north of Chapman along K-18 Highway. There were never any reports of a tornado touching down on the ground. At one point Berges reported it was raining so heavy authorities in northern Geary County were having a hard time seeing any rotation so they relied on the National Weather Service radar.
Emergency warning sirens were sounded in the Milford Township area northwest of Junction City and in portions of Riley County north of Manhattan. Riley County Emergency Manager Pat Collins said it appeared the main part of the storm was straight east of Milford crossing Fort Riley. Emergency warning sirens were sounded in Keats, Riley and portions of Manhattan.
Junction City police Detective Lieutenant Cory Odell said Monday he expects at least one more arrest in the case in which three men were arrested Sunday on suspicion of Aggravated Robbery and Conspiracy, and an 18-year old Chapman man, Coye Crane, suffered a gunshot wound. “But everyone is accounted for. I don’t believe the public is at any risk at this time.”
Odell confirmed Crane was in stable condition at the KU Medical Center.
Police said the incident occurred in the 200 block of East First Street in Junction City.
Odell expects the three defendants to have a first appearance in Geary County District Court on Tuesday. Those who have been arrested in the case included Javontez K. Brime, 18, Junction City, Izek T. Jackson, 18, Enterprise and Malik O. Watkins, 19, Andover.
Dale Evans, far left, has worked for the Geary County Public Works Department for 35 years.
By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
A number of Geary County employees were recognized for meeting five-year increments in service for the county.
Dale Evans, Public Works, topped the list with 35 years of employment. “Now I’m a county road and bridge supervisor. I oversee all the work being done on the roads and the buildings.” Evans estimated in a two-week period he works 90 to 100 hours.
Evans agreed 35 years is a nice milestone to reach. “I think so, yeah.”
Other employees honored included in five-year categories, Stephanie Blake and Mark Anderson with the Sheriff’s Department: Julie Aguirre, Attorney; Curt Janke, Emergency Management; Darrel Murphy, Public Works and Travis Lilly, Appraiser’s office.
Those with 10 years of service included Justin Stopper, Eric Coffman and David Gilbert in the Sheriff’s Department.
Recognized for 15 years of service were Vicki Christenson, appraiser’s office; Ronnie Frandon, sheriff’s department and Tanya Carpenter, Court Trustee.
Those with 20 years include Mary Vornes, Court Trustee and Ronna Larson, community corrections;
For 25 years they included Diane Brienstensky-Leonard, Register of Deeds; Wendy Easley, attorney and Dennis Lilly, Public Works.
Awards presented to County employees. ( Photo provided by Javon George ).
Each school in Geary USD 475 receives a spotlight week during the course of the first semester with some carry over in early second semester. The Chief Operations Officer, David Wild, said, “The purpose of Spotlight Week is to ensure every school in the district has an opportunity to execute state-required safety and security drills which are facilitated by district staff and community partners. A Friday capstone meeting includes a review and discussion of all logistical support elements.
Garry Berges, Geary County Emergency Manager and his staff couple with Junction City and Fort Riley police and fire departments participate in the drills in order to obtain an understanding of district protocols and make themselves familiar with school personnel and building layouts.
Also, the building administrator receives a functional area report on the status of Information, Technology, Food Service, Transportation, Energy Management as well as Maintenance and custodial support.
“Spotlight Week is a major planning and coordination effort Scott Clark, Director of Emergency Management, said Wild.
GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting and have made an arrest.
Just before 4:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to report of a shooting and at the same time were notified of teen with a gunshot wound had arrived at Geary Community hospital, according to a media release.
Jackson photo Geary Co.
The victim later identified as Coye Crane, 18, Chapman, was airlifted to KU Medical Center in critical condition, according to the release.
Following an investigation, police determined the shooting occurred in the 200 Block of East 1st street in Junction City. Police have arrested Izek T. Jackson, 18, Enterprise; Javontez K. Brime, 18, Junction City and Malik O. Watkins, 19, Andover, on requested charges of aggravated robbery and conspiracy, according to the release.
Members of the community had an opportunity to learn about the outdoors on Saturday and experience some of those activities, courtesy of the Geary County Fish & Game Association. There was an open house at the Association’s headquarters, Sportsman’s Acres.
The coordinator of the event, Larry George, noted that despite some rain there was a good turnout overall. Those attending could participate in a number of different activities including back yard bass, “uses little plastic fish to cast to and kids really enjoy that.”
Trap shooting activity
George explained that there was a Kansas Wildlife Parks and Tourism presentation on the fisheries, and there
was also beginning shotgun shooting of flying targets. “Our regular trap range was open with the Chapman High School trap team doing demonstrations. ” There was a Swap Meet, black powder shooting with muzzle loaders. “We had rifle, pistol, archery and also had a nature walk down to the lake.”
On the fisheries George added that KWPT indicated the high water level at Milford Lake made it difficult for them to do their sampling work. “He said a lot of people are still fishing the lake.”
The Geary County Fish & Game Association participates in National Hunting and Fishing Day on an annual basis.
Corvias, in partnership with Fort Riley, will host a groundbreaking on Tuesday ( Oct. 1 ) to kick off major upgrades in Fort Riley housing that will reduce energy and water consumption, and deliver 128 new or newly renovated homes to the post community. The Army said the improvements are part of Corvias’ $325 million investment into its Department of Defense portfolio to fund strategic modernization and resiliency improvements to U.S. Army base housing infrastructure.
