Jazz at the Junction will feature the Lars Quncke Quintet at the C. L. Hoover Opera House on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The performance will feature Nick Overbey on vocals and Douglas Ragon on trombone. They will perform a variety of styles from traditional swing to modern fusion. Some of the artists to be covered in the show include Bill Evan, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Al Jarreau and Jamie Cullum.
The show will begin at 7 p.m. in the foyer of the Opera House. There will be a $10 cover charge at the door.
On Wednesday, October 2nd around 4:50 p.m., the Riley County Police Department Emergency Dispatch Center received a call stating a man had been shot in the 2500 block of Farm Bureau Road.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a 20-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound that was not believed to be life threatening. He was transported to Via Christi Hospital for treatment.
No arrests have been made at this time.
Police said the investigation suggests this is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public. They noted that this is an ongoing investigation and no additional information is available at this time.
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Would you like corn flakes for breakfast? Cows would like corn flakes for breakfast, too. Today we’ll learn about an innovative Kansas farm family that is utilizing a steam flaking technology to improve feed quality for their livestock operation and others around Kansas.
Phil and Sharron Knox farm in northwest Kansas. Phil is a native of the Brewster area. He went to Kansas State and majored in agricultural economics. While attending a Farm Bureau scholarship dinner, he met Sharron who was studying dietetics. The two married and began a long life together.
Phil went on to earn a master’s and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of California at Berkeley, where Sharron earned her master’s in public health nutrition. She worked as a consulting nutritionist and Phil took a position as assistant professor at Colorado State before moving back to his family farm near Brewster.
Today, the family farming operation consists of no-till corn and wheat on 9,000 acres of which 1,800 acres are irrigated. They also have a 200 head cow and calf operation on 2,100 acres of pasture land. The cattle are finished, along with purchased calves, in a 2,500-head feed lot. The fed cattle are marketed through the Knox’s membership in U.S. Premium Beef.
“You have to do things a little better, you have to change,” Phil said.
“He does research, he has ideas,” Sharron said. “I’m a detail person.”
One of Phil’s ideas was to improve the feed efficiency of his cattle feeding operation. “I talked to a friend who was working in feed technology,” Phil said. That led to the creation of a steam flaking enterprise in 2004.
Feed corn is converted into flakes by processing in a steam chamber. This breaks down the cell walls and gelatinizes the starch. The result has proven to be a highly desirable cattle feed. In fact, the feed worked so well that the Knoxes not only feed the flakes to their own cattle, they market the flakes to other feedlots and dairies in western Kansas.
The flaking business is known as AgSun LLC. The company’s flakes have been shown to be a better source of energy than rolled or ground corn because cattle digest and utilize the flakes better. For feeder cattle, the flakes allow up to a 15 percent improvement in energy values.
For dairy cattle, starch availability is also improved, giving cows a better source of energy. This produces more energy for more milk production.
AgSun LLC has the capacity to process 2.5 million bushels of corn a year, with one third of that coming from the Knox’s own production. Their son Daniel, an industrial engineering graduate of K-State, helped design the automated controls and programming for the equipment. It is a state-of-the-art, computer-operated facility. The production from the plant could feed up to 40,000 to 50,000 head per day.
“The staff at AgSun is hard-working, friendly and always willing to help us,” said one customer. “The flakes are the best quality for our cattle.”
Another customer commented: “The quality of the product is second to none and is always very consistent. AgSun produces what they advertise and they do things the right way the first time. Our production is always good with AgSun’s cornflakes in our ration. We appreciate their service.”
Sharron is a board member of the Northwest Kansas Farm Management Association. Phil has served on the Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management Board. They are members of Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Corn Growers.
“We felt called to do more,” Phil said. He also serves as the volunteer pastor at the local Lutheran church.
“We enjoy living here, it’s like a big family,” Sharron said. Brewster is a rural community with a population of 305 people. Now, that’s rural.
The Junction City Commission has approved a series of motions that will allow the City to submit an application for a Kansas community development block grant totaling $700,000. The application must be submitted by Nov. 1.
The money would help fund a new traffic roundabout at the intersection of McFarland Road and Eisenhower Drive. The local matching share for the project would total $1,005,000. The total project cost estimate is $1.7 million.
The commission took action to approve an agreement with Northwest Kansas Planning and Development to provide the administrative consulting services for the project, an agreement with Kaw Valley Engineering for surveying and engineering, certifying the legal authority to apply for the block grant program and to assure the Kansas Department of Commerce that funds would be provided for the operation and improvements to the street system.
