The public is invited to take a journey back in time and hear a character presentation from Albert Einstein, Anne Frank or even Jackie Robinson.
5th and 6th grade students at Apostolic Academy will be showcasing History, English, research and public speaking skills on May 18th, 19th and 20th. The Historical presentations will be held at Riddle Hall, 2512 Rucker Road, Junction City.
Wednesday the 18th Caleb Huggins will deliver a narrated portrayal of WWII history at Normandy Beach followed by Jermaine Baker who will deliver comments while impersonating Albert Einstein
Thursday the 19th Anthony Sheared is speaking on a depiction of the September 11th Twin Tower attack. Jaslyn Nash is scheduled to impersonate Anneliese (Anne) Frank.
On Friday the 20th Deontae Baker will represent Jackie Robinson on the ball field and in personal comments. Moriah Palmer will portray and address her discoveries concerning the Lewis & Clark Expedition and Johnny Baker will conclude the day with commentary on Desert Storm.
The public is invited to attend, enjoy the short skits, costumes and topics at 1:30PM daily May 18th through the 20th.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Deputies responded to I-70 303 exit and Clarks Creek Road for a single vehicle minor injury accident.
This was reported at 6:50 a.m. Thursday.
Riley Foster, Salina, was driving a Pontiac Grand Am when the vehicle left the roadway.
By JIM PORTER Kansas State Board of Education, District 9
We are consistently hearing from those political leaders who are resisting what many of us consider to be the adequate funding of education that schools are receiving more state support than ever and that support is increasing every year. Typically they say that people need to know the facts.
Well, that is part of the story and although not a false statement it is certainly deceptive. I will make an attempt to explain the part of the story that they are not telling.
Deception #1 – Special Education Services in many cases are provided by Cooperatives or Interlocals. Schools contract with these groups to provide quality services collectively that would be very difficult to provide individually. This is a very efficient way to provide those services. Until recently special education funds were sent directly to the Cooperative or Interlocal. However, a few years ago those funds were sent to the local public school and the school then sent those funds to the provider of services. This was lauded as in increase in public school funding when; in fact, it was the same amount but just laundered through the public schools. It did increase the budget of the public school but provided no additional funds to that district.
Deception #2 – Until recently the state contribution to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) was sent directly to KPERS. Now the funds are transferred to the public school account and then transferred to KPERS on the same day. Again, this was lauded as an increase to public school funding even though it was the same amount of money with just an additional transfer from the State of Kansas to the school to KEPRS.
Deception #3 – Until this year when we paid our property taxes to our counties the county sent the schools portion of those taxes to the proper school district. Now those funds are sent to the State and the state then sends those funds to the school. This looks like a tremendous increase in state funding for schools when, in fact, it is just a redistribution of funds from local to state.
These three deceptions amount to hundreds of millions of dollars that are being advertised as increases in school funding when they are only reclassifications of funds that were already being spent.
Some of our political leaders and proud of the fact that a benefit of the block grant is the schools will receive the same amount as they have in the past. However, because of inconsistent support for the past several years many schools are having to use fund balances to meet current needs. Those schools that do not have fund balances have to make cuts in services to kids to survive. Spending fund balances is like an individual using their savings account on their monthly expenses. Pretty soon the savings account is empty and the obligations continue. School districts are criticized for having fund balances but of the uncertainly of state support, which has become an increasing problem over the past few years, having those fund balances has become necessary for survival.
Keeping funding level sounds to some like a positive step, however, even though revenue may be level, expenses are not. Areas of increased expenses where school have no option include: Increased cost of insurance (property and casualty, health, etc.), supplies, utilities, increase in number of students, increase and severity of students with special needs among many others. If revenue remains level and costs increase the only option is to reduce services to children. Many schools have already reduced the school year, summer school, activities, elective options, field trips and other enrichment activities along with increasing class sizes among other things, and without additional support these reductions will continue to the determent to the school children of Kansas.
