For roughly the past 15 years Fresenius has been operating a dialysis center out of Geary Community Hospital, but they will be vacating that space this weekend to move into their new location off of Caroline Ave in Junction City.

Dr. Joe Stratton, GCH CEO explained that Fresenius will be vacating their location at GCH this weekend and from what he understands will open at their new location Monday.

“That’s a real positive for the patients and their families. It will be a much better care environment for them, it will be a brand new bright building and they will just have a lot more room there as well to treat the patients,” said Stratton.

Stratton went on to say that the hospital is still considering what they could do with the space when Fresenius vacates this weekend, but there are a number of possibilities.

“We are limited when you look at Medical Arts Building I and II with clinic space, and so we think that there may be an opportunity for us to begin to think about using that area in that whole main level for clinic space.”

No decisions have been made as they continue to look at the options available to them.

In its 31st year Operation Santa Claus has kicked off its fundraising efforts at Fort Riley.

Operation Santa Claus with the help of the Fort Riley and Flint Hills community help needy children and their families by providing gifts for local children during the holiday season. They are targeting families with financial difficulties and are working in conjunction with the Association of the United States Army.

Donations are being accepted of new, unwrapped toys in the $15-$20 price range for children ages birth to 18 years. Donations will be accepted through January 4th. There will be multiple drop off locations including at the Wal-Marts in both Junction City and Manhattan, among other locations.

You can also drop of donations at Operation Santa Claus headquarters located at 261 Stuart Ave. on Fort Riley.

Photos by Hannah Kleopfer, 1st Inf. Div. Post

The Geary County Historical Society plans a walking tour of Heritage Park on Veterans Day, Nov. 11 at three p.m.

There will be a tour of the park, and participants will be given a brief history of the park to help commemorate and remember all the soldiers who have fought for our country.

The tour will begin on the northeastern side of the park, at the intersection of 6th and Washington, underneath the G.A.R. monument.

A report of a robbery under way at a downtown Junction City business sent police to that area Wednesday morning, but in fact there was no robbery.

Junction City Police Chief Tim Brown informed JC Post that police received a report of a robbery in progress at the Sprint store at Seventh and Washington Streets. “Apparently an individual who I can’t identify at this particular time, walked into a business that is near there and reported that the Sprint store was being robbed at that time. Obviously our officers responded to that thing and upon arrival found out that was not true.”

Brown added the JCPD is investigating the person who reported the robbery. “We have not come to a conclusion whether or not it was a prank or what yet. So we’re looking into that.”

Another mild and breezy day is expected today with morning clouds giving way to sunshine this afternoon according to the National Weather Service of Topeka. Highs should be in the lower and middle 70s. A cold front will move through the area Thursday afternoon and evening with thunderstorms likely over eastern Kansas. The storms could become strong, producing gusty winds and small hail. The cold front will also bring cooler weather for Friday and the weekend when highs are likely to be in the upper 50s and around 60.

Today: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy in the evening…then mostly cloudy with slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Thursday: Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.

Thursday Night: Much colder. Partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of rain showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the upper 30s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Friday: Cooler. Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. Southwest winds up to 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s.

Saturday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s.

Sunday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.

Monday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.

Tuesday: Partly sunny with slight chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60s.

Junction City has over $1.2 million available to them that can be used towards transportation projects in the city.

Allen Dinkel, City Manager explained that from 2011 through 2015 Junction City has accumulated $1,225,784.38 in federal exchange funds, however none has been used.

“Basically money that comes from the Federal Government goes to the State and then they keep 10 percent and we get 90 percent. The reason why we do that is because it gives us more flexibility in projects and what we can do with different projects,” said Dinkel.

The City is allowed to collect funds for up to three years and they currently have five years collected. The City has worked it out that they can still use all of the funds in the exchange, but they need to spend a good majority of it soon.

“We basically need to look for projects to spend about $750,000 of this money here and it can be used on a variety of projects from street repair, to additions, to lighting issues for safety.”

The Commission will be submitting their ideas to Dinkel on how the money could be used, and Dinkel will organize the information and present it back to the Commission at a later date.

The former Municipal Court Building located at 225 W Seventh Street in Junction City will be demolished in the near future.

During Tuesday nights City Commission meeting the Commission accepted the bid submitted by Blixt Construction to demolish the building but salvage the limestone to be used by the city at a later date.

The bid amount was $34,500 and the City does have $30,000 set away in for the demolition.

Cheryl Beatty, Finance Director explained that the City did receive $30,000 from the City’s insurance pool to offset the cost of demolition.

“I plead the case that we didn’t want to renovate the building for $48,000 because we weren’t going to get hardly anything out of it based on the appraisal and that we would prefer to have the space for additional parking space,” said Beatty.

The insurance pool agreed and issued the city a check for $30,000 the week after the City Commission agreed to demolish the building.

Blitz Construction is expected to demolish the building in the December/January time frame.

The City Commission also learned Tuesday night that City Staff and Architect Bruce McMillan will be putting together a punch list later this week on the new Municipal Court Building located at 701 N Jefferson Street.

Mayor Mick McCallister explained that optimistically they could be in the new building for the next commission meeting.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has authorized three projects.

They include ADA improvements for some restrooms and drinking fountains at Junction City High School, ceiling repairs in the Franklin Elementary School gymnasium / cafeteria where plaster has been falling, and the final phase of work on the weight room at JCHS.

That work for the weight room would include sealing work on the concrete floor, placement of mats back on top of the concrete floor, and purchase of new weight equipment to replace older rusted out equipment.