The Junction City High School jazz band earned a 1 rating on Friday at the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival at Washburn University in Topeka.
Band Director T.J. Taylor said the band’s next performance will be April 19 at Settles Auditorium at JCHS. That concert will begin at 7 p.m. and also feature the jazz bands from Fort Riley Middle School and Junction City Middle School.
NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS, Associated Press
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — The new president of Washington State University says he was drawn to the Pullman school by its high academic standards and by the new medical school.
Kirk Schulz on Friday also says the state of Washington’s support for higher education played into his decision to leave the presidency of Kansas State University for the new job.
Schulz and his wife Noel were introduced to students, faculty and staff in Pullman on Friday morning. They answered questions and also met with reporters. They have similar meetings planned later in the day in the Tri-Cities and Spokane.
Schulz says Washington State is poised to top $400 million in research grants in coming years, twice what Kansas State had. He was also drawn by the state’s decision to slash tuition.
The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce will host the last 2016 Legislative Coffee Saturday April 2, 9:00 a.m. at the Dorothy Bramlage Library 230 W 7th St.
Senators Jeff Longbine and Tom Hawk, and Representatives Lonnie Clark, Tom Moxley will give a brief update and answer your questions regarding legislative issues. The event is open to the public.
FORT RILEY, KAN. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, visited the new Irwin Army Community Hospital on Fort Riley today to learn about the continued progress made toward the hospital’s opening to serve the Fort Riley community.
“The new Irwin hospital will serve thousands of men, women and children who call the Big Red One home, and they deserve the best care possible as soon as possible,” Sen. Moran said. “I was assured during my visit today that in the next two weeks the Army will announce an official opening date. It was good to see the progress made thus far, especially that all structural safety issues have been addressed. The hospital represents a significant asset to the base and further demonstrates the value of Fort Riley to the U.S. Army.”
During his visit, Sen. Moran heard about the work that remains prior to Irwin’s official opening such as commissioning, safety walk-throughs and equipment movement. The new facility was initially slated to open in 2012, but has experienced both legal setbacks and construction delays. The hospital will replace the current Irwin Hospital facility, which is the oldest Army hospital in the nation.
Sen. Moran was joined by Big Red One Commanding General Major General Wayne Grigsby, Deputy Commanding General Brigadier General Patrick Frank, Garrison Commander Colonel Andrew Cole, Hospital Commander Colonel Risa Ware, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Schultz and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant Colonel Michael Sexton.
Today: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 30s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph in the evening.
Saturday: Not as cool. Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.
Saturday Night: Clear. Lows in the upper 30s. East winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the south after midnight.
Sunday: Warmer…sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s.
Monday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
Monday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with chance of rain showers and isolated thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 50s. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
Wednesday Night: Colder. Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.
Thursday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s
A former orthopedic surgeon at Flint Hills Orthopedic and Sports Medicine at Geary Community Hospital in Junction City , Allan Drysdale Holiday, has pleaded no contest and been found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of Endangering a Child.
A plea agreement was reached in his case, and the no contest pleas were entered Thursday in Geary County District Court. One felony charge of Aggravated Sexual Battery was dismissed.
Prosecutor Chris Biggs stated that the initial charge of Aggravated Sexual Battery carried a 32-month presumptive sentence, if convicted. “But it’s what’s called a border box where there’s no guarantee of any prison time.”
Biggs also said, “In addition that particular crime required proof that the touching was accomplished by fear, and one of the factual questions in the case was whether the fear occurred prior to the touching or after the touching. And if it was after the touching then it would have a bearing on that particular element.” Biggs noted he felt that if the matter had gone to trial the best opportunity for the State would have been to obtain a conviction for one count of the lesser offense of Sexual Battery, a class A misdemeanor. Instead, under the agreement, Holiday was convicted of two misdemeanor charges which carried a consecutive penalty of one year on each count.
Following the pleas in District Court the imposition of the 24-month jail sentence was suspended and he was placed on supervised probation for 24-months. As a condition of probation Holiday was then ordered to serve 30 days in the Geary County jail, effective immediately. After that he will be released on probation.
