The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until 10 p.m. Wednesday evening for multiple counties. They include Geary, Dickinson, Morris, Wabaunsee, Clay, Cloud, Ottawa, Riley, Pottawatomie, Nemaha, Marshall, Jefferson, Jackson, Brown, Republic, Washington, Douglas, Franklin, Coffey, Anderson, Shawnee, Lyon and Osage.

Junction City, Manhattan, Abilene, Belleville, Bennington, Blue Rapids, Burlingame, Burlington, Carbondale, Clay Center, Clifton, Concordia, Council Grove, Emporia, Eskridge, Frankfort, Garnett, Grantville, Greenleaf, Hanover, Harveyville, Herington, Hiawatha, Holton, Horton, Lawrence, Lebo, Linn, Lyndon, Maple Hill, Marysville, McFarland, McLouth, Meriden, Minneapolis, Nortonville, Osage City, Oskaloosa, Ottawa, Overbrook, Ottawa, Paxico, Perry, Sabetha, Seneca, St. Mary’s, Topeka, Valley Falls, Wamego and Washington.

The C.L. Hoover Opera House has been listed on the website bestthingsks.com as the number one historic theater in Kansas.

A news release was received from the Opera House on this topic expressing appreciative of their sponsors, patrons, volunteers and staff who have made this possible, “Although the actual 120th anniversary ( of the Opera House ) does not occur until September of this year, we can’t help getting excited about what’s happening at the Opera House.”

In preparation for that celebration officials have been working to put the Opera House in good shape. That includes installing new carpet in the lobbies, new ceramic and vinyl tile throughout the building, new furniture in the lobby and art displays on both floors.

If you have a story about the Opera House or the old Colonial theater officials at the Opera House would like to hear your story. Was your first date there? Your first kiss? Did you collect bottle caps to see the movies for free? You can email them your information, or write it down and bring it in or talk to Joe and Sheila Markley.

The sconces from the old Colonial Theater have been refurbished by Board Member John York. Director Joe Markley has rewired the lights with new LED lighting which can shine with white lights or multiple colors.

Two of the sconces have been hung in the lobby, while the remaining nine are being hung in the Montgomery Rehearsal Hall. The lights are being hung as they are completed but approximately $3,000 is needed to complete the project. A licensed electrician must still be hired to properly wire them into the building.

There is also a project to restore the clock on the clock tower. The estimated cost to restore the clock with new works, new digital control and reconnecting the bell tower to the clock mechanism has been calculated at about $24,000. One person has offered $7,000 once the balance of the money, $17,000,  is raised.

The new clock works would set the time to the national standard and automatically adjust for daylight saving time and power outages. Contact Joe or Sheila Markley if you would like to be part of that project.

OTTAWA COUNTY —It took the severe weather season awhile to get started in Kansas this year, and it started with vengeance across central Kansas on Tuesday. There were several large tornadoes that touched down Tuesday.

The first was reported in Cloud County. Another tornado touched down in Ottawa County followed by another in Clay County. As of late Tuesday evening there were no reports of injuries but reports of property damage, power poles and power lines were down across some roads. Authorities will continue to assess damage on Wednesday.

The storms caused a semi to jackknife on I-70 in northwest Ellsworth  blocked traffic for a time. When the severe storms moved through Barton County there was a report of hail the size of grapefruits. Heavy rain with estimates of 3-5 inches prompted flash flood warnings for Osborne and Mitchell Counties.

The National Weather Service expects another round of severe weather Wednesday across much of Kansas.

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Multiple tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for multiple Kansas Counties ranging from Lincoln and Ottawa to northwest and northeast Dickinson, Clay, Riley, Washington and Pottawatomie Counties. There were twp severe thunderstorm warnings reported for northwest Geary County when storms were located near or north of Wakefield in Clay County.

No major problems have been reported in Geary County, but a tornado watch was in effect from about 3 p.m. Tuesday until midnight.

Late Tuesday evenings strong storms swept through Clay County where law enforcement confirmed a tornado was located near Clay Center moving northeast at 30 mph. There was also confirmation by weather spotters of a tornado five miles southeast of Idana and another near Oak Hill.

The Department of Defense has confirmed that the next Commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley will be Major General John S. Kolasheski.

Kolasheski is a former deputy commanding general for maneuver for the 1st Infantry Division, who departed Fort Riley for a post at Fort Bragg in 2016, where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Army Forces Command.

A change of command ceremony for Kolasheski and Major General Joseph Martin at Fort Riley has not yet been scheduled.

