A longtime Junction City employee, Kenny Langdon, is listed in critical condition at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. That was confirmed with the Hospital.

A check with City Manager Allen Dinkel revealed Langdon, a well-known Building and Maintenance Custodian, was found unconscious on a downtown Junction City street Sunday afternoon. He has been employed by the City for approximately 20 years.

Langdon’s primary responsibility has been cleaning and maintaining the downtown area of Junction City. He has been a regular prescence working in that part of the city.

MANHATTAN – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a suspect in connection with a fire at a home on 615 Yuma Street on February 13, in Manhattan.

Donnie Hill, 43, Manhattan, was arrested on Saturday
for the offense of arson and theft and given a bond of $5,000.00.

The charge of theft is related to allegations that Hill stole a Bic lighter before the incident.

Emergency crews responded to fire just before 11a.m. on February 13, after an officer with the Riley County Police Department made contact with a 43-year-old man who had sustained a significant cut to his arm and was bleeding profusely.

He was transported to Via Christi Hospital for his injuries, according to a media release.

Immediately after making contact with the man, officers observed smoke coming from the home.
The house value is listed as $95,000 but no damage estimate has been released.

The Monday tour log report from the Junction City Police Department includes the arrest of Isidro Montesimos, 24, Junction City, on suspicion of Domestic Battery, Endangering a Child, Criminal Restraint, and Intimidation of a Victim.

The arrest occurred Sunday at 432 West 18th Street.

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The JCPD reported the arrest of Robert R. Clark, 21, Junction City, on suspicion of Domestic Battery and Criminal Damage to Property. The arrest occurred at 1:36 a.m. Monday at the Police Department.

By Margaret Ziffer, Fort Riley Public Affairs

The Civilian Human Resources Agency (CHRA) Southwest Region, headquartered at Fort Riley, Kansas, has received appropriation for additional positions. CHRA Southwest, along with the other seven Army regions worldwide, provides  civilian human resources services to the Department of Defense.

The new positions, which CHRA hopes to have mostly filled by the end of
April, have been designated to provide civilian human resources products.

Carol Burton, CHRA Southwest Region director, said the new positions vary
from technical work to transactional work, and clerical positions.  Some job
openings have been filled through internal personnel; however, a significant
number of positions (approximately 40), are being recruited from the general
public.  Specifically, the entry level positions.

“There are a variety of different positions.  Some require a high school
graduation or general experience, some of them require previous work in the
field,” Burton said.  “The vast majority of the ones that we are recruiting
for right now require a bachelor’s degree or some type of related
experience.”

The new CHRA job vacancies will be posted on www.usajobs.gov., Job seekers
should visit this site on a regular basis for updated postings.

“We do have some attrition, so we are almost always recruiting for some
types of vacancies.  I encourage people to look all throughout the year-we
have people that get promoted and go to other parts of our campus, so that
leaves a vacancy behind.  In the human resources world, there is always some
turnover and there will always be vacancies,” said Jackie Frederick, CHRA
Southwest deputy director.

Burton and Frederick encourage civilians, Army dependents, veterans and all
job-seekers from the area to take advantage of this opportunity to work for
CHRA.

“Neither Jackie nor I are from this area, but we love it.  It’s home for us.
Not only do we like what we do, but we like the sense of community and that
we are able to provide some employment opportunities for the folks who live
and work here, and for the (Army) family members,” Burton said.  “This is a
great place to live and work and we are really fortunate that we have a
great applicant pool, too.”

The CHRA Southwest footprint here at Fort Riley includes one of two Civilian
Personnel Records Centers, and the only existing Army Benefits Center –
Civilian, which has a worldwide mission to process retirement and
benefits-related documents for all Army Civilian employees.  Additionally,
18 Civilian Personnel Advisory Centers (CPACs) at other installations fall
under the Southwest Region.

According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, patchy fog may be possible around sunrise across portions of northeast Kansas. Any fog that forms will burn off by 9 AM. A major storm system will pass south and east of Kansas on Tuesday and Tuesday night. There may be a few rain showers possible across portions of north central and east central Kansas Monday night through Tuesday evening. Expect Highs closer to normal this work week, with 40s to lower 50s. 

Today: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Southeast winds up to 5 mph.

Tonight: Cloudy. Lows in the mid 30s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain in the morning. Highs around 50. North winds 5 to 15 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s. North winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. North winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 20s.

Thursday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 40s.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 20s.

Friday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s.

Friday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 30s.

Saturday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 50s.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 30.