The probation has a variety of conditions ranging from no contact with the victims and no contact with minors under the age of 18 unless they’re accompanied by a parent, to 100 hours of community service which may be served in his professional capacity, and to an evaluation which will also require him to follow all recommendations contained in it including behavioral, medical, and environmental.
The Defense Attorney for Holiday, Bob Pottroff, said this was a situation where the parties could get together and resolve a case in a fashion beneficial for everyone. “There was potential in this case for lots of people to get hurt unnecessarily, and take risks unnecessarily, and be subjected to things that were not pleasant. This agreement avoided all of that for the good of virtually everyone.”
Pottroff also disclosed details about Holiday’s life that had not been revealed before, including the fact his ( Holiday’s ) wife had died unexpectedly 25 years ago and he had to raise a 3-year old son. “It’s during that period of time that Doc figured out for himself that he may be gay, however he refused to ever acknowledge that. And his strong religous beliefs and his conservative value system made it such that he did everything in his power to hold back any of those feelings and hold back the reality that in all probability he was gay.”
Pottroff noted this event was a shock to many, including Holiday. “But nobody knows that he voluntarily turned in his license ( medical ) knowing that if he could go through the treatment and the life changes that are necessary to get himself back in full control where could function as one of the top surgeons in the country he was going to do so. He has been in treatment since then, and there will only be a 30-day break during this time that he spends in the Geary County jail, from that treatment.”
Pottroff stated he believed Holiday, within the next one to two years, will reemerge as a talented member of the medical community, serving the medical needs of patients as he done for most of his adult life.
Holiday was arrested by Junction City police last July after they reported that they had received a complaint in the case on July 26th involving a 16-year old juvenile. Geary Community Hospital officials confirmed some time later that Holiday was no longer employed by by the hospital.
Bill D. Raymond, 53, Andover, will appear in federal court for a jury trial in Wichita in front of Chief Judge J. Thomas Marten.
According to Jim Cross, Public Information Officer for U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, the trial is scheduled for May 3, 2016 at 9 a.m.
Raymond, former city attorney of Manhattan, was charged with three counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography following an investigation by the FBI.
The crimes are alleged to have occurred in November 2014, February 2015 and May 2015 in Butler and Riley counties.
A federal grand jury indicted Raymond on Sept. 30, 2015.
If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 20 years on each distribution count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting Raymond.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Westar Energy will return millions of dollars to Kansas energy customers under a settlement with regulators.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the settlement between Westar Energy and the Kansas Corporation Commission. The settlement lowers the return on equity the company had previously included in its Transmission Delivery Charge tariff.
On customer bills, it shows as a line item “Transmission Delivery Charge,” and is designed to allow utilities to recover money spent on transmission.
The exact refund is being determined in the company’s rate department, but for 2015 it was $14 million.
Westar says customers won’t immediately see the refund because there are still steps in the process to be completed.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has reported that Deputies responded Wednesday evening to Interstate 70 eastbound 306 for a single vehicle fire.
Hannah Anderson, Topeka, was driving a 1998 Mazda SE pickup truck when it caught fire. There were no injuries.
The location of the fire was about seven miles east of Junction City.
Geary Community Hospital management, officials and leadership recently conducted an organizational strategic plan. The plan is intended to layout the framework for the years of 2017-2018 fiscal years.
The extensive process included an in depth analysis of the evolving healthcare industry and status of the GCH organization as a whole.
While it has yet to be approved by the GCH Board of Trustees, five initiatives have been proposed.
“We are looking forward to finalizing the GCH strategic plan in the near future,” said Joe Stratton, GCH Chief Executive Officer. “However, there is still a lot of work to do in order to have a polished and comprehensive plan. Once all the details are finalized for strategies and tactics to achieve the five initiatives and goals, we will be able to get the ball rolling.”
The strategic plan is based off of the healthcare triple aim approach. This includes population health management, enhancing the patient’s experience of care and managing healthcare costs.
“The triple aim approach is the future of our healthcare industry and it is important we understand the changes and challenges ahead of us,” said Stratton.
Nikki Davies
Director, Marketing and Public Relations
Geary Community Hospital