Another deceptive statement is that Kansas has many thousand new businesses. With the current tax structure allowing many business to avoid Kansas Income tax completely I would like to propose an alternative theory. Thousands of Kansas businesses have changed their status so that they qualify under the tax plan and do not have to pay taxes. Those existing Kansas businesses are listed as new businesses even though they have just changed their status. The prediction was that there would be about 190,000 businesses in Kansas who would qualify for the income tax exemption; however, the real number is more like 330,000.
To make up the difference the tax burden is being placed on the property owner and the consumer. Sales taxes have increased. Sales tax is the most regressive tax available as the lower the income the larger percentage of income goes to pay the sales tax. Political subdivisions like cities, counties, school districts, etc. are having to respond in two ways. One is to continue to reduce valuable services and the other is to raise the mill levy. When you receive your tax statement and find that it has increased, that increase is made necessary because 330,000 businesses are getting a pass on the backs of property owners and consumers.
I would urge those political leaders who are bragging about the fact that the “Sun is shining in Kansas” to stop deceptive language and tell the whole story. There are many great things about living in Kansas but our citizens deserve to know the whole story.
It will be sunny and dry today with highs reaching the lower 70s according to the National Weather Service of Topeka. On Friday, it will be warmer with highs in the upper 70s. A strong cold front will move through the area Friday afternoon and evening and there is a chance of thunderstorms as the front moves through. Much cooler weather is on tap for the weekend with highs in the upper 50s to middle 60s. Dry conditions are expected on Saturday, but there is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms late Sunday.
Today: Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.
Tonight: Clear. Lows around 50. West winds up to 10 mph shifting to the south after midnight.
Friday: Mostly sunny. A 40 percent chance of rain showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s. North winds 5 to 15 mph.
Saturday: Cooler. Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Highs in the lower 60s.
Sunday Night: Cloudy with chance of rain showers. Lows in the upper 40s. Chance of showers 50 percent.
Monday: Rain showers likely. Highs in the lower 60s. Chance of showers 60 percent.
Monday Night: Rain showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 60s.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Lows around 50.
Kevin Willmott, Profesor of Film and Media Studies at Kansas University visited with and motivated Fine Arts and Human Services students at Junction City High School this afternoon.
Kevin Willmott
“Junction City has a unique energy that you don’t have in every place and I saw that [energy] today with these kids,” said Willmott.
The honorary graduate of Junction City High School class of 1976 and graduate of St. Xavier High School spoke to students about his experience in the film industry and spoke to them about going to school “with an agenda”.
The Junction City native’s first film was based on his hometown.
“As a kid I would hear my parents telling stories about Ninth Street [in Junction City] and I thought ‘I’m going to write about Ninth Street.'”
In the 1970s, Ninth Street in Junction City was a an area predominantly inhabited by minorities. Infamously, this was also an area known as the “Red Light District”.
The film helped Willmott earn his way in to film School at New York University.
Willmott’s dreams began long before he attended NYU, but as a child listening to his parents and elders tell stories about the local Junction City community. While attending Marymount College in Salina, Willmott took part in the play “Lysistrata”, a Greek comedy by Aristophanes, which served as the inspiration for the 2015 film “Chiraq”.
“Chiraq” is a satire about the large number of gun violence deaths in Chicago, Illinois.
Willmott stressed to the students that things don’t always happen quickly , as the film Chiraq waited 15 years before its 2015 debut, but it was always important to “find a way” to tell his stories.
“All the movies that I make are based on things [that] I care about,” said Willmott.
Willmott spent the afternoon speaking to students interested in film and media before leaving them with these words, “By being who you are and doing what you are good at, you can figure out who you are.”
FORT RILEY, Kan. – The 1st Infantry Division will honor Brig. Gen. John S. Kolasheski, the division’s outgoing deputy commanding general for maneuver, in a Victory with Honors Ceremony at 10 a.m.May 12 at the “Big Red One” headquarters building.
Kolasheski assumed duties as the deputy commanding general in June, 2015. He previously served as deputy chief of staff, strategic communications, for Resolute Support/Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF)/Operation Enduring Freedom with duty in Kabul,
Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015.
The brigadier general will next serve as the commandant of the U.S. Army
Armor School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Taking his place at the 1st Inf. Div.
is Brig. Gen. William A. Turner, commandant of the United States Army Field
Artillery School at the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill.
