Morris and Wabaunsee are one of a number of counties in Kansas in a severe thunderstorm watch until midnight. The watch does not include Junction City or Manhattan.
Earlier, a severe thunderstorm moved near Dwight and into the Alta Vista, Volland, and Alma areas. Just after 7 p.m. a trained weather spotter reported 60 mph winds two miles south of Alma. The severe thunderstorm warning for that storm was allowed to expire at 7:30 p.m. because the storm had weakened.
The Victory Run begins at 6:30 a.m. Friday at Fort Riley.
Each year it is the penultimate event of Victory Week on post.
This year Brig. Gen. Eric J. Wesley, the Big Red One’s senior mission commander, will lead the run.
Following the run at 9:30 a.m., the winners of this year’s Victory Week events will be announced and recognized at the Victory Cup ceremony.
The Department of Defense has reported that Major General Paul E. Funk II, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, has received his next assignment. He will be moving to the Pentagon.
Funk will become Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army, Washington, District of Columbia.
JC Post confirmed two months ago that the next commanding general for the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley will be Major General Wayne Grigsby Jr., who has more than 30 years of service as an infantryman, and has been the commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.
His previous assignmens with the 1st Infantry Division include serving as the “Big Red One’s” operations chief from 2003 to 2005, and commander of 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment from 2001-2003.
The succesful Quilt of Valor project is progressing in the Junction City area.
According to coordinator Donna Martinson 77 veterans have been nominated to receive quilts. Thirty-eight have been distributed / awarded to veterans. Twenty-six have been worked on for a designated recipient. 13 are undesignated waiting on a quilt.
There has been assistance on this project including 32 quiltmakers, 7 quilters, and at least five people have helped with binding on the quilts. A total of 33 other people have provided assistance, plus 10 businesses and 12 organizations. The number of donors of either dollars or fabric totals 33.
The quilts are being presented to veterans of the Vietnam War, Korean War, or World War II that have been nominated.
The Junction City Police Department received a report that three juveniles fled placement at New Directions at 1115 West 14th Street without permission between 7 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
They have been identified by police as Caleb Bingham, 17, white male, 5’9 168 pounds, Aaron Cellers, 16, white male, 6’2 140 pounds, and Gage Trager, 15, white male, 5’11 150 pounds.
Police Chief Tim Brown said over the night time of June 10th and early morning hours of June 11th the JCPD received approximately three reports of vehicle burglaries in the areas of and near Fair Street in Junction city, which is several blocks from where the juveniles walked away from. Police believe the three missing juveniles could possibly connected to those burglaries.
The JCPD is urging the public to ensure that you keep your vehicles locked and to not leave valuables in plain sight.
Authorities believetwo of the juveniles have ties to the Johnson County and Olathe areas and may be trying to flee the Junction City area in that direction. One juvenile may have ties to the Hutchinson area and may be trying to flee in that direction.
The public is urged to call Crime Stoppers or Sgt. Cory Odell with any information about the whereabouts of these juveniles.
Showers and thunderstorms will linger through the morning hours. These storms are not severe, but may produce heavy rain and localized flooding. Late this afternoon and evening, scattered 
thunderstorms will develop along a cold front, a few of which may be severe. Large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain are possible. The wet pattern will continue with off and on chances for thunderstorms through next Wednesday. Currently, rainfall totals by next Wednesday could range between 2 and 5+ inches.
Today: Thunderstorms likely. Highs around 90. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Tonight: Thunderstorms likely. Lows around 62. North winds 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Friday: Cooler. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs around 74. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
Friday Night: Thunderstorms likely. Lows in the mid 60s. East winds around 5 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Saturday: Thunderstorms likely. Highs in the mid 70s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Saturday Night: Thunderstorms likely. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Sunday: Thunderstorms likely. Highs around 80. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Sunday Night: Thunderstorms likely. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
Monday: Mostly cloudy with thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 80s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Monday Night And Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Highs in the lower 80s.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s.
Wednesday: Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.
The Acting Senior Commander of Fort Riley, Brig. Gen. Eric Wesley rolled out the 1st Infantry Division’s and Fort Riley’s Campaign Plan (CAMPLAN) 2020 update during a joint luncheon between the Junction City Military Affairs Council and the Manhattan Military Relations Committee Wednesday at Fort Riley.
