The Corps of Engineers has announced that Milford Lake is near it’s winter target elevation of 1141.4. They have reduced outflows on Friday to 200 cubic-feet-per-second to match inflow.
From now until March 15th they will maintain the lake elevation at 1141.4. That is designed to eradicate zebra mussels and provide clear spawning areas for walleye.
From March 15th to May 1st the Corps plans to allow the lake elevation to gradually increase to 1143.00.
The current lake elevation is 1141.46.
The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce and USD 475, Geary County Schools will co-host the 2018 Geary County Legislative Coffees on the fourth Saturday of the month at the C.L. Hoover Opera House meeting room from 9-11 a.m.
State Senators Jeff Longbine and Tom Hawk plus State Representatives Dave Baker and Lonnie Clark will be available to do a review and answer any questions from the public.
The dates are February 24th, March 24th and April 28th.
The search for a new Military Affairs Council Director in Junction City has begun.
MAC Board Chair Phyllis Fitzgerald said a committee has been formed and will work on the job description with the MAC Board input and an ad will be posted. “Once those resumes start coming in the committee will do a review. “And then they’ll narrow it down to five or six. At some point we will get to met those candidates and have some potential input as well.”
Chamber of Commerce CEO Mickey Fornaro-Dean is hopeful of having a new director hired by April 1st. That would require final approval from her and the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
The search for a new director is necessary following the retirement of longtime MAC Director, John Seitz.
A top priority of the Governor’s Military Council is to build force structure and bring additional missions into Fort Riley.
The Council’s Executive Director, Lt. Gen ( Retired ) Perry Wiggins made that point during a Military Affairs Council meeting in Junction City on Thursday.
In 2012 Fort Riley lost the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team during a time of Army sequestration and draw down. Wiggins now says the recent National Defense Authorization Act that was approved still needs budget approval but includes an increase in soldier strength up to between 17,000 to 28,000. But now the Army has a plan to push those troops to increase readiness. “One of the plans is to take a segment of those troops and put them into existing brigade combat teams to increase their numbers, to increase that readiness. Another plan is to increase organizations like an additional armored brigade combat team.”
Wiggins said they trying to advocate that Fort Riley is a great place to serve, train and deploy from, and that serves the national defense. “So we’re going to advocate very hard to get some of that force structure back to Fort Riley.”
The post has 77,000 usable acres but compared to some other installations when total acreage is used in calculations Fort Riley can be at a disadvantage. Wiggins indicated there needs to be a move to joint training capability, and there will be contact with the National Guard. “We think that if we can get utilization for our maneuver units out at Smoky Hill Range Complex ( near Salina ), get that 35,000 additional acreage put into Fort Riley’s corner then on the military value analysis assessment we’ll ( Fort Riley ) go from number nine of divisional installations up to about number four, which is great for us.”
Community support will be a key in this effort. Wiggins added, “An installation is only as good as it’s community support. Fort Riley has always been blessed and the soldiers that have served there have been blessed by having communities that surround it that understand the importance of our military, and generally embrace our military.” WIggins wants to get the power of these communities behind the effort to increase formations, force structure and missions at Fort Riley. “Then we’ll make what seems to be the impossible possible.”
Wiggins is seeking to initially get a brigade combat team assigned to Fort Riley. One of those brigades typically includes approximately 5,200 soldiers.
Wiggins is a former commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley.
A Geary County District Court jury has returned guilty verdicts for Joseph Craig, Junction City, on six counts, one of which was First Degree ( Felony ) Murder.
Craig was convicted in the January 2016 shooting death of David Phillips, 23, Manhattan at an 827 West 12th Street Apartment C location in Junction City.
According to County Attorney Krista Blaisdell, Craig was also found guilty of the lesser included offense of Intentional Second Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Robbery, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The jury returned the verdicts Tuesday after a full day of deliberation.
During the trial more than 20 witnesses were called to testify. The entire trial, ending with the return of the verdicts by the jury, covered seven days in District Court.
Sentencing in the case is set for April 17th at 2 p.m.
During the preliminary hearing in this case there was testimony that indicated that Phillips had been shot in the head three times.
A second defendant in this case, Gabrielle Williams, has been scheduled for sentencing February 20th at 10 a.m. According to the County Attorney Williams pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder.
Fire caused damage at Munson Prime, 426 Goldenbelt Boulevard, Junction City, Thursday afternoon.
There were no injuries. According to Fire Chief Terry Johnson the fire was determined to be accidental in nature, caused by improperly discarded smoking materials placed in a brick opening at the rear door.
