While outlining a proposed expansion of the maximum-security prison outside of El Dorado the state’s corrections secretary said county jails and private prisons could also house more inmates in the future.

Ray Roberts, Corrections Secretary was outlining the proposed expansion to a legislative committee Monday explaining the state is projected to be 7 percent over its total inmate population capacity by mid-2018.

Housing more inmates in county jails could have a negative impact on small counties including Geary County.

Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf explained that he’s been aware of the possibility of the Legislature changing sentencing guidelines that could increase county jail populations.

“Therefore what that would do is that any crimes that normally would require prison sentences, they would then be reverted back to the county jails and they would spend their terms in county jails,” said Wolf.

For example Wolf said that if a person were to receive so many DUI’s that would require a prison sentence, instead of spending that time in a state prison they would instead serve at the county jail.

“It would leave the county picking up the tab for housing and keeping the inmates.”

It’s not that the Geary County Detention Center couldn’t hold more inmates, it’s the cost the county would incur by housing more inmates that has Wolf concerned.

“It would mean that budgets would have to be bigger to house these people. The day-to-day upkeep of an individual while they’re sitting in jail, you know that all costs money, and that’s exactly what this is revolving around. The State is looking for ways to cut their costs in the prisons and this is how they’re looking to do it.”

Wolf will continue to keep an eye on the outcome of some of the Secretary’s proposals as there have been no final decisions made at this point.

ABILENE, Kan. – Bring your lunch and join in a discussion with Elinor Haas at noon on November 5. The brown bag discussion will examine how books raised the spirits of our soldiers during World War II. The program will be held in the Visitors Center Auditorium of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home.

While the Nazis were burning hundreds of millions of books across Europe, America printed and shipped 140 million books to its troops. Haas will review the book, When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II, by Molly Manning. It is the inspiring story of how the books were received, how they connected soldiers with authors, and how an army of librarians and publishers lifted spirits and built a new democratic audience of readers.

Haas taught high school English at Abilene High School for 37 years. She has volunteered at the Eisenhower Presidential Library for 25 years. In 2008, Haas received a national volunteer award from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for her years working with collections donated to the library. She has given programs for numerous groups and organizations in the area.

Daniela Thrasher, Junction City High School German Teacher has received the ISE (Intercultural Student Experiences) Language Matters Award.

Thrasher was selected through a nomination process determined by the Kansas World Language Association, and will receive a certificate and $250 grant from ISE.

She has taught German at JCHS for four years and was nominated for her enthusiasm and dedication to getting her students to use the target language.

Her nominator states,”Where there’s a will, there’s a way and Daniela Thrasher works tirelessly for her student to make immersion a priority in their language learning.”

When Thrasher realized most of her students would not be able to travel abroad due to economic factors, she organized a long weekend for them at Concordia Language Villages this past February.

“Bronco Busting Showmen and their Spectacular Wild West Shows” will be the title of the program for the 43rd annual meeting of the Geary County Historical Society.  It is scheduled Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m.

The program will be presented by Kansas Humanities speaker Jane Rhodes.

Wild West shows at the turn of the 20th century delighted audiences in the United States and abroad. A substantial number of skilled cowboys and shows originated in the Great Plains region. This presentation will highlight western entertainers including Will Rogers, Pawnee Bill, Tom Mix, and Lucille Mulhall, and shows such as Pawnee Bill’s Historical Wild West Indian Museum and Encampment, the 101 Ranch Real Wild West, and the Mulhall Congress of Rough Riders and Ropers.

A reoccurring thread throughout all those shows was Buffalo Bill Cody.

A pork loin dinner will be hosted by the Pilot Club. The cost of the meal is $15.

RSVP before Nov. 4 by contacting the museum via email or telephone at 785-238-1666.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education will discuss the GCA contract during their meeting Monday at the Devin Center.

The company’s five-year custodial and maintenance contract with the district is in its final year.

Corbin Witt, Superintendent of Schools, said the Board will be given some options. “GCA’s contract is coming up. We can either extend that contract, we can extend it for a short period of time, we can bring it back into house, we could bring back under USD 475. There are different options. We need some guidance from the Board moving forward as to which direction they want to go.”  The Board could also choose to seek bids for the service.