The Victory with Honors ceremony will include remarks by Kolasheski and Maj.
Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley commanding general.
Negotiators on 2016-17 teaching contracts in Geary USD 475 have reached a tentative agreement.
Cathy Rankin, said numerous problems were resolved without changing the language of the contract, and it was a much more positive environment. “We have some things we’re really excited about. We added an additional elementary planning day, we’ve added additional leave days that can roll over into retirement because we added a retirement program. We have not only an early retirement program but also a retirement benefit this year.”
A building advisory committee was added at each building as one method of improving communication and teacher morale.
Dr. Corbin Witt, Superintendent of Schools, said there will be an increase in the amount spent on salaries by 2%. Individual employee pay raises will vary by position. Some new supplemental positions were added. Also teachers will be required to attend one meeting per week, but they will be paid $13 per hour for any meetings beyond that. The total new funding in the contract has been calculated at approximately $800,000.
Rankin noted that the JCEA is preparing a salary schedule that will include an MS plus 45 ( college hours ) column for longtime teachers. On the current contract there are 130 teachers on the last step, MS plus 30.
Rankin stated, “This has been a very positive agreement. They worked with us well and were very open. I think it was a great agreement.”
Witt said, “We both feel like this is very fair. It’s something that the District can live with, it’s something that the teachers feel that they can live with, so everybody feels pretty good about it.”
A finance committee of negotiators must review the proposed salary schedule and contract language, then it goes to the Board of Education for review. Once that is completed it will be submitted to the JCEA membership for ratification in August. Once that ratification occurs the agreement would then go to the Board of Education for their final ratification vote in the August – early September time frame.
The unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, program on Kansas State University’s polytechnic campus continues to add to its national presence with a new top academic ranking.
Kansas State Polytechnic has been named No. 2 in the “Top 20 Unmanned Aerial Systems Colleges in the United States.” The list was compiled by Drone Training HQ, an online resource for unmanned pilots, engineers and technicians, and was based upon a variety of criteria, including reputation, hands-on instruction, accreditation, courses and programs offered, student feedback and job placement.
“This ranking rewards nearly 10 years of persistent hard work on multiple levels, ranging from locally to internationally,” said Kurt Barnhart, associate dean of research on the polytechnic campus and executive director of the school’s Applied Aviation Research Center. “At the outset of 2007, there were relatively few who dared to dream about what UAS could become in Salina, but here we are. We are grateful to those who have supported our endeavors and have helped us make the program a success. These achievements, however, are only the beginning.”
The program’s second place ranking comes against universities such as Indiana State University, University of North Dakota, Oklahoma State University, and Kent State University. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University landed the list’s No. 1 spot.
Kansas State Polytechnic’s UAS program was launched in response to the devastating EF5 tornado that destroyed 95 percent of Greensburg, Kansas, in 2007. The storm prompted state legislators to provide first responders and emergency managers with the necessary tools to effectively locate survivors and assess damage. As part of their plan, they allocated funds to Kansas State University to start an unmanned aircraft systems program that would work to improve disaster response and public safety using that technology.
A few classes related to unmanned aircraft were offered on the polytechnic campus beginning in 2009 and then a UAS certificate was established in 2010. The next year, Kansas State Polytechnic implemented a bachelor’s degree — only the second in the nation at that time — and then 2015, an additional bachelor’s degree was added in UAS design and integration, along with a UAS minor. Also, the program’s enrollment has doubled almost every year since its inauguration.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a bill that will limit the power of Kansas cities and counties to levy property taxes starting next year.
The new law revises a property tax lid that was enacted last year and had been set to take effect in January 2018. Brownback signed the bill Monday to make the effective date January 2017 instead.
Cities and counties won’t be allowed to spend an increase in property tax revenues above the rate of inflation without voters’ approval. The law contains exceptions for bond payments, spending on court judgments and other items.
Local officials who couldn’t spend the extra revenues would have to drop tax levies.
Supporters contend local voters will have more control over fiscal decisions. Critics worry that local services will be hurt.
The public is invited to take a journey back in time and hear a character presentation from Albert Einstein, Anne Frank or even Jackie Robinson.
