HWY 77 (TUTTLE CREEK BLVD) IS CURRENTLY CLOSED BETWEEN MADISON RD (4 MILE CORNER/RILEY TURN OFF) AND BARTON RD DUE TO A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. PLEASE AVOID THE AREA.

GEARY COUNTY USD 475 – USD 475 in conjunction with local law enforcement, emergency management and Fort Riley first responders performed a ALICE drill today.

During the summer USD 475 enhanced its emergency response tactics by implementing the ALICE Training Institute Program into its Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP). ALICE stands for:

• Alert, notify authorities and those in harm’s way of the danger at hand.
• Lockdown, or shelter in place.
• Inform, give real-time updates.
• Counter, the attacker as a last resort.
• Educate, or get out!

The program is designed to give a person, or a group of people, who may find themselves in a violent, life threatening situation, some mental and physical tools that could play a vital role in their survival. The program is designed so that anybody can employ the strategies. Young, old, male, female, it does not matter. One does not have to be a police, or military trained in order to survive a violent encounter. He or she does not need to have a frame of reference from which to draw, when making life saving decisions under extreme pressure, much like preparing for a fire, tornado or earthquake.

USD 475 trained staff on how to implement the program over the summer and now each school is putting what they learned into practice with the help of a building level crisis team and the Director of Emergency Management, Scott Clark who is a retired fire chief officer.

Each school year a school will take one month to perform a series of drills. Those drills will include:

• Severe weather
• Fire
• ALICE

USD 475 partners with Geary County and Fort Riley first responders during all ALICE Drills.

The safety and security of all students and staff is our main priority and it is our hope that students and staff members become better decisions makers during a crisis to put themselves in the best position possible if there were an unfortunate situation were to occur within USD 475.

The United Way of Junction City – Geary County is in the midst of a fundraising campaign that includes Business Blitz week where local businesses embark in friendly competition pledging donations to the local organization.

Those monies are then divided amongst the many non-profits and organizations that the United Way assists in the local community.

One of those entities is the Salvation Army in Junction City.

Danielle Tettah, Salvation Army Director, said that the money received from the United Way helps with their emergency assistance funds.

“We help the local community with utilities such as gas, electric, water bills and rent – that is where the United Way dollars go; this community, Junction City and Geary County actually has a huge need with those bills especially during this time of the year,” said Tettah.

The Salvation Army is likely most well known for their bell-ringer fundraising campaign.

“I’ll be out all month long recruiting [volunteers],” said Tettah. “[The bell-ringing] starts on November 25th and ends on the 24th of December.”

If you are interested in volunteering to bell-ring for the Salvation Army call Danielle Tettah at 785-579-6250.

To donate to the United Way of Junction City-Geary County call 785-238-2117 or visit https://www.unitedwayjcgc.org/.

Donations received during the week of ‘Business Blitz Week’ will be advertised on 1420 KJCK AM radio station as well as JC Post.

For a list of all the agencies supported by the United Way of Junction City-Geary County click here.

UPDATE:

The Kansas Highway Patrol has reported that a 27-year old Milford woman, Andrea N. Jackson was injured and  transported to Stormont Vail Health Center in Topeka following a one-vehicle accident on US 77 Highway approximately four miles northwest of Junction City.

KPH stated that Jackson was driving a Hyundai Utility vehicle northbound on US 77. The vehicle drove off onto the right shoulder of the roadway, came back onto the road, the entered the east ditch and struck a tree sideways. The vehicle came to rest on its wheels facing north.

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Law enforcement and emergency personnel responded at 8:30 a.m. to a one-vehicle accident on US 77 Highway northwest of Junction City Wednesday morning.

Lifestar Helicopter was called in. JC Post has confirmed through Geary County Emergency Management that one person was transported to Stormont Vail Health Center in Topeka.

The site of the accident was on US 77 south of the Old Milford Road exit off of that highway.

The final signature has not occurred yet but the Geary County Commission has voted to approve the Chamber of Commerce master agreement.

Florence Whitebread, Commission Chair, said once it is signed by the city and county commissions it must go to the Attorney general for approval.

There were some minor changes in the agreement, explained Whitebread. “With one of them it said about the CVB and county employees that only the two original when the agreement was written they are still county employees. So anybody new joining them will be Chamber employees. That was one of them, and there were several others, just minor wording.”

There had been some concern and a call for discussion on the part of county commissioners Florence Whitebread and Larry Hicks on whether a consolidated chamber should continue, or whether the agencies under the chamber umbrella should operate separately. But those issues were reviewed and the consolidated chamber will continue to operate.

As the new Irwin Army Community Hospital prepares to open, Senator Jerry Moran was among those who worked to keep the behind-schedule project in the spotlight and moving forward. He tried to keep the pressure on the completion of the project.

Moran told JC Post, “Well we sure worked to do that because things were taking way too long, and it didn’t seem to me that there was significant effort at resolution. I visited the new hospital to be many times, mostly trying to keep the pressure on the Army to know that somebody was paying attention. Certainly the commanding general at Fort Riley took charge and made things happen. But I also was successful in having a conversation with the Army Chief of Staff, General Milley, who took a real interest in this and reached out to the Corps of Engineers and others within the Army to make sure that things began to happen. We can certainly analyze problems in the way that the process went on, but the real news today is that the day has finally arrived in which the hospital is going to be open and that we’re going to be serving Soldiers and their families in the Fort Riley community.”

Moran noted this project is also a reminder of the tremendous commitment, and makes it much more difficult for anyone thinking that Fort Riley might be downsized in the future. “The investment that’s been made in housing, in education and now in healthcare makes that much more difficult to make the case that anything should happen negative at Fort Riley.”

Moran will attend the ribbon cutting for the new hospital at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The new hospital begins serving patients Monday.

The ribbon cutting for the new Irwin Army Community Hospital is set for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Fort Riley.

The long delay project is finally completed. The new hospital is a 550,669-square-foot facility that will provide Soldier, retiree and family inpatient and outpatient care, emergency medicine and a variety of clinical support.

The new hospital provides 45-percent more space than the legacy building, allowing consolidation of services from buildings currently spread across Fort Riley. It has 20 medical or surgical beds, vs. 17 in the legacy; 13 labor, delivery, recovery, postpartum beds vs. eight; 19 beds in the emergency room vs. 12; and two obstetrical operating rooms vs. one.

The hospital will be providing service to patients next Monday, October 17.