Heath Burleson, Corvias’ Partnership Adviser and Col. Stephen Shrader, Fort Riley Garrison Commander, will speak about the improvements at Fort Riley, the benefits to residents and cost savings for the Army. The groundbreaking will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at Longstreet Drive between Ashby & Jackson on Fort Riley.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the criminal case involving an Army solider charged with distributing explosives information online (all times local):
5p.m.
A prosecutor says an Army soldier charged with distributing information about making explosives online is a Satanist who wanted to overthrow the U.S. government.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Mattivi said during a federal court hearing Thursday in Kansas that 24-year-old Jarrett William Smith had a specific plan to overthrow the government and told the FBI he was distributing information on explosives “for the glory of his Satanist religion.”
But an attorney for Smith said he is only an internet “troll” who was “spouting off online” and sharing widely available information.
Smith pleaded not guilty to two federal charges of distributing explosives information and a third alleging he threatened to set fire to the home owned by a far-left-leaning “antifa” member. A federal magistrate ordered him detained until his trial.
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By JOHN HANNA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal grand jury in Kansas has indicted an Army soldier on charges that he distributed explosives information and threatened to set fire to a home.
The indictment charged Jarrett William Smith with two counts related to the explosives and one count linked to trying to gain entry to a home and injure someone listed only as D.H. The indictment alleges he made the threat from Kansas to Michigan.
The 24-year-old private first class and infantry soldier from South Carolina is stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was initially charged in a criminal complaint on Monday. He remains in custody pending a detention hearing Thursday afternoon.
His defense attorney, Rich Federico, declined to comment.
An FBI affidavit filed in support of the initial charges alleged Smith discussed his plan to kill far-left-leaning “antifa” activists and described how to build a bomb that could be triggered by calling a cellphone. It accuses him of posting on Facebook that he was interested in traveling to Ukraine to fight with a paramilitary group known as Azov Batallion. That affidavit had also alleged Smith suggested targeting an unidentified major news network with a car bomb.
Smith has been assigned to Fort Riley since June after serving at Fort Bliss, Texas, beginning in November 2017. He entered the Army from Conway, South Carolina, as an infantryman and completed training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He has not deployed.
Television station WPDE reported that when Smith was a 15-year-old student, he appeared on the “hit list” of another teenager who tried in September 2010 to blow up a high school in Socastee, South Carolina. The indictment makes no reference to that incident.
The station reported that Christian Helms, then 14, brought a gun and other weapons to the school, firing a shot at the school resource officer. Helms had also brought pipe bombs to the school in his backpack and had a list of 13 students who were his intended targets. Smith was among them.
WPDE-TV released a video interview recorded in 2011 in which they interviewed Smith and his father after Helms was sentenced to six years. In it, Smith said he was often bullied at school because of his cleft pallet.
His father, Chris Smith, told the station that the teenager who targeted his son idolized the two killers in the Columbine high school attack in 1999.
In the back of the picture is the site for the new football field. The location for the main gym on the site, and there will be a stairway to a smaller gym.
By Dewey Terrill and Photos by Javon George
JC POST
The new Junction City High School construction process is moving forward toward a long-term completion target of August 2021.
The Superintendent for Hutton Construction, Cody Simon, said they received a building permit last week, and that allowed work to begin on footings for the building. “We’re going to get into some really deep footings that we’ve got under some of the mechanical areas first to get those done and back filled. Then we’re going to take off with some other crews and really knock out the footings and under slab.”
Simon estimated some of the pre-cast walls would begin going up in late October or early November. “That’s the auditorium, auxiliary gymnasium and wrestling room have pre-cast panels. We need to get those walls up first just because of how this structure builds around those areas.”
Site preparation began in March and included the movement of 411,000 cubic yards of dirt to level the site for the building, parking lot and football stadium. “So that’s largely complete. The contractor still only has to mix some sub-grade underneath the asphalt parking lots in the next few weeks.
Along with the site there has also been work on site utilities. Simon stated that mile of pipe have been buried, “for sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water and eventually gas to the site. Site utilities are about 75% complete and that installation will continue through the fall.
In about two weeks there will be a large excavation in the area of the main mechanical room, said Simon. “There’s a cooling tower pit that’s about 20 feet deep, 10-feet wide each way. We need to get those footings, that underground structure in first simply because of the size of the excavation it’ going to take to do that safely and back fill it.”
The new high school site is located on the north side of K-18 Highway on the west side of Junction City.
Don Smithburg has been tasked to help guide Geary Community Hospital through what he termed a “precious situation.” Smithburg has been named the new interim chief executive for the hospital.
Smithburg told a Hospital Trustees meeting audience that Geary Community Hospital is at the end of the beginning, and it will take rigor and discipline to bring the hospital back to stability. GCH has been facing major financial challenges.
Smithburg works with Community Hospital Corporation, that specializes in hospital management and distressed hospital situations. “I’ve been a hospital executive and CEO for over 30 years. When Geary reached out looking for support that’s how I made my way here.”
Smithburg has most recently been living in Tennessee but is returning to Kansas. He said the recovery at Gedary Community has already begun. “This board ( Hospital Board ) really took the bull by the horns as soon as it was clear that there were some issues that had to be dealt with operationally. ” He added that none of it has to do with the great quality of care at GCH, which is still strong. “But we have to address changing reimbursement from government and try to improve our processes internally.
Smithburg moved into the interim CEO role following the recent resignations of former CEO Dr. Joe Stratton and former Chief financial Officer Steve Doherty.
