Bruce V. Collins, 83, Junction City, passed away on December 29 at Valley View Senior Life Center in Junction City.
Collins practiced as a civil and structural engineer. he retired from Kaw Valley Engineering and continued with his own structural engineering consulting practice afterward.
Collins was a member of the Geary USD 475 Board of Education for 12 years until 1981, serving the last four years as board president.
Burial will be in Wreford Cemetery in Geary County following a private family service. A gathering of friends will take place at Freeman FIeld ( Junction City airport ) in the spring at a date to be determined.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Deputies responded to U.S. Highway 77 mile marker 157 for a car vs. deer non-injury accident.
Ricky Kreiter, Junction City, was driving his 2015 Nissan Altima northbound when a deer ran out in front of him causing damage to the front of his vehicle.
The Geary County Rural Fire Department will be going after federal grant funds in this new year.
Garry Berges, Rural Fire Chief, said the next round of FEMA Assistance to Firefighter grant, is coming open early this year. He noted they’re looking at two different grant possibilities. :Our air packs, most of them are two NFPA cycles behind which means they do different changes on em. They’re also about 15 years old. Anything above 12 years, technically under NFPA rules are outdated.”
Berges stated the County is looking at possibly going with the City of Junction City and putting in a regional grant request to try and get identical air packs. Those cost about $8,000 apiece. He stated the Rural Fire Department needs about 35 of them. If the grant is obtained there would be a five percent local match.
The Rural Fire Chief stated the Department also wants to apply for a grant to replace the turnout gear for volunteer firefighters. That grant is about 15 to 18 years old.
Three members of the Junction City Commission are ending their terms this month.
The City will hold a reception to honor Mick McCallister, Mike Ryan and Jim Sands Tuesday evening at 7:30 at the City Commission Chambers at 701 North Jefferson.
Junction City Mayor Phyllis Fitzgerald spent time in 2017 coordinating community cleanup projects. According to the mayor there were 24 or more of those. “That would be lots of neighborhoods where different people have come out and helped. So that’s 24 of those. So as an individual I’ve probably done another 40 or more cleanups.”
That’s a lot of trash that was picked up. ”
“Probably this year between all the neighborhood cleanups and the cleanups that I tend to do out on my own, probably the City has picked up close to 5,000 gallons of trash off the ground.”
Junction City streets and neighborhoods have benefited from the cleanup work.
MANHATTAN — Activist and philanthropist Joyce Banda, the first female to serve as president of the African nation of Malawi, will present a Landon Lecture at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 29, 2018, at Kansas State University. Banda’s lecture will be in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union and is open to the public.
“It a privilege to welcome her excellency, Joyce Banda, to Kansas State University as a Landon Lecturer,” said Jackie Hartman, chair of the Landon Lecture Series and the university’s chief of staff and director of community relations. “As the second female to lead an African nation, President Banda helped turn her country’s economy around and has been a longtime champion of women’s rights.”
As president of Malawi from 2012-2014, Banda was credited with turning around the nation’s ailing economy. Under the economic reforms she instituted, Malawi’s rate of economic growth rose from 1.8 percent in 2012 to more than 6.2 percent in 2014. In that same time span, Malawi’s operational industrial capacity rose from 35 percent to 85 percent.
Banda also repealed a number of laws which had weakened democratic institutions, infringed on civil liberties and restricted freedom of the press. The health of women and children was a priority in Banda’s presidency. She established the Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood, which helped drop the maternal mortality rate in Malawi.
Before becoming president of Malawi, Banda served as the nation’s vice president, foreign minister, minister of gender and child welfare, and as a member of its Parliament. As minister of gender and child welfare, she championed enactment of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill in 2006, which provided the legal framework to support the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls.
Since leaving office, Banda serves on the boards of Nutrition International Canada and the Tana High Level Forum of Peace and Security in Africa. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and a distinguished fellow with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Center for Global Development.
The founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation International in 1997, Banda continues her work with the foundation today to transform villages in Malawi by supporting women’s economic empowerment, education, maternal health and HIV/AIDS programs, leadership training and human rights. She also serves as a panelist and motivational speaker at international conferences and forums.
Banda’s work has drawn many honors. She was named one of the world’s most powerful black women by Forbes magazine in 2013 and 2014; one of the most influential people in the world by Time and Forbes; and one of the most inspirational women in politics by CNN.
Her degrees include a bachelor’s in gender studies from Atlantic International University and a master’s in leadership from the Royal Rhodes University of Canada.
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MANHATTAN, KAN. – The Riley County Police Department has announced that attendees of the Little Apple New Year’s Eve celebration Sunday evening will see an increased police presence due to the high number of people expected at the event.
In recent years, heightened security at public events has been more prevalent. The Riley County Police Department routinely uses a risk assessment to help evaluate community functions that are expected to be highly attended such as this one. It should be stressed that no threats of violence have been made. One element to staying safe at public events is to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings at all times.
Those attending are asked to assist law enforcement by avoiding parking vehicles on or near Moro Street between 11th Street and North Manhattan Avenue. A family area has been designated near the stage at the intersection of North Manhattan Avenue and Moro. We encourage families to arrive early to ensure you are able to access a spot and avoid overcrowding. We also strongly caution participants to be prepared for the dangerously low temperatures that are forecast.
Bruce V. Collins, 83, Junction City, passed away on December 29 at Valley View Senior Life Center in Junction City.
