JCNaz will host their 18th annual Christmas meal on Tuesday, December 25th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the church at 1025 South Washington Street.
This will be a free event, open to the public.
If you need a ride, are homebound and need a delivery, or are working that and would like a meal delivered to you call the church office at 785-762-4402.
A reminder….1st half personal property tax payments are due Thursday ( December 20th ). You can avoid waiting in line at the Geary County Treasurer’s Office by mailing your taxes. If you are mailing your payment it should be postmarked no later than Thursday.
Real estate taxes may be paid in full or half by December 20th. Second half personal property and real estate tax payments are due on May 10th, 2019.
Taxpayers can pay via cash, check, money order and credit debit cards. Taxpayers also have the option of making monthly payments.
Vehicle owners have until December 31st to renew auto tags U,X,Y and Z.
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Delivering Change: Healthy Families – Healthy Communities was formed in 2012 to reduce the infant mortality rate in Geary County and improve the health of Geary County families. this centralized and coordinated community collaborative began with grassroots funding from the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation, local businesses, community civic organizations and the Kansas Chapter of the March of Dimes.
Since 2014, Delivering Change has been backed by a five-year, $3.5 million federal Health Start Initiative award. The project period for that initiative concludes on March 31, 2019. Officials announced on Wednesday that even though the Healthy Start funding will be drawing to a close, Delivering Change has secured community and state level partners to ensure that Delivering Change programs and services will continue.
“We know that the Delivering Change approach and model of care is effective. The reduction of our county’s infant mortality rate by 50% in five years, improvement in our county’s breastfeeding initiation rates, and improved care coordination, across disciplines, are just a few of our successes,” said Jill Nelson, Delivering Change Program Coordinator.
Nelson noted that Delivering Change is the first model of its kind in Kansas and that they will continue to work with local and state leaders to expand and build upon current programs and services, and continue to share our knowledge with other communities and state entities.
Delivering Change: Healthy Families-Healthy Communities uses a four-pronged approach to improve the health of Geary County families by focusing on women’s health ( including preconception health, prenatal care and access, prenatal education postpartum care and interconception health ) : promoting and supporting breastfeeding; improving infant and child health and development; and engaging, educating and empowering fathers through the Geared Up Dads initiative.
Geary USD 475 will need a 10-inch water line to serve the new Junction City High School on the west side of the city. But city officials are interested in going with a 16-inch water line that would loop around to the city to the school.
The cost of doing the one-half mile adjacent to the new school would be approximately $450,000 with the school district paying about 70% and the city the remaining 30%. For the one-half mile stretch running north of school 100% of the cost would have to be borne by the city.
City Manager Allen Dinkel feels it’s vital to the community to do the entire one-mile stretch of water line. He reported to the city commission this week that city and USD 475 officials are close on the numbers. Final action has not yet been taken.
By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
The Junction CIty Commission has approved a request from the Community Partnership Empowerment Program for the use and waiver of fees at the 12th Street Community Center on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of 2019.
City Manager Allen Dinkel said, “They’re trying to offer another program to help people help themselves in this community and they just want to have a place where they can get together. Counsel people from job searches and everything else. I think it’s a great thing to serve people in our community.
The program will be designed to allow participants to get those resources needed to empower them in areas ranging from hospital clinic assistance to spiritual help. It will take a holistic approach to helping a person change their life style and learn about opportunities that exist.
The executive director of the program Rhonda Whitaker, will be a guest on JC Now on 107.9 FM / 1420 KJCK at 7:48 a.m. Friday to talk about the Community Partnership Empowerment Program.
The JC Breakfast Optimist Club has donated $225 to help with the costs associated with the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Academy at Kansas State University. Two Junction City High School students, Lauren Kim and Elyse Nguyen, will be attending the academy in late May and early June of 2019.
Lauren and Elyse will be attending seminars about leadership development and teamwork. They will meet with other high school students from across Kansas and visit with community leaders about volunteerism, media, education, philanthropy and politics. The Academy is a four day – three night experience.
By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
A summary judgement has been issued in a case involving a lawsuit filed by Farmers Bank of Great that included among other defendants the City of Junction City. The Bank could appeal the ruling to the Kansas Court of Appeals but otherwise it means former city officials and the City itself have been dismissed from the lawsuit.
City Manager Allen Dinkel said in 2007 a former mayor signed a loan guarantee with Homestead Housing to guarantee a loan with Farmers Bank. The City was unaware of the action, and felt it never met the cash basis law. “In about 2014 I believe Homestead Housing came to the City and said pay our payments because you had the loan guarantee. ” Dinkel noted that in 2015 after he arrived in Junction City the City was sued. “They also sued the City, former mayor Heldstab, former City Attorney Zimmerman, former City Clerk Woodruff. And of course the City had to provide legal counsel for them and defend them under Kansas law.”
Dinkel confirmed the lawsuit involved the southeast portion of the Bartell House where a former restaurant was located.
The City manager confirmed that the cost for the City to defend the lawsuit totaled approximately $300,000. Dinkel noted that if the city had not battled the lawsuit the cost would have been greater.
Holiday travel can put many on the roads over the next two weeks, and more traffic can mean greater risk of crashes.
According to KDOT last year’s Christmas weekend saw 438 car crashes across Kansas, with one fatality and 90 injuries. New year’s weekend resulted in 464 crashes, five fatalities nd 140 injuries.
Wearing your seatbelt is the most effective way to avoid serious injury r death. nearly half of those who die in crashes are not belted.
According to KDOT over the last five years, 40% of the crash fatalities in Geary County were unbuckled.
This holiday season the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office and State Farm are putting the spotlight on seatbelt safety and encouraging seat belt use with an awareness effort called “Be Seatbelt SAFE for the Holidays.”
This campaign includes a special assortment of seatbelt-safety literature from the KTRSO that is being made available at select State Farm agent offices. Literature is free and covers such topics as Kansas seatbelt law, enforcement and fines, Safe buckling practices for pregnant women, Kansas distracted driving laws, The SAFE ( Seatbelts Are For Everyone ) teen driver safety program which promotes seatbelt use and other safe driving practices in 161 high schools in 67 counties across Kansas, including Junction City High School.
In Junction City, State Farm Agents LaDonna Junghans and Karen Jameson will have this literature available at their offices.
Participants in The Khbrat Summit Program took time to celebrate Tuesday afternoon at the Devin Center in Junction City.
The USD 475 Liason to the Khbrat Program, Susan Pender, said it’s a scholarship program through KSU where certified teachers from Saudi Arabia have partnered with the university. “They’ve placed them in schools. We have had five teachers here ( in USD 475 ). They started with a four-week observation at Washington Elementary School. then they went to the middle school for four weeks, and then they just concluded a four-week period at the high school.”
Pender explained the purpose of the program is for the teachers to see the school system here. “There are many things they’re not used to seeing, and so they each had to do a capstone project on a concept they want to take back to Saudi Arabia and try in their own country.”
This program session at Kansas State University ends in February, but K-State officials are hoping for a second round so it’s possible more teachers from Saudi Arabia could spend time in USD 475. In this first session approximately 40 teachers participated in the KSU program and were sent to multiple school districts including Geary County, Manhattan, Lawrence and the Kansas City area.
