A 20-year old Junction City man, Michael White, has been given a controlling term of 192 months in prison. It was handed down in Geary County District Court on Monday.
Steve Opat, Geary County Attorney, said White had been charged with being the ringleader in two different series of different robberies. “One that occurred out by Milford Lake, and the other one that occurred here in Junction City. And what they were basically doing was ripping off other small time drug participants as it were. ” Opat added, “The problem was that on either occasion did the people involved have any drugs. So what they ended up doing was taking their personal property, their belongings, and their money.”
Opat confirmed White was convicted of two counts of Aggravated Robbery and one count of Criminal Threat. Opat said both robberies were at gunpoint, and two other defendants were convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Robbery.
White has also been ordered to undergo three years post release supervision after he is released from prison. He was given 182 days prior time credit.
Congresssman Tim Huelskamp visited Fort Riley Monday morning where he escorted Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, of Missouri’s 4th District, on a tour of the installation.
Hartzler is the chair of the House Armed Services Committee Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations.
Congressman Tim Huelskamp, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, Chair of the House of Armed Services Committee SubCommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Hartzler says her initial impressions of Fort Riley were very positive.
“I was very impressed with seeing this wonderful, historic installation…I was very impressed with seeing all of the training capabilities here and the unique capabilities we have here…it’s just very impressive and an important assest to our nation,” said Hartzler.
Hartzler went on to say the “great family life here” was so important to the effectivess of Fort Riley.
“It’s so important that we take care of that war-fighter and his/her family,” noted Hartzler who commented that she was “blessed to be able to be here [at Fort Riley].”
Hartzler said that all of the Sub-Committee chairmen are visiting various installations in their districts.
“We’re going to go back with the Armed Services Committee and put together a report or a snapshot of the state of our readiness right now; we’ve been at war for many years as a nation, we’ve been seeing decreased funding for our national defense over the last six years and at the same time our threats have been escalating and it’s concerning to us,” said Hartzler.
Hartzler said they want to ensure that troops are ready to deploy and have the resources they need as the chairmen go forward with budget and funding decisions.
Congressman Huelskamp said he’s looking forward to new leadership in the White House.
“I’m mostly worried about the role of Fort Riley…we did very well in the round of changes that the Obama administration proposed but we’re looking forward to new leadership in the White House – and for the Army to move in the correct direction with new leadership and making sure [of] Fort Riley’s critical mission of training,” said Huelskamp.
Huelskamp went on to say, “One thing that’s so great [about] having my colleague (Hartzler) here is that we don’t have a member of the House or Senate Armed Services Committee and we haven’t had somebody for 10 years, so having her come out here is a great opportunity for us to show off and promote Fort Riley and it’s impact here on the community.”
Garrison Public Affairs officials have announced that the post will conduct a full-scale emergency preparedness exercise Wednesday, July 20 throughout the day at Fort Riley.
The exercise is a way to test and train installation emergency preparedness.
Installation Management Command requires each Army installation to conduct
an annual full-scale exercise to test, sync and evaluate all emergency
response processes and procedures.
Residents, employees and community members should be aware there will be an
increase in emergency response vehicles during the exercise.
Additionally, certain roads on Camp Funston may be closed to through traffic
as part of the exercise. Drivers should be prepared for detours and allow
extra time when traveling on post in any area marked with exercise signs.
Members of the Junction City Police Department, Geary County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Highway Patrol will be conducting DUI Check Lanes Friday and Saturday, 072216 and 072316. The focus is to detect and deter Drunk Drivers and arrest those over the legal limit.
Kansas law enforcement takes drunken driving very seriously year round because of the unacceptable toll it takes on lives and property. Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. is a national campaign organized by NHTSA, which focuses on combining high-visibility enforcement with heightened public awareness efforts. The campaign is designed to remind motorists that impaired driving is no accident, and will not be dealt with lightly.
Impaired driving continues to be a social scourge that kills and maims thousands of Americans every year. Every hour, drivers are arrested for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated and for many, this will not be their first offense. Nationwide, one person every 39 minutes, approximately 37 people a day, or more than 13,000 people each year die in traffic crashes involving a vehicle driver or a motorcycle operator with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher, which is the legal limit across all of the United States.
DUI convictions stay on your driving record for life.
Convictions can show up on all background checks and employment screenings.
Year to year, state to state, your DUI history follows you wherever you go.
GEARY COUNTY- A Junction City teen was injured in an accident just before 8:30a.m. on Sunday in Geary County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1990 Kawasaki motorcycle driven by Jeryl Keth Denton, 19, Junction City, was eastbound on Interstate 70 and exited at Humboldt Creek Road.
The rider lost control on the ramp. The motorcycle entered the north side of the ramp and the rider was ejected.
Denton was transported to Geary Community Hospital.
There were plenty of thrills at the Junction City Rodeo Saturday night.
The bleacher seating was full to overflowing as the fans watched the cowboys and cowgirls show their rodeo skills.
No one successfully rode a bull the allotted eight seconds in the senior division, but in the mini-bull riding Blake Vercher, 15, captured top honors in that competition both Friday and Saturday. He rode for the full eight seconds both times. On Saturday night’s ride he said, “Mostly he bucked off pretty smooth. I was spurring him which put me in the lead by one point.”
Vercher said the mini-bulls weight about 800 pounds. The excitement of riding the bulls is a draw for Blake. “Mostly for the adrenaline rush, that it feels great, bucking, it feels like flying some times.”
In the barrel racing junior division nine-year old Taylor Gustafson captured top honors with a time of 18.3 seconds. That drew a big round of applause from the large audience. Junction City Rodeo Association Vice President Jason Lankas noted Gustafson defeated the older girls who were riding. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Emmie Noyes, Holyrood, was named the Rodeo Queen.
There were some minor injuries including one case where one person was hit by a horn in the back, but no one had to be transported to a hospital.
The Cove Lakeside Bar & Grill celebrated it’s Grand Opening Friday night with a ribbon cutting ceremony that was sponsored by the Junction City Chamber of Commerce.
Mike Harris, owner of the bar and grill said this was a dream for many years.
“It’s been in the works since I put in a bid to the Army Corps of Engineers, a request for proposal, and that was back in 2005…and it’s always been a part of the plan, however, it didn’t come to fruition until May time frame when we actually opened up for our soft opening and we’ve been working through that to get to the Grand Opening tonight, so it’s been in the pipeline, it’s been in the works for over 10 years, but it’s finally arrived,” said Harris.
The Bar and Gril, which is located at Acorn’s Resort on the east side of Milford Lake in the Farnum Creek area, features a laid back atmosphere for indoor and outdoor dining.
Harris said that he had his family in mind when he came up with the concept for the restaurant.
“When [we] go on vacations, this is the type of place we look for…my mindset the whole time was to have a great view of the water, of the lake and it’s a lake atmosphere out here and so far everybody’s enjoyed it,” said Harris.
The Grand Opening was capped with a live band at 9:00 pm.
A 20-year old Junction City man, Michael White, has been given a controlling term of 192 months in prison. It was handed down in Geary County District Court on Monday.
