For the 22nd consecutive year Chapman will hold a Saint Patrick’s Day parade.

The parade this year is on Friday, March 11. ( The actual Saint Patrick’s Day is March 17 ).

It begins at 1 p.m. and is open to anyone from the public who would like to participate. School children from all Chapman USD 473 schools will be in attendance to celebrate the Irish heritage and the community.

For those wanting to participate you meet at the Chapman Middle School parking lot at 12:30 p.m. to line up for the parade.

A little before the five o’clock hour, an emergency alert went out to fire and rescue in the area to respond to a potential incident at the airport.  An American Airlines flight was inbound for landing and had a warning light come on for a possible a hydraulic failure.  Several fire engines and medical response vehicles arrived prior to the landing to assist.  The aircraft arrived and landed safely at the Manhattan Regional Airport at approximately 5:15 PM.  For precautionary reasons, the aircraft was towed to the parking apron near the terminal where passengers safely deplaned.

 

The aircraft was an American Airlines commuter flight AA3359 flying from Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas.

Multiple fire engines, Riley County police and EMS responded to the airport during the incident.

 

 

 

Gery Schoenrock, Junction City, has been elected chairman of the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Commission by the other members of that board.

Schoenrock tells JC Post that moving forward the EDC needs to concentrate on work force readiness. “And take advantage of any opportunities to entice people to live and work and play in Junction City – Geary County, and to generate job opportunities.”

Schoenrock has been a member of the EDC for several years. On developing a work force he said he thinks it takes a cooperative effort from both the city and county,and the schools, and the folks that go to the junior colleges to try target work skills that we anticipate would be needed to take care of some of the companies that may be coming with the national bioscience facility.” NBAF will be located in Manhattan, but there are expected to be other related businesses that could locate in the region.

Schoenrock is a longtime developer with his history in that industry dating back to the early 1970’s.  He was elected to a one year term as EDC chairman during the board’s meeting Thursday in Junction City. Schoenrock succeeds longtime EDC Chairman Ben Kitchens, who remains a member of the board.

Ty Arneson will serve as vice-chairman of the EDC for the coming year.

The first in a series of Kansas Town Hall programs focusing on election year issues, “We the People: Civic Education in Kansas,”willbe held March 22 in the Visitors Center of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene.

The program begins at 7 p.m. with a keynote speech by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who will address the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

A panel discussion will follow the keynote address, including four panel members. They are Bob Beatty, Professor, Political Science, Washburn University; Nathan McAlister, History teacher, Royal Valley Middle School, Mayetta, Kan.; Pam Sanfilippo, Education Specialist, Eisenhower Presidential Library; and Tom Vontz, Professor and Director, Center for Social Studies Education, Kansas State University.

The panelists will discuss civic education programs, classes and activities in which they are involved. A question and answer session will follow their presentations.

This Kansas Town Hall program is held in partnership with the Kansas Humanities Council, Kansas State University Library, and the Kansas State University Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy.

MANHATTAN –A crowd gathered outside of the Riley County Courthouse on Thursday afternoon to protest the Kansas Department of Children and Families and support the case of Raymond Schawb.

Literature passed out by the protesters said, “April 2015 the Schwab Family had their children kidnapped by the State of Kansas while Raymond and Amelia Schwab were packing to move to Denver.

Mr. Schwab, an honorably discharged, disabled Navy Veteran who uses medical Cannabis for PTSD and chronic pain, had his job at the Dept. of Veteran Affairs transferred to Denver where both he and his wife could have access to care and receive that care legally.

Kansas is using their children as political pawns and continues to assert unless they cease Cannabis Therapy they will lose their children forever.”

The case is currently in the Kansas Appeals Court.

Officers with the Riley County Police Department were called to the scene to make sure the crowd did not impact any ongoing court hearings.

Essence Carter has been named the Boys and Girls Club Military Youth of the Year. She received the honor duringa ceremony March 1 at the Topeka Civic Theatre.

Every year a Youth of the Year and a Military Youth of the Year are selected to represent the organization at a regional competition in June. Regional winners go on to the National Youth of the Year in the fall.

A sophomore at Junction City High School, Carter has been involved with the club since she was in third grade. She is active in a youth leadership forum and in the club’s youth council.

Essence as well as the Youth of the Year recipient will receive scholarships, said Theresa Freed, communication director with Kansas Department for Children and Families, which helps fund the clubs’ programs.

There were nine nominees in the two categories this year. The application process is a long one, involving written and spoken presentations, letters of recommendations, a review of academic records and assessment of community service, said Joyce Glasscock, with Boys and Girls Club of America.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Westar Energy is seeking to hike rates for residential customers and schools while cutting rates for most businesses.

The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/1QEhLPe ) reports that a rate request filed with the Kansas commission that regulates utilities seeks to increase the transmission rate on residential customers’ bills by about 31 percent.

The changes pending before the Kansas Corporation Commission would add about $4 a month to the average customer’s bill. Meanwhile, the average small-business would pay about $31 less.

Midsize businesses would see about a 1 percent increase in their transmission rate, while the largest commercial and industrial customers would get a 4 percent cut. Schools are proposed to get a 29-percent increase.

Westar Energy serves both Junction City and Manhattan.

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a plea agreement that called for a five- to seven-year prison sentence for an 80-year-old man who ran a multistate marijuana-dealing operation.

Marshall Dion was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court.

The hearing was canceled after Judge Denise Casper rejected the plea agreement and the joint sentencing recommendation by Dion’s lawyers and prosecutors.

Casper had postponed the hearing last month after she questioned both sides about why the proposed sentence was so much lower than the 30-yer sentence called for under federal sentencing guidelines.

Casper gave Dion’s lawyers until March 18 to inform the court whether he will withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial, or agree to be sentenced without a plea agreement. She scheduled a status conference for March 22.

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BOSTON (AP) — An 80-year-old man who ran a multistate marijuana-dealing operation faces sentencing in a plea agreement that calls for up to seven years in prison.

Marshall Dion has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Thursday in U.S. District Court. Judge Denise Casper postponed the hearing last month after she questioned prosecutors and Dion’s lawyers about why the proposed sentence in the plea agreement is only five to seven years when federal sentencing guidelines call for 30 years.

When police stopped Dion for speeding in Junction City in 2013, they found about $828,000 in cash in his beat-up pickup truck. A federal investigation led authorities to Massachusetts and Arizona, where they found about $15 million in cash, nearly 400 pounds of marijuana and ledgers detailing drug deals going back to 1992.

Fresenius Medical Care North America is inviting the public to attend an Open House today ( Thursday ) at their newly relocated clinic in Junction City.

The clinic can treat a maximum of 48 patients per week.

Local medical professionals will be available to discuss patient services and the latest dialysis treatment options, including:

–Home dialysis, which can offer patients greater independence, convenience and health benefits

–Fresenius Medical Care’s Healthy Lifestyles initiative aimed at helping people with chronic kidney disease live a better life on dialysis, by becoming more physically active, eating healthy foods and enjoying more flexible lifestyles.

You can tour the clinic and see:

–Demonstrations of the latest dialysis technology and single-use dialyzers

–Treatment stations designed for patient comfort and convenience that feature reclining, heated treatment chairs, individual televisions, and wireless internet access.

The open house is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. at Fresenius Medical Care at 702 Caroline Avenue in Junction City. There is no charge to attend.