The Corp of Engineers at Milford Lake has been making steady releases for the past two weeks, but dropped it’s outflow Thursday from 2,000 cfs to 1,000 cfs just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

RJ Harms, Corp of Engineers Project Manager at Milford Lake explained that the lake is currently sitting about 1.3 feet high.

“Which is pretty good elevation for all of the boat ramps and all of the beaches and everything else,” said Harms.

Harms went on to say that even with the outflow decrease they are hoping to maintain the current level of the lake, if not increase it if possible.

Activity at the lake has already picked up and most of the camping spots have filled up. Harms contributed some of that with anglers at the lake preparing for the Cabela’s National Team Championship tournament scheduled for next week.

On a good note Harms said that they have not had any indication of any blue green algae so far this season.

“We haven’t seen anything at all, and I think with the inflows we’ve been able to make releases now for probably two or three weeks, once the rain did start here. The northern half of the lake is pretty cloudy and that should help a little bit. We’ll see what the inflows do, but no we’ve seen no signs of anything yet anywhere.”

There is a chance for rain Saturday through next Tuesday, with the greatest chance of rain Saturday evening.

The Geary County Rural Fire Department responded to a garage fire at 10510 Quarry Road, about six miles north of Junction City, Friday afternoon.

Garry Berges, Rural Fire Chief explained the call came in just before 1 p.m. Friday of a garage fire.

“Upon arrival the fire had just started venting through the garage, our firefighters did a good job putting a pretty good stop on the fire,” said Berges.

It took approximately one hour to control the fire.

The cause of the fire has been ruled accidental. The garage was considered a total loss. Water and structural damage was also reported to the kitchen area of the house attached to the garage.

The home owner was listed as Darin Gaub.

The Fort Riley Fire Department was called in to assist with the fire and responded with a command unit, pumper truck and tanker truck along with four personnel. Geary County responded with two engines and 15 personnel.

 

The Kansas House approved a measure that would move local elections to the fall in odd numbered years by a 64-58 vote Thursday. It now goes to Governor Sam Brownback.

It is likely that Brownback will sign the bill, considering the move was included in his State of the State address back in January.

Rebecca Bossemeyer, Geary County Clerk explained that she can hold elections in either April or November, but she believes the fall is better.

“It will clean up some areas that were of concern to county election officials. We have to send ballots 45 days prior to an election to our overseas citizens, and with the current city/school calendar we were having to send out for a primary we didn’t even know we were going to have, and it was before the filing deadline. For the General Election we were sending out ballots before the primary had even been held,” said Bossemeyer.

She went on to say that it is probably a better move in terms of election administration, and she does not anticipate any cost increases associated with the move.

Other supporters of the move say it would boost voter turnout because people are used to voting in the fall. Critics say it would force elected school  board members to take office in the middle of fiscal years, which could disrupt the budgeting process.

Scattered, mainly light showers will move across the area today with more persistent rain and thunderstorms expected Saturday through Sunday. Periods of heavy rainfall are also expected especially late Saturday, Saturday night, into Sunday morning, and could lead to areas of flooding. Next week looks to be warmer and humid, with continued thunderstorm chances, although storms should not be as widespread.

Today: Mostly cloudy. Chance of showers in the morning…then showers likely in the afternoon. Highs around 60. South winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Tonight: Showers likely. Lows around 53. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Saturday: Thunderstorms likely. Highs around 66. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Saturday Night: Thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Sunday: Cloudy with thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

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

Memorial Day: Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows around 60.

Tuesday: Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s.

Tuesday Night And Wednesday: Partly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows around 60. Highs in the lower 80s.

Wednesday Night And Thursday: Mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s. Highs around 80.

 

The Junction City – Geary County Metropolitan Planning Commission meets in special session at 3 p.m. at the Municipal Building on Friday to consider a recommendation on the site plans for the construction of proposed additions to Westwood and Franklin Elementary Schools.

David Yearout, Planning and Zoning Administrator, in his staff report said under an amendment to the zoning regulations in 2013 any changes to school buildings would require submission of a site plan showing the proposed expansion and addressing issues such as parking, loading and unloading areas, bus parking areas, and lighting.

Yearout noted parking is a major concern at all existing schools within the City. Staff is not clear if either of the two schools meet the regulatory requirements because they do not have details on the number of staff and full-time employees.    He says it cannot be determined whether additional off-street parking is required at this time.

