This organization is comprised of medical and non-medical volunteers who wish to enhance emergency preparedness and community health of the Wildcat Region which includes Geary, Riley, and Pottawatomie Counties.
There will be orientation sessions for the public. The first one is 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on December 15 in the Riley County Health Department conference room in Manhattan.
The second session is 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Geary County Health Department meeting room on January 12 in Junction City.
The third session is 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on January 25th in the training room at 406 Miller drive in Wamego.
The Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce is reminding the public to turn in your PASSPORTS to the Chamber from the recent Shop Small promotion in Junction City and Geary County.
Geary County Public Works says due to the extensive tree damage caused by the recent ice storm, the Geary County burn site will be open this Saturday, December 12 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The site is for tree limbs only. No trash or any other items will be accepted. The burn site is located south of I-70 and Chestnut exit on the gravel frontage road.
According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, the dry and mild weather is expected to continue through the work week. However the weekend is forecast to bring cooler temperatures with the possibility for rain and snow.
Today: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. West winds 5 to 15 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s. Southwest winds 5 to 15 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. West winds 5 to 15 mph.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows around 40.
Friday: Partly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s.
Saturday: Cooler. Mostly cloudy with slight chance of rain. Highs around 50.
Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain and snow. Lows in the lower 30s.
Sunday: Partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of rain… Possibly mixed with snow. Highs in the mid 40s.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 20s.
Jase Derek Stanton – Photo Kansas Bureau of Investigation
MANHATTAN – A Kansas man appeared in Riley County Court on Monday afternoon for an arraignment in front of Judge Wilson.
Jase Derek Stanton, 29, Manhattan, was arrested for aggravated criminal sodomy on June 9, 2015, after an investigation into a report by a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old male victims who were involved in unwanted sexual activity on June 7, 2015.
Stanton pleaded not guilty to three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, and a 3-day trial was scheduled for March 8-10.
Barry Disney, representing the State, filed a motion to revoke Stanton’s $50,000 bond, after Stanton was arrested on a $10,000 bond for violating the offender registration act on November 25.
During the court proceedings it was made aware by Stanton’s attorney that Stanton’s arrest for failing to register as an offender came about because he left out two email addresses in his registration that he used to participate in social media applications Grindr & Kik for consensual sexual activities.
The State argued that his failure to list the email addresses and resulting felony should be grounds to revoke bond, since he is participating in the sexual activity as a offender that could not be monitored.
Judge Wilson decided not to revoke bond, stating that it was sufficient enough to ensure Stanton would appear for future court dates, and his failure to disclose the email addresses was not a threat because the use of them was revealed and is now documented.
The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has voted to extend the custodial, grounds, and maintenance services contract with GCA Services for one year.
GCA is nearing the end of a five year contract with the school district, but district staff have recommended the extension, which will result in a cost savings for USD 475 of $298,809.98 for the coming year. Staff felt it was prudent to take advantage of the cost savings ( reduction ) offered by GCA because of the uncertainty of the state school finance picture for the coming year.
As part of the agreement, GCA, will move some account managers to a swing shift, 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. time frame, so they are working when custodians are often on duty. That is designed to improve cleanliness of the buildings.
There was some concern about cleanliness of the schools during the early part of the current contract, but it was noted at the monthly BOE meeting, that during the last year tremendous strides have been made in that area, especially in the elementary schools. It was also noted GCA is committed to making improvements on what occurred in the district. Board member Carolyn Gaston said she was not hearing the complaints that she heard the first two or three years.
Under the arrangement for the coming year another positive that was noted is that 84% of the funds paid by the district to GCA will stay locally.
It’s a much slower process than originally thought but the Junction City Public Works Department is continuing to pick up tree branches that fell during last weeks ice storm.
Ray Ibarra, Public Works Director updated JCPost.com on their progress as of Monday afternoon.
“It’s kind of going slow, there’s a lot more tree limbs and trees down than we anticipated I believe,” said Ibarra. “Right now we are in the Green Hills area, we started south first going north, right now we’re in the Green Hills area and get that whole subdivision cleaned up.”
Currently crews are on Vine and Elm Street’s. Once they have been cleared Ibarra hopes to move north on to Pine.
He is reminding citizens that if they have tree limbs that they want picked up by the city they must be moved to the curb. Crews will continue to move north until they have covered the entire city.
The burn pit at the county landfill will also be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday this week and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
TOPEKA, KAN. – A Junction City man was sentenced Monday to 30 years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine in Junction City and Manhattan, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.
Albert Dwayne Banks, 33, Junction, City, Kan. was convicted on count one (conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine), count eight (distributing crack cocaine), count 11 (distribution crack cocaine), count 12 (distributing crack cocaine), count 15 (distributing crack cocaine) count 16 (distributing crack cocaine) and count 17 (distributing crack cocaine).
Last month, Banks was sentenced to life. AtMonday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree corrected the sentence by reducing it to 30 years. He said he changed the sentence based on his consideration of aggravating factors in the sentence.
Banks was convicted in June in a jury trial in Kansas City. During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that in late 2012 and early 2013 agents of Kansas Bureau of Investigation and detectives from the Junction City Police Department investigated a large crack cocaine trafficking organization in Junction City and Manhattan. The organization was led by defendants Albert Banks and co-defendant Anthony Thompson, who acquired drugs from three different suppliers and sold the drugs to distributors who resold them on the streets.
Grissom commended the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Junction City Police Department, the Geary County Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi for their work on the case.
Some of Fort Riley’s historic buildings were open for public display Dec. 5 during the installation’s annual holiday season “Tour of Homes.”
The event, now in its 32nd year, is sponsored by the Historical and Archaeological Society of Fort Riley. Some of this year’s locations included homes of Fort Riley and 1st Infantry Division leaders, the Custer House and post chapels.
The Medical Reserve Corps is seeking volunteers.
