Beautiful spring-like weather will continue through the remainder of the week with dry conditions and temperatures in the 70s. There is a slight chance for a few scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop during the Friday through Saturday night time-frame, with better chances for thunderstorms from Sunday night through early next week.

Today: Sunny. Highs around 73. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 44. Northeast winds up to 10 mph.

Thursday: Sunny. Highs around 75. Southeast winds up to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 50s. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Saturday And Saturday Night: Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Lows around 60.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 80.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 60s.

Monday And Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Lows in the mid 50s.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 70s.

 

MANHATTAN — Kansas State University has awarded $500,000 to faculty members who are taking on some of the world’s food challenges created by a rapidly increasing population.

 

The Global Food Systems Innovation Grants were announced by Karen Burg, vice president for research, who emphasized how this faculty research helps Kansans.

“Given the importance of food production to the Kansas economy, the innovative technologies and knowledge generated from this initiative will lay a solid foundation for economic development within the state and help Kansas remain a leader in food production,” Burg said.

The funds were provided by the Kansas Department of Commerce and directed through President Kirk Schulz’s Global Food Systems Initiative, announced in January 2014. Grant requests were evaluated by an 11-member panel of faculty members and students from disciplines across the university.

Burg said the awards help to continue a robust research engine that is critical in Kansas State University’s quest to become a Top 50 public research university by the year 2025.

Some of the common features of funded projects include multidisciplinary approaches to addressing needs in the global food system; helping create jobs and wealth in the state; and involving students.

The following are Global Food Systems Innovation Grant projects and grant amounts:

• Mobile Drip Irrigation for Water Limited Production, $45,000. Mobile drip irrigation is a new technology that combines the efficiency of drip irrigation with the economic advantages of center pivot sprinkler irrigation. Researchers say their work will help farmers maximize net returns per unit of water applied.

• Tapping the Potential of Ribonucleic Acid Interference for Agriculture, $59,000. This project will develop technology to combat plant and animal disease, which in turn will increase productivity in agriculture. It involves both nanotechnology and consumer acceptance of food technology.

• Applications for the Probiotic Bacterium, Megaspaera elsdenii, in Monogastric Farm Animals, $90,000. Kansas State University researchers have formed a partnership with a Kansas-based company to expand a beneficial food additive beyond cattle, to include poultry, pigs and horses.

• Experimental, Multidisciplinary Career-Development Investment for Kansas, $75,445. This project builds on the university’s successful Frontier program, which provides experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the global food system.

• Development of a National Genetic Evaluation System for Feet and Leg Conformation in Beef Cattle, $22,858. Improving hoof, foot and leg structure of beef cattle will enhance farm and ranch profitability, which in turn increases the vibrancy of rural communities across Kansas.

• Developing Novel Starch-based Ingredients with Controlled Enzyme Digestibility and Health Benefits, $68,530. This project will provide information to help commercialize a patent-pending technology to ultimately design foods that are more easily digested in animals and humans.

• Guanidinoacetic Acid as a Source of Creatine for Cattle, $39,998. Researchers are hoping to improve the efficiency of beef production by evaluating the effect of guanidinoacetic acid on lean growth rate in cattle.

• Beefing up the Beef Transport System, $60,000. Transportation failures in the beef cattle industry have significant negative consequences. Researchers will build computer models of beef production and transportation to help lessen potential threats to these systems.

• An International Symposium on Urban Food Systems, $39,169. The Kansas City metro area is a catalyst for change that is leading the national movement in urban food systems. Faculty at Kansas State University Olathe will host a three-day symposium to increase education about food production in urban settings. By 2050, it is estimated that 7 billion people will live in cities worldwide.

The university’s Global Food Systems Initiative is driven by estimates that the world’s population will increase to 9.6 billion people by the year 2050. Kansas State University researchers note that the world’s farmers will need to grow as much food in the next 35 years as they have in the history of the world.

It is also predicted that the global middle class will double by 2025, potentially increasing consumer food-related spending by $3.5 trillion.

Learn more about Kansas State University’s work in this area at https://www.k-state.edu/globalfood.

Written by Pat Melgares on ksu.edu

JUNCTION CITY – Two drivers were injured in an accident just before 3 p.m. on Tuesday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Jeep driven by Tosha Marie Gill, 30, Lacey, WA., was northbound on US. 77 approaching McFarland one mile south of the Kansas 18 Junction.

A 2011 Suzuki driven by Denise Vega, 47, Junction City, was eastbound on McFarland approaching the intersection.

Both drivers claim they had green lights and continued into the intersection where they collided.

Gill and Vega were transported to Geary County Hospital.

The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the collision.

Geary County Commissioner Larry Hicks was among representatives from Geary, Riley, and Pottawatomie counties to attend a meeting sponsored by the Center for Community Support and Research at Wichita State University.

Hick said that the Center is soliciting the Health Departments to suggest to them that there are avenues to deal with medicaid issues more effectively. Many people do not understand medicaid or its benefits.

He noted there are also stigmas associated with medicaid for people in low income categories, so they often do not use it. “The objectives that many of them came up with were how to go about trying to challenge the stigmas that are associated with people who are medicaid recipients.”

Hicks noted he also discussed how the politicization of the issue needs to stop at some point. “There be more of a focus discussed on the impact of what it represents to people of the state of Kansas by not receiving it.”