The members of the Geary County Commission toured the Geary County Courthouse.

Commission Chairman Charles Stimatze said the building, which dates back to 1899,  is in good shape. “Actually it’s in very good shape. There’s a few little things. Carpet, little bit of paint, normal wear and tear on an 1899 building that was remodeled in 1999.”

During the tour Commissioner Keith Ascher took photos from the courthouse attic and one from near ground level.

Junction City police have reported that a fourth suspect in a March 29th attempted homicide case, Jeremy Breeden, Abilene,  has been located just outside of Thermopolis, Wyoming by U.S. Marshals.

On March 29th at about 11:15 p.m. authorities received a report of a man suffering from a gunshot wound at Motel 6, 1931 Lacy Drive, Junction City. Officers found Trenton Penn, 19, Minneapolis, Kansas who was Life-Flighted to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. Police recently confirmed Penn is recovering.

Already arrested in the case were Cody Breeden, Abilene,  who was located last week in Fremont, Wyoming, Morgan Fabre, Manhattan shortly after the shooting incident occurred, and Nizar El Hilali, Clay Center in late March.

According to the JCPD the allegations against Jeremy Breeden and Cody Breeden plus Nicar El Hilali included Attempted 1st Degree Murder, Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Battery while Fabre was arrested in March. A check with the Geary County Attorney’s Office revealed the charges against her include Attempted Murder in the 1st Degree, Kidnapping, Conspiracy to Commit 1st Degree Premeditated Murder, Aggravated Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Robbery.

The public had an opportunity to view the preliminary schematic design drawings and pose their questions about  the new Junction City High School project Saturday.

The Chief Operations Officer for USD 475, David Wild, said it provided real time feedback with open dialogue between the viewers and the architects.  Wild said the proposed design of the school has emerged over several months. “This is several months worth of analysis and needs assessment that’s been done.”

Wild noted suggestions on improvements from the public included a lot of interest in a natatorium. “Those kind of things, there’s a lot of interest about the placement there, how that may all fit together, the rationale. That all really ties in to the desire for a top loading gymnasium and football stadium.”

Architect Trey Hertel noted the public had some questions and concerns about where some of the spaces are relative to one another. “They talked about the Freshman Success Academy wing and where that should be in relationship to the rest of the building. Parking lots, how do those all work and flow with each other.” Hertel added a parking count has not been designed. “We’re trying to get input from everybody so we can determine how much parking we really do need.”

On specific facilities Hertel estimated that they are considering an auditorium capable of seating 900 people, approximately 2,000 to 2,400 bleacher seats in the gym and 3,000 to 5,000 seats in the football stadium. “Now people just don’t want to just sit in a seat, they want to move within a stadium itself, so there may be opportunities that we could create other types of seating formats and put that within the stadium so that’s something we’re exploring a little bit.” He also commented that there could potentially be some tailgating events at both ends of the bowls. That could allow more flow of people, “and have more open tailgating kind of concept during the game. That’s very popular versus just sitting in a grandstand for the ent

Posted by USD 475

JUNCTION CITY, KAN.  – Geary County Schools USD 475 announced this week that Rachel Buessing and Jared Larson will become the new assistant principals at Seitz Elementary School (beginning July 1, 2018), pending board approval. Both Rachel and Jared are excited to join the Seitz Elementary team.

Buessing is previously of USD 320, where she was named Elementary Teacher of the Year in the Spring of 2018. She has spent seven years teaching and five years in marketing and human resources. Buessing received her Bachelors in Journalism from William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. She has also earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University Leadership Academy.

Larson has taught as a third grade teacher at Ware Elementary and has been a CHAMPS trainer for the past nine years. He has spent the last seventeen years in education. Larson received his Bachelors in Elementary Education and Master’s in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University.

The Geary County Booking Photos on Friday included the arrest of Christopher Thomas, 19, Junction City on allegations including three counts of Attempted Murder in the 1st Degree, three counts of Aggravated Assault with deadly weapon and one count each of Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Failure to Appear.

According to Junction City Police Detective Captain Trish Giordano, the arrest of Thomas occurred on a Geary County District Court warrant Thursday on Parkside on the north side of the city. He was taken into custody without incident.

Giordano explained the arrest stemmed from an alleged altercation with multiple people earlier in April. “There was an altercation in the 100 block of West 16th Street with some individuals. About 10 shots were fired off. No one was hit. There was a vehicle that was hit, and we had been looking for Mr. Thomas.”

Giordano indicated police were unsure what the altercation was about, but added they believe “it was over a girl.”