Johnson said at this time the restaurant is closed until repairs can be made and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment can provide an inspection to reopen. It is estimated it will take four days to make needed repairs and inspections.
Firefighters got the call at 4:12 p.m.. When they arrived on scene they encountered smoke hanging near the ceiling. The smoke smelled of burned wood mixed with synthetic materials. The fire was located in a wall adjacent to the rear exit of the structure in the kitchen area. There was a four inch hole in an outside brick facade where flames and smoke were emerging. The back side of the hole was sheet rock. Fire crews exposed the inner wall and removed the burning insulation. A hose line was used to extinguish the flames and embers.
The point of origin for the fire was just behind the exterior hole in the brick and had spread both up and down the wall. Sheet rock was removed to expose all of the fire damage. Also, some ceiling tiles were removed to check for extension and remove for trapped smoke. Johnson noted that, fortunately, the fire was discovered by an employee before it made it to the ceiling.
Patricia ( Pattie ) Mayhew has been chosen to serve as the Interim Executive Director of the Great Plains Theatre in Abilene. She will serve in that role while the Board of Directors seeks a permanent replacement for the position.
According to a news release from the Theatre, Elizabeth Weese, who has served as the executive director since February of 2015 is stepping down. She is leaving to become the Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Dickinson County.
Mayhew has been volunteering with Great Plains Theatre since 2014, and became the Volunteer Coordinator in 2015. She has had a 35-year career built in housing, budgeting and HR.
The job listing, which the Board of Directors intends to go live by Friday ( Feb. 9 ), will remain active until February 22. It will be accessible through greatplainstheatre.com and also via various job listing sites as well.
As is the case with many schools across the country the influenza bug has swept through Geary USD 475.
The Executive Director of Communication for the school district, Matt Droge, noted that districts across the nation have been impacted by the flu and other winter illnesses. “Our most recent numbers were 358 students out for an illness. That’s down from 500 just a couple of weeks ago, but definitely an impact in USD 475.” There are more than 7,000 students in the school district.
Droge stated, “Anytime students are away from the classroom, away from that instructional time it poses some challenges. Not just to the staff and the actual classroom atmosphere, but it also makes things a little bit more challenging for that student, especially when they’re out for an extended period of time.”
Droge said”One important thing to keep in mind is that if you have a child that has the flu or a temperature or is extremely ill it’s important to keep them home so that doesn’t spread throughout the schools. We realize that that creates an inconvenience but that’s the best way to stop the spread within the schools.” He also issued a reminder to wash your hands to help prevent the spread of illness.
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The policy being announced Thursday pulls together a complicated mix of rules governing sexual harassment, bullying, hazing and other forms of hostile online behavior and workplace discrimination. The goal is to clarify the process for victims filing complaints and make sure that those responsible are held to account for their actions.
The overhaul comes almost a year after an online nude photo sharing scandal rocked the Marine Corps. The ensuring criminal investigation forced leaders across all the military services to create more vigorous social media standards. The scandal showed how difficult it is to track or govern inappropriate behavior by military members in the largely anonymous online universe.
Pentagon officials said consolidating various harassment policies will make it easier for victims to report problems, seek help and see the consequences for offenders. Until now, some members of the military who engaged in such actions could face punishment but then see any mention of the infractions expunged from their records.
The military services will have 60 days to develop plans to put in place the policy.
“We have a sexual harassment policy, we have a memo that clarifies response and reporting of sexual harassment, we have regulations on hazing and bullying, we have a policy that covers discriminatory harassment,” said Elise Van Winkle, the Pentagon’s principal director for force resiliency. “What this does is pull these together to cover all forms of harassment.”
An important change involves clearer guidelines on how a military member can report harassment, particularly for troops who may belong to one service but work in a job reporting to another service. Army soldiers, for example, can work at an air base overseas and report to an Air Force commander. A Navy officer working at U.S. Pacific Command may have airmen or Marines on staff.
The new policy will allow troops to file harassment complaints wherever they feel most comfortable, though their own service would provide them assistance. An alleged offender probably would go through the justice system. If found guilty, he or she would face punishment from his or her own service.
Standardizing the rules “helps increase the effectiveness of these polices when we deploy them to the field,” Van Winkle said.
She said the services will have to set up 24-hour hotlines for harassment questions and complaints. Most services have hotlines for sexual harassment, but this expands the requirement to all forms of bad conduct.
“We owe our service members every protection we can give them,” said Robert Wilkie, defense undersecretary for personnel. “While this policy is not perfect, it is a critical milestone in the department’s efforts to eliminate harassment and fully prepare the entire force to protect the nation.”
