This is the second year for the Farmers Market at Geary Community Hospital and so far it’s being considered a success.

Since June 4th GCH has been hosting a Farmers Market in the front parking lot of the hospital every Thursday. According to Nikki Davies,  Marketing and Public Relations Specialist for GCH the market has been averaging between 10 to 15 vendors per week and they’re looking at expanding.

“Because we’ll be having a lot more vendors coming in since there’s a lot more produce finally starting to come up,”said Davies. “We’re going to turn it in to more of a farmers market square. We’ll also have a couple of visitors coming from the Kansas State Research and Extensions office. They will be doing almost a cooking demonstration. That will be coming in the August time frame.”

The market is open every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and typically draws between 500 and 600 customers according to Davies.

Items at the market range from fruits and vegetables to beef, honey and jams.

The Geary County Free Fair will feature a number of 4-H related shows.

Ginger Kopfer, 4-H Extension Agent noted they begin Monday ( July 20 ) with the 4-H Horse Show at 7 p.m. “Then on Tuesday ( july 21 ) the Goat Show is at four, and the Beef Show is at seven.” On Wednesday ( July 22 ) the Sheep Show goes at 6 p.m.and the Swine Show at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday July 23 the 4-H Barbecue and Watermelon Feed is scheduled from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m., followed by the 4-H Project & Livestock Auction at 7 p.m.

Geary Community Hospital and its Martha K. Hoover Women’s Center have been recognized as a Gold Safe Sleep Champion by Cribs for Kids®, a Pittsburgh, PA based organization that works to prevent sleep-related death of infants in unsafe sleeping environments by educating parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing safe sleep for their babies. Geary Community Hospital is the only Kansas hospital certified by the Cribs for Kids® organization.

The Cribs for Kids® National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification program awards recognition to hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to reducing infant Sleep-Related Deaths by promoting best safe sleep practices and by educating on infant sleep safety.  By becoming certified, a hospital is demonstrating that it is committed to being a community leader and is pro-actively eliminating as many sleep-related deaths as possible.

The program has three levels of certification: Bronze Safe Sleep Hospital, Silver Safe Sleep Leader, and the top certification level Gold Safe Sleep Champion.

Release from Harold Marion, GCH Director of Marketing and Public Relations.

Delivering Change: Healthy Moms-Healthy Babies through the Geary County Perinatal Coalition and Riley County Perinatal Coalition will be putting on there 3rd Annual Perinatal Educational Conference Friday.

The theme for this years conference is “When Opportunity Rocks” and it will cover a number of topics including Preeclampsia Update: Pregnancy Can Kill or Maim You; Perinatal Trauma and Challenge: Tending Mothers, Tending Others; An Improved Understanding of Child Maltreatment and Improving Resources; Obesity in Pregnancy; and Delivering Solutions: Tobacco Cessation.

Jill Nelson, Geary County Perinatal Coalition Program Director explained that the topics are based on what they believe the community wants to learn about.

“We know if there is something that is of interest to us at the local level that it’s probably something that everyone across the state is interested in learning about as well,” said Nelson. “But we’ve always try to drive it from the perspective of what did we hear and what did our community want to learn about.”

Nelson is expecting approximately 85 participants from across the state to attend this years conference. It is being held at the Geary County Convention Center.

At some point in the future the Veterans Administration community based outpatient clinic in Junction City will bear the name of the late Lt. General Richard Seitz.

Senator Jerry Moran noted that will occur when the VA determines their new location in for the clinic. “When they find that new site we’re going to be there to help cut a ribbon and name that clinic for General Seitz.”

Seitz passed away in June of 2013.

He was an American Army officer and paratrooper who during a 35-year career commanded the 2nd Battalion, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II, the 82nd Airborne Division, and the XVII Airborne Corps.

Moran provided the information on the naming of the clinic during a recent Listening Tour stop in Junction City.

Today: Mostly cloudy until late afternoon then becoming mostly sunny. Showers and thunderstorms likely in the morning…then chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

Tonight: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the mid 90s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 90s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 90s.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 70s.

Sunday: Mostly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s.

Monday: Mostly sunny with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.

---

 

Moderate rain was reported in northern Geary County during an early morning storm Wednesday, but no major problems were mentioned by emergency management. Farther north law enforcement 50-60 mph winds and some tree damage in Clay Center.

The National Weather Service confirmed one inch of rain fell six miles east of the town of Riley in Riley County.

Westar Energy is reporting 2,051 customers lost electricity in Manhattan. The majority of the outages were between Anderson and Fort Riley Boulevard, and between the Manhattan Town center and Manhattan High School. Lights on Poyntz Avenue were out.

There were also small outages surrounding Cico Park on the west side of Manhattan.

Westar Energy said the elecricity will be restored by 9 a.m.

After listening to input and giving their own individual recommendations the Junction City Commission Tuesday night to leave the neighborhood revitalization plan program as it is for three years, and add the more than 900 lots in the Land Bank into it.

No final action has been taken yet, but that will be on the Commission’s agenda July 21.

Under the NRP property tax rebates are granted for new construction for a 10-year period.

 

The Junction City Commission will be asked to approve a proposed 2016 City budget for publication at their August 4 meeting.  It will contain a proposed property tax levy of 47.718 mills, up slightly from the 47.666 mill levy in effect for this year.

Allen Dinkel, City Manager, is pleased with the proposed spending plan. “But you have to realize this 47.718 may move because this is based on the valuation that we knew as of July 1. If the County gets the numbers all finalized October 1….if that number goes up the mill levy goes down slightly. Likewise if that number goes down the mill levy goes up.”

Essentially, the budget is within less than .05 difference from 2015. “And by the time the final comes in it may be spot on, so in my mind it’s spot on the way it is.”

If the City Commission approves the budget for publication on August 4 it would be published on August 6, and there would be a public hearing on the proposed spending plan on August 18.

 

The Geary County Historical Society Spring Valley Historic Site will be the location July 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for National Day of the Cowboy activities.

You can watch the Old Abilene Town Gunfighters as they battle over how the west was really won. There will be gun fights at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

There will be photo opportunities and hands-on demonstrations between shows. Admission is free.  The gun fights are being sponsored by Jack & Dick’s Pawn Shop.

The  Spring Valley  Historic Site is located at the corner of K-18 and Spring Valley Road on the west side of Junction City.