CAMPLAN 2020 is a foundational document that serves as Fort Riley’s roadmap to the future. It has been updated numerous times since it’s inception in 2009 and the most recent update included a modified goal,”1st Infantry Division is the premier war fighting division and Fort Riley is the best place in the Army to train at, deploy from, and come home to.”
The Plan is split into four categories Mission Readiness, Ready and Resilient, Sustainability, and Community. As Brig. Gen. Wesley outlined the plan he highlighted several items in each category.
He explained that under Mission Readiness one of the goals for Fiscal Year 2018 is to be prepared to integrate a third Brigade Combat Team at Fort Riley. He did explain that there is no indication that Fort Riley would gain a third Brigade Combat team but the installation needs to be prepared.
“The point in the Campaign plan that’s a strategic objective is to ensure that, and this is the important part, that Fort Riley is postured in the event that something like that happens,” said Wesley. “In the event there’s a unit that needs a home Fort Riley wants to be the one that says we’ve got space.”
Under the Ready and Resilient section of the campaign it lists the need to establish a Soldier For Life Center of Excellence that will transition support organizations and programs into on location. Wesley said they really want to focus on helping transitioning Soldiers find work right away.
“The way to do that is to give the companies an ability to connect with soldiers earlier. The other factor there is if you’re going into a technical trade, you don’t want to spend a lot of time in school after you get out of the military before you start working again, because that’s a gap in time that can become costly to the soldier. So we want to come up with ways that companies can reach into the Division and be able to train soldiers in a trade as they begin to transition. That way you have a seamless transition.”
An example of some of the strategic objectives under the Sustainability section included the completion of hanger/runway construction for Gre Eagle systems, Privatize Fort Riley Utilities in coordination with local community management, decrease water usage by 26%, Increase Unit Recycling by 200% and Increase Family Recycling by 75%.
Wesley said that the Community section of the plan worries him a little. It’s not the community relationships that concerns him but whether or not they are partnering in the right areas.
The problem is not with the relationship. The problem is to make sure that we are adequately describing an articulating tangible strategic objectives down the road so we can leverage that relationship for not only the community but the readiness of the division. We have a mutual benefit here so we need to make sure we have a tangible pathway forward.”
Wednesday’s Luncheon was held at Riley’s Conference Center and was held in lieu of the monthly Junction City Military Affairs Council breakfast.
Fort Riley hosted a Combine Live Fire Exercise Tuesday. Below is a gallery of photos Courtesy of Rick Dykstra.
The Kicker Country Stampede is June 25-28 at Tuttle Creek State Park near Manhattan.
Wayne Rouse, Stampede President, onfirmed Blake Shelton is one of the headliners that will be performing. “He’s only doing 15 shows this year so we were really lucky to get him. And we have Thomas Rhett, who’s one of the hottest new country artists out there. And the classic country, we have Travis Tritt headlining on Sunday ( June 28 ).”
As far as ticket sales are concerned Rouse said the Kicker Country Stampede is out of VIP and Reserve seating. “We have general admission four-day tickets that are still available. And we put a few single day general admission out there. We had a lot of requests for single days.”
Rouse said as far as camping is concerned they are sold out of reserve primitive, preferred, premiere. “We still have a small amount of primitive campsites left. And then once they’re gone that’s it.”
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – A 114-year-old barn in central Kansas is the setting for a new Coca-Cola commercial.
The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/1dwYgJt ) reports that the 59-second commercial has garnered thousands of views since it was released Monday afternoon. It shows a man and his grandson restoring a 1965 Ford Mustang in the weathered barn. 
Volunteers spent more than 500 hours reconstructing the interior of the barn to the specifics that New York City film director Zach Lowry needed. In February 2014, Lowry sought help finding a barn from the Kansas Sampler Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and sustain rural culture. More than 2,500 responses came pouring in. But the Dickinson County barn near Chapman was Lowry’s favorite.
Lowry called Kansas “wonderful” and said he’d “never experienced before such a whole collaborative process.”
New Cambria farmer Lonnie Heigele is the owner of the land where the barn is located.