Fort Riley will conduct normal operations Monday. In a social media post officials urged caution during the morning commute due to the potential for sporadic ice on area roads.
The liberal leave policy is in effect for the civilian workforce. Contact your supervisor for details.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas screenwriter who co-wrote Spike Lee’s latest film, the Oscar-nominated “BlacKkKlansman,” is setting his sights on his next project: a documentary about poet Langston Hughes.
Kevin Willmott, the Junction City native who is also a University of Kansas film professor, told the Lawrence Journal-World that he’s looking forward to making a two-part documentary on the American literary icon. The film, “I, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes Unfurled,” will delve into the life of the African-American author, who spent part of his childhood in Lawrence, grew up in the Midwest and became a leader during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s.
Willmott is co-directing the film with four-time Emmy winner Madison Davis Lacy, who also teaches film at the University of Kansas.
Willmott said one of the first books he read as a child about being African-American was Hughes’ children’s book, “The First Book of Negroes.”
“Hughes is such a personal hero (of mine) and a figure that has deserved a big documentary for a long time,” Willmott said. “People know his name, but they really don’t know his story or his significance. They don’t really know how amazing his story really is.”
The documentary is currently in fundraising stages, while Willmott is occupied with his Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay. “BlacKkKlansman,” the Lee-directed film that won six nominations altogether, is the true story of a black detective who infiltrated a Colorado Springs, Colorado, cell of the Ku Klux Klan in 1979.
“It’s very exciting and I’m just going to try to represent Kansas and KU the best I can,” he said.
Willmott and the group creating the Langston Hughes documentary hope to release the film next year. It’ll likely air on television.
By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
The City recently received a $425,000 community development block grant to help fund a portion of the cost of a west side street improvement project. It will involve improvements to the Ash – Spring Valley Road intersection and widening of Spring Valley Road for about 1,000 feet in a southerly direction.
City Manager Allen DInkel reported to the city commission that staff will attend a grant meeting in the near future. He noted that multiple factors helped the city obtain the grant. A need for the work, the City has budgeted money for street improvements over the last two years which helped with grant points and shows the city is trying to do all it can. Also, the City’s debt load helped get grant points, and a survey done for a Fifth Street Playground Park project could be used for other community-wide projects which included the Spring Valley Road effort.
Dinkel added the City now needs also to look for projects for the next couple of years.
Sleet likely, possibly mixed with rain, snow and freezing rain in the morning, then rain, possibly mixed with freezing rain in the afternoon. Patchy fog in the afternoon. little or no snow and sleet accumulation. Ice accumulation of less than one quarter of an inch. Near steady temperature in the lower 30s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 90 percent.
The Junction City Commission has awarded bids for improvements to city facilities.
They include a bid for $22,900 to Ben Kitchens Painting Company for replacement of restrooms and flooring in the club concessions area at the Rolling Meadows Golf Course clubhouse, up to an additional $3,000 on the flooring improvements at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Director, and $12,850 to Creative Floors Coating and Designs to refinish the gym floors in the Municipal Building.
By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
The Executive Director of the Governor’s Military Council, Perry Wiggins, explained to the Junction City Commission this past week that the troop numbers on Fort Riley will temporarily be down to about 3,500 Soldiers in the March time frame. That’s due to current and future deployments.
But about 25,000 reserve component Soldiers and National Guard members will be training at Fort Riley this year. “So we’ve got to figure out how we get them out to the economy, the restaurants and the hotels, and kind of share the wealth and get them off of Fort Riley.”
Due to the timing of the deployments involving 1st Infantry Division troops Wiggins also noted that the children of the military families are in school and families are likely to remain in this area.
On the subject of more troops Wiggins noted that the Army has been trying to grow brigade combat teams, but in 2018 and so far in 2019 there have been retention challenges. “And they undershot their recruitment goal by 10,000 last year and they expect that probably to be somewhat the same this year. So what that does even though we build force structure in the Army we’re not able to fill those slots. We’re not going to get brigades.”
During his report to the City Commission Wiggins noted the Fort Riley region has focused primarily on force structure. But officials are starting to shift the paradigm in Kansas from solely looking at force structure which is still important, and will need everyone’s help to also start looking at defense industry.
Wiggins pointed to the Wichita area where there are only about 5,000 airmen or troops at McConnell Air Force Base . “They’re not driven by the force structure, by the military mission, or what goes on inside that wire because they compensate it by getting defense industry to balance it out outside the wire.” Most of the defense industry in Kansas is in the Wichita area. Elsewhere it has not been a priority. ”
The American Legion Post 45 Home served as the site Saturday morning for a breakfast fundraiser to support the Legion’s summer baseball program. The Junction City Blues compete at Rathert Field.
The Baseball Chairman for the post, Brian Field, felt the event went well. “Especially with the cold. We weren’t sure what attendance was going to be like. We sold a lot of tickets and I think that most of the people that purchased tickets came.”
