The Junction City Blue Jays finished fifth in the Centennial League wrestling tournament on Saturday at Washburn Rural High School with 96.5 points. Manhattan won the team title with 256.
Washburn Rural was second, Emporia third, Seaman fourth and Junction City fifth in the ten team tournament.
Junction City did not have an individual weight class champion. For the Blue Jays Hayden Diestelkamp finished second at 106 pounds, C.J. Neuman second at 152. Blayne Danford third at 120, Zane Thornton third at 126, and Cameron Beasley third at 132 pounds
“It was organized chaos.” That’s how Blue Jay boys basketball coach Nick Perez summed up the closing minutes of the Junction City – Emporia basketball game Saturday night at the Shenk Gym.
Emporia rallied from a four-point deficit to tie the game and force overtime, but the Blue Jays managed to prevail in the extra session 54-49. There were close calls, numerous steals and turnovers, key missed free throws down the stretch for both teams., and even an inbounds pass with seven-tenths of a second that went up into the lights and resulted in a change of possession.
Junction City ( 8-6 ) coach Nick Perez was just happy for his players after the game. “We had opportunities there, we had a couple of calls go our way. ”
Perez praised the play of Terrance Crumpton at the end of the game. noting he had four or five rebounds, was defended, and did a good job. “The coach added he was proud of the Blue Jays and the way they fought, adding they found a way to win. Aaron Hamilton had 15 points and Quavez Humphreys 12 points in the victory.
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In the girls varsity contest Emporia rolled to a 52-15 win over the Lady Jays. Junction City only scored three points in the second half, which included a running clock in the fourth quarter due to the fact Emporia led by more than 30 points.
Junction City boys and girls teams play at Manhattan Tuesday night.
( Photo courtesy of Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce )
Retired Magistrate Judge Tommy B. Webb, Wichita, will be the guest speaker for the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce annual dinner on March 7th at the convention center.
The Director of Member Relations for the Chamber noted that Webb is a native of Korea and his parents were not around at an early age. “He was on the streets and so he grew up in a really harsh environment, but has a positive and uplifting story of how he came to America and got his feet under him, and became a judge. Now he travels and speaks.
Webb spent a portion of his youth in Junction City where his adoptive mother in this country served as a school teacher. He would go on to be elected to six terms as a magistrate judge.
The event on March 7th will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by the dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale at the Chamber of Commerce.
RILEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a case of theft and have a suspect in custody.
Russell Allen, Jr. has previous convictions for robbery and drugs -photo courtesy KBI offender registry
On Thursday, police arrested Russell Allen Jr, 37, Manhattan, for theft in connection with an incident that occurred in the 2500 block of Candlecrest Drive in Manhattan on Wednesday, according to the RCPD activity report.
Allen is also accused of violating the offender registration act. Allen remains in custody on $200,000.00 bond, according to police.
Bingo Night at the Museum will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, February 9th. This event will be a family-friendly fundraiser beginning with all-you-can-eat soup and chili starting at 5:30. That will be followed by a night of bingo starting at 6:30 p.m.
Cards will be just $1 and dozens of prizes will be available.
Twenty-five years after he began the Academic Awards Banquet at Junction City former JCHS Principal Greg Springston returned to the Shenk Gym to deliver the keynote remarks at the annual event.
“I challenge you, society’s future leaders to spend your life answering those important questions of life, but most importantly the why. Congratulations I am so proud of all of you.”
Senior class academic award recipients
Approximately 235 students that have maintained a 3.5 grade point average over a period of three, five or seven semesters, depending upon the class, were honored at the banquet and received academic letters. They included members of the sophomore, junior and senior classes.
Springston challenged each of the students to seek more than academic success and good grades. “Seek an understanding, seek the wisdom that’s necessary for you to be not only successful but for this to be a better world that we’re living in. In this ever changing world acquiring data and facts is becoming easier but acquiring wisdom is not.”
Springston served as the principal at Junction City High School from 1992 until 2006. As she introduced him to speak at the banquet current JCHS Principal Melissa Sharp read a short note that Springston had written to her when she made the difficult decision to leave the basketball coaching profession to become a school administrator. “Melissa, I know how hard it was for you to write the letter. Let me tell you how appreciative I am of the 10 great years you gave our girls and our community. Please understand that your long shadow of influence is only going to grow. Thanks for your continuing support.” Sharp added she still uses those words with other young leaders today.