The Board of Education meeting begins at 5 p.m. at the Devin Center.

If you are a fan of the warmer weather, the week is yours as today through Wednesday will be about 10 to 15 degrees above normal in the upper 70s, according to the National Weather Service of Topeka. Wind gusts Tuesday and Wednesday peak around 35 mph in the afternoon. Next system will bring likely rain showers with isolated thunderstorms late Wednesday evening through Thursday evening. Behind the passing cold front, temperatures fall back to near normal on Friday.

Today: Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 50. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday: Breezy…sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 10 to 25 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. South winds around 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 50s.

Thursday: Cooler. Rain showers likely and slight chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Thursday Night: Colder. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain showers. Lows in the upper 30s.

Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

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

Sunday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

The new vision for the State Board of Education was unveiled during an annual Kansas State Department of Education conference in Wichita last week.

Among the more than 1,000 educators in attendance was the Superintendent of Schools in Geary USD 475, Dr. Corbin Witt. He noted the Commissioner of Education, Randy Watson, has sought input from thousands of people around the state.

The goal is to see what they would like in their K-12 education system, explained Witt. “He’s now putting that together and kind of saying I think the focus that we’ve had on the state assessments and strictly looking at academics is not what the people of Kansas really want in their accreditation system. So now they’re looking at a new accreditation system called the Five R’s, and what that would look at is all aspects of a school district.

Witt added it would range from instruction, assessments and results to relationships and how the behavior and health needs of students are met. “So I think it’s really exciting the direction that they’re going with education and how they want to accredit the school districts.”

One of the outcomes for the state board of education deals with readiness for kindergarten. Witt noted he’s excited about the fact that USD 475 already has an extensive early childhood program. “So that’s one of the things I do feel like we’re out ahead of everyone. We’ve got great programs, and a lot of the focus on career and technical aspects our high school is well aligned to that with our career academies. So a lot of things I do feel like we’ve got a step up on the game and we’re doing the right things.”

During the Community Conversations, Kansans said children need quality pre-school including all-day kindergarten.

They also favored changes to address school culture, with the student who purses a technical education or a two-year college as valued and supported as much as the student pursuing a four-year degree.  They also favored businesses playing an important role in the education of students with internships and job shadowing, community service playing a larger role in education, and new roles for counselors and social workers. The belief was that they should be able to focus on helping students explore career paths and development of individual plans of study.

The trick or treating period in Junction City went by without any major problems being reported by police.

Detective Sgt. Trish Giordano said, “Everything went great. There were a lot of kids and no incidents.”

Two hours from 6-8 p.m. were scheduled for trick or treating before the witches wail ( emergency sirens ) sounded signaling an end to that activity.

Giordano said, “There were a lot of people up in the Spring Valley area and  Indian Ridge area. But they were all being careful and a lot of them had on reflective costumes, or something reflective, to help us in seeing them in the dark. ”

There were 12 officers on patrol for the JCPD, twice the number of a normal shift.

Three local churches also offered alternative trick or treating and Halloween activities for children. They include the Junction Church of the Nazarene, First Christian Church, and the Flint Hills Church.

Flint Hills Church held a block party with Past B. J. Solander saying it exceeded expectations. “We had over 300 families that came through. We had over 20 businesses that sponsored all types of different gifts and give-aways…had a great, great night.”

The rain and drizzle will come to an end this morning with only light additional rainfall amounts anticipated. Halloween Saturday is shaping up to be mild while skies gradually become mostlyclear with highs in the lower 60s across northeast Kansas. Clear skies and a “mostly” full moon can be seen this evening as temperatures steadily fall into the low 50s by 10 PM. Enjoy the weekend!

Today: Warmer. Cloudy then becoming partly sunny early in the afternoon then becoming sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. West winds 5 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. Southwest winds up to 5 mph.

Sunday: Warmer…sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Sunday Night: Clear. Lows in the upper 40s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Monday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s.

Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers and isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 50s.

Thursday: Cloudy with chance of rain showers and isolated thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 60s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.

Thursday Night: Colder. Rain showers likely and isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 40s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

Friday: Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of rain showers. Highs in the mid 50s.