KDC

TOPEKA – Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. and officials from state government agencies have completed a review of Letters of Interest submitted from communities across the state to be considered for designation as Opportunity Zones.

Opportunity Zones are a new economic development tool enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 designed to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities. Based upon the number of low-income communities identified by the Federal Census, the Governor may nominate up to 74 census tracts in Kansas for designation as Opportunity Zones.

In February, the Kansas Department of Commerce announced it would begin accepting Letters of Interest from communities to have their eligible low-income census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones. Following the review of submissions, the Governor has determined that each community who submitted an eligible census tract will be nominated for at least one Opportunity Zone designation. The communities with census tracts to be included in Governor Colyer’s nominations for designation as Opportunity Zones include:

Allen County	Graham County	Osawatomie
Arkansas City	Great Bend	Ottawa
Arma	Greeley County	Parsons
Atchison	Hutchinson	Pittsburg
Belleville	Jewell County	Rooks County
Cloud County	Lane County	Salina
Dodge City	Lawrence	Shawnee
El Dorado	Leavenworth	South Hutchinson
Emporia	Lenexa	Stafford
Finney County	Manhattan	Topeka
Frontenac	Montgomery County	Wichita
Garnett	Norton	Wyandotte County
Goodland	Olathe
Gove County	Osage City

Due to overwhelming interest in the program, Governor Colyer will utilize the available 30-day extension from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to work with local leaders to finalize the specific census tracts designated within each community.

About Opportunity Zones

Opportunity Zones will provide tax incentives for investors who re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing in the Opportunity Zones designated by Governor Colyer. This program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing in economically distressed areas designated as Opportunity Zones by the Governor. The program provides deferral and reduction of capital gains taxes when the gain is invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund and maintained for at least five years. Additional tax incentives are available for investments held for periods of seven and 10 years.

Additional information about the Opportunity Zone program may be found at https://kansascommerce.gov/opportunityzones.

High

61°

Not as cool. Sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the lower 60s. Southwest winds up to 10 mph.

Manhattan, KS –The 2018 Kansas Cowboy Poetry Contest will begin with two regional contests and will culminate with the finals at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.

“Current and aspiring cowboy poets are invited to enter our regional contests,” said poetry contest chair Ron Wilson of the Lazy T Ranch near Manhattan.  “The top four qualifiers at each regional contest can advance to the finals which will be held at the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan on June 8.”

Qualifying contests will be held as follows:  Friday, April 27, 7 p.m., J. H. Robbins Memorial Library, 219 N. Lincoln Street, Ellsworth; andFriday, May 11, 7 p.m., Rollin ‘Red’ Vandever Memorial Park, home of the “Wilson County Old Iron Club,” 10392 Jade Road, Fredonia.

 

To enter, contestants should go to www.cowboypoetrycontest.com to print out an entry form.  Contestants can recite a serious poem, humorous poem or both.  Awards will be presented in both categories.  The finals will be held on Friday, June 8, 2018 at the Discovery Center on the night before the Symphony in the Flint Hills.

 

There is no admission charge and the public is invited to attend all of these events.  State champions at the finals will receive the Saddlejack Bradrick Award, the coveted Governor’s Buckle, discounts and gift certificates from leading western wear stores, and two tickets to the Symphony in the Flint Hills plus an opportunity to present their poems in the story circle after the symphony.  In addition, the state winners will be invited to compete in the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo.  It is not necessary to go through the state contest to enter the national rodeo because anyone can enter the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo directly, but the Kansas winners will have their entry fees paid by the Kansas contest. 

 

For more information or to enter a regional contest, go to www.cowboypoetrycontest.com.

State contest committee members include: Orin Friesen, President, Kansas Chapter of Western Music Association, Benton;  Jeff Davidson, Eureka; Brad Hamilton, Hoyt; Geff Dawson, Alma and Ron Wilson, Manhattan.  For more information, visitwww.cowboypoetrycontest.com.

Abriana N. DelTufo, Marketing Coordinator

Flint Hills Discovery Center

IF your NCAA Tournament bracket is busted you can still enter and compete for prizes in the 3 in 1 Bracket Challenge contest on JC Post.

You can win prizes including gift cards from the sponsors of the contest.

Go to the contest tab at the top of the page on JC Post to sign up.

https://lapo.collegehoops.upickem.net/collegebasketball/registration/login.asp

You can still follow the NCAA Tournament and win prizes in the 3 in 1 Bracket Challenge at JCPost.com.

The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce and Geary USD 475 will host the second in a series of three Legislative Coffees this Saturday at the C. L. Hoover Opera House. It will run from 9-11 a.m.

State Representatives Lonnie Clark and Dave Baker plus State Senators Jeff Longbine and Tom Hawk have been invited to attend.

You can get an update on legislative issues and pose your questions to the legislators during the session.

The Geary County Commission has given the necessary authorization for Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges to seek a replacement vehicle for the fire truck that was destroyed in a grass fire last week.

The commission held their weekly meeting on Monday.

The governing body toured the Cloud County Community College campus on Caroline Avenue in Junction City to view the maintenance upgrades that are being done. Chairman Charles Stimatze explained they range from new roofs to new windows. Geary County owns the buildings. Rent paid by the school is used to fund the maintenance.

The commission two new stop signs for the intersectiion of Old Stage Road and Carlyon Road intersection and another one at the J-Hill Road and Old Stage Road intersection.

UPDATE:

McDowell Creek Road has reopened for traffic.

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The Kansas Northeast Kansas Regional Notification System has reported that motorists should avoid the area of the 4100 block of McDowell Creek Road.

The road is closed both directions due to electrical lines that are down.