Yearout also reported that changes in society have resulted in significant traffic congestion surrounding the schools because so many parents drop their students off and pick them up at the schools today. In a previous era students walked to their neighborhood school.  He said with respect to these two schools the issue becomes where and how parents or guardians temporarily park to drop off and pick up students.

The planning and zoning administrator added it doesn’t appear the proposed building additions warrant or mandate additional modifications to address the traffic impacts at the schools at this time. However a time may come when USD 475 officials will be required to make modifications.

Yearout said staff does not believe specific modifications to the parking or vehicular / pedestrian circulation at the two schools is warranted at this time. But in his recommendation he stated that staff believes USD 475 officials need to provide documentation showing they have adequately evaluated the potential impacts to the traffic patterns at Franklin Elementary by creating a new entrance on the north side of the building, and are prepared to make additional improvements to mitigate any problems that arise without the financial costs being borne by the City. Additionally staff believes USD 475 officials should be prepared to address the traffic issues around Westwood Elementary school in the future…..especially as student populations increase.

Yearout reported that staff recommends the MPC recommend approval of the site plans, subject to incorporating the  conditions outlined, for the building expansions at Westwood and Franklin Elementary Schools.

 

The Junction City Police Department is reporting several cases of Damage to Property near Westwood and Patriot Point.

Sgt. Trish Giordano explained that the damage involved spray paint and what is believed to be a BB gun.

“Mostly it’s been vehicles that have been spray painted. We’ve had some windows shot out with what we believe to be a BB gun. No vehicles were seen leaving the area or anything so it would possible mean the subjects were on foot,” said Giordano.

They are expecting these types of cases to increase with school letting out for summer break and with the warmer temperatures more people will be outside.

 

Giordano is asking residents to not hesitate to call the police to report any suspicious activity that you may see or hear.

If anyone has any information on these cases or any other cases they are asked to call crime stoppers at 762-8477 or text 27463 and start your tip off with tipjc. You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

There will be no trash / garbage pick-up by the City of Junction City on Monday, May 25 due to the Memorial Day Holiday.

The City of Junction City Public Works Department will be starting its summer schedule hours starting Tuesday, may 26.

TOPEKA- A Fort Riley man was injured in an accident just before 2 p.m. on Thursday in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Honda driven by Matthew Martinez, 21, was westbound on Kansas 4 two miles west of Topeka at a high rate of speed.

The driver lost control, rolled the bike and was ejected through a mailbox.

Martinez was transported to Stormont Vail.
He was wearing a helmet according to the KHP

A full scale training exercise held Thursday on the Geary County campus of Cloud County Community College in Junction City provided valuable training for not only law enforcement but the school staff as well.

The exercise involved a male subject who had entered Building A on the campus and fired multiple shots, wounding a few victims. He then moved to Building C wounding a couple more victims along the way and then barricading himself inside a classroom of Building C with several hostages inside.

The Junction City/Geary County Tactical Response Unit then arrived on scene and treated it like a real life situation, sweeping both buildings and clearing the victims before forcing entry into the classroom with the armed subject.

During the exercise the “wounded” victims were taken by ambulance to Geary Community Hospital, who was also participating in the exercise and practicing their own lock down situation.

Following the exercise Sergeant Cory O’Dell, TRU Assistant Team Leader explained that it’s important to participate in training scenarios on a scale as large as Thursday’s exercise.

“You’re never as good as you want to be. We’ll take some things away from this, some things we think we can do better, maybe even a little faster. Although I thought our speed today was very, very good for this region,” said Sgt. O’Dell.

Brenda Edleston, Dean of the Geary County Campus of Cloud County Community College explained that she and the college will take a lot away from the exercise, even some small “trivial” things.

“The SWAT team needed keys, to have access to the building. I have a key ring with a dozen key’s on it, that does them no good at all. Just small things, reorganizing the way we approach our daily living here on campus to make sure we are ready in case a situation were to occur,” said Edleston.

The agencies involved in the exercise included Geary County Emergency Management, Cloud County Community College, Junction City Police Department, City/County Tactical Response Unit, Junction City Fire/EMS, Geary Community Hospital and the 911 Dispatch Center.

 

 

 

The 2014-15 school year for students comes to an end this week in Geary USD 475.

The last half day of school for grades K-8 will be Friday. Middle schools release at 11 a.m. and elementary schools at 11:25 a.m. There will be no school for students at Junction City High School on Friday, but it will be a teacher work day. The final day for students at JCHS was Thursday.

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The final day of school for students at Saint Xavier School was this past Tuesday ( May 19 ).