RILEY COUNTY — Fire investigators have determined the cause of the fire at 930 Thurston Street, which occurred on Friday, September 20, to be accidental, according to a Ryan Almes, Deputy Chief.
The power was restored to the unoccupied dwelling unit and the stove had inadvertently been left on with combustibles on top.
Loss is estimated at $30,000 to the structure and $1,000 to the contents.
There were no injuries reported.
TOPEKA, KAN – A soldier stationed at Fort Riley was charged in federal court Monday in Topeka with sending over social media instructions for making bombs, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.
Jarrett William Smith, 24, Fort Riley, Kan., was charged with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction.
Smith, a private first class infantry soldier, joined the Army June 12, 2017, and was transferred to Fort Riley on July 8, 2019. According to an FBI investigator’s affidavit, Smith said on Facebook he was interested in traveling to the Ukraine to fight with a paramilitary group called the Azov Batallion.
During a Facebook chat, Smith offered to teach other Facebook users to make cell phone explosive devices “in the style of the Afghans.” On Aug. 19 Smith told an undercover investigator he was looking for “radicals” like himself. Smith talked about killing members of Antifa and destroying nearby cell towers or a local news station. On Aug. 21, Smith told an undercover investigator about how to make a vehicle bomb. When the investigator commented that most of the components were household items, Smith said: “Making AK47s out of expensive parts is cool, but imagine if you will if you were going to WalMart instead of a gun store to buy weapons.”
Smith also described in detail to the undercover investigator how to build a bomb that could be triggered by calling a cell phone.
“Be very careful with the fully armed device,” Smith warned the investigator.
If convicted, Smith could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi is prosecuting.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost will be retiring at the end of the season, a year in which his team lost 100 games.
His decision was announced by the team Monday, a day after a 12-8 loss in which the Royals fell for the eighth time in 10 games. Kansas City is 57-100 and 39 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the AL Central.
Yost got the Kansas City job in 2010. He is the all-time winningest manager in franchise history with 744 victories and the first manager to lead the team to consecutive World Series appearances.
The 65-year-old Yost noted the development of young players and the presence of returning veterans. He says he hopes the “worst is behind us in this rebuilding phase of our organization.”
The Geary County GPS, Zoning and Planning Office has notified JC Post that the deadlines for the Oct. 10 Metropolitan Planning Commission / Board of Zoning Appeals meeting has passed and there are no items for the agenda.
The meeting has been cancelled.
The Kansas Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation will host their sixth annual Fly Kansas Air Tour from Sept. 26 – Sept. 28, this Thursday through Saturday.
KDOT has partnered with the Kansas Commission on Aerospace Education to promote aviation and economic growth. More than 40 pilots have signed up to fly the Kansas Air Tour this year. Participants will visit 11 communities across Kansas during the three-day tour.
The tour focuses on STEM ( Science,Technology, Engineering and Math ) education. Highlights for this year include opportunities for students to learn from pilots, tour through aviation museums and local business fairs, and view historic aircraft participating in the tour and on static display.
This year’s events take place in Wellington, Pittsburg, Garnett and Concordia on Thursday, Sept. 26; Rooks County, Goodland, Hay and Kingman on Sept. 27; and Benton, Abilene and Wichita on Sept. 28.
By Martin Hawver
There may be something subtle going on here, that first meeting in several years in which the Kansas Board of Regents sat down with the Kansas State Board of Education for, well, just a little chatting.
That meeting brought together the nine Regents, who are appointed by the governor and subject to Senate confirmation, and the 10 members of the State Board of Education, who are elected to their offices.
While the overall responsibility of both groups is to provide a good education for Kansas students, it has generally in the past been sharply divided. The Regents works on everything after high school graduation, the State Board of Education nearly everything before that.
But they have rarely worked closely together on the entire concept of education in Kansas, producing young people who are ready for more education or who are learning job and social skills that will make those students just who we want walking down our streets, competing for parking spaces and living next door.
Last week’s meeting, in which the State Board of Education members were guests, produced some of the most identifiable indications that the two boards are interesting in working together, and some new members of each wondering why the boards haven’t been working more closely together.
That’s something we don’t often see between state agencies, which generally look after their own duties and cooperate only when two agencies find their duties overlap.
One of the more interesting discussions among Regents/Board of Education members was over allowing high school students—for free—to take a few college-level courses while in high school. Big interest in English/literature skills, but the concept generally comes down to letting middle and high school students get a taste of college-level classes to explore possible interests and eventually careers.
