Manhattan Regional Airport will conduct a full-scale exercise to test emergency responders’ abilities to respond to an aircraft incident. The exercise will take place on Wednesday, July 19th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on airport property near Wildcat Creek Road.

A portion of Wildcat Creek Road will be closed between the Business Park and Skyway Drive with limited access for residents.

The exercise will include a mock aircraft fuselage, mannequins and volunteer role players.

Several emergency responders will be participating, including the Manhattan Fire Department, Riley County Police Department, Riley County Emergency Management, Riley County EMS and several others.

20%

High

99°

Sunny. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the upper 90s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

NEWS RELEASE

Abilene, Kan. (July 17, 2017) – Abilene rodeo fans are in for a special treat.

John Harrison, the six-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) specialty act and barrelman, will entertain rodeo fans during each performance of the rodeo.

The Soper, Okla. man is no stranger to making people laugh. When he’d get sent to the principal’s office in high school, he was still cracking jokes. “Every time the principal busted me, I’d shake his hand and say, ‘Thanks for making me a better person,’” John remembers. “It aggravated him when I did it.”

Now Harrison has turned his school troubles into a full time career. The grandson of world champion bull rider Freckles Brown, he has clowned rodeos across the nation, from West Coast to East Coast, and from North Dakota to Texas.

When he was six years old, he saw rodeo entertainers Leon and Vicki Adams at his hometown rodeo, and decided that’s what he wanted to do. His dad bought him a trick rope, and taught his son how to use it – in the family living room. “We tore up everything,” Harrison recalled. “I broke lamps, hit the ceiling, knocked plaster off the wall. Mom was always cussing us.

Harrison learned how to trick ride as well, and practiced every night after school with his dad’s help.

After high school, Harrison attended college but the rodeo bug bit. He ventured into the rodeo world, doing the trick riding, trick roping and roman riding at rodeos in the Midwest, then branching out across the nation, and adding rodeo clowning to his repertoire.

Now, nearly two decades later, he’s recognized as one of the best in the nation.

His acts range from trick riding to his magic act, to being “Miss Rodeo Universe” and jumping an old-time car on horseback.

He loves bantering with the crowd, using current events as topics. And he loves to point out people in the crowd. “I like to have fun with what’s going on,” he said. “Somebody on a cell phone, talking during the rodeo, everybody can relate to that. I do a lot of off-the-cuff stuff, and ad lib, and it keeps it fresh for me as well.”

The Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo runs August 2-5 with performances at 7:30 pm each night. Tickets range from $7 to $13 and are sale online at www.ckff.net, at the Central Kansas Free Fairgrounds, and at area businesses.

For more information, visit www.WildBillHickokRodeo.com or its Facebook page (search for Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo.)

UPDATE:

The Riley County Police Department has confirmed that the missing person, Marcia Ortmann has been located and is safe.

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The Riley County Police Department (RCPD) is asking the public for help to locate a missing person.

According to information released on the RCPD Twitter page, Marcia Ortmann has not been since the weekend of July 8, 2017.

Ortmann was last seen in her silver Jeep Liberty. She is approximately 5 foot 3 inches tall weighing 160 pounds. She has brown hair and hazel eyes.

If you have seen Ortmann call 911 or 537-2112, so officers can conduct a welfare check.

Approximately 15,000 troops are now home at Fort Riley.

The First Infantry Division Headquarters just returned from a nine month deployment to Iraq where the final 150 soldiers were welcomed home on Friday, July 14th.

John Seitz, Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council Director, said that to have that many troops here at once is a rare occurrence.

“Everybody is going to be home for a while except for the one Air Cavalry Squadron from the Combat Aviation Brigade that’s in Korea – and they’ll be back before Christmas,” said Seitz.

In the 100th anniversary of the Big Red One, the influx of personnel will be favorable for the Victory Week festivities planned in August.

“Victory Week is going to be a big deal, everybody will be back off block leave,” said Seitz. “The first week will be a lot of unit competitions, and that’s always exciting to watch those teams compete against each other.”

The festivities will culminate with the Division Review.

“There will be the award of the Victory Cup and Soldier and NCO of the Year, and it’s a great ceremony; it’s not often that you get to see the whole Division on the field at one time, so that’s going to be a very special way to end that week.”

The Division Review will take place on the Cavalry Parade Field on Friday, August 25th.

Other Victory Week events include the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony on August 23rd as well as the day long musical festival Victory Fest on August 19th. Eli Young Band and the All-American Rejects are amongst the headline performers for Victory Fest; other acts on the main stage include The Charlie Daniels Band and Lit. Local artists and the USO Troupe will perform on a secondary stage.

Victory Week is August 16th through 25th.

It’s become a little repetitive – but it is important to take precaution this week during yet another heat wave.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the 100 degree range nearly every day this week, with heat indexes predicted to reach 115 degrees.

Garry Berges, Geary County Emergency Management Director, said that it’s important to drink plenty of water.

“If [you] have to do stuff outdoors, do it early in the morning before the sun comes up – before 10:00 am if at all possible, or after supper in the evening,” said Berges.

Berges noted that the biggest concern is heat related illness.

“With heat indexes up over 110 to 115 [degrees], it’s going to take a lot out of people, we could see a lot of medical problems with people having heat strokes or heat exhaustion.”

If you are outside working, take frequent breaks, stay hydrated and try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Watch in effect from Tuesday, July 18th until Saturday, July 22nd.

An Excessive Heat Watch means that a prolonged period of hot temperatures is expected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are possible.