All Geary County offices except the Transfer Station, will be closed on Monday, January 2 in observance of the New Year’s holiday. The Transfer Station will be open on Monday.
Regular hours for all offices will resume on Tuesday, January 3.
Category: Local
Manhattan gears up for annual New Year’s ‘Little Apple’ drop
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — The Little Apple is gearing up for a ball-drop event modeled after the one in New York’s Times Square.
Manhattan is staging its annual New Year’s Eve celebration in the Aggieville bar and entertainment district. Saturday’s festivities begin at 10:30 p.m. and include music and fireworks. The event culminates at midnight with the “Little Apple” drop.
It’s reminiscent of the ball drop in the Big Apple, a Times Square tradition for more than a century.
Walk Kansas Kicks off March 19 and Concludes May 13, 2017
This eight-week fitness program is available as an easy, inexpensive way to better health. Walk Kansas is designed to promote activity and better health for Kansans and detailed information can be found at www.walkkansas.org.
This is a team-based program in which groups of six people, one serving as a captain,work toward a common goal. That goal typically is for the team members to collectively meet the minimum goal for physical activity (150 miles per week as a team), to walk 423 miles over the eight-week period, the distance across Kansas.
Those teams that want a greater challenge can set a goal to walk the equivalent ofacross the state and back (846 miles) or around the perimeter of Kansas (1,200 miles).
Team members can walk individually or as a team. Participation incentives will beoffered through random drawings for teams that qualify. Individuals can purchase WalkKansas participation t-shirts and jackets if they choose.
Another feature of the program is the option to log servings of fruits and vegetableseaten weekly. For more information on how to register your team for this fun fitnessactivity, contact the Geary County K-State Research and Extension office to receive aregistration packet.
The cost to participate in Walk Kansas is $10. Registration packets for each team aredue back in the Geary County Extension office by March 10, 2017.
Fees:$10 per person
Ages/Grades:All ages in teams of 6 registrants.
Dates:March 19 – May 13, 2017
Registration:Due by 5:00 p.m. March 10 with payment for each team member.
Contact: Geary County K-State Research and Extension at 785-238-4161 for more information or to receive a team registration packet.
“Losers Aren’t Exactly Losers”..Learning for Future Leadership
City Commissioner Jim Sands is passionate about local youth activities – he’s been focusing on providing more opportunities for youth in basketball.
“What I want to do is provide more people the opportunity for basketball, maybe even intramural; but I want to give our kids the opportunity to play with other folks from different communities,” said Sands.
Sands said that speaking with a Lady Jay basketball player after the loss at Manhattan was eye opening. “She said that, ‘when we went to Manhattan and played basketball last weekend, they were like in a different league’ – and that’s what I want to give our folks, more opportunity to play a different style of basketball or a more competitive style of basketball; but if they continue to stay right here in town and think their level of basketball is the best there is, then they get blown out when they get to other communities.”
Sands said he wants to provide local youth with successful tools, and different coaching aspects – something it said will make them better all around people in future endeavors.
“Losers aren’t exactly losers, they’re learning for future leadership,” said Sands.
Drunk Driving: Costing You Money, Your Career, and Potentially Your Life
Don’t drink and drive.
According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during the first three decades of Americans’ lives. Prevention of drunk and impaired driving can reduce those statistics.
JCPD Captain Keith Fitzgerald said that New Year’s Eve celebrations a time of the year when many who are not regular “party-goers” may indulge in festivities surrounding alcohol.
“I suggest that if you’re going to go and have a few drinks for the evening that you make sure you have yourself a designated driver; or, if you’re going to sponsor a party, that you make a arrangements so that the people attending the party that do drink aren’t going to drive or [not] have a safe way home,” said Fitzgerald.
Law enforcement may not necessarily increase the patrol presence over the weekend, but they will be on the lookout for impaired drivers.
“It can be very expensive if you get picked up for driving under the influence in the state of Kansas,” said Fitzgerald. “First you’re going to pay for the bonds and all that stuff just to get out of confinement, it could cost you your career, then you’re going to have to have an attorney when you go to court if you so desire to go that route, and whatever it costs to defend yourself through the Municipal Court or District Court.”
In addition to the financial l
oss of drunk driving, it can cost you your life or the life of others.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving there were over 7000 DUI arrests in Kansas in the last year.
Be safe, plan ahead this New Year’s Eve – Don’t drink and drive.
Kansas woman hospitalized after car hits deer
CLAY COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 8a.m. on Wednesday in Clay County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Nissan Altima driven by Melody E. Vathauer, 25, Clay Center was eastbound Kansas 9 one mile east of Clifton.
The vehicle hit a deer.
EMS transported Vathauer to the hospital in Clay Center.
Details on seat belt usage were not available, according to the KHP.
Don’t Pass the Deficit Down to the Counties
The state of Kansas is facing a projected budget deficit of more than $350 million dollars in the next fiscal year.
Geary County Commissioner Florence Whitebread made a point to area legislators not to pass it down to the counties. Whitebread and other members of the commission met with legislators on Tuesday at the Geary County Office Building. She told JC Post, “We know the state has a big debt to pay off. Don’t send it back to the counties and expect the counties to supplement, and pay for things that the state should be covering. And I think that was the biggest message we tried to get across. The counties cannot absorb any more.”
State Senator Tom Hawk told JC Post the state has a budget that unfortunately has to be cut. ” AWe have to get our revenues straightened out. There’s a structural imbalance that we as legislators recognize. I think the county commissioners recognize that to. And that’s going to be the priority, and also have the school finance formula that has to be corrected and devised over this next session. The plate’s pretty full.”
The commission typically meets with area legislators on annual basis ahead of the upcoming session of the Kansas legislature.
Former United Way Executive Director Passes Away
The longtime executive director for Junction City – Geary County United Way, Ailleen Cray, died Tuesday. She was 68.
The announcement was made by United Way Board President Charles Volland.
Cray served as director from January of 2008 until the latter part of 2015. She resigned at that time due to health reasons.
Non-Injury Accident
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reported a single vehicle non-injury accident on Monday, December 26th.
Deputies responded to Range Road and Old 77 where Kelvin Turner of Milford, KS was traveling southbound in a 2003 GMC Sonoma when he struck a deer.
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In the 48 hour period from 7:00 am Saturday, December 24th, 2016 through 7:00 am Monday, December 26th deputies responded to or self-initiated a total of 57 incidents, resulting in 7 cases, 4 citations and 1 arrest.
Fall Semester Student Enrollment Down
Student enrollment at Kansas State University for the Fall semester fell short of expectations.
General Richard Myers, KSU President, said that officials are waiting to see how things turn out for the Spring semester.
“We were down several hundred in the Fall semester from what we were expecting, that’s a $4.5 to $5 million hit to our budget – we counted on that revenue, it’s not there; and yet, we have the same expenses, we haven’t laid anybody off, we haven’t stopped doing anything – so, we have these expenses, and that creates a real budget issue…so we’ve got folks looking at how we’re going to accommodate that,” said Myers.
Myers touched on a wide range of topics during an interview on the Manhattan campus.
K-State is currently on break for the Holidays.