The Geary Community Healthcare Foundation hosted a welcome reception for the newest orthopedic and sports medicine partner providers at Geary Community Hospital Tuesday, February 16 at the Courtyard by Marriott, Convention Center.

Dr.’s Adam Chase and Peter Hodges began in the Flint Hills Orthopedics and Sports Medicine clinic January, 2016. They operate the clinic four days a week, as well as perform orthopedic surgeries and utilize GCH’s ancillary services. Surgeries include sports injuries, partial and total joint replacements and numerous other orthopedic procedures.

“This partnership has already proven to be a very beneficial way of providing a continuity of care for our orthopedic patients and keeping services local,” said Joe Stratton, GCH Chief Executive Officer. “We believe this collaborative effort and long-term commitment between each group will better serve the residents of Geary County by minimizing patients having to seek care elsewhere.”

OSMC is an independently owned medical practice in Manhattan, Kan. and serves various locations including Clay Center, Council Grove, Herington and Wamego.

Spring makes an early appearance this year with highs beginning in the 60s today, soaring to the upper 70s (maybe even 80 degrees!) on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service of Topeka. Current record high for Topeka is 77 degrees, set back in 1930. Current forecast is for 78 degrees. Other side to the heat is the very high to extreme fire danger expected Thursday and Friday as strong winds increase between 20 and 30 mph sustained. South winds initially on Thursday will shift to the west overnight into Friday, with speeds gradually diminishing in the afternoon. Any outdoor burning is not recommended as very dry conditions are present on both days.

Tonight: Not as cool. Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s. South winds 5 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 25 mph after midnight.

Thursday: Breezy…warmer…sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts to around 40 mph.

Thursday Night: Breezy. Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 40s. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

Friday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 30 mph in the morning.

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

Saturday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s.

Sunday: Cooler. Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 30.

Monday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Slight chance of rain showers. Lows in the lower 30s.

Tuesday: Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY-POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS-WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON-

* WIND…FOR THURSDAY, SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL GUST UPWARDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. FOR FRIDAY, WESTERLY WINDS WILL GUST UPWARDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH BUT SHOULD GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

* HUMIDITY…FOR THURSDAY, MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL LIKELY BE AT LEAST IN THE LOW 20 PERCENT RANGE. LOWER VALUES ARE EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY WITH MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES IN THE TEENS TO MID 20 PERCENT RANGE.

* IMPACTS…ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL LIKELY SPREAD RAPIDLY. OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST TO OCCUR. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE RED FLAG WARNINGS.

MANHATTAN- Emergency crews responded to a vehicle collision at the intersection of Claflin Road and Seth Child Road in Manhattan on just before 2 p.m. on Monday.

Officers found that this collision occurred when a 2009 Pontiac Vibe, driven by Sherri Slaughter, 42, Junction City, collided with a 2006 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, driven by Alexandro Rascon, 19, Manhattan.

Rascon ejected from his motorcycle as a result of this collision and ultimately transported to Via Christi Hospital for medical care.

A citation for improper turn was issued to Slaughter as a result of this collision.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Four finalists have been selected after a national search for a new chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds announced Tuesday that the four will visit Lincoln over a two-week period, beginning Monday.

The four are Sabah Randhawa (suh-BAH ran-DAH’-wah), who is provost and executive vice president at Oregon State University; April Mason, who is provost and senior vice president at Kansas State University; Daniel Reed, who is vice president for research and economic development at the University of Iowa; and Ronnie Green, who is vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the University of Nebraska system.

Bounds will choose one of the four to replace Chancellor Harvey Perlman, who plans to leave the office on June 30 and return to the law school.

MANHATTAN — Luis Guillermo Solís, president of Costa Rica, has joined the lineup of Landon Lectures at Kansas State University for spring 2016.

Solís’ lecture will be Thursday, May 19, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The time of the lecture will be announced later.

“The Landon Lecture Series has a long history of bringing international leaders to the university, so we’re pleased to add President Solís to this distinguished list,” said Jackie Hartman, the university’s chief of staff, director of community relations and chair of the Landon Lecture Series.

Elected president of Costa Rica in 2014, Solís has a long background in education and politics. He studied history at the University of Costa Rica, going on to earn a master’s degree in Latin American studies from Tulane University. He was an associate professor of history at the University of Costa Rica from 1981-1987, serving as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Michigan from 1983-1985. He also worked at Florida Atlantic University where he was coordinator of the Center for the Administration Justice and a researcher for the Latin American and Caribbean Center.

