The Geary USD 475 Board of Education will receive an overview of bond investments, update on the design and construction of the new Junction City High School, and obsolete and surplus computers Monday night. The Board meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Devin Center.

USD 475 chief financial officer Marilee Fredricks  and Hud Chapin from Sunflower Bank will provide an overview of the bond investments to date. USD 475 Chief Operations Officer David Wild and SJCF architects will provide the overview and show the latest design developments on the new JCHS project.

On the computer topic, the Board of Education has approved the lease of 5,600 computers earlier in the calendar year. Those computers have been distributed to all schools. There has also been an effort to repurpose some of the existing machines to schools where they did not have enough cart computers to cover the K-2 students. The District is now ready to dispose of the remaining computers.

There are two options for the Board to consider. The computers can be sold to the public or graduates or they can be sold to refurbishing companies. The staff recommendation is to solicit bids from companies that can certify that the data is securely destroyed to purchase the District’s computer assets no longer in use.

Junction City firefighters responded to the C.L. Hoover Opera House at mid-afternoon on Sunday but it turned out to be a false alarm.

There were no injuries or damage.

A check with the Junction City Fire Department revealed someone apparently pulled the pull station, setting off the alarm. It occurred during the intermission of the Little Theater production of the Beauty and the Beast. The building had to be evacuated for about five minutes and then everyone returned for the remainder of the show.

MORRIS COUNTY — One person died in an accident early Sunday in Morris County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a vehicle was eastbound on U.S. Highway 56 ten miles east of Herrington.

The vehicle ran over Shawn Irons, 56, Herrington,  who was lying in the middle of the road and then departed the scene.

The KHP reported the accident occurred between1:21and 01:44 a.m. Sunday morning.  Authorities released no additional details.

Hutchinson City Manager, John Deardoff, announced Friday that after an extensive search process Jeffrey Hooper has been selected to become the next Hutchinson Police Chief.

Hooper will begin duties as the Hutchinson Police Chief on October 22, 2018, replacing Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt who will be retiring on September 17, 2018 after 26 years as the Hutchinson Police Chief.

Hooper has served the Riley County Police Department (RCPD) for the past 27 years and is currently a Captain, a position he has had for the last 14 years. He has also served RCPD as a Police Officer, Detective, Sergeant, and Lieutenant. Hooper has B.S. in Sociology/Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the F.B.I National Academy.
Deardoff believes Hooper’s educational accomplishments, leadership abilities and broad law enforcement experience make him a perfect fit for the Hutchinson Police Department. “I am really excited about the energy and professionalism Jeff will bring to our Department and look forward to working with him.”

The Junction City Little Theater production of “Beauty and the Beast” continues next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 21-23 at the C.L. Hoover Opera House. The showtime on Friday and Saturday nights will be 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday it is 2 p.m.