Fort Riley is hosting the annual “Safety Fair” June 17th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Riley’s Conference Center.

The event aims to promote safety awareness and enhance the readiness of civilian employees and family members.

The event promotes useful information with simulators, demonstrations, and hands-on displays and booths with safety awareness videos, handouts and brochures.

This year’s highlights include:

• ATVs – Riders learn basic knowledge about operating ATVs and importance of safety gear and appropriate clothing
• Seatbelt Convincer – Demonstrations on what can happen during a crash if seatbelts aren’t worn
• Rollover Simulator – Demonstrates impact of not wearing seatbelt in a vehicle rollover
• Motorcycle Simulator – Skill demonstration for operating a motorcycle
• Car Seat Check – Assistance in ensuring proper installation of child restraint system; provided by the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office
• Boater, Grilling and Sports Safety
• Kitchen Fire Demonstration – Shows how to react and extinguish a kitchen/stove fire
• Fire Extinguisher Use
• Hazardous Plants and Animal Safety
• Identity Theft Information – provided by Armed Forces Bank
• Confibed Spaces – provided by Barton Community College
• Emergency Preparedness Kits
• Family Advocacy – Offers domestic violence prevention program and education 

The Corps of Engineers has informed JC Post that the outflow at Milford Lake will be reduced Thursday afternoon from 6,000 cubic feet per second down to 200 cubic feet per second.

The Lake had been 10-feet high, but outflows that were initially set at 8,000 cubic feet per second several days ago have reduced the lake level to 1,144.28 feet. That’s just below the normal conservation pool level of 1,144.40 feet.

Water had been held back at Milford Lake to prevent downstream flooding, resulting in the earlier high lake level.

RILEY COUNTY – Investigators are working to determine the cause of a large garage fire on Thursday morning in Riley County.

Just after 2 a.m., fire crews responded to a rural residence at 6660 North 52nd Street and found the garage fully engulfed in flames, according to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins.

In addition minor damage to the siding of the house, two vehicles were lost in the fire.

Damage is estimated at approximately $210,000, according to Collins.

There were no injuries reported

WASHINGTON – More than one year after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) included the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) on its annual list of “High-Risk” federal agencies, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) joined a bipartisan group of eleven senators in writing Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Dr. David Shulkin to raise their ongoing concerns regarding veterans’ timely access to quality VA health care. The senators urged the agency to take both short and long-term action to address the issues raised in the GAO report.

Sen. Moran and others asked the agency to promptly issue a comprehensive scheduling directive to address immediate wait times and healthcare access issues. The group also requested that the agency streamline operations and map out an aggressive and comprehensive strategy to resolve chronic risks identified by the GAO.

“More than a year has passed since the GAO identified VHA as vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, and in need of transformation, based on five serious, long-standing and well documented deficiencies,” the group wrote. “As a result of these deficiencies, VHA was included on GAO’s list of “High-Risk” federal agencies. This letter sets out the three critical steps you must take to restore our confidence that VHA can resolve the chronic risks identified for veterans’ access to quality VA health care.”

Today’s letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

Click here to read the full letter to Under Secretary Shulkin.

The Kansas Legislature will meet in special session on June 23 to address a court order to increase funding for public schools.

The Kansas Supreme Court has threatened to close public schools after June 30 if more funding is not authorized for poor districts.

In Junction City the Director of the Military Affairs Council for the Chamber of Commerce, John Seitz, is concerned. He noted with military troop deployments approaching for Fort Riley soldiers, families need to start making decisions about what they’ll do while their soldier is deployed. “They all love the schools here, but if there’s any question they might not open they make the option of say hey, let’s go home to Mama or go someplace where we know the schools are going to open.”

Seitz added those families might not return. “No telling how much longer their spouse is going to be assigned at Fort Riley. They may opt to be somewhere else.”

Seitz added he believes the schools will be open and it will not be a problem. He also noted, “When you don’t know and you don’t trust the sytem as some people may be it could be a serious problem.”

UPDATE:

Westar Energy has estimated that 3,000 sites lost electric service between 9:45 and 10:20 p.m. Wednesday night in Junction City. Electric service has been restored to everyone in Junction City.

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Gusty winds blew through Geary County Wednesday evening with a storm system. That resulted in a number of power outages in Junction City.

According to Westar Energy there were three outages, but that led by mid evening to more than 1,080 customers not receiving electricity. More outages occurred in the late evening.

As of 6 a.m. Thursday six customers still did not have electricity.

A check with the JCPD revealed no other problems.

A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for northern and northwest Dickinson County early Wednesday evening. But it expired at 7:30 p.m. after the storm cell weakened.

Multiple heavy rain – wind cells moved through the Cloud, Clay, and Dickinson County area.

RILEY COUNTY – A Manhattan man was injured in an accident just before 4p.m. on Wednesday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2011 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by Nicholas Edward Cook, 36, was eastbound on Kansas 18 four miles west of Manhattan.

The motorcycle traveled into the south ditch, struck a delineator post and the driver was ejected.

Cook was transported to Via Christi.

He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

The Northeast Kansas Notification System sent out an alert about 2 p.m. Wednesday. An accident occurred in the area of mile marker 184 on K-18 Highway in Riley County.  As a result traffic was temporarily reduced to one lane only in the eastbound lanes.

As of 4:55 p.m. traffic was backed up to near Interstate 70 to the west.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported the arrest of four people in connection with a May 1 residential burglary at the 1012 Lakeview Street residence of Jason R. Day in Milford.

Sheriff Tony Wolf stated that a month long investigation into the case has led to the arrest of Raymond Lee Wood and Ciara Carroll both of Wamego, Logan Hardie of Riley and a juvenile on suspicion of Burglary and Felony Theft.

Wolf stated, “A large amount of guns that were removed in this burglary, any items of value really that they could take.”

During the investigation the Sheriff’s Department executed numerous search warrants in Wamego, St. Marys and Topeka where some of the stolen property has been recovered. Several firearms were stolen during the burglary and have not been recovered, but are believed to have been transported to Topeka.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Deprtment was assisted by the Riley County Police Department, Topeka Police Department, St. Mary’s Police Department and Wamego Police Department during the investigation. If the public has information on this case contact the Geary County Sheriff’s office at 785-238-2261 or call Crime Stoppers at 762-tips.