The Junction City Police Department has received information in the last 24 hours that two local businesses have been contacted by unknown persons, who said they represented the City of Junction City, and that the businesses had an outstanding balance on their water account.

The unknown caller then attempted to get the victim businesses to play those outstanding balances by wiring money to satisfy the unpaid amount.

The Police Department said those calls are a scam, and no representative from the City of Junction City would attempt to have a customer submit payment by wire for an outstanding water bill. Anyone receiving one of those calls should gather all the information they possibly can from the caller, such as caller ID, and call the Junction City Police Department immediately at 785-762-5912.

In a nine-minute span early Monday evening there were three single vehicle non-injury vehicle – deer crashes reported by the Sheriff’s Department in Geary County.

A 2013 Chevrolet Sonic driven by Randi Won, Junction City, eastbound on K-244 struck a deer at mile post two.

A 2005 Acura driven by Jill Martinson, Junction City, was northbound and hit a deer at K-244 and Deitrich.

And a 2013 Toyota Camry driven by Kim Coleman, Junction City, was southbound and struck a deer on U.S. 77 near mile post 160.

Again….none of the drivers were injured.

CAYMAN BRAC – Two Kansas men died in an accident just after 5:30p.m. on Sunday in the Cayman Islands.

The Royal Cayman Island Police reported a Honda minivan was traveling eastbound on South Side Road on Cayman Brac, an island that is part of the Cayman Island chain in the Caribbean. The vehicle ran off the road.

Douglas Carney, 50, Topeka, and Mark Bettencourt, 54, Wamego, were pronounced dead at the scene.

A third man was transported to a local hospital for treatment. His name has not been released. The police did not determine the driver of the van.

Bettencourt was not found until several hours after the accident, according to police. He has been an optometrist at Vision Source in Wamego since 1994

Carney owns a Topeka construction company.

The GCH Auxiliary recently presented a $5,000 donation to the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation to support the 25^th Annual Holiday Glitz project – the renovation of the Medical Arts I building at Geary Community Hospital.

Each year the Foundation’s annual Holiday Glitz event benefits a specific project to address a need at Geary Community Hospital. Since 1999 the Auxiliary has given $54,500 specifically to projects supported by the Holiday Glitz. This is in addition to the generous donations the Auxiliary makes to the foundation’s other fundraising events. Some of the Holiday Glitz projects supported by the Auxiliary have included equipment upgrades for the hospital’s ICU, Cardiopulmonary, Radiology and Surgery departments, the Vocera hands-free communication system for nurses, the Hospice and Delivering Change programs and upgrades to the Women’s Center. There is almost nowhere on the GCH campus that the Auxiliary’s hard-earned dollars have not directly touched.

“With each Auxiliary donation to the foundation, 100% of these funds go directly toward the bottom line of a project – never for the cost of the event”, said Jolana Montgomery-Matney, Executive Director of the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation. “Partnerships are important to the success of all the foundation’s projects and the Auxiliary has been a principal partner to the Healthcare Foundation. They are the only benefactor we’ve ever had and each day they make a difference in the lives of our patients.”

A wreath-laying ceremony for former German and Italian prisoners of war takes place at the Fort Riley cemetery Nov. 19 at 11 a.m.

The annual ceremony is held in remembrance of the POWs who lived and worked at Fort Riley between 1943 and 1946, specifically the 62 Germans and 11 Italians now buried here.

German Army Col. Carsten Treder and Italian Army Maj. Antonio Laudando will be guest speakers at the event.  Both officers are currently stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

In 1943, War Department officials established Fort Riley as one of 600 locations across the United States selected to house German, Italian and Japanese POWs.  The camps became home for 350,000 prisoners—enough to man 35 German army divisions; approximately 4,500 were held at Fort Riley.

The POWs filled a labor void on area farms, working on roads, laundry and building maintenance projects.  Prisoners earned about 80 cents a day.  After the war, some of the POWs chose to stay in the local area to live and work.

The German and Italian Memorial Ceremony is open to the public.  Those attending who don’t have a Department of Defense ID card should visithttps://www.riley.army.mil to learn about Fort Riley access procedures.

Release from Fort Riley Public Affairs

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) will join Geary County residents for the annual Junction City Christmas Parade on Nov. 27.

The parade features floats and bands celebrating the opening of the holiday season and ends with the illumination of the Heritage Park lights.

When:             Friday, Nov. 27

5:30 p.m.

