The annual Storm Spotter / Severe Weather Awareness training in Geary County is set for Monday, March 7 at 7 p.m. at the 4-H / Senior Center on South Spring Valley Road. It should last approximately 90 minutes to two hours.

The session is conducted by the National Weather Service – Topeka office and is sponsored by Geary County Emergency Management.

The public is invited to attend. There is no charge.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents says the bulk of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s higher education cuts will come from the state’s two largest universities and their affiliated programs.

The board released figures Wednesday showing that the University of Kansas and its Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, together will lose almost $7.2 million.

Kansas State University, its veterinary school and its agricultural extension research programs will lose $4.9 million.

Brownback on Tuesday imposed $17.2 million in cuts in the universities’ current budgets after state tax collections in February fell nearly $54 million short of expectations. The universities must make the cuts between now and June 30.

The regents said Wichita State University will lose $2.2 million; Pittsburg State, almost $1.1 million, Fort Hays State, $992,000 and Emporia State, almost $922,000.

It was a windy day on Wednesday.

Westar Energy reported outages in both Junction City and Manhattan caused by a tree that was blown down into power lines.

Electric service was restored after about 30 minutes.

The outage occurred just after 12:30 p.m.

MANHATTAN – First responders were called to Manhattan High School West Campus on Wednesday morning due to a gas odor in E-Hall of the school.

Just after 9 a.m. the school building was temporarily in a “shelter in place” mode, and students were not allowed to pass to their next classes, according to a media release from the school.

Call to Manhattan High West Campus was a report of carbon monoxide. No CO found and no patients at this time. @usd383 @RileyCountyPD

— Manhattan Fire (@ManhattanFD) March 2, 2016

School health officials and Emergency Medical Service staff checked ten students and staff who complained of symptoms.

There were pilot lights out on the several of the gas ovens in the school kitchen, which could have been the culprit, according to the school district.

Just after 10 a.m., all students were given permission to pass to their fourth period class.

The entire building was monitored by both the Manhattan Fire Department and Kansas Gas Service, and the affected area was ventilated.

At no time did any of the detection equipment utilized by either Manhattan Fire Department or Kansas Gas Service indicate any abnormal readings.

Junction City Jim Sands spoke out Tuesday night on the subject of South Washington Street.

Sands said right now it’s an eyesore. “The thing that got me when I first got here was a clean city. No graffiti, everything just looked great. There was a Dairy Queen there I understand and Denny’s,and those two businesses are down. But we need to be able to do something with the businesses that are closed, maybe some decorative stuff in the windows, or the ones that really look bad we need to get rid of them or have them repaired and put back in service.”

The Geary Community Hospital Pediatrics Clinic celebrated the 19^th annual “Read Across America Day” with patients and families. The nationwide celebration held March 2^nd is in conjunction with Dr. Seuss’ birthday and is a nationwide campaign to promote reading with children.

Additionally, Pediatricians Dr.’s Adjetey and Rahel Getachew participate in the “Turn a Page, Touch a Mind” program sponsored by the Kansas Pediatric Foundation and provide books to each patient 6 months through 5 years old at their wellness exams.

Dr. Rahel Getachew reads to patient Landon Gonzalez Santos after his wellness exam.

Dr. Adikuor Adjetey sends the Blair family with a book after baby Amira’s 18 month check-up.

Nikki Davies

K-State Proud, a student-led philanthropic campaign at Kansas State University has raised $1,030,000.

Guided by the leadership of the K-State Student Foundation, the campaign encourages students to show their K-State pride through philanthropy. All campaign donations support Student Opportunity Awards for fellow Kansas State University students who have exhausted all other forms of financial aid.

This year’s elected K-State Proud co-chairs include Christine Caban, Junction City; Taylor Fry, Great Bend; and Luke Schnefke, Shawnee. K-State Student Foundation President Katie Ahern, Overland Park, and Student Foundation Vice President of Campaigns Alec Khoury, Wichita also helped lead this year’s campaign.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has cut higher education spending by $17 million in response to a shortfall in tax collections for February.

Brownback announced Tuesday that he ordered a 3 percent cut in the higher education system’s allocation of state tax dollars under this fiscal year’s budget. The Board of Regents and state universities will have to make the adjustments over the next four months.

The governor acted after the Department of Revenue reported that the state collected $54 million less in taxes than anticipated in February.

The state must now act to prevent a deficit on June 30. Brownback’s action would not fully balance the budget.

The department said the state collected $303 million in taxes last month instead of the $357 million projected in a November fiscal forecast.