The funds raised will pay for such things as umpires, field usage fees, uniforms and equipment. “it’s for a good cause because we’re able to have these kids out playing baseball in the summer time and then keep them busy doing something that’s productive and positive.”
those attending the event Saturday enjoyed biscuits and gravy, sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and drinks.
Undergraduate researchers from Fort Hays State University will present their research projects at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 20th in Topeka as part of the Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol.
Students will join other undergraduates from Kansas Board of Regents public four-year universities on the first floor-rotunda of the Capitol building.
Among the students from east central Kansas and Fort Hays State that are presenting are Brittany Duer, Chapman, senior majoring in agriculture. She will present on “Analyzing Soil Health under Cover Crops and No Cover Crops in Western Kansas Dryland Farming. Haley Jones, Clay Center, junior majoring in psychology, will present “Military Troops: Protecting the Mental Health of Those That Protect Us.” Brooke Mann, instructor of psychology, served as the research mento.
The 30 members of the 2018-19 class of the Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program graduated on February 8th during ceremonies at the Columbian Theater in Wamego, according to Jack Lindquist, Executive Director of the organization. The nonprofit educational program trains and more-fully engages leaders in the region that includes Fort Riley, Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie counties. This is the 26th class to graduate from the program.
Among the class members completing the seven-session course over the last six months, from Riley County was Sladana Hudson, an Eagle Communications account executive serving the Manhattan – Junction City region.
Others were:
Ken Barteau GE County- Facilities Director, Corvias
Bryan Bartlett GE County – Program Mgr., Army Community Service Relocation Readiness
Akash Bhatia PT County- Manager of Quality Assurance – CivicPlus
Chris Bowman RL County- Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, Dept of Defense
LaNiqe Brown GE County- Retail Office Supervisor, Central National Bank
Neil Bruce RL County- Project Controls Manager – Corvias
Marcy Cantrell-Akin RL County- Assistant VP, Commercial Lending, Commerce Bank
Adam Clark PT County- Lead Software Engineer, CivicPlus
Keirsten Cragg RL County-Records Clerk – Riley Co. Register of Deeds
Janelle Dobbins PT County-From the Land of Kansas Marketing Manager, KSDept of Ag
Mark Dombrowski GE County – Security Branch Chief, Directorate of Emergency
Services Fort Riley
Zach Eckels GE County-Marketing Coordinator, Kaw Valley Engineering
Rebecca Estrella Ft Riley- Service to Armed Forces Program Mgr., American Red Cross
Tom Fulmer PT County- Customer Service Coordinator, WTC
Lynn Hammond PT County-Residential Communities Chief, US Army Housing
Katharine Hensler RL County-Flint Hills Discovery Center, Assistant Director/Development
Calley Hoffman PT County- Co-Owner, Adventure Flint Hills
Kelly Karl RL County-Director of Construction – CORVIAS
Ronna Larson GE County-Unit Supervisor, Adult Services – 8th Judicial District Community
Corrections
Lee Modesitt RL County-Legislative Affairs Director – Kansas Insurance Commissioner
Janet Nichols RL County-Military Community Liaison, Manhattan Area Chamber
Allana Parker RL County-Curator of Design, Riley County Historical Museum
Margaret Pendleton RL County- Flint Hills Association of Realtors Executive
Nicole Springer GE County- Market Manager, INTRUST Bank
Britain Stites GE County- City Attorney – Junction City
Holly Voelcker GE County- Budget Analyst, Resource Management Office, Ft Riley
Brandon White PT County-Demand & Orders Analyst, CATERPILLAR
Kristina Wyatt RL County-Laboratory Administrator K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab
Maggie Ziffer RL County-Public Affairs Specialist, Fort Riley
Among the class members completing the seven-session course over the last six months, from Riley County was Sladana Hudson, an Eagle Communications account executive serving the Manhattan – Junction City region.
In the announcement, Jim Lindquist said, “The Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program helped the Class leaders find a way to change their world by building on their – Integrity, Confidence, Discipline, Professionalism, Self-Development, Broadened Viewpoint & Servant Ethos. Our newest Graduates now possess a sense to serve and follow, in-order-to LEAD.”
Dr Marty Vanier, Senior Program manager for strategic partnership development, for the National Bio AgroDefense Facility (NBAF), provided the closing address for the evening program and Lyle Butler, Manhattan Chamber Director, gave the “Class Challenge”. Board Chair and program graduate Brian Peterson concluded the event adding, “We should all look forward to a better life in our region because of what the new graduates have already done and what they will accomplish in the future.”
Recruitment of the 2019-20 class will get underway with on-line application in mid-May.
Winter homecoming activities were held Friday night at Junction City High School.
Katelyn Craft was named the Queen of Courts and Denzell Acheampong King of Courts.
