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Jury: K-State student guilty of killing ex-girlfriend

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas State University student has been convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend in Wichita.

Dane Owens -photo Sedgwick County
Rowena Irani-photo courtesy Downing&Lahey

Jurors found 29-year-old Dane Owens guilty Tuesday of first-degree felony murder and aggravated burglary in the October 2016 killing of 22-year-old Rowena Irani. She was studying psychology at Wichita State University.

Prosecutors say Owens parked his truck several houses away from her home, walked through an unlocked door and fired at her when she walked around a corner. He then left the home without helping her, throwing her cellphone in one pond and his gun in another

Her mother found her several hours later suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, and Irani died the next day. The defense said the shooting wasn’t intentional.

Owens was Sophomore social work major at Kansas State when the shooting happened.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 20.

Bond Issue for USD 383 Schools Receives Voter Approval

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A $129.5 million dollar bond issue for Manhattan – Ogden USD 383 schools was approved by voters on election day.

The Riley County Clerk’s office listed 10,088 voters in favor and 5,693 were not. In Geary County on that same question 19 voted yes and 11 no. A small portion of Geary County is in USD 383.

The bond issue will finance improvements at multiple schools ranging from expansion of the Manhattan High School west campus to allow all grades 9-12 to be under the same roof. There would be expanded parking, new tennis courts, an updated practice field, and a storm shelter to accommodate the entire high school.

There a consolidation of all Early Learning sites into two facilities at College Hill and Eugene Field along with secured entry and proper storm shelters at each location.

A new K-5 elementary school will be built in Blue Township. There would be secure entry and storm shelters at some other schools. The middle school buildings would be expanded to accommodate sixth grade students, secured entry and storm shelters. There would also be expanded parking at both of the middle schools.

 

Voter Turnout Up In Geary County

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The registered voter turnout at the polls on election day in Geary County totaled 34.5%, or 5,990 people who cast ballots. That’s up from previous elections in recent years.

There were no contested races in Geary County but voters still cast ballots in races ranging from the election of a new governor to a new secretary of state.

County Clerk Rebecca Nordyke said for a gubernatorial election that is up for the county. “I know from being out at the polling places and hearing from our board workers they were just steady and busy all day long, and that’s great.”

Laura Kelly was elected Kansas governor, but in Geary County Kris Kobach was a narrow winner over Kelly by a vote of 2,681 to 2,593. In the secretary of state race Scott Schwab was the winner on the state level and in Geary County 3,161 to 2,554 for Brian “BAM” McClendon and 183 for Rob Hodgkinson.

Roger Marshall was reelected 1st District congressman and in Geary County alone he came out on top over Alan LaPolice 3,482 to 2,396.

In the State Board of Education race Ben Jones defeated James Hannon 2,588 to 2,225.

Lonnie Clark and Dave Baker were reelected to the Kansas House. Both were unopposed. Clark received 2,635 votes with 106 voters casting a ballot for a write-in. Baker received 2,089 with 58 voting for a write-in candidate.

In the Geary County Commission race incumbent Ben Bennett ran unopposed. He received 2,322 votes. There were 78 write-in votes in that election.

The Geary County Commission will meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday to canvass the votes from the election. Nordyke reported that there are 326 provisional ballots still to be reviewed. The staff will research the provisional ballots to determine the reasons those ballots were provisional. “We’ll make recommendations to the commission based on the laws and the standards that we have to follow.”

GOP Rep. Marshall re-elected in Kansas 1st District

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Kansas (all times local):

Freshman Republican Rep. Roger Marshall has won re-election in his western Kansas congressional district.

Marshall easily prevailed in Tuesday’s election over Democrat Alan LaPolice in the 1st District.

The district covers the western two-thirds of Kansas and is among the safest for the GOP in the nation. Republicans have represented western Kansas in Congress for more than 60 years.

Marshall is a Great Bend physician who won the seat with establishment GOP support in 2016 by ousting tea party Rep. Tim Huelskamp in the primary.

LaPolice was making his third run for the seat. He also lost to Marshall in the 2016 general election running as an independent candidate and unsuccessfully challenged Huelskamp in the GOP primary in 2014. He is an Army veteran who farms near Clyde.

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Veteran’s Day Ceremony at JCHS

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Junction CIty High School will host a Veteran’s Day ceremony on Friday at 2:50 p.m.

According to USD 475 Members of the student body and faculty will attend, and the event is open to the public. Fort Riley Garrison Commander Colonel Stephen Shrader will be the guest speaker.

