Keith Ascher wants to serve on the Geary County Commission. He has decided to run for the Third District seat on the governing body.

Ascher was asked about his priorities if elected, and responded by saying he thought you had to go into it with an open mind. “But at the same time you have to have common sense approach. You need to have a fiscal responsibility, especially in  these times.  As far as I am concerned you just have to listen to and examine all the points of every issue and then make a prudent decision.”

Ascher is a farm operator in eastern Geary County, and a lifelong resident of the county. He has served on multiple public boards ranging from the Metropolitan Planning Commission and Geary County Public Building Commission to the Geary County Soil Conservation District Board of Supervisors.

He is the second candidate to announce for the Third District seat on the county commission. John Moyer announced Wednesday he would also seek election to that seat. The current commissioner for the Third District, Florence Whitebread, has indicated she does not plan to run again. Whitebread is in her 24th year on the county commission.

Twenty-seven Junction City High School language students, along with four teachers, have returned from their spring break trip to Minnesota.

According to JCHS German teacher Danielle Thrasher, they traveled to Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, Minnesota, which offers numerous language camps ranging from German to Chinese. Each camp has buildings that are authentic to the target country or countries.

As soon as the language travelers arrive at the village, they have to go through customs, get their passport, exchange money, and turn in contraband. The counselors only speak the target language. The students are fully immersed in culture and laguage. Food, games – everything is authentic.

The JCHS teachers who made the trip include Tyrek Artley ( English, Freshman Success Academy ), Bridget Oliver ( Ess / Math, Career Academy Campus ), Erin Redeker ( Spanish, Career Academy Campus ), and Daniela Thrasher ( German ).

 

RILEY COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 GMC Envoy driven by Bonnie A. Turner, 54, Joplin, MO., was westbound on Interstate 70 one mile east of the Wabaunsee-Riley county line.

The vehicle left the north side of the roadway and overturned.

Turner and a passenger Bethany Michelle Thurston, 23, Pittsburg, Kansas, were transported to Via Christi in Manhattan.

Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Pottawatomie County are investigating a suspect in connection with a social media threat against his employer, according to a media release.

Just before 8 p.m. on Thursday March 17, police in Wamego responded to Caterpillar Work Tools, 600 Balderson Boulevard, Wamego, regarding possible threatening comments posted on a social media web page.

Wamego Police officers and Pottawatomie County Sheriff deputies arrived, assessed and investigated the report.

“I have officially snapped…. When a shooting spree sounds fun to go on at a place where you hate everyone…. oh the agony…..Lmao is that better or is everyone still butt hurt…😈😈😈😈

Posted by Erik Billis on Thursday, March 17, 2016

 

As a result, a Caterpillar employee, Erik Billis, was taken into custody without incident. The man was not armed and has cooperated with the investigation, according to police.

The case has been forwarded to the Pottawatomie County Attorney’s Office for review.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas senators have passed a bill to accelerate a cap on city and county property tax increases.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Senate approved the bill with a 24-16 vote Tuesday.

The bill moves up the implementation of the property tax lid from 2018 to 2017. The lid was placed into law last year and requires voters to approve property tax increases above the rate of inflation.

Debate continued for more than four hours as lawmakers went through amendments seeking exemptions to the bill’s requirements.

The legislation already provided some exemptions that wouldn’t trigger the cap, such as construction of new buildings, increases in personal property valuation and property that has changed use. Federal mandates, court judgments and bond and interest payments also wouldn’t trigger the lidLo

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reported that deputies responded to an accident on Interstate 70 near mile marker 295 on the southwest side of Junction City Tuesday night.

William L. Anderson, Chapman, was traveling westbound on the interstate in his Cadillac CTS and struck a turkey. Anderson was not injured.

The accident was reported at 10:30 p.m.

Junction City police have reported the arrest of four people on suspicion of Transporting Drug Proceeds.

According to Police Chief Tim Brown said officers noted a traffic violation near mile marker 290, westbound Interstate 70, and stopped the vehicle. “Became suspicious of some of the responses of the individuals involved, ran a K-9 around the vehicle, and got a positive response. They found hidden in the vehicle in the spare tire a large amount of U.S. currency.” Brown did not release the amount of money that was located.

Those arrested included Yvonne Rocha, 22, Los Angeles, California, Maria Del Carmen Arballo-Figueroa, 36, unknown address, Jose Antonio Gomez-Gamboa, 40, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Andres Soto-Arellano, 39, unknown address.

A juvenile that was also in the car was placed in protective custody.

 

TOPEKA – (March 23, 2016) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and senior military leaders in the state have recommended that attorney-spouses of military personnel stationed in Kansas be allowed to practice law in Kansas without sitting for the Kansas bar examination.

 

Schmidt last week sent a letter to the Kansas Board of Law Examiners asking for the special accommodation for attorneys who are the spouses of military personnel transferred to Kansas. The ultimate decision rests with the Kansas Supreme Court, which establishes the rules for the practice of law in Kansas.

 

The unique demands on military families, including frequent relocations, justifies a special rule for military spouses who are attorneys, Schmidt said.

 

“Recognizing that frequent transfers are required of military families, admission without examination permits military spouses to continue to contribute to our profession and to support their families while stationed across the country,” the attorney general wrote. “Adopting such a rule would provide an opportunity for Kansas to demonstrate its support of military families while maintaining the high professional standards required of the legal profession.”

 

Schmidt said making special accommodation for military spouses who are attorneys would signal the state’s strong and continuing support of its military communities.

 

“Accommodating the unique needs of military spouse attorneys comes at little cost to the state but makes a meaningful difference in the financial and personal well-being of military families,” Schmidt wrote. “While the number of military spouse attorneys may not be large, approval of a military spouse rule would send a message of support to the entire Kansas military community.”

 

Schmidt was joined in the request by top military leaders in the state including Lt. Gen. Robert B. Brown, commander of the Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth; Major General Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., commander of the First Infantry Division at Fort Riley; Major General Lee E. Tafanelli, adjutant general of Kansas; and Colonel Albert G. Miller, commander of the 22^nd Aerial Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas school administrators are split over a new education funding plan designed to meet a recent court order on aid to poor school districts without a big spending increase.

The educators testified Wednesday during separate House and Senate budget committee hearings.

Superintendents in two Johnson County districts supported the plan. Administrators from Wichita and Kansas City, Kansas, said the state needs to boost its overall spending.

The plan redistributes $83 million of the state’s $4 billion-plus a year in aid to its 286 school districts. It’s a response to a Kansas Supreme Court ruling last month that the state has shorted poor districts on their aid.

The plan ensures that no district loses aid, even though total state funding would rise by no more than a few million dollars.

A two-day blood drive at the Junction City Municipal Auditorium wrapped up Tuesday with a donation total of 120 units of blood. The two-day goal had been 113.

On Tuesday 49 units of blood were donated, and the remainder were received on Monday.

Red Cross officials have issued a thank you to all the donors.