The Code Administrator / Fire Chief for the City of Junction City, Terry Johnson, has released a statement for all property owners of vacant commercial businesses.  He noted that it’s the city’s responsibility to tell all property owners of the requirement to ensure compliance with city code ordinance.

The Code Enforcement Division has received concerns from citizens and property managers about the magnitude of signs in the community for closed businesses is a nuisance. City ordinance puts the responsibility of each property manager, business and citizen holding a commercial property that is no longer in business to remove or change the signage to meet the city code ordinance.

When the occupant of a business has closed and vacated the premises it is the property owner’s responsibility to ensure that any signage of the former business is removed. A “For Sale” or “For Lease” notice can be installed.

With the approval of the codes administrator the signage can be painted over with a natural color to cover the signage of the business that had vacated the occupancy. That will require an inspection and approval of work.

If you have questions about what is needed to become in compliance with the code of ordinance contact the Code Enforcement and Building Inspection Division for assistance. You can do so Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by telephone at 785-238-3103, Ext. 182.

MANHATTAN — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a case of alleged fraud.

Just before 4:30p.m. Tuesday, officers filed a report for theft in the 3100 block of Anderson Avenue in Manhattan.

Robbins Motor Company and Kansas State Bank reported a known male suspect fraudulently used bank information from victim’s check to take took money from the victims, according to the Riley County Police activity report.

The estimated total loss associated with this case is approximately $80,000.00.

Police have not made an arrest.

The hours for the Alpha Care Clinic at Geary Community Hospital are due to be adjusted in the near future. Hospital CEO Joe Stratton indicated a formal announcement would probably not occur until the October time frame. “We’re going to move the hours slightly, not a whole lot, but something that will be more like 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and then 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.”

Stratton said he feels that will allow more patients to regularly access the hospital’s clinics and “establish regular ties with a primary care physician on an ongoing basis. But we’ll also still be able to do the same walk-in urgent care clinic like we do in Alphacare plus the Occupational Health.”

The orientation for the Medical Explorers program at Geary Community Hospital is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the hospital cafeteria. High School students participate in the program which exposes the students to different specialties within the healthcare industry.

Junction City High School teacher Nancy Dettmer serves as the instructor for the program.

MANHATTAN — The renovated first floor of Hale Library at K-State opens Wednesday and the first visitors were impressed.

The Library was scheduled to opens at through Friday and will be closed over Labor Day weekend, Sat.-Mon.

The library will be open regular hours on September 3!

A fire in May 2018 damaged 85% of the library’s interior. The building was undergoing renovations when the fire started.

The first floor now features 14 collaboration rooms for student study spaces.

Eventually, the library will house an innovation lab and a second cafe. It also has a new sprinkler system.

Renovations on the rest of the library are expected to be complete by the end of 2020. The renovations were funded by $7 million in donations and $58 million from the university’s insurance policy.

The Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church has acquired a 22-acre tract of property at 1550 McFarland Road in Junction City.

Church Administrator Don Boyer said they don’t have a set timeline, and are going through the process of determining the marketability of their current facilities. “The timeline on the sale of the properties will determine when we move forward with construction.

On the new site Boyer said they’re considering one large building, “which would be the church and Sunday School area, then a separate building which would house the school, gymnasium and fellowship hall, so there’ll probably end up being two large facilities there on the one property.” Boyer estimated that the Apolostic Academy school has approximately 50 students.

There is a vacant house on the location but it will be burned down as the culmination of a live-burn training exercise by the Junction City Fire Department later in the fall.

The soft launch of a new Economic Development Commission web site is scheduled Wednesday. Chamber of Commerce President Mickey Fornaro-Dean informed the Chamber board that the formal launch of the website will probably occur the first week of September.

During the first few weeks the Chamber will be in the process of putting information on the web site.

The new web site will be reviewed during a State of the Chamber event on Oct. 17.