Sunday: Partly sunny. Highs around 50.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Local officials are setting aggressive goals for an economic development partnership that has already attracted nearly a dozen new companies and created hundreds of full-time jobs in the immediate area.

 

Lyle Butler, president of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, presented a proclamation to recognize Knowledge Based Economic Development, or KBED, during the Chamber’s annual business meeting on Feb. 19.

 

The proclamation was signed by Butler; Kansas State University president Kirk Schulz; City of Manhattan mayor Karen McCulloh; and Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce board chair Kristin Brighton.

 

KBED was established in 2008 to align the city’s strategy for economic development in a way that capitalizes on the university’s research strengths and the area’s growth opportunities. It is a combined effort by the City of Manhattan, the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, Kansas State University, the KSU Foundation, the KSU Institute for Commercialization, the KSU Research Foundation and the North Central Kansas Community Network.

 

“I think the best thing about the partnership between K-State, the City and the Chamber is that we don’t take anything for granted – we have been able to compete successfully with much larger communities because we put forward a unified approach,” Butler said. “Companies sense the high level of cooperation that goes on here, and it makes them more comfortable in their decision to do business in the Manhattan region.”

 

Since 2007, KBED has helped 12 companies re-locate or grow operations in Manhattan. Recent examples include Garmin International, CivicPlus, the Veterinary and Biomedical Research Center, Avatekh, and General Electric Aviation.

 

As of 2015, KBED estimates it has helped create 321 full-time jobs in the region, and projects 672 more over the next five years. The average salary of jobs created is $52,238.

 

The proclamation signed at the Chamber’s annual meeting sets a goal of creating 5,000 new jobs for the area in the next 20 years, with an associated annual payroll and operating budget of $450 million.

 

“The work KBED does helps us recruit and retain highly educated workers who often bring with them highly educated spouses, which gives all of our businesses an infusion of new talent into the local pool,” said Brighton, who is a co-owner of New Boston Creative Group in Manhattan.

 

“As we gear up for the opening of the National Bio- and Agrodefense Facility (NBAF) in the next 5-6 years, we’ll need a cumulative mass of such employees,” she added. “But to recruit them, we’ll also need to be able to offer their spouses employment. This is why we need a plan, so that we can maximize this growth and recruit the people we need to take advantage of all of the opportunities that follow.”

 

Schulz said KBED also works to develop partnerships with local businesses, part of the university’s commitment to the immediate area. The Princeton Review has previously rated Manhattan and Kansas State University as one of the Top 5 “Town and Gown” relationships in the country.

 

“As a land-grant institution, Kansas State University’s mission is not only serving students, but also improving the quality of life for Kansas residents,” Schulz said. “As we see in the numbers, our partnership with KBED is helping stimulate innovation and economic growth in the state. The benefits from this partnership will only increase for the state as Kansas State University advances to becoming a Top 50 public research university by 2025.”

 

K-State and several city groups have also worked successfully in early development of the university’s north campus corridor, which is now known as the Bio-Agro Science and Innovation Corridor, or BASIC.

 

“Manhattan and the surrounding region has a lot to offer companies in many industries,” Butler said. “What we’ve been able to do with KBED is show that our region is serious about providing great opportunities for these companies because they realize that the resources at Kansas State University and throughout our community are quite good. We’ve had early success, but we’re just getting started in attracting companies here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Junction City and Geary County want to be a part of NBAF related development where there is an overflow.

The National Bio and Agro Defense Center will be located in Manhattan, but is expected to attract related biotechnology type businesses to the region.

Geary County Commissioner Ben Bennett feels communication is the biggest issue right now for Geary. “When they had the groundbreaking there was nobody from Geary County and Junction City invited to attend that event.” Bennett added, If we’re supposed to be a part of this corridor, and we’re supposed to be a partner in all things as we continue to talk about our partnerships in the region, we need to all remember that when we do something that’s a major issue. We all should be a part of that, and not just a select few.”

Bennett is a member of the Flint Hills Regional Council which received a briefing on NBAF Friday. He noted the construction timeline for the facility has started this year, but is a multi-phase process that will spread over multiple years. The center is expected to be open for usage in 2022.

The Geary County Republican Party needs speakers to represent presidential candidates at the March 5 caucus.

There are six Republican presidential candidates listed for the caucus, and speakers are needed for three of them….Dr. Ben Carson, Donald Trump, and Jeb Bush.

Registration for the caucus will be at 9 a.m. on the fifth at the 4-H / Senior Center with the caucus going from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

If you are interested in speaking on behalf of a candidate call Barbara Craft at 238-1384.