OGDEN- The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a fire on Tuesday at a gun range in Riley County.

Fire crews responded just after 6p.m. to Ogden’s Best Gun Range, 215 Fort Riley Avenue in Ogden, according to Pat Collins, Emergency Management Director for Riley County.
The area was evacuated

The fire in a storage room caused approximately $25,000 in damage to the room and smoke damage to the range.

The Ogden, Tattarax and Keats departments stations responded to the fire while the Manhattan and Fort Riley departments were called in to aid, according to Ryan Almes, Deputy Fire Chief of MFD, 32 firefighters responded in total.

No injuries were reported.

After touring the new Municipal Court building back on January 20th and getting an update at that time on what still needs to be done the Junction City Commission was able to receive another update Tuesday night.

Bruce McMillan, the Architect for the project informed the commission that as of Tuesday there had been no additional work done to the building since their previous meeting.

Ron Cheney, President of Cheney Construction the General Contractor for the project then provided an update from his point of view to the commission. During his update Cheney went through an overview of the entire project, listing the numerous delays and providing the reasoning for the delays. Some of the items he brought up included that he had not been paid a payment that was due to him for October 15th. That payment was approved by the commission during their last meeting and staff confirmed the payment has been mailed to Mr. Cheney.

One other concern brought up by Cheney was an accusation that the tour the commission and staff took of the building back on Jan. 20th was an illegal meeting, because an occupancy permit has yet to be approved for the building.

Allen Dinkel, City Manager explained that the City followed the open meetings law and he doesn’t believe a certificate of occupancy was needed,”I think we disagree on that because it’s our building, it was not being used for a day-to-day use, it was just strictly to see the building.”

“He wanted to show the building to only one Commissioner at a time, I believe the commission acts as a group of five, and that’s why we had a meeting.”

Moving forward the City will be following the lead of McMillan as the Architect on the project. McMillan explained he plans to meet with Dinkel in the near future to go over dates on when the final items on the punch list should be complete, and when the City can finally take possession of the building.

Members of the commission remain optimistic that they will be able to move into the Municipal Court Building sometime in March.

The Kansas Department of Transportation has reopened the following roads in Kansas as of 7 p.m. CST:

• All lanes of I-70 from Salina to the Colorado border
• U.S. 40 from Sharon Springs to the Colorado border
• U.S. 83 from Oakley to Scott City
• K-27 from Goodland to Sharon Springs

As always, please use caution when driving during winter weather conditions. For up-to-date information on road closures and road conditions, call 511 in Kansas.

Do your homework and research on a post-secondary plan.

That was a key message from Jay Scott, Assistant Director for Career & Technical Education in the Kansas Department of Education, to students attending the academic letter banquet at Junction City High School Tuesday night.

“You need to have a plan. The days of I’ll figure it out as I go have led to a lot of angst among our young adults in the United States.” Scott encouraged the students while they’re in high school to continue to refine their plan.

He also noted, “I encourage you to make it career focused, not college focused. Focus it on your career interests, not necessarily where you want to go to college, and what basketball crowd you want to be a part of. Our students need to make better informed decisions, and you’re part of that.”

Scott encouraged the students to try as many career explorations as possible, including such efforts as job shadowing and internships. He stated that the labor market trends are increasingly requiring higher levels of post-secondary education for employment. That can include college, but also apprentice, licensing, and certification programs.

A total of 253 students were honored during the banquet for their accomplishments in the classroom.

FORT RILEY, Kan. – Retired Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of the Association of the United States Army, is set to visit Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division on Feb. 5.

Sullivan led the “Big Red One” from July 1988-July 1989 and served as the 32nd Army chief of staff. Commissioned as an armor officer in 1959, Sullivan served more than 36 years before retiring in 1995. He has held AUSA’s top spot since 1998.

While at Fort Riley, Sullivan is set to visit 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team Soldiers in the field and give a talk about leadership to Soldiers and local and state officials at Riley’s Conference Center.

Ian Michael Spurgeon, author of Soldiers in the Army of Freedom:  The 1^st Kansas Colored, The Civil War’s First African American Combat Unit, will give a book talk and sign books on Thursday, February 11, 2016, 7 p.m., at the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library, 320 W. 7^th St. in Junction City, Kansas.   The program is sponsored by Prairie Heritage, Inc.

The president of Prairie Heritage, Inc., Junction City Commissioner Jim Sands, will present the author with the Prairie Heritage Book Award at the beginning of the program on February 11.   The award comes with a cash prize of $1000.00.

The individuals described in the book were amazing people who fought not only against the Confederacy but against discrimination and skepticism within the Union army.   Their sacrifices and successes are commemorated in the eight battle honors listed on their regimental flag—Poison Spring, Camden, Jenkins Ferry, Sherwood, Island Mound, Cabin Creek, Honey Springs, and Prairie-de-Anne.    The book’s cover photo depicts Captain William D. Matthews, a free Kansan who recruited soldiers for the unit and who became one of the regiment’s two Black officers.

Spurgeon shares  first-place honors with Iralee Barnard, author ofField Guide to the Common Grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, who received her award in December.   Both authors receive the full $1000 award.  As Prairie Heritage board member Deliliah Hamilton explains, “Both books were tops in their fields, one in social history, the other in natural history.  How could we compare the two?  We had to give two awards.”

Prairie Heritage, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to preserving the prairie and its stories.   In addition to honoring books that illuminate the prairie’s heritage, it sponsors workshops, history talks, and once a year, in conjunction with Juneteenth, a wildflower walk on the tall grass prairie.

The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce presents the 2016 Legislative Coffee Series at 9:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of February, March, & April.

This series is open to the public. Senator Jeff Longbine, Senator Tom Hawk, Representative Lonnie Clark, and Representative Tom Moxley will give an update

and answer your questions regarding legislative issues.

USD 475 is host to the first event on Saturday February 6, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. in the Junction City High Band room at 900 N Eisenhower.

Please mark your calendars for additional events.

Sat. March 5, Dorothy Bramlage Library, 230 W. 7th St.

Sat. April 2, Dorothy Bramlage Library, 230 W. 7th St.