The Geary County Attorney’s Office confirmed that bond has been set in Geary County District Court at $100,000 for Chris Charles Hennington, 55, Junction City.

Hennington was arrested following a law enforcement pursuit in southwest Geary County, and a standoff in a Dickinson County pasture Wednesday morning. No one was injured.

According to Geary County Booking Photos, Hennington was arrested and held on suspicion of three counts of Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer, and one count each of Criminal Damage to Property, and Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer. As of Friday morning formal court charges had not been filed in the case.

According to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf, Hennington apparently fired a round off out of a gun, and was acting irrational. Deputies responded to the scene and a chase began. Wolf added that the suspect  fired three shots at the Kansas Highway Patrol aircraft.  KHP along with the Geary County Sheriff’s Department, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department, Junction City Police and Fire Departments responded to assist with the case.

Status check and preliminary hearings for Hennington have been scheduled July second in Geary County District Court.

According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, a quiet Saturday is in store for the region as temperatures climb into the mid 80s. The next chance for thunderstorms will be Sunday afternoon and overnight as a cold front slides through the area. Some areas will warm up into the mid 90s before the front arrives. The pattern becomes more unsettled mid to late week with several chances for precip as more fronts move through the region

Rest Of Today: Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. North winds up to 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s. East winds up to 5 mph shifting to the south around 5 mph after midnight.

Sunday: Sunny. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northwest 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s. Northwest winds up to 10 mph.

Monday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 60s.

Tuesday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 90s.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s.

Wednesday: Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s.

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

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s.

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

Day three of the 20th Annual Kicker Country Stampede Kicks off Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when the gates open at Tuttle Creek State Park.

Concerts on the main stage will kick off at 2:30 p.m. with Caroline Kole taking to the stage first followed by Chase Bryant at 4:00 p.m., Craig Morgan at 5:30 p.m. and Sara Evans at 7:30 p.m., and at 9:30 p.m. the Saturday night headliner will be Country Music Star Blake Shelton.

Wayne Rouse, President of Country Stampede explained that he’s expecting a great day,”we’ve got some wonderful talent all day long and we’ve got a lot great vendors out here doing a lot of great things. We hope a lot people come out and enjoy the festival. We’ve got great crowds, we can’t complain.”

Rouse said he is hoping for a crowd of close to 40,000 people.

Some of the vendors on hand for the festival include State Farm Insurance, Yeti Coolers, Kicker, Miller Lite and many more.

Eagle Communications earned a place at the 2015 North American Google Partners All-Stars Summit on July 22.

The event takes place at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Eagle, which remains the only Google Partner in the majority of the four-state area it serves, has been a Google Partner since 2014.

Gary Shorman, President and CEO of Eagle Communications, reflected the importance of this partnership in stating: “Critical to our customers’ success is the opportunity to utilize digital and social media. We believe that when combining our digital/social media offerings with market-leading radio coverage and Eagle Community Television, Eagle clients have the greatest reach to target potential customers – locally, regionally and nationally.”

The All-Star honor is bestowed upon Google Partners who reach aggressive performance benchmarks for advertising clients using Google and YouTube to promote their goods and services.

“Twenty years ago, if you had told business owners that they could market to a specific audience that was actively interested in the products/services they sell and have an accurate, measurable return on investment, they would have thought you were crazy,” said Matt Moody, Eagle digital media director. “But that’s exactly what we are able to do, when you utilize the right tools. Our Google Partnership has allowed us to help our clients use these tools correctly, analyze the data and grow their businesses.”

Moody and Austin Nichols, who serves the Manhattan/Junction City market, will travel to Mountain View to accept the honor and receive a tour of the Googleplex.

As a Google Partner All-Star, Eagle will receive access to new initiatives and beta product testing information sessions with Google, and exclusive marketing materials.

Cooler temperatures made for a great day two of the 20th Annual Kicker Country Stampede at Tuttle Creek State Park.

