POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – Three people were injured in an accident just before 10:30 a.m. on Monday in Pottawatomie County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Ford Taurus driven by Carl Joseph Behrens, 40, Wamego, was eastbound on U.S. 24 in the slow lane and struck a 2007 Ford Focus driven by Alyssa Jade McCormack, 15, Saint George, that was southbound crossing U.S. 24 on Blackjack Road.
McCormack and a passenger Kyla McCormack, 13, Saint George, were transported to the hospital in Manhattan.
Behrens was transported to the hospital in Wamego.
All three were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Application forms for the 2016-17 Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program class are now available. You can obtain one by visiting the Flint Hills Regional Leadership website at www.fhrlp.org. Forms must be submitted by July 18.
The program is open to people working in or living within the region that includes Fort Riley, Geary, Riley, and Pottawatomie counties. Adults seeking to gain the skills to get more involved in the decision making process and a desire to increase awareness of the challenges, successes and opportunities in the region are encouraged to apply.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Deputies responded to the Geary County Detention Center for a possible battery.
After an investigation Brandale Williams Jr., Junction City, was arrested for suspicion of Kidnapping, Criminal Threat, Intimidation of a Witness or Victim and Battery.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University is helping the fight against Zika virus through mosquito research.
The university’s Biosecurity Research Institute is taking a two-part approach: Researchers are studying mosquitoes to understand how they become infected with Zika virus and researchers are providing the virus to collaborative organizations for further study.
The university research is key to fighting Zika virus because it can develop better methods for controlling the mosquitoes that spread the virus, said Stephen Higgs, director of the Biosecurity Research Institute.
“We are hoping to provide some answers and insights into the relationship between Zika virus and the mosquito,” Higgs said.
Since Zika virus emerged in Brazil last year, the U.S. has seen more than 700 cases, including the first case in Kansas in March.
The Biosecurity Research Institute has had Zika virus isolates for several years, but has started conducting collaborative research because of the recent outbreak. University scientists have been growing samples of the virus and antibodies and providing them to collaborators for further research into vaccines and diagnostics.
“Countries are spending resources to control the spread of mosquitoes, we want to make sure we are controlling the right mosquitoes in the right way,” Higgs said. “This research can help us target the particular species of mosquitoes that we know are carriers of Zika virus.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified two mosquito species that transmit Zika virus: Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquito, and Aedes albopictus, or Asian tiger mosquito. Both mosquitoes are widely distributed in the U.S. and are present in Kansas. These two mosquito species live close to people and can breed in houses, said Higgs, who also has studied chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that has a similar transmission cycle to that of Zika virus.
At the Biosecurity Research Institute, Higgs and university scientists are gathering details about how Zika virus interacts with different mosquitoes. Researchers are studying how long after a mosquito feeds on a blood meal that it can transmit Zika virus. The amount of time is unknown for Zika virus, but with other viruses it can range from five days to two weeks. Similarly, the research can show how much virus a person needs to have in their blood in order to infect a mosquito. If mosquitoes feed on a relatively low level, they may not become infected.
Only 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus show symptoms, Higgs said, but it is possible that even people without symptoms may have enough virus in the blood to infect mosquitoes.
“As we learn how much virus is in human blood, knowing how much virus needs to be in the blood in order to infect a mosquito will tell us at what point after infection a person can infect another mosquito and for how long,” Higgs said. “It is important to know these details because it can help us develop better controlling measures.”
But there are still many unanswered questions relating to Zika virus, Higgs said. It is still unknown exactly what human cells are affected by the virus, if livestock are affected by the virus, what other transmission mechanisms are possible and when a vaccine may be available.
The Biosecurity Research Institute can help answer some of those questions and is equipped to handle any vaccine studies as well as diagnostic studies, Higgs said.
“This research is important to prepare us long-term for the next virus that comes,” Higgs said. “We can’t predict what that will be, but there will be something else that will be introduced and we need effective surveillance programs to help control them. We need the fundamental research and applied research that we can get here at the Biosecurity Research Institute.”
Fireworks can be legally discharged in Geary County beginning June 27 ( Monday ) through July 5.
Sheriff Tony Wolf said in the rural area you can only shoot them off on private property with permission of the land owner. “That doesn’t mean you can drive out on an abandoned road somewhere and set off your fireworks, or some right-of-way along the edge of the roadway. That’s not legal. You cannot do that. You can only do it on private property with the permission of the land owner.”
There are no set hours for the discharge of fireworks in the rural area of the county. In Junction City there are set hours. They can be discharged on private property Sunday through Thursday, except July 4, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday, Saturday, and on July 4 from 8 a.m. to midnight.
Fireworks may not be discharged in Junction City on public streets, parks, other public property, or where expressly prohibited by posted signs. Fireworks may not be discharged within 300 feet of Heritage Park in any direction during the entire period of time of the “Sundown Salute” celebration.
Sundown Salute activities are in full swing the latter part of this upcoming week.
Christian Night performances Thursday will include Todd Agnew at 7 p.m. and Among the Thirsty at 8:15 p.m. Also on Thursday evening the Junction City firefighters will conduct their Hot Dog feed from 6-7 p.m. It is free for the first 500 people.
The Ottaway Carnival opens its five day run at 6 p.m. Thursday in the downtown area.
The concerts Friday through Sunday range from Boogie Wonderland at 9 p.m. Friday to Thunderhead – A Tribute to Rush at 9 p.m. Saturday, and to the Sundown Salute headline performer Bret Michaels at 9 p.m. Sunday.
A full day of activities are also planned on Monday July 4, including the Coors Freedom Run 5K and 10K at 7 a.m., the annual parade at 10 a.m., the Veteran’s Ceremony at noon, evening performances of H3O at 6:45 and Hells Bells at 8:45, followed by a fireworks extravaganza at 10:15 p.m.
The Junction City Police Department has reported the arrest of two Colorado Springs, Colorado residents at an I-70 location approximately 16 miles east of Junction City.
According to the JCPD Libaldo Leon Horta, 42, Colorado Springs was arrested on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, No Drug Tax Stamp, Unsafe Lane Change and Following Too Close. Also, Edwin Portalatin-Acevedo, 28, Colorado Springs, was arrested on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Sell, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and No Drug Tax Stamp. The arrests occurred Friday afternoon.
In other cases the JCPD reported the arrest of Thomas Scott Colgate, 24, Junction City, on suspicion of Unlawful Distribution of Marijuana, Possession of Marijuana, No Seat Belt, Possession of Hydrocodone and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and the arrest of Robert Michael Searles, 18, Junction City, on suspicion of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Unlawful Distribution of Marijuana and Possession of Marijuana. Both of those arrests occurred in the 100 block of West Elm Street on Friday afternoon.
