Kansas Senator Jeff Longbine has represented the 17th District, which includes the majority of Geary County, since 2010 and plans to seek re-election in 2016.

In an interview with Junction City Post Tuesday Sen. Longbine confirmed his plans to file for re-election.

“It is my full intention to run again, I have not actually filed, I have not put the paperwork in to the Secretary of State’s Office, but it is my intention to run again,” Longbine said.

Currently Longbine Chairs the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, and is Vice Chair of the 2015 Special Committee on Insurance and the Senate Select Committee on KPERS.

According to the official candidates list on the Secretary of States website no one has filed to run in District 17.

Looking ahead to the 2016 session Longbine has a couple of goals in mind.

“I am very, very concerned about the amount of one time transfers that have been used by the Governor and by the Legislature to balance the budget over the last 12 month period. Those monies will not be available to us again, and I think that leaves a very large structural hole in our budget. I’d like to see that addressed. I’m also very concerned about the amount of money that has been taken from transportation funds, and would very much like to see a plan to restore funding back to transportation at the levels it was intended to be.”

He added that Medicaid expansion is also something that deserves consideration. He hasn’t been able to decide at this point whether he would support its expansion but it is something he feels deserves discussion.

The 2016 session will kick off on Monday, January 11th.

MANHATTAN- Law enforcement authorities in Riley County are investigating a suspect allegedly involved in a series of vehicle burglaries.

Over the past two weeks, police responded to multiple vehicle burglaries in Manhattan.

Riley County police identified a potential suspect and ask the public for information on the whereabouts of Barrett Stokes, 20, of Manhattan.

police said that Stokes should be considered potentially armed and dangerous.

With the assistance of the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and tips from the community Stokes was apprehended in Manhattan and is currently at the Pottawatomie County Jail.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran has announced that a member of his staff will be Junction City, Clay Center, Abilene, and Salina to hold open office hours on  Thursday, Dec. 17 and Friday, Dec. 18.

Individuals who are experiencing difficulties with Social Security, Medicare, Veterans’ Affairs or have other concerns regarding federal issues are encouraged to attend.

In Geary County the office hour is 9-10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18 at the Dorothy Bramlage Public Library Community Room, 230 West 7th Street.

In the other counties on Thursday, Dec. 17 they are 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. at the City / County Building in Salina, 1-2 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, and 3-4 p.m. at the Clay Center Carnegie Library in the Basement Community Room.

Becky McClatchey, CNA, is the December Employee of the Month at Geary Community Hospital.

Hospital officials report that McClatchey works in the Medical / Surgical Department at GCH.

 

• Friday, Jan. 29, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the Geary County Convention Center. Doors open at 6:30, meal is served at 7, program begins at 7:30.

 

• To honor selected officers and employees who have performed exemplary service beyond their normal duties in 2014.

 

• Up to 14 honorees will be selected: one each from the JCPD, Grandview Plaza PD, GCSO, county detention center, Fort Riley Police Department, Fort Riley game wardens, Fort Riley CID, Kansas Highway Patrol, Milford State Park and/or Army Corps of Engineers rangers, 8th Judicial District Community Corrections, 8th Judicial District Court Services, county dispatchers and North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Facility.

 

• Purpose of the banquet is to demonstrate citizen support for the law enforcement agencies that serve Geary County. Our first event was in February 2015.

 

• Tickets are free for the dinner, a guest speaker and presentation of the awards. Table sponsorships for eight people is $300.  For more information contact: Mike Heronemus at 223-6179, (785) 304-2768, ormheronemus@cox.net; Rick Roberts at 785) 209-1009 orrrick1984@hotmail.com; or Steve Hudson at (785) 223-1412 orSecuritysolutionsjc@embarqmail.com.  For more information, please see attachment.

 

• A cash bar will be available.

According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, above normal temperatures are expected to last through the end of the work week before a storm system moves across the region and brings cooler weather with some rain and possibly snow. Rain is most likely to fall Saturday afternoon and Saturday night across east central and northeast Kansas. The rain may mix with some snow on Sunday before the system exits the area. There may still be changes in the storm system over the week, so be sure to check back for updates to the forecast.

Today: Warmer…sunny. Highs in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the west in the afternoon.

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

Saturday: Cooler. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain showers. Highs around 50.

Saturday Night: Cloudy with rain likely. Lows in the mid 30s. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Sunday: Partly sunny with a 40 percent chance of rain and snow. Highs in the lower 40s.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy with slight chance of rain and snow. Lows in the upper 20s.

Monday: Sunny. Highs in the upper 40s.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s.

Just over a week into December and the temperatures have averaged about 12 degrees above average, and we’ve already exceeded the average amount of precipitation for the month.

Mary Knapp, Kansas State Climatologist explained that through December 8th the average temperature in the area has been 44.5 degrees farenheit and the normal temperature is 32.8 degrees farenheit. But don’t expect the warm temperatures to stick around.

“There’s some signals that we might have a change in that pattern, so it’s kind of like you can’t expect it to stay this way as we go into our winter,” said Knapp.

Winter doesn’t officially kick off until December 22nd.

Looking ahead to winter, December through February, the Climate Prediction Center’s winter outlook for the area is calling for an equally likely chance for above or below average temperatures, but indications are that it will be a wetter than average winter.

“Our only question will be, does it come as snow, or does it come as rain, or freezing rain, and how is it distributed over that three-month period?”

The next chance for snow is this weekend as the National Weather Service is forecasting a 30 percent possibility for snow Saturday night into Sunday.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has approved the purchase of a new 911 simulator for a cost of $26,597.

The simulator will support a course in the law, public safety and security pathway at Junction City High School, that provides students with the skills to become 911 operators or dispatchers.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Corbin Witt, stated, “This is a program that would allow our students to learn those skills, use this piece of equipment to learn how to be a dispatcher. And possibly when they leave high school they could move right into being a dispatcher through the use of this equipment that taught them how to do that.”

The simulator is being funded through a grant program.

Prior to taking the operator course students will have completed introduction to law enforcement and law enforcement one. The 911 operator course has been at approved at JCHS by the Kansas State Department of Education.