The 4-H Food & Food Preservation Judging kicks off the Geary County Free Fair at 1 p.m. Monday. That will be followed by the 4-H Food Sale from 1:30 – 7 p.m.

The Monday lineup also includes the opening of the Money Pit for youth from 5-8 p.m., the United Way Chili contest setup at 5:30 and the contest from 6-7 p.m. with winners announced at 7:15 and the Pedal Pull is set for 7:30 p.m.

The fair runs through Thursday at the 4-H Center and arena just off South Spring Valley Road in Junction City.

Other activities ranging from the 4-H Bucket Calf Consultation and Beef Show at 7 p.m. Tuesday and the 4-H Swine Show at 7 p.m. Wednesday, to the 4-H Barbecue and Watermelon Feed from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Thursday and t he 4-H Project & Livestock Auction at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. There will also be a Ranch Rodeo Friday night at 7 p.m.

It was hot but that didn’t deter good crowds from attending the Junction City Rodeo both Friday and Saturday nights.

Rodeo Association President Darryl Blocker said even with the heat, “a lot of people showed up.”  On the turnout he added, “The seats were pretty full both nights and we had people sitting up in the grass too, so I say we did alright.”

Cowboys and cowgirls from both the local area and across the state participate in the rodeo and spend two days in Junction City. One bull rider covered the eight-second time required to successfully ride a bull in the bull riding event. There were some fast runs in the barrel racing as well.

Blocker said officials would like to do some upgrades to the arena next year.

The 2019 Junction City Rodeo Queen was crowned Saturday night. She is Rebecca Thornton, 18, Concordia, Kansas.

UPDATE:

The Kansas Highway Patrol has released information on the accident that occurred on Friday on I-70.

The driver of a Kenworth Semi-tractor trailer rig was Sahal Abdullahi Yusuf. 49, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was listed with a possible injury. Yusuf complained of pain. A passenger, Abdullahi Mohamud Sahal, 22, Minneapolis, Minnesota was not injured. They were traveling in a semi that was hit from behind by a Freightliner semi driven by Lorrie Ann Stevens, 59, Lenexa, Kansas.

Stevens was not injured but a passenger, Timothy Wayne Stevens, 59, Lenexa, was taken to Geary Community Hospital with what was listed as a suspected serious injury. He was in the sleeper berth at the time of the accident.

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Interstate 70 between Grandview Plaza and the Chestnut Street exit off I-70 at Junction City has been reopened to traffic.

The interstate was closed at that location for several hours after one semi-tractor trailer rig hit the rear end of another semi-tractor trailer rig. Haz-mat and then eventually Fort Riley personnel all responded to the scene along with emergency management and law enforcement personnel.

Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges said, “Fort Riley brought out their EOD and also their ammunition expert and they were able to offload using a trailer and loader to unload that wrecked semi that had the trailer damaged onto another trailer. “It was then escorted onto Fort Riley.

Fort Riley also issued a statement saying ammunition handlers / technicians from the post assisted Geary County Emergency Management in response to the vehicle crash. “A semi-trailer transporting military munitions between U.S. Army arsenals was involved and disabled.” Trained technicians from Fort Riley Logistics Readiness Center provided a replacement trailer to safely transfer the load which was transported and will be temporarily stored at the Fort Riley Ammunition Supply Point.

The Army said within three days, the civilian contracted trucking company is scheduled to pick up ammunition from Fort Riley ASP to complete their transport to the original destination.

During the closure of the interstate Berges confirmed there were two other accidents as traffic was diverted through Grandview Plaza and Junction City back to Interstate 70 farther west. He knew of no injuries in those accidents.

The heat made it difficult to work outside, said Berges. “It was hot. We checked, and at one point the heat index was over 103 out there. We had guys in special suits out there, kept everybody hydrated, tried to keep them in the shade and working as teams as much as possible.”

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Westbound I-70 from mile marker 298 to 299 near Junction City was closed earlier this morning due to semi-truck crashes, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

It is not known at this time how long the closure will take place. Motorists will follow the signed detour by lighted message boards. Traffic is being detoured through Grandview Plaza and through Junction City on Washington Street.

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Law enforcement and emergency management personnel responded to I-70 westbound between Grandview Plaza and the Chestnut Street exit at Junction City, mike marker 298 to 299 on Friday morning. Authorities confirm one semi-truck hit the rear end of another semi-truck.

One person sustained a minor injury and was transported to Geary Community Hospital. Following the accident all westbound traffic on the interstate was detoured through Grandview Plaza.

According to Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges one of the semi’s was carrying material that concerned authorities. “We’ve got the hazardous materials team through the State Fire Marshal’s out of Manhattan here to assist us. We’ve got EMS and Junction City Fire coming out as a standby while we take care of the problem.”

As more information becomes available we will update the story here at JC Post.

Aleeya Williams and Rylie Ellis have been named the Geary County 4-H Queens for the coming year. They were crowned at the close of the 4-H Public Revue Thursday night in Junction City.

Williams, who will be a senior at Chapman High School, is a member of the Lyons Creek 4-H Club. As far as the coming year is concerned she wants to provide a good influence for younger 4-H members. “I just hope to make a good impression on the future kids coming up that would be running for queen, and keep them entertained and having fun in 4-H.”

No 4-H king was named this year because there were no applications for the position so two queens were selected instead.

Ellis, who will be a junior at Junction City High School. “I really want to promote 4-H and give it a good face, and recruit new younger members and maybe some older ones. ” Ellis is a member of the Humboldt 4-H Club.

Extension Agent Ginger Kopfer estimated 50-60 youth participated in the Public Revue, where they modeled clothes they either purchased or made.  There were divisions with grand champions and reserve grand champions.

In Clothing Construction Eliot Oentrich was the Junior Division Grand Champion and Jacob Roeser Reserve Champion. Paige Roeser was the Intermediate Division Grand Champion and Tava Gustafson Reserve Champion.

In Constructed Fashion Revue Jacob Roeser was named Junior Division Grand Champion and Eliot Oentrich Junior Division Reserve Champion. Paige Roeser captured the Intermediate Division Grand Champion ribbon and Morgan Nabus Reserve Champion. For the Senior Division Jada Nabus was the Grand Champion.

In Boy’s Buymanship Brock Nabus was the Junior Division Grand Champion winner and Tyler Proietti Reserve Champion, Grady Oentrich Grand Champion in the Intermediate Division and Ethan Goodyear Reserve Champion, and in the Senior Division Marques Story was the Grand Champion and Calen Boller Reserve Champion.

In Girl’s Buymanship Olivia Kline was the Junior Division Grand Champion and Olivia Harold Reserve Champion, Karley Kramer Intermediate Grand Champion and Clara Gfeller Reserve Champion, and in the Senior Division Lindsey Ascher was the Grand Champion ribbon winner and Aleeya Williams the Reserve Champion.