According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, a cold front passing south through the area will bring a chance for showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms late this afternoon and tonight. Warm temperatures and mainly sunny skies are anticipated this weekend.

Today: Mostly sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph shifting to the northwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers and isolated thunderstorms in the evening…then chance of rain showers after midnight. Lows in the lower 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Friday: Cooler…sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s. East winds up to 5 mph shifting to the south after midnight.

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

Saturday Night: Warmer. Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s.

Sunday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s.

Columbus Day: Not as warm. Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.

Monday Night: Cooler. Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s.

Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.

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

Wednesday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 70s.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Students at Kansas State are asking the Manhattan City Commission to consider reinstating a rental inspection program.

The Manhattan Mercury reports the commission repealed the city’s previous program, which called for mandatory inspections and fees for landlords. The program was stopped in 2011 after just one year.

Representatives from the Student Governing Association told the commission Tuesday that the issue is a matter of student safety. Student body president Andy Hurtig says some students who rent properties are living in “very deplorable conditions.”

The K-State Student Governing Association unanimously passed a resolution earlier to encourage the commission to look into the issue.

Mayor Karen McCulloh says the commission will take what they said under consideration.

The fifth and final program in the Ike 125 lecture series commemorating the 125th anniversary of the birth of Dwight David Eisenhower will be presented by Tim Rives, Deputy Director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library. The title of the program is “The Significance of the Frontier in Eisenhower History.”

Rives will present the program in both Kansas City and Abilene. The Kansas City event will open with a reception at 6 p.m. and the program at 6:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Plaza Branch – Kansas City Public Library. In Abilene Rives will speak on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at noon for a Brown Bag Lunch program at the Eisenhower Presidential Library Visitors Center Auditorium. Birthday cake will be served in honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 125th birthday.

2015 commemorates not only the 125th anniversary of Eisenower’s birth, but also the U.S. Census Bureau’s declaration that the American frontier had closed. Rives will explain that these two events are not unrelated.

Like other progressives of his generation, Eisenhower saw the extinction of the frontier as the end of the first phase of American history, and the beginning of a new age in which the federal government would replace the lost reservoir of free land and abundant resources with economic cooperation and individual security through social programs. More than any other single factor, Eisenhower’s interpretation of the vanished frontier is what distinguishes his “Middle Way” political philosophy from the conservative wing of the Republican Party he led through two terms as President.

Architect Bruce McMillan reported to the Junction City Commission this week that there “is light on the horizon” for work to be finished on the Municipal Court – City Commission meeting room in the City owned building at 701 North Jefferson.

“Staff is requesting some very minor adjustments in things that are being completed or have been completed already. We’re hoping that by the end of the month that we’re ready to be able to look at approximate close out on this at that time. And we’ll be notifying staff as soon as we see where that might occur.”

City officials had hoped to be in the building last summer and then in early fall,but there have been delays. McMillan confirmed some of that is due to material availability delays. There have also been change orders.

TOPEKA — The 2014 Annual Summary of Vital Statistics is now available. The report contains information on births, deaths, marriages, divorces and more, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Among the highlights for 2014:

The state’s infant mortality rate has decreased from 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013 to 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014.
The rate for Black non-Hispanic mothers was 10.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, a
32.7 percent decrease from the 2013 rate of 15.3.
Teen pregnancy numbers decreased by 6.5 percent, from 3,335 in 2013 to 2,118 in 2014.
The pregnancy rate for mothers under 20 years of age was 16 per 1,000 females. This is the lowest pregnancy rate for this age-group in the past 20 years, down from a peak of 34.5 in 1995.
Pneumonia and influenza resulted in an age-adjusted mortality rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 population, down from 20 in 2013.
The number of births to Kansas residents was 39,193, an increase of 1 percent from 2013. The state’s birth rate increased to 13.5 per 1,000 population from 13.4 in 2013.
The state’s population increased by 0.3 percent in 2014 to 2,904,021.
Geary, Pottawatomie and Riley Counties had the largest relative increases in population from 2010 to 2014 with respective changes of: 7.4 percent, 6.5 percent and 5.7 percent

You can access the full Annual Report of Vital Statistics on our website here: https://www.kdheks.gov/hci/annsumm.html

The Geary County Perinatal Coalition has created a Fatherhood Advisory Council with the help of the Kansas Children’s Services League.

Jill Nelson, Program Director Geary County Perinatal Coalition explained that the council will work to create a welcoming environment for Geary County Dad’s so that they feel invested and a part of the process.

“This is like the next step of Delivering Change, we’ve kind of evolved,” said Nelson. “We focus on mom and baby and we’ve always had the support person there as an important piece, but now we are adding this new component which really focuses on dads.”

The Fatherhood Advisory Council has met twice so far and consists of nine Geary County dads. Nelson explained that they will be responsible for deciding where they want to take the project.

“Right now they have been forming their council. They have identified themselves, they gave themselves a name, they’re going to be known as ‘Geared Up Dads’, is what it’s called.”

Nelson went on to explain that the group has had a lot of discussion on things that they want to accomplish and a couple of the ideas include providing education, and creating groups for dads to get together with their kids and work with each other.

Dads interested in joining the Fatherhood Advisory Council can contact Nelson at Delivering Change by phone at 785-238-0300 or by email at jnelson@gchks.org.

The Junction City Commission has approved a motion allowing Kaw Valley Engineering to provide the engineering services for the design of the 8th Street Multi Use Path.

This path will stretch for about one mile from the City running west along K-18 out to the Spring Valley Road area near City Middle School.

The 10-foot wide path will given children a safe walking option over U.S. 77 as they go to and from the Middle School.

Commissioner Pat Landes noted the City Commission must provide for the safety of people, and this project helps with that significantly.

The plan to put a turn lane the length of Caroline Avenue between Ash and McFarland Streets, and no parking along that street did not meet with Junction City Commission approval Tuesday night.

The site plan and no parking signage was planned in conjunction with the new Walmart Neighborhood Market due to open nearby on Nov. 11.

Two local business owners or representatives complained particularly about the no parking proposal, citing the problems it would cause for their customers.  One of those, Coach’s Grill and Bar owner Chris McCurdy noted he was taken aback when he received a letter on the no parking. “If there’s a no-parking in front of my whole business they’re not going to have a place to park, and they’re going to spend their money elsewhere.”

Many customers of the restaurant park their large trucks, trailers, and boats on the street outside the business. The no-parking requirement would not have allowed that.Ty Arneson also touched on the problems that proposal would have caused for the Animal Doctor adjacent to Caroline Avenue.

The City Commission opted to not go with the propsal and told staff to follow a temporary plan that will include two yellow lines during the center of Caroline Avenue, with short left turn lanes at both the north and south ends of that street. That will allow parking on the street to continue. It will give city staff time to evaluate the future traffic flow needs in that area.