Renovation of Hale Library at Kansas State University continues to move forward following the May 18, 2018 fire that caused extensive damage to the facility.

The K-State Alumni Association has provided information on the recovery effort for the library. The Dave and Ellie Everitt Learning Commons on the first floor will open this fall and the second floor is schedueld to open at the beginning of the spring semester, followed shortly after that by the fifth floor. The final phase to be completed will be the 1927 historic Farrell Library restoration. The entire project should be completed by the end of 2020.

Not all of the furniture was a total loss in the fire. Some of the tables were salvaged and are stored on the second floor in the Farrell Library area.

Most of the library’s 1.5 million items ( books ) are in storage units in the limestone caves underneath Kansas City. The cleaning process is ongoing. Those boxes of material are rotated through a facility near the Manhattan Regional Airport where they’re cleaned by hand one at a time, and treated in an ozone chamber. They’re then reboxed and sent back to a storage unit filled with clean boxes. At this time more than 65 percent of the Hale Library collection is clean.

Funds donated to the Help for Hale campaign will be used to create improved study spaces, group study rooms, for more white boards and for more outlets.

The 10-5-2 Prairie Run will be held July 27th at Fort Riley, starting at King Field House. This event will provide runners options of three different courses including a 10-mile, 5-mile and 2-mile race. Discount registration is available through Tuesday, July 9th.

The Army said for active-duty Soldiers, the 10-mile race will serve as a qualifier for Fort Riley’s team that will compete in the Army 10-miler in Washington D.C. in October.

All three of the races are open to both military and civilian runners. For the two-mile run only, strollers will be permitted on the course. No pets or bicycles will be allowed on the course.

Registration is available online at https://riley.armymwr.com and costs $20 through July 9th. After July 9th, registration will cost $25. Active-duty Soldiers registering for the 10-mile race do not have to pay the registration fee. Runners 17 and under can also register for any of the
three races for free. Soldiers in the 10-miler and all runners with paid registration will receive a race t-shirt. Shirt sizes can only be guaranteed for those registering by July 9th.

Runners who don’t register online before July 27 can sign up on race day at King Field House, between 6 and 6:45 a.m. Races begin at 7 a.m.

For those participants without a DoD ID card, enter the installation at Henry Gate at the Marshal Army Airfield, Exit 301 off of I-70. As you enter the gate stay in the far right lane. You will see a guard in a safety vest and you will tell him that you are coming on Fort Riley for the 10-5-2 race. Do ensure that all people in your vehicle have a driver’s license or government issued identification ready. Youth 15 years old or younger will not be required to present an ID.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department said Deputies responded to Brinkley Road and Luttman Road at 9:38 p.m. Thursday for a vehicle that had been driven into flood water.

Bailey Rodgers of Fort Riley was driving a Chevrolet Silverado on Luttman Road but was unable to stop before realizing the roadway was muddy and covered by flood water. As a result the Silverado slid in the water and became fully submerged.

Deputies were able to get Rodgers along with a passenger Damen Nowak, Fort Riley, to safety. Captain David Gilbert said the two people in the vehicle were able to safely swim to the shoreline.

The National Weather Service said the flood stage for the Smoky Hill River near Junction City is 22 feet. The river is forecast to have a maximum value of 23.4 feet early Saturday morning.

At 22 feet water spreads over north and south banks of the Smoky Hill Rier and lowlands near the river flood.

Junction City police said this week that they have received reports of a person calling and identifying himself as a Deputy or Officer. The caller stated that the person receiving the call has a warrant for their arrest. He instructs theperson to purchase money card at a local store and gives them the account numbers.

Police said this is a scam. Neither the JCPD or the Geary County Sheriff’s Department will call you and ask for payment of any kind. Anytime you receive a call asking you to purchase money cards it is a scam.

Police urged discussion with friends and family about this issue so no one else falls victim.

We were reminded on the 4th of July to remember the dream of the Founding Fathers for this nation.

1st Infantry Division Deputy Commanding Officer for Support, Colonel Thomas O’Connor, said we need to “think hard about our responsibility as citizens to continue to be worthy of that dream.”

O’Connor noted the 4th of July celebration is about our freedom we enjoy as Americans.  He spoke during the Veterans ceremony held as part of the Sundown Salute activities.

The backdrop for the ceremony was the Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Heritage Park. “The wreath laid on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial today pays tribute to the proud veterans who have protected our great nation and its’ dream of freedom.”

The wreath was placed in front of the Memorial which bears the names of 753 Kansans killed in action in Vietnam and 38 who are missing in action.