JCHS alumni who were honored during the previous 25 years of the Academic Awards Banquet also returned to the Shenk Gym. They were recognized during the program, and their names and photos were included in the program. They included Terra Stroda, Marcie ( Roeser ) Proietta, GG ( Gasken ) Booth, Emily Russell, Christina ( Ison ) Spencer, Tara ( Risetter ) Fields, Tiffany ( Sallee ) Dollins, Brandon Kehoe, Matt Junghans, Joel Poole, Jason Quelch, Rindi ( Zimmerman ) Guldner, Mike Heldstab, Garlandra King, Taylor Pender, Dalton Dacus, Jared Gross, James Webb, Emilia Walsh, Xavier DeGuzman, Paige Dacus, Ryan Hennington and Paola Noriega.
Four people died in the blaze. Their bodies were transported to Topeka for an autopsy and to confirm their identities, according to Riley County Rural Fire District 1 Chief Pat Collins.
Investigators with the Kansas Fire Marshal’s office, ATF and local officials believe the fire started along the east wall near the end of a couch, according to Collins. “We may never know exactly what started the fire,” he said.
Several firefighters also suffered minor injuries while working in the extreme cold.
UPDATE:
Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins confirmed for JC Post that authorities investigating the fatal fire in Ogden early Thursday morning are working to positively identify the victims, notification of next of kin and the cause of the fire. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene.
Collins said multiple agencies are helping with the investigation. Work is being done to dig through the debris at 208 Riley Avenue to determine what caused the fire.
Collins noted several firefighters slipped on the ice. “It got really slick here, fell down, they’re all doing alright now but I think they’re going to be really sore come nightfall or tomorrow. Two of the firefighters were treated by EMS on scene but no one required transport to a hospital.
Cold weather early Thursday morning made it difficult to fight the fire. “The cold, it was really bad trying to get around, move around, and do things. I don’t know that it was a big factor on the initial attack but as the morning went on it made it hard to get around, get upstairs, move around the trucks.” The City of Ogden brought in salt and sand and helped spread it out, which helped improve the conditions.
Crews on the scene of Thursday’s fatal fire -photo courtesy WIBW TV
The building that burned had a residence upstairs and business history in the past. Collins noted in the 1960s it was a bar and later became a location where first radios and then videos were sold. The downstairs business area was not in use at the time of the fire. “There was only one way to the upstairs, up a pretty steep set of stairs and we haven’t found any smoke detectors in the building.”
The first truck on the scene was from the Manhattan Fire Department. “They made entry to the front door and actually found one victim by the front door. They were in rescue mode so they were trying to get to other parts of the building upstairs where we knew the bedrooms were and couldn’t get up the stairs. So actually made entry through a front window and we found the other three victims in one of the bedrooms.” Riley County firefighters also responded and helped battle the blaze.
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Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins has released information following an early morning fire in Ogden that claimed four lives.
Collins said at 3:43 a.m. the Ogden, Riley and Manhattan Fire Departments were dispatched to 208 Riley Avenue in Ogden for a report of a structure on fire with multiple people entrapped. Upon arrival, crews found a two-story structure with heavy smoke showing. Crews entered the building and performed search and rescue operation along with extinguishing the fire.
Crews quickly removed one person from the building and upon re-entry three more people were located. All of four of them were pronounced dead at the scene.
The identifies of the victims have not yet been released. The owner of the structure has been identified by authorities as Roger Harris. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Riley County Fire Department, Riley County Police Department, Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Manhattan Fire Department.
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OGDEN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say four people are dead after a fire in a Kansas neighborhood.
The structure fire was first reported shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday in Ogden, about 10 miles southwest of Manhattan. Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins says the state fire marshal is on scene.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Traffic is being diverted around the area.
No other details were immediately released, including the names of the victims. State and county fire officials didn’t immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press.
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RILEY COUNTY — Authorities closed the 200 Block of Riley Avenue early Thursday, according to the Riley County Police.
First responders are on the scene of a structure fire in Ogden.
We will report additional details as they become available.
Powers grew up on a ranch in the Flint Hills outside Junction City. He began his professional life in Junction City, was active in the Jaycees and many community organizations, worked in sales and then grew into a management role at KJCK Radio in Junction City.
