MANHATTAN — U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, served as commissioning speaker for Kansas State University’s ROTC commissioning ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, May 15, in Forum Hall in the K-State Student Union.
This is his second visit to Kansas State University. His first was in 2012 to give a Landon Lecture.
Five cadets from K-State’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 270 and 27 cadets from K-State’s Wildcat Battalion Army ROTC unit were commissioned.
Housing services and what’s available throughout the Flint Hills Region was a focus point during Fridays Flint Hills Regional Council Board of Directors meeting in Riley County. 
Shelly Carver, FHRC Community Development Manager explained that their are a number of housing options available for communities throughout the FHRC,”depending on what the community has in place with respect to property and income level to.”
The State of Kansas has a number of agencies that can provide housing programs. Carver said the Kansas Department of Commerce, USDA and the Kansas Housing Corporation are just a few. The FHRC is attempting to contact all of the communities in the region to let them know what is available and assist them in determining what program best fits each particular community.
A lot of the programs are based for low income area’s, which most of the region would not qualify for, but Carver said that the State does offer some moderate income programs as well.
Former U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum Baker received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Kansas State University during the graduate school commencement Friday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.
Kassebaum Baker also served as the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony, telling the graduates we are in a new era where forces have combined to produce unprecedented progress and unacceptable uncertainty. “We are immediately connected world wide as never before. It’s amazing how one can Skype around the world, informed but perhaps less understanding. It is difficult to gain perspective on the vast array of the crisis occurring on social media.”
Kassebaum Baker cited comments by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address in 1958 which she believes fits today. “Balance in and among national programs, balance between action of the moment and national welfare of the future, good judgement seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds violence and frustration. We should be seeking balance for a changing world order.”
The former Senator noted education is a valuable part of Americans’ achieving their goals and knowledge of the world around them. She also pointed to change in the future noting that in 10 years at the current pace the world will have changed beyond present recognition, ranging from new medicines to new challenges and a fervent hope of a more peaceful world.
“It’s reassuring to me that our basic values will remain the same.”
Kassebaum Baker urged the graduates to maintain an open mind as they face the future. “It is a challenging time but I am confident that you know how to provide the leadership necessary. And I have great confidence the future will be in good hands with the graduates we have today.”
The Class of 2015 at Chapman High School will graduate on Sunday.
Commencement is scheduled from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The commencement ceremony will be shown live at emeraldchapmanirish.net. That link will go live at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
2015 JCHS Graduation
311 Graduates and 2 Memorials — Brandon Bramlage and Madison Frisbee
Sunday, May 17, 2015
3:00 pm Baccalaureate at Settles Auditorium
6:00 pm Commencement at Simpler Stadium
Project Graduation at JCHS (all night)
Junction City High School
900 N Eisenhower Dr
Junction City, KS 66441
Presentation of Class address will be given by Superintendent, Dr. Corbin Witt
In Appreciation Address will be given by Board President, Mrs. Kim Milleson
JCHS Graduation will be streamed via Blue Jay Livestream starting at 5:30 p.m. You can view the stream by going to https://www.usd475.org/school/jchs and then clicking on the Watch Us Live link in the left hand navigation. Or you can go to the streaming page directly by going to https://www.useducationtv.com/Default.aspx?sid=31580
Hugh Davis
Executive Director of Communications — USD 475
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – The Kansas Supreme Court has reversed the conviction of a 27-year-old man serving a life sentence for suffocating his former girlfriend and their baby after she demanded child support.
The court ruled Friday that Luis Aguirre’s confessions weren’t admissible because he was questioned after invoking his constitutional right to remain silent. Luis Aguirre was convicted in June 2012 of capital murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Tanya Maldonado and the couple’s 13-month-old son, Juan.
A hunter found their bodies in a shallow grave near Ogden in October 2009. A month earlier, Maldonado told a case worker at a Chicago homeless shelter that she was leaving with her son’s father. Aguirre was living in Austin, Texas, at the time but had previously lived in Ogden.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A Garmin International official has donated $1 million to the Kansas State College of Engineering.
The university announced Friday that the gift from Min Kao, co-founder and executive chairman of Garmin Ltd., based in Olathe. The money will be used for four new laboratories at a building addition at the university’s engineering college.
Kao has previously donated more than $1 million to the College of Engineering to support electrical engineering and computer science scholarships and improvements to the engineering buildings on campus.
He is a member of the Kansas State University Foundation’s Presidents Club and the College of Engineering’s Seaton Society.
Awards for underclass students at Junction City High School were presented to students this week. These are for members of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes at JCHS.
Geary USD 475 plans expansion projects at Westwood and Franklin Elementary Schools. The work was scheduled for this summer.
But a red flag has been raised at City Hall, calling for the school district to meet a requirement to submit a site plan for consideration on those projects. 
David Yearout, Planning and Zoning Administrator noted that parking, bus loading, and bus stopoff sites are issues. “And the irony is, at the last city commission meeting in the commissioner comments it was raised that commissioners were getting complaints and concerns from parents and teachers….can we do something about the chaos around the schools with vehicles when we let kids out or get in the morning because they’re concerned that somebody is going to get hurt.” In remarks to the Metropolitan Planning Commission Thursday night Yearout added the City’s intention will be to address how the school district will handle those issues.
He has informed the MPC to be prepared for a special meeting so a recommendation can be submitted to the Junction City Commission before their June second meeting on proposed site plans for the school projects.
The requirement for the site plan approval is relatively new in Junction City. It was not included in the city regulations until 2013.
USD 475 has issued a news release outlining leadership assignment changes in the school district effective with the 2015-16 school year.
–Vern Steffens will go from Jefferson Elementary School Principal to Coordinator of Post-Secondary Programs at Junction City High School.
–Melanie Laster will move from Custer Hill Elementary School principal to Jefferson Elementary School principal. Custer Hill Elementary is being closed at the end of the current school year.
–Phyllis Boller, current Title 1 Coordinator will become the head principal at Milford Elementary School, and will retain Title 1 Coordinator duties.
–Current Milford Elementary principal Courtney Pfizenmaier will move to the position of Academic Coach.