Hicks confirmed this is a work  in progress at this point.

 

Two battalions assigned to the inactivating 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, are set to case their colors in ceremonies this month at the Cavalry Parade Field at Fort Riley.

The casing ceremony for the “rangers” of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment is scheduled for 10 a.m. May 1.

The 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment is being reorganized and assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia.

The casing ceremony for the “Wolverines” of the Special Troops Battalion is set for 2 p.m. May 12.

Soldiers of the STB have provided intelligence, logistics, signals capabilities among other critical specialities, and have played an integral role in the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s training, missions and multiple combat deployments in the last seven years.

The battalions stood up in January 2006 when t he 4th IBCT was activated at Fort Riley. The brigade’s colors were cased April 2 during a ceremony on Cavalry Parade Field ahead of the brigade’s June inactivation. The inactivation is part of the Army’s ongoing restructuring process.

A casing ceremony for the 4th IBCT’s 701st Brigade Support Battalion is also set for 1:30 p.m. June 2.

The Geary Community Healthcare Foundation along with the family of Dr. Ron Mace are in the process of setting up a memorial fund in honor of the late Doctor.

Dr. Mace passed away last Friday after battling ALS for a number of years. 

Jolana Montgomery-Matney, Healthcare Foundation Executive Director explained she was in contact with the Mace family last week.

“The’ve established the Dr. Ronald D. Mace fund for medical education,” said Montgomery-Matney.

It will be about another month before more information is released on the fund in Dr. Mace’s memory.

Mace was a family practice Doctor at GCH from 1975 through his retirement in June of 2013.

The Geary Community Hospital Board of Trustee’s has approved the budget for Fiscal Year 2016 beginning May 1, and it includes the closure of the Senior Behavioral Health Clinic at the hospital.

Dr. Joe Stratton, GCH CEO explained that the Hospital has struggled to get enough volume into the center over the past several years in order to keep it sustainable.

“When you have only one or two patients a day and you’re having to staff it 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year with ten professionals, eventually the numbers don’t add up and to be quite honest with you, they haven’t added up for years here,” said Dr. Stratton.

Closing the center is projected to save the Hospital approximately $200,000 a year.

Stratton went on to say they will be working with the ten employee’s who currently work in the center helping them find new positions within the hospital or they will help them move out of the hospital over the next month through a benefit program.

The Hospital is budgeting for an increase in revenue, but that won’t necessarily be related to higher costs to patients, but an increase in the volume of outpatient care instead.

“What’s taking place in many hospitals across the state and the country is your inpatient volume is decreasing while your outpatient is increasing. That’s not all bad, particularly for the patients. But the payers, Medicare and Medicaid and insurance companies, aren’t interested in paying for individual patients to be in the hospital and hospital beds.”

Despite cuts in certain areas Hospital employee’s across the board can expect to see a 1.3 percent pay raise in the new budget.

“We certainly would like to do more, but we feel that we want to do something. Our employee’s, we value greatly and they’re really what makes the engine run here at GCH.”

The budget was approved unanimously and does go into effect starting on May 1.

 

Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte has confirmed that leaf rust is beginning to appear in the wheat crop in the county. “Now we’ve got leaf rust disease starting to show up in fields. “

Otte confirmed he detected the leaf rust in a couple of fields Tuesday morning. “It’s something we can spray for and keep it from getting worse but if you’re field’s not going to be making at least 40 bushels per acre it probably doesn’t justify spraying it. ”

Concerning the wheat crop Otte noted it has some challenges, and the county needs to keep getting regular rains. He said that will make leaf diseases worse, but improve the potential for yield.

Otte said the county has a lot of wheat that is average to below average. He estimated 40 percent to 50 percent of the crop is in fair condition. “It’s facing a lot of challenges right now. It’s very short. We’ve got wheat that is starting to head out in Geary County already. That’s early, that concerns me.”

The extension agent did say that the Geary County wheat crop is probably better than in much of the state.

The Dickinson County Sheriff Gareth Hoffman has reported the arrest of James Allen Innes, 32, Junction City in two separate cases involving an alleged burglary at a 301 South Factory residence in Enterprise, and the alleged theft of a trailer in Enterprise.

Hoffman reported authorities responded Saturday ( April 25 ) to the 301 South Factory location after a resident discovered her apartment door had been broken open. A burglary was confirmed inside the apartment involving stolen gaming systems, money, and DVD movies. Later that same day authorities recovered the stolen property from Innes’ vehicle and he was arrested on suspicion of Burglary and Criminal Damage to Property.

Investigators conducted a subsequent interview with Innes concerning the alleged theft of a trailer. A 5 x 8 trailer had been reported stolen from an open lot behind the Enterprise Bank.  Hoffman reported Innes confessed to both the apartment burglary and theft, and the theft of the trailer. The sheriff confirmed that Innes will be charged with Felony Theft in the case involving the trailer.

 

Military representatives from more than 30 countries will visit Fort Riley April 28-30.

As part of the “Spring 2015 Foreign Military Attache’ Orientation,” the officers will have the opportunity to interact with Fort Riley soldiers, learn about the installation and organizations here,and see firsthand the readiness of the Army’s active-duty force.

The group will take a windshield tour of the post, visit the 1st Infantry Division headquarters, receive informational briefings,and learn about Fort Riley’s mission readiness, deployability, sustainability and community partnerships.