WABAUNSEE COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. on Wednesday in Wabaunsee County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Jeep Wrangler driven by James A. Goble, Jr., 61, Lawrence, was westbound on Interstate 70 just east of Snokomo Road.
The vehicle entered the grass on the shoulder, went airborne, rolled end over end several times and ejected the driver.
Goble was transported to Stormont Vail. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce has received a good audit report.
It was outlined for the Chamber Board of Directors on Wednesday. CEO Dennis Beson told JC Post that things are looking good. “There’s only two minor things to change, and they were more procedural than anything. So all in all he said the fact that we did year end and already have an audit done is pretty impressive.”
Varney and Associates of Manhattan performed the audit.
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On a seperate note Beson reported that the total Chamber membership rose by two members in February to 315.
K-State President Kirk Schulz has signed a proclamation for KBED….Knowledge Based Economic Development.
KBED was a partnership created between KSU and Manhattan community constituents in 2008. The goal is to create knowledge based economic development. The idea is to create economic growth to advance the KSU mission and interests of partner companies.
Schulz stated the partnership has received national recognition as a model for “town gown relations. ” The goal is to take the partnership to a new level. “Our shared goal is to create 5,000 new jobs for our community by the year 2035. These jobs will create annual payroll and operating budgets totaling $450 million. We must work together to plan, invest and execute a strategy to achieve these potential gains.”
Schulz said the strategy woudl include attracting new companies and working with those that already exist. “To memorialize this commitment, KBED, the City of Manhattan, the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and Kansas State University have agreed to the principles of proclamation promoting economic development for Manhattan and the region.”
Schulz noted during his comments with the NBAF facility under construction, Manhattan and K-State have the opportunity to lay a lasting foundation of economic growth for the community.
Geary Community Hospital hosted their inaugural Go Red for Women – Ladies’ Night Out event Tuesday, February 23 at the Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center.
Keynote speaker, GCH Dr. Jimmy Jenkins, focused on healthy lifestyles and how to understand your heart numbers. The event also featured various business vendors selling healthy lifestyle products, jewelry and clothing as well as healthy food prep demo’s and samples.
“Heart health affects everyone whether it is a family member, friend or even you,” said Joe Stratton, GCH Chief Executive Officer. “Tonight is a great way to bring the ladies and even their spouses together for an evening of fun and education. We are excited the event was such a success, was very well received and look forward to hosting next year’s festivities.”
The goal of the event was to raise heart health awareness in the community since February is Heart Health Month and heavily focused around the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign. “Go Red for Women” is a national campaign to raise awareness about heart disease and stroke in women.
Since the American Heart Association first launched Go Red For Women® in 2004, nearly 285 fewer women die from heart disease and stroke each day. And death in women has decreased by more than 30 percent over the past 10 years. While those statistics are great, unfortunately 1 in 3 women still die of heart disease and stroke, even though 80% of cardiac events may be prevented with education and lifestyle changes.
Pictures courtesy of Ali Mocabee, Souriant Designs.
Nikki Davies
Director, Marketing and Public Relations
Geary Community Hospital
The residents of Grandview Plaza and Junction City are invited to attend a public meeting to discuss the Grandview Plaza Community Park Plan.
The session will serve as an introduction to the project goals and a visioning for park elements. The Grandview Plaza Community Park Plan is a project focusing on the creation of a series of concept plans for development of the City Park in Grandview Plaza.
The meeting is Tuesday, March 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Building, 4012 State Street, Grandview Plaza.
A well known longtime Junction City employee, Kenny Langdon, 62, died Wednesday.
His death was confirmed by a family member.
Langdon, a Building and Maintenance Custodian, was found unconscious on a downtown Junction City street on Sunday. He had been employed by the City for approximately 20 years.
Langdon was a regular prescence in the downtown area where he worked to clean and maintain that sector of the city.
Funeral arrangements are pending at Penwell-Gable Funeral Homes & Crematory.
A Go Fund Me account has been established to help with a memorial and still have funds left to plant a tree in his honor in Heritage Park. As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday $3,225 had been pledged to the Kenny Langdon Fund.
TOPEKA- Do government subsidies go where they should – to areas of Kansas where little to no Broadband service exists?
The Kansas Universal Service Fund is a nearly 20-year old program created to help deliver better telecommunication services to rural areas. Since its inception, nearly $1 Billion of consumer fees have been collected by the state and have been dispersed to eligible telecommunication providers to help equalize the pricing of telephone service in rural parts of the state.
Not long ago, the state legislature attempted to put a cap on the fund and not force Kansas’ taxpayers to pick up the tab for a reduction in money coming from Washington.
HB2131 would change that.
The cable telecommunications industry came to the Kansas Legislature this year with a plea to consider how effectively the money collected by the state from Kansas consumers for the KUSF program is currently being used, according to John J. Federico, president of the Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association.
“We share the opinion of many, that the millions of dollars collected each year from consumer fees are best used where there is currently inadequate telecommunication services in rural areas of the state, rather than as direct or indirect subsidies in communities that already have competition.