The Geary County District Court first appearances were Tuesday for three men arrested in connection with a weekend case that resulted in one person being shot in the 200 block of East 1st Street. Izek T. Jackson, 18, Enterprise, Javontez K. Brime, Junction City and Malik O. Watkins, 19, Andover were all arrested by Junction City police on suspicion of Aggravated Robbery and Conspiracy.
A check with the Geary County Attorney’s office confirmed bond for Jackson and Watkins was set at $25,000 cash / surety and bond for Brime was set at $10,000 cash / surety. The status check and preliminary hearing date for all three defendants has been scheduled on Oct. 10 in District Court.
One person, Coye Crane, 18, Chapman suffered a gunshot wound during the incident and was transported to the KU Medical Center for treatment.
Fort Riley has announced that there will be a Concert in the Park event with the 1st Infantry Division Country Band Thursday evening.
The band will perform from 6 – 7 p.m. at the Artillery Parade Field. The concert, which is free and open to the public, is being hosted by Fort RIley MWR.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University continues to promote the value of higher education and has increased enrollment in online programs and at the Polytechnic and Olathe campuses while total enrollment dips.
The university’s Global, Polytechnic and Olathe campuses all had an increased number of students enrolled, which offsets an enrollment decline on the Manhattan campus. Total university enrollment is down 502 students, reflecting a national trend in higher education.
“As the ebb and flow of higher education continues across the nation, K-State’s diverse campuses accommodate a variety of interests — from technical and aviation programs to advanced degrees for working professionals — that meet students’ changing interests,” said Chuck Taber, provost and executive vice president. “It is K-State’s student-first mentality that is improving retention and graduation rates across the university.”
The retention of freshmen to sophomores is again highest in university history at 85.8%, and the university graduated a near-record 3,219 students in May. The university’s four-year graduation rate is 41.6% and the six-year graduation rate is 64.8% — both records for the university.
Preliminary numbers from the Kansas Board of Regents‘ report show overall headcount decreased by 2.3%. The board has started reporting full-time equivalency, or FTE, in addition to headcount to provide more uniform data. The Regents calculate full-time equivalency by dividing the total number of undergraduate credit hours taken in a semester by 15 and graduate credit hours by 12. Using this metric, FTE is down about 3%.
K-State is beginning the second year of a strategic enrollment management effort designed to increase its overall enrollment to boost net tuition revenue. Improving the educational experience and making scholarships more accessible remain top priorities for the university as a land-grant institution.
“We’ve completely revamped our scholarship programs and are finding new ways to increase the value of our already excellent degrees,” Taber said. “Higher education has been proven to be one of the best investments a person can make — with demonstrably proven increased lifetime earnings and quality of life. The prosperity of our state and country depends on a well-educated populace.”
According to Taber, K-State is on track with its strategic enrollment plan and the university is taking a long-term view of the turnaround.
“We are committed to growing in a financially prudent way that allows us to be sustainable even as higher education continues to evolve rapidly,” Taber said.
The upcoming Nov. 5th election will include races for Junction City Commission, USD 475 Board of Education and there are city council elections for Milford and Grandview Plaza.
There will also be questions on the ballot. Geary County Clerk Rebecca Nordyke said Junction City and Grandview Plaza have sales tax questions, “and then everyone in the state is voting on the constitutional amendment question which is about the census adjustment that the State of Kansas does. ” The state wants to eliminate the adjustment.
The sales tax proposal for Junction City would continue a current one-cent sales tax to help reduce city debt. That tax was initially put in place in January of 2011 but is due to expire on December 31, 2020. City Manager Allen Dinkel noted this past summer that if that one-cent sales tax does not pass the City would have to find $3.5 million per year. That would mean either cut services substantially or raise property taxes by 21 to 22 mills.
The Junction City Commission has given their approval on a Phase Two project for the 5th Street
Photo of Phase One improvements
Playground Park. A new basketball court will be built.
Kendall Schoenrock of the Quality Play for All Committee told the commission this would follow the successful Phase One portion of the project that included new playground equipment. “Looking to continue that momentum with the approval to move forward with the basketball court, 50 feet by 80 feet. We’ve tag teamed the plans with Kaw Valley as well as Ed Lazear at the Parks Department.”
City Manager Allen Dinkel explained the City will lay the concrete. The cost estimate is in the $25,000 to $30,000 range, with the City paying half and Quality Play for All paying half of that expense.
Phase One of the project in the park included new playground equipment that has been installed.
Jazz at the Junction will feature the Lars Quncke Quintet at the C. L. Hoover Opera House on Saturday, Oct. 19.