Temperatures hovering in the 80’s mixed with a light breeze made the festival grounds a comfortable place to be Friday as thousands of country music fans turned out to see country music Stars Locash, Jerrod Niemann and Friday night headliner Florida Georgia Line.

The comfortable weather also is being credited to fewer medical related issues according to Larry Couchman, Riley County Director of Emergency and EMS Services. He explained that on Thursday the main medical tent had less than 20 patient medical contacts, and just one transport that related to alcohol intoxication Thursday night.

As of Friday evening Couchman only had one thing to report.

“Today so far we’ve had only one medical transport, an older person with heat and a medical issue had issues,” said Couchman.

He did say that if you plan on attending Country Stampede Saturday or Sunday those with underlying medical issues come prepared.

“If you have an underlying medical issue, if you have seasonal allergies, if you have asthma, take care of yourself. Bring your maintenance meds or be prepared because the environment is still warm. The sun is out, even though it’s just in the mid 80’s, that sun is pretty intense so wear appropriate sunscreen, get out of the sun when possible and drink plenty of fluids,” said Couchman.

On the security side Kurt Moldrup, Festival Security Director explained they have only had a few minor incidents.

“Really only a few problems, which is really very typical out here at Stampede, which I think people are surprised to hear, but it’s gone very well,”said Moldrup.

One thing Moldrup did want to reiterate was the festival’s zero tolerance when it comes to any alcohol violations, especially underage drinking.

“We’ve got ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control), and a lot of Law Enforcement out here and they’re writing a lot of citations for minors in possession and I think people need to remember that they’re out in force and they’re writing a lot of folks for minor in possession and alcohol violations.”

Country Stampede continues Saturday and Sunday with gates opening at 1 p.m. both days. Saturday’s headline Blake Shelton will take the stage at 9:30 pm.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued statements addressing issues they are currently having with those at Tuttle Creek Lake. 

“The outlet tubes are still open for visitors who want to observe the high water release. The Country Stampede parking services will issue short term parking passes for visitors to park in the Shelter #3 lot and walk down to the outlet tubes. If visitors should walk in to the Stampede event, they are subject to towing per Country Stampedes towing regulations.

There have also been reports of Stampede campers staying overnight in Outlet Park. This is prohibited by Title 36 regulations. If campers are found in the Outlet Park area, they are subject to towing per Country Stampede regulations and ticketing from the US Army Corps of Engineers. If you arrive after hours you will need to find other accommodations until the morning.”

Everyone is also advised to stay out of the water at the lake.

 

Friday is Day Two for Country Stampede at Tuttle Creek State Park.

The evening lineup on the Cenex Main Stage includes:

–LOCASH performing at 5:30 p.m.

–Jerrod Niemann at 7:30 p.m.

–Florida Georgia Line at 9:30 p.m.

This is the 20th year for Country Stampede, which continues Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

The Geary County District Court trial for a Fort Riley soldier, James Henning, has been moved from July 17 to September 1.

Michelle Brown, Assistant Geary County Attorney, provided the information on the change of dates, and also reported that motions in the case will be heard in August.

Henning was arrested last November 25 by police at his 123 East 12th Street residence in in Junction City in connection with the alleged distribution of child pornography.  He was later charged in Geary County District Court with five counts of Sexual Exploitationof a Child, two counts Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, and one count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties With a Child.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A 20-year-old Topeka man accused of driving a vehicle loaded with what he thought were explosives to Fort Riley won’t attend an upcoming hearing in his case.

John T. Booker Jr. was arrested April 10 near Junction City as part of an FBI operation that included two informants to whom authorities say Booker detailed his plans to join the Islamic State terrorist group and die in a suicide bombing mission at Fort Riley.

Booker has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (https://bit.ly/1SQHGny ) court documents show Friday that Booker has waived his right to appear Monday at a case hearing.

Junction City Public Works Crews have temporarily backfilled the road failure that occured Wednesday in the 700 Block of Garfield Street. The road has been reopened to traffic.

Ray Ibarra, Director of Public Works issued a press release stating that the repair is temporary until a permanent repair can be made.