As an industry, we are disappointed that more was not done to ensure that subsidies for better telecommunication services will be used in the areas of the state that would benefit most.
We will continue to work with the Legislature and rural telephone companies across the state to find the fairest, and most efficient use of these dollars,” he said.
The bill would allow rural telephone providers to potentially work the system and maximize federal subsidies by increasing phone rates and not be subject to reduction in the Universal Service fund support.
The combination of increased phone rates along with the FUSF subsidy would under current legislation reduce the amount of KUSF subsidy necessary.
HB 2131 changes existing legislation by permitting the Rate of Return (rural) carriers to maintain their existing level of support versus having it reduced as it would do today.
“We fully support the use of KUSF dollars, dollars paid by Kansans, to reach unserved areas in the hard to reach parts of our state,” said Gary Shorman, president and CEO of Eagle Communications. “But many of these rural providers are using their resources to expand outside of their service areas and overlapping areas already served by other private, non-subsidized providers. We believe it is wrong to waste money overbuilding when the KUSF dollars should be focused on unserved customers in unserved areas.”
“As a 100% employee owned, Kansas company, our customers contribute to FUSF and KUSF funds. It is important that KUSF dollars are used correctly to reach those who do not have service,” said Shorman.
However, to many in the telecommunications business, the bill perpetuates the one-sided system of government subsidies that do not solve a problem, aren’t being used to enhance telecommunication services in unserved or underserved areas of the state, and damage competition among providers.
“After almost 20 years the KUSF system needs updating and reform. Raising the cap and throwing more money at it will only encourage the inefficiencies while continuing to leave areas of Kansas without competitive and quality telecommunication services,” said Shorman.
The bill may also be premature, since the Federal Communications Commission has not finalized the restructure of Federal Universal Service Fund support.
“At what point, and after how many more dollars expended to these carriers are we going to recognize that the current KUSF plan/formula is not delivering what is truly needed in Kansas, which is reliable broadband service in every part of the state,” said Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association Board Chair Kurt David.
“Kansas citizens, taxpayers are paying into this fund via their monthly phone bills Yet they are not getting the results that we need in this state.”
A typical Eagle Customer’s combined FUSF and KUSF can add nearly $3.00 to their monthly phone bill. That’s increasing the rate of phone service by 5.6%.
The legislation proposed would allow for rural telephone carriers to have access to additional KUSF funds resulting from changes at the Federal level.
“Nearly all of us, in a variety of businesses, social services, and governmental agencies themselves have become subject to reduced funding and additional tax burdens,” said David.
“We are all being asked to do more with less, consolidate, become more efficient and adaptive, and encouraged to be less dependent on the government to solve our problems.”
According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, an upper level disturbance will move southeast across the area tonight and will bring a slight chance of rain and snow across north central and northeast Kansas this afternoon. Tonight there will be a chance for light snow across northeast Kansas with only a slight chance of snow or snow flurries across north central and east central KS. There will be no snow accumulations tonight. Thursday will be cool and breezy with highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Expect a warm up by Saturday with Highs in the mid to upper 60s. There will be an elevated fire danger on Saturday. There will be a slight cool down on Sunday but highs will reach the upper 50s to mid 60s.
Today: Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. North winds 10 to 15 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with chance of snow…possibly mixed with rain in the evening…then mostly cloudy after midnight. Lows in the upper 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.
Thursday: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds up to 5 mph shifting to the southwest after midnight.
Friday: Not as cool. Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 50s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.
Friday Night: Clear. Lows in the lower 30s.
Saturday: Warmer…sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.
Saturday Night: Not as cool. Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 40s.
Sunday: Breezy. Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.
Sunday Night: Colder. Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s.
Monday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 60.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain. Lows in the mid 30s.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain. Highs in the mid 50s.
MANHATTAN – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a fatal accident just before 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Riley County Police Department reported a 2010 Cadillac SRX driven by a 34-year-old woman hit a pedestrian, Ruby Johnson, 93, Manhattan, in the parking lot of the First Lutheran Church, 930 Poyntz Avenue.
Johnson was transported Via Christi Hospital where she died.
The accident remains under investigation. Police do not anticipate any arrests to be made or citations to be issued.
The Geary Community Hospital Board of Trustee’s is recommending to the Geary County Commission and the Public Building Commission to consider refinancing a 10-year-old bond.
The bond was approved in 2006 to finance projects to Medical Arts
Building II and parking lot work. Kevin Cowan of Gilmore and Bell, Geary County’s Bond Council, presented the refinancing options to the Board of Trustee’s Tuesday.
Dr. Joe Stratton, GCH CEO explained that the hospital and county could be looking at considerable savings over the first two years of refinancing.
“According to the interest rates that they’re looking at right now, and interest rates change day-to-day, but if everything’s being equal, we get down the road a couple of months on this, into the month of May and we can close on the bond deal, we will be able to save approximately $450,000 somewhere in that neighborhood in the next couple of years,” said Stratton.
The county commission and public building commission will now decide whether or not to refinance the bonds. The county commission has discussed the issue and are expected to move forward with it.
Under a proposed schedule by Gilmore and Bell the refinancing deal could by completed in May.