That dab of higher education at high school is both a confidence-builder for students who are from families without parents and other relatives with higher education experience and a way for those students who are interested in, say, teaching or construction or working in some other specialized industry a chance to see what is actually involved, and whether that is the way those kids whose drivers licenses are still new can look into their future.
Nothing like early focus, is there?
Oh, that cooperation between the State Board of Education and Regents is going to be a little tricky. Sorta like a first date.
Regent money generally is state aid plus tuition, while public schools are a mix of state aid and local property taxes. That local property tax is a major issue for public schools and casts its shadow on nearly everything that is considered by the State Board of Education and the Legislature that deals with public schools.
But the possibilities? Well, let’s see what would happen if the Regents and State Board of Education could come to a common ground for proposed legislation. We have the groups that oversee multiple school districts in each legislative district binding with Regents and other higher education institutions that aren’t universally present in all districts. That produces a statewide interest group that can appeal and lobby to every legislator in the state.
Pretty good potential political muscle…
Now it’s going to take time and formation of committees and such that education leaders tend to generate like weeds in a garden, but if there becomes an “educational establishment” that can reach out to every lawmaker and every Kansan…well, it’s likely we’ll see more interest in education from kindergarten to college degrees.
Interesting to see whether this cooperation actually takes place and what it yields…
Syndicated by Hawver News Company LLC of Topeka; Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report—to learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit the website at www.hawvernews.com
Junction City police have reported the arrest of three local residents on drug related charges at a 1902 Silver Court address this past Saturday.
They included Marwin Lee Hudge, 33, Brittany June Justine Holt, 24 and Kimicha Starr Perez, 28, all of Junction City. The allegations included Distribute Marijuana, Distribute with Intent to Manufacture Paraphernalia, and Distribute Opiate, Opium or Narcotic; Certain Stimulant against Hudge, Distribute Marijuana, Taxation; Drugs; No Drug Tax Stamp, and Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture against Holt, and Distribute Certain Halluciogenic, Taxation; Drugs; No Drug Tax Stamp and Possession of Paraphernalia with Intent to Manufacture against Perez.
Holt and Perez were arrested at 8:38 a.m. and Hudge at 11:24 a.m. on Saturday on the drug related counts. Later at the JCPD, Perez was arrested on a Junction City Municipal Court warrant.
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In separate cases on Saturday police reported the arrest of Charles Anthony Woods, 36, Junction City, on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana, Use / Possess Paraphernalia, and Distribute Certain Stimulant within 1,000 Feet of a School. That arrest occurred at 1015 Burke Drive, Apt. 9.
Also, Serita Latese Wilson, 37, Junction City, was arrested on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana, Use / Possess Drug Paraphernalia and Manufacture of a Controlled Substance or Analog. The arrest occurred in the 1300 block of North Eisenhower.
Troops returning from overseas deployments will be welcomed back during a Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council event on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the 5th Street Playground Park. MAC Director Craig Bender explained over the next few weeks more than 6,000 troops will be returning. “I just feel like as a community we owe it to them to give them a welcome home.”
Bender indicated that it will provide an opportunity to promote the new playground park. That would include the facilities that can serve children and adults at that location, in addition to welcoming the Soldiers. “We’re going to have free food for anybody with a military ID card, CG’s Mounted Color Guard will come out and do a presentation for us, some bounce houses, face painting and live music.”
Bender is hoping for attendance of 500 to 1,000 on Nov. 2.
The Friends of the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library will sponsor a fundraiser at Ike’s on Goldenbelt Boulevard in Junction City on Saturday ( Sept. 28 ). Ike’s will donate ten percent of their food sales that day to the Friends organization.
The Friends of the Library is a nonprofit ( 501 (c ) ( 3 ) charitable group that supports the library through fundraising activities, volunteerism and public awareness campaigns. Library Friends have the opportunity to have a greater voice in the programs, collections and services provided by the library.
Also, on the 28th Library will have a Touch-a-Truck-Day and Shred Day.
Junction City firefighters responded to a structure fire at 1402 Rucker Road early Saturday morning about 2 a.m.
Fire Chief Terry Johnson said one of the occupants of the residence had a minor injury to his left hand from trying to put out the fire. EMT’s checked him out and applied dressing but transport was required to the hospital.
The Fire Marshall was called to the scene to lead the investigation. No foul play is suspected at this point.
