Dr. Robert Diepenbrock is one of four candidates interviewing this week for the superintendent of schools position in Manhattan / Ogden USD 383.
Diepenbrock was announced as a candidate for the job by USD 383. He is currently the Superintendent of Kingman – Norwich Public Schools — USD 331. Earlier in his career Diepenbrock served as the preK – grade 12 principal at Saint Xavier Parish School in Junction City.
Diepenbrock is the second candidate to be announced by USD 383 for the superintendent’s job in that district. The first was the Superintendent of Hiawatha Public Schools, Dr. Penny Hargrove. Two more candidates are scheduled to be revealed later this week.
Geary County Commissioners recognized County employees Monday that have reached service milestones ranging from five to 35 years.
Therese Hoff has been employed in the County Clerk’s office for 35 years.
Teresa Dixon in the County Treasurer’s Office for 30 years and Steve Opat has served as County Attorney for 30 years, with his service spread over two seperate stints.
Among other employees honored were those with:
–25 years of service including Dennis Cox, Ossie McCarter Jr., Ralph Walker Jr.
–20 years, Ed Wheeler Jr.
–15 years, Gregory Kieffer
–10 years, Adrian Stanley, Justin Floberg, Michelle Brown, Jennifer Gatlin
–5 years, Pamela Crowell, Dale Dennison, Debra Riding, Shari Lenhart, Juanita Garcia, and Angela Williams.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department reports that Deputies responded to the K-18 Bypass Monday for a single vehicle non-injury accident. Austin Armfield, Wichita, was driving a Chevrolet Cobalt when he hit a patch of ice and lost control of the vehicle, striking the bridge.
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Deputies responded to a non-injury accident on U.S. 77 Monday evening. This involved a car-deer accident. Arlene Fulk, Wakefield, was driving a Toyota Corolla when a deer entered the roadway. Fulk was unable to avoid striking the animal.
According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, there will be a warming trend for the next few days before another system brings the chance for light rain and snow on Friday. Another shot of cold air will move in behind that system keeping temperatures below normal into early next week.
Today: Colder. Mostly sunny. Highs around 30. North winds 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest up to 5 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s. Southwest winds up to 10 mph.
Wednesday: Not as cool. Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 20s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 50s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s.
Friday: Colder. Partly sunny with slight chance of snow. Highs in the mid 30s.
Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Lows around 20.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 20s.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 11. Wind chill readings 1 below to 9 above zero.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 20s. Lowest wind chill readings 2 below to 8 above zero in the morning.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy. Lows around 10. Wind chill readings 5 below to 5 above zero.
Martin Luther King Jr Day: Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 20s. Lowest wind chill readings 6 below to 4 above zero in the morning.
The Medical Explorer Program is a partnership between Geary Community Hospital and the Konza District Boy Scouts for high school students, both male and female, interested in going into the medical field.
The classes will run on a bi-weekly basis beginning January through the end of May, 2016. Different departments throughout the hospital will be featured each class, exposing the students to various aspects of the healthcare industry.
“These students are given a special opportunity to see various aspects of the healthcare industry,” stated GCHF Chief Executive Officer Joe Stratton. “Additionally, the Medical Explorer Program is a way for GCH to ‘grow our own’ where young adults are more likely to stay in our community as medical professionals. Students have the ability to learn about rural healthcare and this program has the potential to spark interest in something of which they were not aware.”
The first class is set to launch Wednesday, January 13 and will feature the Cardiopulmonary Department where students will have a chance to perform stress tests, learn about cardiac rehab, sleep studies and pulmonary function tests. Future classes will feature different departments including radiology, emergency, nursing and laboratory.
Students interested in joining the program may contact Nikki Davies at Geary Community Hospital to sign up at ndavies@gchks.org. Registration costs $24.
The Geary County Commission held their annual reorganization Monday afternoon and named the new chairman, vice-chair, and secretary.
Chairman Florence Whitebread
Florence Whitebread was selected to serve as chairman in 2016, Larry Hicks will serve as vice-chair, and Ben Bennett will serve as secretary.
Whitebread said she was pleased to serve as chairman but she explained she feels all three Commissioners are important,”it’s just somebody to conduct the meeting and be called Chairman, because every one of us have important meetings and committees to attend and deal with, and we all deal with all the issues, so it’s another job.”
Going forward Whitebread is focused on just keeping the county on an,”even keel.”
“We got a good report from the auditors, and I want that to continue. Keep things as conservative as possible for the coming year.”
The commissioners will also represent the county in appointed positions on other public boards.
Ben Bennett:
— Military Affairs Council
–CVB
–Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
–Flint Hills Regional Council
–Metropolitan Planning Organization
–Flint Hills Regional Transit Authority
Florence Whitebread:
–Public Building Commission
-Fire Board
–Animal Shelter Board
–Solid Waste Management Planning Committee
–North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center Board
The Master Teacher Committee of the Junction City Education Association has announced the selection of Carol Settgast, Library Media Specialist at Sheridan Elementary School, as the JCEA nominee from Geary USD 475 for the 2016 Kansas Master Teacher Award sponsored by Emporia State University.
Settgast received her BA in English Literature and Elementary Education in Colorado, and her MS in Elementary Education with Library Media endorsement at Fort Hays State University. She has taught in Nevada, served as a teacher assistant at Custer Hill Elementary School, and a multi-age teacher at Morris Hill Elementary School prior to moving to her current job as Teacher / Library at Sheridan Elementary School in 1999.
The Kansas Master Teacher Award will be announced in April on the campus of Emporia State University.
The Junction City Public Works personnel had a big job to do after the Thanksgiving weekend ice storm.
Public Works Director Ray Ibarra said Monday they hauled off 745 loads of tree limbs and branches after the storm that knocked out electricity to many, and damaged trees. “that came out to about 8,000 cubic yards of material that we ended up taking to the county landfill.” It took five weeks to complete the job.
The initial estimate by Ibarra had been that about 10% of the trees in Junction City were damaged by the storm, but Ibarra indicated Monday that percentage is higher.
RILEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a suspect involved with a weekend incident involving a rifle.
Just after 7:40 a.m. on Saturday, police in Riley County responded to the 1800 block of Priboth Road south of Manhattan where a rifle was fired at an occupied vehicle, according to a police media release.
There were no injuries.
Officers found that a 29-year-old woman was in a verbal altercation with Arthur Corgill III, 23, Manhattan, when the situation escalated.
Corgill was then said to have fired a rifle round at a vehicle that was occupied by the woman as well as a 32-year-old man.
Officers made contact with Corgill and subsequently took him into custody at approximately 11:30 a.m. after the investigation led to probable cause.
Police officials confirm that the public was not in immediate danger as a result of this incident as it appeared to be isolated.
The victims and suspect were known to each other and due to a domestic relationship, victim information has been withheld.
Corgill was arrested for the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal discharge of a firearm, and criminal damage to property. He is confined on a bond of $16,000.00.
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. officials say that Acting Army Secretary Eric Fanning is stepping aside, at least temporarily, because his nomination hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate.
The Army’s undersecretary, Patrick Murphy, was confirmed last week, so he will oversee the Army. Fanning is expected to step down and move into another Pentagon post for now, but would return to the Army leadership position if his nomination is approved.
Fanning was nominated by President Barack Obama last September and would be the nation’s first openly gay leader of a military service.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., placed a hold on Fanning’s nomination in protest over Obama’s campaign to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility and transfer detainees to the United States.
Officials weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly so spoke anonymously.
Dr. Robert Diepenbrock is one of four candidates interviewing this week for the superintendent of schools position in Manhattan / Ogden USD 383.