 

 

3D Design Drawings for the New Junction City High School

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The 3d Design Development Drawings for the planned new Junction City High School were approved by the USD 475 Board of Education Monday night. The next step is for the architects and Hutton Construction to work together to assemble construction bidding documents for the project. The goal is to have the new high school open and in use by students by August of 2021. ( Drawings and meeting audio courtesy of USD 475  )

Central National Bank Working to Support United Way

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There will be a fundraiser for Junction City – Geary County United Way at the Central National Bank main bank downtown on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. There will be a Potato Bar.

For $5 you can purchase a potato with toppings. Drinks will be provided.

Those who attend should enter the bank through the northwest doors and proceed down the stairs. If you’re in a hurry you can get your food to go. All proceeds will benefit the Junction City – Geary County United Way.

 

World War One Soldier Poetry

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Abilene, Kan. – On the 100th anniversary of the armistice, learn about World War I soldier poetry this Veterans Day at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, 200 SE 4th Street, Abilene. This will be the topic at a free public program on Sunday, November 11 at 2 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium.
Family and historical documents show that soldiers from every country involved in World War I (1917 – 1919) wrote poetry. On Veterans Day, Tim Rives will share how important and useful this soldier poetry can be in studying the experiences of American service members in the First World War.
The armistice ending World War I was signed on November 11, 1918. President Wilson declared November 11 as Armistice Day to honor WWI veterans. In 1954, President Eisenhower signed legislation changing it to Veterans Day honoring all veterans.
Tim Rives, Eisenhower Presidential Library Deputy Director, is an Army veteran. He served as a Voice Intercept Operator and Photojournalist. He earned degrees from Wichita State University and Emporia State University. Rives joined the archival team at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in 2008 after 10 years with the National Archives in Kansas City.

October 2018 Weather Summary

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Chuck Otte

The wetter than normal trend of the past two months continued through October but a nice change was the slightly cooler than normal temperatures.

The average daily high during October was 63.4, 4.3 degrees below normal. This is the third straight month with below normal daily highs. This likely coincides with cloudy weather that brought us above average rainfall for August through October. The average overnight low was 45.0, 1 degree above normal. This is the sixth consecutive month with above average low temperatures. This resulted in a monthly mean temperature of 54.2, 1.6 degrees below normal. There was one temperature record set during the month and one record tied. The high of 45 degrees on the 15th set a new record low high temperature for that date. The old record was 53 set in 1966 and reached again in 2007. The overnight low of 28 on the 15th tied the record low for that date. The record was first set in 1952. October 14th brought an official overnight low of 32 degrees marking the first frost of the year and the official end of the growing season for tender plants. The long term average first frost date is October 19th so while a few days early, this is well within the expected “normal” range. The last frost of spring this year was April 14, one day earlier than the long term average. This gave us a growing season of 182 days, just a few days shorter than the long term average. The hottest October was in 1963 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 69 degrees. The coldest October was in 2002 and again in 2009 when we had a monthly mean temperature of 49.1.
The pattern of abundant rain that began the end of July continued into October, or at least early October. Average October rainfall is 2.62 inches. Milford Lake received 6.17 inches of rain and Junction City 6.35 inches. Year to date Milford Lake has received 28.54 inches of precipitation and Junction City 31.17 inches. Normal for January through October is 30.58 inches. From January through July 10.60 inches was received at Milford Lake, 10.12 inches below normal or 51% of normal. From August 1 through October 31 17.94 inches of rain was received, 8.08 inches above normal or 182% of normal. It is quite possible that we could end the year very close to average precipitation and yet still have spent 10 weeks of the year in extreme to exceptional drought. A classic example of where totals don’t matter, it’s the distribution of the rainfall that is important. Long term average snowfall for October, the start of the snowfall season, is one tenth of an inch. An evening and overnight snowfall on October 14th brought an unexpected 2 inch blanket of snow to the area. Warm soil temperatures didn’t allow it to last long but brought an early start to the snowfall season with an amount that equaled 25% of all the snow we received last season!
November brings rapidly dropping temperatures as we move on quickly to the official start of winter in December. Average daily highs in November range from 61 on the 1st to 48 on the 30th. Overnight lows start the month at a cool 38 degrees and by the end of the month have dropped to a frosty 25 degrees. While no one wants to think about it, November brings us our first chance, albeit slim, at below zero temperatures.  November 28, 1952 saw an overnight low of -4 degrees, our earliest below zero reading for the season! November also starts our “dry” season with average monthly precipitation of 1.55 inches. Snowfall chances also pick up in November with a long term average November snowfall of 1 inch.

 

KDOT announces approved October bids

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The Kansas Department of Transportation has announced approved bids for state highway construction and maintenance projects in Kansas.

Among them is one for Geary County. It involves pavement marking on I-70 for 26.5 miles. The bid was awarded to Innovative Marking Systems Inc. of Bluffdale, Utah. The bid price was $659,183.71.

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