WIth partners he later established KTPK Country 107 into a leading radio station in northeast Kansas, and served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. He was chosen as Broadcaster of the Year, and later became a member of the Kansas Broadcaster Hall of Fame. He also received the Grover Cobb Award from the University of Kansas, School of Journalism.
A graveside service is scheduled at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 9th at Highland Cemetery in Junction City.
The entire obituary report for Harris Pat Powers is in the obituary section on JC Post.
It’s all about women and healthy hearts.
“Go Red: Ladies’ Night Out,” sponsored by Geary Community Hospital is planned for 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 1st at the Geary County Convention Center, Courtyard by Marriott. In its fourth year, the theme is “Take Care of You.”
Nikki Davies, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for the hospital said the event will highlight heart healthy lifestyles and she adds, “remind women to take care of themselves first because often times we are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends that we put on the front burner and our own needs on the back burner.”
Keynote speaker for Go Red: Ladies’ Night Out will be Cardiologist, Dr. Gilbert Katz from Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center. His address will follow the “Take Care of You” theme.
While healthy heart living topics are the primary purpose of the event there will be some fun activities for the women including a “Wellness and Spa Exhibit” with a variety of businesses offering beauty services. Davies says, “This part is supposed to be a fun, feel-good time.”
Another program during the event will be one Davies says has been nick-named “Provider Speed Dating.” Women will be given the opportunity to meet one-one-one with mid-level care providers and ask questions about the services they provide.
Tickets for “Go Red Ladies Night Out” are $25 dollars and registration and reservations are available on-line linking to the Geary Community Health Care Foundation, calling (785) 238-3787 or e-mail at sadams.gchks.org.
Note: The full JC Now interview with Davies on “Go Red: Ladies’ Night Out” is available from the JC Post 107.9/1420 KJCK tab.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking bribes from business advisers to steer them to star college athletes expected to turn pro.
Evans -photo courtesy Oklahoma State Athletics
Lamont Evans, 41, entered the plea in New York federal court to conspiring to commit bribery. He admitted receiving $22,000 to steer the players at the University of South Carolina and Oklahoma State University to certain financial advisers and business managers, attorney Johnny McCray said.
Evans also agreed to forfeit the bribe money he received from two financial advisers as part of the deal he signed Thursday.
“I now know that accepting those funds in exchange for introducing them to any one player was wrong and violated the law,” he said.
Evans graduated with a degree in social science from K-State in 2009. He worked with the Wildcat basketball program as a Student Assistant from 2008-09, a Graduate Manager from 2009-2011, and an Assistant Coach 2011-12, according to his OSU bio.
Sentencing was set for May 10 on a charge that carries the potential for up to five years in prison, though a plea agreement between Evans and prosecutors recommends no more than two years behind bars.
Judge Edgardo Ramos also warned that he could be deported because he is a citizen of Barbados, though he lives in Florida. He was a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma, at the time of his arrest.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement that Evans abused his position as a mentor and coach for personal gain.
“A scheme Evans apparently thought was a slam-dunk actually proved to be a flagrant foul,” he said.
“He accepted responsibility for what happened. He will be making a vigorous appeal for the lowest sentence possible,” attorney Johnny McCray said.
Evans is the third former NCAA assistant coach to plead guilty in the case. The prosecution has revealed how well-connected mentors sometimes paid family members of top-tier athletes to steer the NBA-destined youngsters to schools or managers.
In recent weeks, similar pleas have been entered by former University of Southern California assistant basketball coach Tony Bland and ex-University of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson. Both are awaiting sentencing. Former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person is scheduled for trial in June.
“These guys are scapegoats,” McCray said. “The bigger name coaches were not touched here. It’s really sad.”
He added: “I think this is overkill. They could have used the sanctions available within the NCAA, which has the ability to permanently bar a coach from coaching.”
When arrests were made in September 2017, prosecutors said Evans committed his crime in 2016 and 2017 when he accepted the bribes from a New Jersey-based financial adviser and another person cooperating with the investigators and posing as a business adviser to athletes.
They said Evans then falsely touted the services of the men to young athletes and their families, boasting falsely that the man cooperating with law enforcement was “my guy” and “has helped me personally.”
The Junction City Blue Jays finished fifth in the Centennial League wrestling tournament on Saturday at Washburn Rural High School with 96.5 points. Manhattan won the team title with 256.
