FORT RILEY, Kansas – As part of the 1st Infantry Division’s 100th anniversary celebration, Soldiers will honor the 26th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm Feb. 24 with a simulated “berm breach” on Custer
Hill. Units on Fort Riley will include running through the berm – complete with the sounds of battle, fog, concertina wire and historic signage – as part of their daily physical training.

Veterans, especially those who served in Desert Storm, are encouraged to watch or participate in the “breaching of the berm.”

Under the command of Maj. Gen. Thomas Rhame, the “Big Red One” deployed more than 12,000 troops to support Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. On Feb. 24, 1991, the division spearheaded the attack that pierced Iraqi defenses, allowing Coalition forces to cut deep into the country and cut off the escape of the fleeing Iraqi army.

Following the 6:30 a.m. event, veterans are invited to the Cantigny Dining Facility for breakfast.

The Junction City Fire Department presented certificates of recognition to five students in Anita Ascher’s second grade class at Westwood Elementary School on Monday.

Caydence Mastin, Meghan Orr-Paver, Jaelen Castile, K’Veon King and Joy Davis all competed in the 2016 Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office Poster Contest. This past year’s theme was “Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years.”

Working smoke alarms save lives, cutting the risk of dying in a home fire in half. Smoke alarms should be installed and maintained in every home. It is recommended that all homes have a working smoke alarm on every floor along with one in every sleeping area.

Today marks 28 days until the first day of Spring, and that means the Summer months are almost upon us.

The Junction City Brigade Baseball team will host their season opener at Rathert Field on June 3rd versus the Rossville Rattlers.

Cecil Aska, Brigade General Manager, said they are beginning to seek out sponsors for the 2017 season.

“We’ll be hitting up all of last year’s sponsors and looking for some new sponsors, and we’re really getting geared up right now to start that effort,” said Aska.

Sponsorship levels range from Hall of Fame, All Star, MVP and individual signages are available as well.

Aska said they will also begin to look for host families for the collegiate players.

“We’ve had some really good kids that we’ve been able to recruit and have come to Junction City, and we’ve had a number of them return…and those kids that do return, that’s one of the questions they’ll ask is ‘hey, am I going to be back with my last year’s host family’,” said Aska.

Aska said they have had many generous families, but they’d like to get to the point where they have a waiting list of families for the players.

“One thing that happens throughout the year, is that you have players that get shut down by their school, especially the pitchers, so they may shut some people down a little bit early; but then we have additional players come in, so there’s where it’s nice to have some ‘reserve list’ for those additional players that we have to pick up throughout the year, so we can get them and already know we have some people available to place them with,” said Aska.

If you are interested in hosting Brigade Baseball players, contact Cecil Aska at 375-1483.

Fires have been on the upswing in Geary County.

With seasonably warmer temperatures, it begs the question – is the weather contributing to the increased number of fires in the area?

Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson said that fires are something that just happen, and for various reasons.

“There’s no way we can pinpoint – is it the weather, is it certain things – each fire has its own reasons, each fire has it’s own cause,” said Johnson. “The [fire] on Thursday seems to be an electrical/mechanical type issue – it could happen at any time – the one on Saturday, the structure fire that we had on 12th Street, it appears at this time to be maybe some carelessness with a grill.”

It’s important to know and follow outdoor cooking safety.

“Folks want to [grill] close to the house, so that way they don’t have to walk as far, make sure the food’s hot when it gets put on the table; the problem with that is that as you go along and you do this you’re putting that heat source close to your house,” said Johnson. “It’s not safe, I recommend at least 10 to 15 feet away from the house, not on a wooden deck.”

Additional fire safety tips are available through the American Red Cross.

The 2017 Symphony in the Flint Hills will be held Saturday, June 10 on the Deer Horn Ranch in Geary County.

Advance tickets for Geary, Riley and Dickinson County residents go on sale Tuesday ( Feb. 21 ) through Friday ( Feb. 24 ). You can get them at the convention and visitor’s bureau offices in Junction City and Abilene and at the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There is a maximum limit of six tickets per person, and they must be purchased in person. The tickets will be issued on a first-com, first-served basis. Payment will be by credit card only.

Tickets go on sale for the general public on March 4th. Phone and online orders will be taken then at 816-471-0400 and at www.kcsymphony.org.

The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra performs at Symphony in the Flint Hills. Also for this year’s finale, the sunset concert will feature the Kansas City Symphony with country western singer-songwriter Michael martin Murphey, who will share his passion for cowboy culture and grasslands conservation.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee will hold the first field hearing on the next farm bill this Thursday at 2 p.m. at McCain Auditorium at Kansas State University.

The committee is chaired by Kansas Senator Pat Roberts, but Roger Marshall, 1st District Congressman, will also be in attendance for the hearing. Marshall stated, “I think the first thing we need to do is figure out what’s working and what’s not working in the current farm bill. We’re going to do an evolution of the farm bill, not a revolution. ” Marshall added that, “crop insurance will continue to be the backbone of any type of farm bill.”

Marshall noted that the House and Senate Ag Committee chairs both want to get a farm bill written this year so that it can be implemented in 2018. Marshall also added he did not see anything happening overnight. If we crack open the farm bill we might end up with something worse. “What I’m going to be focused on is  trade and how can we improve and get going on bilateral trade agreements to help start moving some of these grains out of Kansas.”

The hearing in Manhattan will be webcast at ag.senate.gov.