His political experience includes serving as an official of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as ambassador for Central American affairs and director of foreign policy. Solís has published more than 10 books and written many articles for newspapers and magazines.

Solís will be the second Costa Rican president to give a Landon Lecture, joining Oscar Arias Sanchez who spoke in 1987.

Solís’ lecture will wrap up a busy spring of speakers for the historic lecture series. Three lectures are scheduled in April:

• Historian and author H.W. Brands, 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in McCain Auditorium.

• Political pundits John Avlon and Margaret Hoover, 7 p.m. Friday, April 15, in McCain Auditorium.

• PepsiCo vice chairman and chief scientific officer, global research and development, Dr. Mehmood Khan, 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 25, in McCain Auditorium.

According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, temperatures will be a little cooler today thanks to breezy northwest winds. However, warmer weather is on the way for the rest of the week. Thursday looks to be the warmest day of the week with highs expected to reach the 70s. It will also be windy on Thursday with southwest winds gusting between 30 and 40 MPH. The warm and windy conditions are likely to cause elevated fire danger Thursday and Friday, so avoid any outdoor burning.

Today: Mostly sunny. Highs around 50. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 40 mph decreasing to 30 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight: Colder. Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows around 30. North winds up to 5 mph shifting to the southeast after midnight.

Wednesday: Not as cool. Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the northwest in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows around 40. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph.

Thursday: Breezy…warmer…sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts to around 35 mph.

Thursday Night: Breezy. Mostly clear. Lows around 50.

Friday: Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

Friday Night: Colder. Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 50s.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 30.

Monday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

PRATT– Anglers like to keep their best fishing holes secret, but that’s hard to do now that the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) produces the annual fishing forecast. The forecast is a compilation of data gathered by KDWPT district fisheries biologists throughout the year. The data comes from sampling efforts, including test netting, electroshocking and creel surveys. The forecast presents this data in a format that lets anglers find waters that contain their favorite species in both good numbers and the size they prefer.

For example, if you like to catch crappie, you can use the forecast to find a reservoir, lake or pond where the biologist found lots of crappie during sampling efforts last fall.

A quick look at the reservoir category for white crappie shows that John Redmond Reservoir is ranked No. 1 for Density Rating, which is the number of crappie longer than 8 inches caught per unit of sampling effort. If you’re more interested in quality-sized crappie, then look at the Preferred rating, which is the number of fish caught during sampling that were 10 inches long or longer. Again, John Redmond is No. 1, by a large margin. Two-thirds of the fish sampled in John Redmond last fall were longer than 10 inches. The Lunker Rating (crappie longer than 12 inches) for this lake is also No. 1 among Kansas reservoirs. So, John Redmond will be a great place to catch crappie this year, both in terms of numbers and size.

Theoretically, a reservoir with a Density Rating of 32 will have twice as many crappie 8 inches long or longer than a lake with a Density Rating of 16. However, there are often other factors that may influence sampling results, and some lakes may not be sampled every year, so the forecast includes other ratings such as the Biologist’s Rating. A biologist may feel that the numbers don’t accurately reflect the fish population, so they enter a rating of Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor. The Three-year Average is there because a lake may not have been sampled this past year. It shows an average of the past three years of Density Ratings. And finally, there is a Biggest Fish rating, which simply lists the biggest fish caught during sampling.

Anglers can view the forecast at www.ksoutdoors.com, and in printed brochures that will soon be available at KDWPT offices. Use the 2016 Fishing Forecast to find your own fishing hot spots this spring.

The Junction City Military Affairs Council will host their next monthly breakfast on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 a.m. at Riley’s Conference Center at Fort Riley.

CW3 Jeffery Price, former commander ofthe 1st Infantry Division band will share how music is an integral part of the Army.

The deadline to register for the breakfast will be this Friday, Feb. 19.

When making a reservation, specify if you have access to Fort Riley in the form of a DOD card, Access Badge, or Pass. If you do not have Fort Riley access provide the following information: Full first and last names, plus middle initial, driver’s license state & number, birthdate, and phone number or email.

The cost of the breakfast is $12 per person, payable by check or cash at the door.

To make a reservation call the Chamber of Commerce at 785-762-2632.