WABAUNSEE COUNTY – One person was injured in an accident just after 7:30a.m. on Saturday in Wabaunsee County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Subaru WRX driven by Brandon Perque, 32, Marrero, LA., was eastbound on Interstate 70 just west of the Wamego exit.
The driver lost control while passing a semi.
The Subaru spun out in the roadway and was hit head-on by the semi.
Perque was transported to the hospital in Topeka. The semi driver was not injured.
The Geary County Sheriff Department has issued a report on three accidents in a two-mile stretch of I-70 approximately 15 to 16 miles east of Junction City.
–Deputies responded to Interstate 70 mile marker 314 at 10:43 p.m. Friday for a jack knifed tractor trailer.
Moreno A. Josean of Florida was driving a 2016 Volvo Tractor eastbound and lost control due to the ice covered roadway.
–Deputies responded to I-70 mile marker 313 at 12:09 a.m. Saturday for a three vehicle non-injury accident. Upon arrival only one vehicle, a Honda Pilot driven by Connie Seigman-Jones of Indianapolis, Indiana, was still on the scene. Two other vehicles involved left the scene.
–At 12:41 a.m. Saturday Deputies responded to a two vehicle non-injury accident on I-70 eastbound mile marker 313 exit ramp.
Jared Schroeder was driving a 2010 Dodge 5500 that slid into stationary 2012 Toyota Prius on the off ramp. The driver of the Toyota was Angela Brouhard. That vehicle sustained heavy driver side damage.
Weather related postponements, cancellations and schedule notes:
–The Sunset Zoo in Manhattan is closed on Sunday due to the recent winter weather.
—The Flint Hills Church first service at 9:30 a.m. has been cancelled. The 11:15 a.m. service will be held as scheduled.
–-There will be no 9 a.m. church service or Sunday School at the Church of the Nazarene in Junction City on Sunday. There will be a 10:30 a.m. church service.
—The band concert by the 1st Infantry Division and Junction City Community Band will be held as scheduled Saturday night at the C. L. Hoover Opera House. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is free with seating on a first-come first-served basis. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m.
–The Junction City Blue Jay wrestling team did not travel to Emporia for the Emporia Classic wrestling invitational.
–The Junction City Board of Realtors have cancelled their Christmas party that was scheduled Saturday night.
The Junction City Police Department has reported multiple accidents have occurred in Geary County during the late evening and morning hours due to icy roads. No injuries have been reported. JCPD Dispatch confirmed As of 8:30 a.m. there had been more than 25 accidents.
City, County and KDOT crews have treated roads that became icy after freezing drizzle fell.
Drive carefully, especially at intersections, bridges and overpasses.
The Kansas Department of Transportation reports that:
If all goes well and the weather cooperates, traffic on US-77 at the I-70 Interchange at Junction City will be rerouted to more accurately resemble the final configuration of the new Divergent Diamond Interchange Tuesday, December 20, 2016.
The permanent signals are scheduled to be activated at the same time. Traffic will still experience temporary lane closures while curb and gutter, median caps, etc. are completed and for the removal of the temporary asphalt crossing no longer needed.
Plans call for final construction activity in the area of the interchange to be completed in the next few weeks weather permitting.
This interchange is near the Sapp Brothers/A&W location in Junction City.
December 15, 2016 – After a nine-month process consisting of extensive stakeholder engagement and thorough analysis of the regional economy, the Matrix Design Group/Hexad Analytics team has completed the “Community Impacts Associated with Army Personnel Reductions (CIAR) at Fort Riley Report.
” The Flint Hills Regional Council (FHRC) received a grant from the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) to study the economic impacts of the reduction of 2,345 personnel between 2014 and 2017 on Fort Riley and the surrounding region. The study area consists of five counties and eight municipalities: Riley, Geary, Pottawatomie, Clay, and Dickinson counties; Chapman, Clay Center, Junction City, Manhattan, Ogden, Riley, Wakefield, and Wamego.
