Congressman Roger Marshall will partner with Live Well Geary County to host a town hall in Junction City.

The event will be from 8:30 am to 9:30 am on Friday, April 14th at the C.L. Hoover Opera House.

“I look forward to returning to Junction City to talk with fellow Kansans about the issues, ideas and concerns they have,” said Congressman Roger Marshall. “Every time we sit down, define problems together and civilly discuss them, we move closer to real solutions.”

This event is free and open to the community.

DICKINSON COUNTY- Two people were injured in an accident just after 5p.m. on Wednesday in Dickinson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2016 Chrysler passenger vehicle driven by Alva G. Eisenman, 69, Athens, GA., was westbound on Interstate 70 just west of Chapman.

The vehicle traveled off the road into the north ditch up an embankment through a fence, and came to rest in a pasture.

Eisenman and a passenger Eisenman, Athena J. Eisenman, 68, Athens, GA. were transported to the hospital in Salina.

They were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

Officers with the Riley County Police Department filed a report against a 24 year old man for rape, electronic solicitation, and contributing to a child’s misconduct on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.

A 13 year old girl is the alleged victim.

The girl’s mother reported finding text messages and pictures that suggested her 13 year old daughter was in a sexual relationship with a 24 year old male, and that the male provided her daughter with marijuana.

Due to the nature of the crimes alleged, no additional information regarding this case will be released.

Those with information about this crime or others should contact the Manhattan/Riley County Crime Stoppers.

Senate Bill 367 “creates and amends law related to the Kansas juvenile justice system.”

Shawn Brandmahl, Executive Director of the North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Junction City, said that the bill diverts juveniles away from law enforcement in order to put them in the hands of community corrections programs.

“This [amendment] is for the vast majority of kids, the more severe crimes will continue to go through the court process – which they all do right now, but at some point the legislation is set up to divert these kids away from the courts, away from prosecutors and to get them into community based [therapeutic type] programs,” said Brandmahl.

As the bill is written, unless the juvenile poses a “significant risk” to others, they will be recommended to community programs.

The bill requires the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) to consult with the Supreme Court in adopting rules and regulations by January 1, 2017, for a statewide system of structured community-based graduated responses for technical probation violations, conditional release violations, and sentence condition violations to be used by community supervision officers. The responses shall include sanctions that are swift and certain to address violations based on the severity of the violation and incentives to encourage positive behaviors, while taking into account the juvenile’s risks and needs. Community supervision officers shall use these responses based upon the results of a risk and needs assessment of the juvenile. A technical probation violation may be considered by the court for revocation only if it is a third or subsequent technical violation, there are prior documented failed responses, and the community supervision officer has determined and documented that graduated responses will not suffice. Unless the juvenile poses a significant risk of physical harm to another or damage to property, the community supervision officer shall issue a summons rather than request a warrant for such a violation. The statute governing issuance of warrants to take a juvenile into custody is amended, effective July 1, 2017, to reflect this limitation on warrants, to remove a reference to placement, and to specify that the warrant’s designation of where the juvenile is to be taken is to be made pursuant to the statute governing the procedure for taking a juvenile into custody. The community supervision officer responsible for oversight of a juvenile on probation is required to develop a case plan with the juvenile and the juvenile’s family. The Department for Children and Families (DCF) and the local board of education may participate in the development of the case plan when appropriate. The case plan shall incorporate the results of the risk and needs assessment, referrals to programs, and documentation of violations and graduated responses, and it shall clearly define the role of each person or agency working with the juvenile. If the juvenile is later committed to the custody of the Secretary of Corrections (Secretary), the case plan will be shared with the juvenile correctional facility (JCF). 

Implementation of SB 367 will be difficult without available money in the State for the community programs. “Right now we’re in limbo and not sure exactly what’s going to happen or how everything will unfold in the next couple of years.”

The facility located on N. Monroe Street is a medium security facility that serves 15 different counties in the North Central Flint Hills region. The headcount in the center as of April 10th is 15 juveniles.

Brandmahl has worked at the Juvenile Detention facility since 1994 and has noticed a decline in the population.

“I came from Colorado and we dealt with kids from all over the country and hard core gang members, and I really didn’t expect to see a whole lot here in Junction City except for maybe small town type crime,” said Brandmahl. “The kind of kids that we were seeing here in ’94 and ’95 were just as bad as the ones I dealt with out in Colorado; over the next six years I was amazed that Geary County was really able to clamp down on that.”

With decreased numbers and SB 367 on the horizon, the fate of corrections facilities in Kansas is uncertain.

For more information on SB 367 visit kslegislature.org.

*feature photo courtesy WEAU News

The estimate from the Junction City Fire Department on water usage in battling the Bluffs apartment building fire this past Saturday was calculated at approximately 1.6 million gallons.

Junction City Manager Allen Dinkel confirmed some water was used up but the supply system is designed for that. “We make improvements in our water plant and through our whole system knowing there’s going to be times when we have that requirement and we’re able to meet it.”

The fire was reported at 1:12 a.m. “The time of the day helps a little bit but that’s why you design the water systems in the way you do, and continue to put money in from a city standpoint so you can handle disasters like this.”

Building B in the Bluffs complex burned. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.