High

89°

Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s. Northeast winds up to 10 mph.

Organizers reported that nearly 80 entries participated in the Sundown Salute parade in Junction City on July 4th.

The top entries were judged to be “2 Patriotic Guys, ” in first place, the Church of the Nazarene entry in second and the JC Baptist Church third.

The parade began in the Junction City High School parking lot, proceeded down Eisenhower Drive and then turned east traveling toward downtown area.

The concern posed by North Korea was one of the subjects touched on by 1st District Congressman Roger Marshall during his Veteran’s ceremony remarks on July 4th in Junction City.

Marshall reported on a recent discussion with Army Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, about different global concerns in the world in such locations as Syria, Iran, and Pakistan. “And then he talked about his most imminent concern, which would be North Korea. I’m so proud of the Dagger ( 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division ) and their presence there. downfire, the immediate downfire, serving as a deterrent to North Korea.”

First Armored Brigade Combat Team soldiers from Fort Riley have been returning to the post in recent days following a nine-month deployment.

Marshall stated, “The United States cannot and will not tolerate a North Korea government with an ability to have a nuclear missile with the ability to reach our own continent. And that General Milley is taking the situation very seriously, and is so proud of the troops that we’ve had there ready to take that battle on, and I’m certain we’ve backfilled since our Brigade got home. But it is very foremost in our mind.”

Marshall was one of the keynote speakers during the annual Veteran’s Ceremony in front of the Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Heritage Park in downtown Junction City.

Over 450 runners – 466 to be exact – competed in the 41st annual Freedom Run. The combined 5K and 10K race began at 7:00 am on the Fourth of July.

Trey Vernon, Manhattan Running Company, said that this is the second largest group of participants for the Freedom Run; only 2014 had more entries.

Manhattan running company has coordinated the timing system and the racing event for the last several years.

The top male 5K finisher was Michael Melgaris, Manhattan, coming in just over 15 minutes. The top 5K female finisher was 23 year old Chantalle Blundell, a Big Red One spouse that is new to the area, having only been here for two weeks. Blundell ran 18:56.

The top male 10K finisher was Chris Melgaris, brother to Michael the 5K champ. The Melgaris brothers’ younger sister Cara also ran in the Freedom Run finishing 2nd in the 5K. Both Chris and Michael Melgaris run track for the University of Kansas, their sister who just graduated from Manhattan High School this past Spring will attend Kansas State University, where she too will run track.

The Melgaris family, including their mother, have participated in the Freedom Run for several years…winning most of them.

The top female 10K finisher was 20  year old Annie Roberts in just over 38 minutes. Roberts, from California, is here visiting a friend for the summer.

New this year, all finishers – regardless of place – were awarded a participation medal. The top finishers were given a small trophy and monetary prize, if eligible.

There was also a one mile fun run for younger children that began at 8:30 am.

The Freedom Run is an annual Fourth of July race, in tradition with Sundown Salute.

High

85°

Partly sunny with isolated showers and thunderstorms. highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds up to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

The Geary County Commission has unveiled a proposed 2018 county budget that would reduce the property tax levy by 1.614 mills.

This is not a final document and can be adjusted, but commissioners do not expect major changes.

First year commissioner Keith Ascher credited the county department heads for their help in making reductions within their departments. “My hat’s off to the department heads. I applaud them. We really told them early on that we really, really needed help and they came through with flying colors.”

Commissioner Ben Bennett stated, “We don’t see any other adjustments that we’ll have to make to go up. We of course, have gone past the July 1st deadline to tell you if we were going to have an election. We told you last week we probably  wouldn’t do that, and we’re not.”

There is a new state law that set a July 1st deadline for the commission to determine if an election was necessary to increase the property tax levy by more than just a small amount. Again, that election will not be necessary.

One factor helping the commission that was noted is that they do not have approximately $350,000 budgeted for voting election equipment in 2018 since all of those expenditures are budgeted for 2017.

While major changes do not appear likely, the governing body could still raise or reduce the spending plan since it has not yet been published. In a few weeks it will be published, and then could still be decreased. There will be a public hearing at a future point before final approval of a 2018 budget occurs in August.

The proposed spending plan with a reduction in the levy comes after three straight years of increases in the levy that totaled nearly 19 mills during that time.