KDOT

Kansas road closures, as of 11:15 a.m.

US-36 is closed at Phillipsburg west to the Colorado border as of 11:10 a.m. CST due to an accident and winter weather conditions.

I-70 from the Colorado border to Hays
K-25 from the Nebraska border to US-40
K-27 from the Nebraska border to Sharon Springs
K-161 from the Nebraska border to US-36
K-117 from the Nebraska border to US-36
US-83 from the Nebraska border to Scott City
US-283 from the Nebraska border to Wakeeney
K-383 from the Nebraska border to US-83
US-36 from the Colorado border to Norton
K-9 from US-283 to K-123
US-24 from Stockton to I-70
K-18 from Plainville to US-24
K-23 from Selden to Grainfield

For up-to-date information on road closures and road conditions, call 511 in Kansas or 866-511-5368 outside Kansas, or check travel information online at www.kandrive.org or 511mm.ksdot.org on your mobile device.

The annual severe weather storm spotter meeting is scheduled in Junction City on March 7th. It will be at the 4-H and Senior Center at 7 p.m.

This is open to the public. There will be no admission charge.

There will be information on spring and summer severe weather ranging from tornadoes and thunderstorms to lightning.   Normally a National Weather Service meteorologist makes a presentation during the session.

Geary County Emergency Management Director Garry Berges updated the Geary County Commission on Monday on the meeting date.

MANHATTAN -Janir Vega, 17, appeared in Riley County Court on Monday for sentencing under Judge Wilson after being arrested following a robbery spree near the K-State campus.

Vega was taken into custody on September 16, 2015 after an overnight search lasting several hours.

Vega was taken into custody for the offenses of aggravated robbery (X3) and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery in relation to a string of robberies that shut down K-State and Manhattan Christian College campuses on Friday, September 4.

Attorney Blake Robinson, who motioned for a durational or dispositional departure so that Vega would get probation or a shorter sentence, represented Vega.

Robinson went into detail about Vega’s personal past, and argued that going into the Kansas Department of Corrections wouldn’t help Vega, who had been under pressure by adults that were also involved in the robberies.

Vega told Judge Wilson that he wanted to apologize to everyone involved, and that he was a victim of peer pressure.

Ransom Gardiner, one of the robbery victims, gave a statement to the court, saying he was approached from an alleyway after walking home from Aggieville in the early morning hours of September 4. Gardiner said a man ran up to him with what looked like a black semi-automatic handgun.

The man had him get on the ground where he took his phone and wallet at gunpoint. Gardiner admitted to being very shaken up for several weeks following the robbery.
Barry Disney, senior deputy county attorney in Riley County, argued against Robinson’s motion. He said Vega put the gun to Gardiner’s head, which made him a culprit, not a victim of peer pressure.

Disney read a transcript from Vega’s preliminary hearing where he didn’t contest any of Gardiner’s statements.
Judge Wilson sentenced Vega to 59 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections, with 89 days credit for time served.

It was 34 years ago Monday that Chuck Otte walked into the Geary County Research and Extension office as the new Ag and Natural Resources Agent.

Back then he wasn’t expecting to stick around as long as he has.

“I came down here to do this job for three or four years and then go back to college to get a PhD, and I seriously, jokingly, tell people I never left because I’m having too much fun, and that’s honestly the truth,” said Otte.

In his 34 years he says he’s seen floods, droughts, the farm crisis of the 80’s, but the most “game changing” thing to occur has been advancements in technology.

“When I started there were no computers in any offices, micro computers were just coming around. And now we’re all walking around with them on our hips in the form of a smart phone.”

When you bring up the idea of retiring Otte replies,”I don’t know I’m not quite 60 yet, so I’m figuring five more years. I just take it a day at a time, it’s still fun, I’m still enjoying it, I still wake up in the morning looking forward to coming to work, and there’s still things I want to accomplish.”

The people and the diversity of the county are both reasons why Otte decided to stay in Geary County, it also helped he married a local girl, Jaye, 30 years ago this past September.

MANHATTAN -One of the masons currently working on Kansas State University’s East Memorial Stadium found a letter inside an old tobacco can after removing a stone on the stadium’s east side, according to the Kansas State Historical Society’s Preservation Office.

The letter, written in 1928 was turned over to the University.

The letter reads “Dear Folks, Will place a not[e] in wall as it may some day be found and perhaps the men that Built it will be dead and forgotten.

We are having nice weather was 18 above zero this morning. Hope when this is opened things will be better for the working man than [now?].

Mason got $10 per day and labor $3.20 there will have to be a change soon or the labor will be out of luck.

Please print this if found.”

The letter was signed CK Bell, Geo H Bell, W. Sowell, Jim Kelley, Ray [Disney?] Good luck.”

The Kansas State Historical society added, “Buildings are built by real people for real people; we love these little reminders.”

Geary County 4-H Club Day will be held Saturday, February 6th at the First Presbyterian Church in Junction City.

Events will begin at 8 am and are scheduled to be completed by 11 am.

4-H members will be presenting speeches, music numbers, talent programs, and parliamentary procedure demonstrations. Members will also be able to participate in photography and family and consumer sciences judging contests throughout the morning.

An early Sunday morning fire caused an estimated $15,000 damage at an apartment complex at 20 Riley Manor in Junction City.

None of the people at the residence were injured. One dog did perish.

Rick Rook, Junction City Fire Department Battalion Chief, said it appeared the fire began in a kitchen area of an apartment. “We had significant damage on the main floor. ”

Rook noted the cause of the fire was accidental. The Red Cross was called to provide assistance to the residents.

Written by Malorie Wagner on ksu.edu.

MANHATTAN — Get ready to rock to the Bee Gees when the McCain Performance Series presents the “Australian Bee Gees Show: A Tribute to the Bee Gees” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, in Kansas State University’s McCain Auditorium.

The new “Australian Bee Gees Show” is a multimedia theatrical concert experience that takes a nostalgic trip through the Bee Gees’ legacy and celebrates the more than four decades of music written by the Brothers Gibb, including “Stayin’ Alive” and “You Should be Dancin.’”

Tickets for the “Australian Bee Gees Show” start at $14, plus applicable taxes and fees. Tickets can be purchased at the McCain Auditorium box office or by phone at 785-532-6428 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – A nearly 400-year-old collection of William Shakespeare’s plays is making a stop in Manhattan.

An exhibition featuring a “First Folio” of the Bard’s plays goes on display Thursday at Kansas State University. The exhibit last through the end of the month.

The folio was assembled by two of Shakespeare’s actors in 1623 and is an original printing of the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. Included are plays such as “Macbeth,” ”Julius Caesar” and “The Tempest.”

Of about 750 copies made originally, it’s estimated 233 remain.

One site in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico was chosen to host the traveling exhibit.

The tour is organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library, in partnership with the Cincinnati Museum Center and the American Library Association.