The analysis considers the impacts of these losses in isolation over a five-year period, independent of other changes in the economy, assuming the installation is fully manned. The analysis also simulated potential impacts if further personnel reductions were to occur at Fort Riley, though none are currently planned. The analysis estimates that the defense economy throughout the study area prior to the drawdown accounted for $4.5 billion annually – roughly 45% of the region’s total economy. The impact of the loss of 2,345 personnel and their families is impacting the regionally economy approximately $580 million through fiscal year (FY) 2019.
The report makes 11 recommendations for leveraging the economy of Fort Riley and the region to strengthen the area’s economy and improve its position to grow in the future. These recommendations include working together as a region and retaining soldiers separating from Fort Riley to expand the region’s workforce. Each jurisdiction in the study area is impacted differently, so the data collected through this analysis is broken down by jurisdiction.
The full report can be found at www.flinthillsCIAR.com and at the Flint Hills Regional Council website, www.flinthillsregion.org.
Hazardous winter weather is forecast for today and through the weekend.
Tonight expect freezing drizzle with snow accumulating on Saturday. A few hours of heavy, 1” per hour snow rates, is possible Saturday. Snow totals will likely be between 2 to 4 inches. The most likely time for the heaviest snow will be between noon and 6:00 pm. North wind gusts of up to 30 mph should cause the snow to blow around.
Dangerously cold wind chills are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Wind chill values during the day will be between -5 and -15 degrees and will drop between -15 and -25 degrees over the weekend. Temperatures this cold could lead to frostbite of unprotected skin in about 30 minutes.
If you have to be outside this weekend for any point in time, wear the proper protective clothing – coat (layer clothing underneath), hat, gloves, scarves. Limit time spent outdoors.
Use caution when traveling or driving and make sure you have an emergency kit inside your vehicle.
Roads may be icy, driving visibility may be limited -use caution.
**Information and visuals displayed are from the National Weather Service in Topeka
The Junction City High School JROTC and the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery at Fort Riley – Manhattan will honor fallen veterans and their loved ones by hosting the Wreaths Across America program this Saturday, December 17th.
The ceremony, which begins at 11:00 am at the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at 5181 Wildcat Creek Road in Manhattan, is free and open to the public
Immediately following the ceremony families and volunteers will place holiday wreaths at the veteran’s burial sites in honor of the sacrifices they made for the country.
During the 24 hour period occurring on December 15th, 2016 49 calls for service were answered , 2 citations were issued, and 4 arrests were made.
Officers responded to the area of 1202 County Club Lane for a death investigation. No additional details are available.
Officers responded to 115 W. 12th Street for alleged domestic battery charges. Forty five year old Stacy Lynn Sotddard and Richard Christopher Leistener, 44, Saint George, KS, were arrested.
Chrystal June Gibson, 33, Junction City, was arrested shortly before 1:30 pm at 715 Southwind Drive on suspicion of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia.
Geary County Commissioner Larry Hicks was not injured when his vehicle rolled three times at an I-70 location approximately 20 miles east of Junction City on Friday morning.
Hicks told JC Post he was enroute to Topeka when his vehicle hit a patch of black ice. “My car took off. I tried to do what you’re trained to do, pad the brakes lightly and turn the wheel in the other direction, but the car was traveling at a high rate of speed. I rolled not once, twice but three times and was pinned in the car before I knew anything had happened.”
Hicks credits two members of the general public for freeing him from the vehicle which was turned upside down in the median of the interstate. They had to break a window on the passenger side of the car and then pulled the commissioner from the vehicle, a 2000 Lincoln Town Car, which was totaled. He did not know the identity of the two men.
Hicks was wearing a seat belt. “Thank God that I was wearing it because had I not been I could have been killed or the victim of a serious injury.” Riley County police responded to the accident.
Other accidents were reported on icy roads in Riley County on Friday, including one in the northern part of that county that resulted in one person being transported to a hospital.