Where:           Downtown

Jennifer Jordan is the new regional planning manager for the Flint Hills Regional Council.

Jordan will provide comprehensive land use, policy planning, and research and analytical services for cities and counties of the Council.

Gary Stith, FHRC Director said he was excited about the talent and knowledge of the region that Jordan brings to the organization. “Jennifer grew up in the Flint Hills and knows the region. She brings a lot of planning experience. She is going to be a real asset to the Flint Hills Regional Council.

Jordan joins the FHRC after a combined 20 years of experience of working for the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. She spent 17 years with Minneapolis working as a principal city planner and financial analyst. In Saint Paul she served as a principal project manager financing and construction multi-family and mixed-use housing developments as policy work focusing on the issue of fair housing.

Jordan earned her Bachelors in Political Science and Masters in Regional and Community Planning at Kansas State University. Currently,she is working on her doctorate in Public Administration through Hamline University.

Written by Sarah Caldwell Hancock on ksu.edu.

MANHATTAN — The model is familiar: Creative entrepreneurs establish startups with a new product. A large company likes the idea and buys the startup. The entrepreneurs prosper, and the large company offers the new product. Consumers buy the product, and the cycle begins again.

In this case consumers aren’t looking for the latest high-tech gadget to make life easier, but a dish of crunchy kibble or a chewy tasty treat for furry friends. U.S. consumers spend $23 billion on pet food each year. Kansas currently garners $7 billion of the national total, and an integrated program and industry engagement approach at Kansas State University is aiming to bring much more of it to the state and region.

The university has supported the pet food industry for a number of years, but more recently these efforts have been bundled and leveraged by Greg Aldrich, research associate professor of grain science and industry. Aldrich joined Kansas State University in 2012 to establish a pet food science program to support the growing industry.

“There’s a demand for trained food scientists, animal scientists and feed scientists who understand manufacturing food for companion animals,” Aldrich said.

But Aldrich knew the pet food industry was hungry for innovation as well as workers, and he realized that the necessary engineering, raw materials and transportation were available in a 200-mile radius around Manhattan. He and his students were eager to demonstrate a new pet treat product, so when Petfood Forum, the industry’s major international meeting, moved to Kansas City for a three-year stint starting in spring 2015, Aldrich knew it was time to make a push. In collaboration with Kansas State University, Petfood Forum offered a hands-on pet treat innovation workshop at K-State Olathe during the April 2015 conference.

Interest was so high that Petfood Forum invited the university to collaborate in creating the Petfood Innovation Workshop and the K-State Pet Food Experience in late October. Nearly 200 attendees gathered in Manhattan, 19 of whom were high-ranking company officials such as presidents, founders or chief executives. Participants came from 22 states and seven countries to hear eight Kansas State University faculty presentations, view 28 student research posters, hear keynote speakers from the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce, and participate in hands-on workshops to make pet treats.

Rebecca Robinson, director of economic development at the Kansas State University Institute for Commercialization, said the workshop was a success.

“At one of the stations we were making the gummy treat that Aldrich and his students invented,” Robinson said. “That demonstration increased the exposure of the technology and gained a lot of interest in the technology, but it also piqued industry participants’ interest in K-State’s capability to innovate.”

Aldrich said the meeting brought together researchers, students, industry contacts, innovators and public officials to a town hall-style meeting to discuss how the industry can grow in Kansas. Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Jackie McClaskey was among the speakers. She said working with Kansas State University to develop the industry is a priority for the agency.

Richard Potter, director of corporate engagement for the university, said the collaboration with the Kansas Department of Agriculture is promising.

“This is a great example of value-added agriculture where K-State and the state of Kansas truly excel,” Potter said. “We have opportunity to be the hub for the growing, global pet food industry.”

Potter said the growth of the industry also presents an opportunity to promote Kansas State University’s multidisciplinary research strengths.

“The industry encompasses nutrition, sensory analysis, veterinary medicine, animal science, grain science, engineering, marketing, economics, chemistry, biology,” he said. “There’s room in the sandbox for virtually every college on campus.”

Trent Armbrust, director of business development and strategic initiatives with the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, has worked with Aldrich, Potter and Robinson from the beginning.

“It’s exciting because it brings the private sector and university together,” Armbrust said. “When these industry representatives were here, they were also seeing Manhattan, and we were able to tell them about the assets we have here. They were very impressed with the university and the town.”

Aldrich said Kansas State University has the chance to become a leader in the field. His sights are set on an innovation center that would include leading-edge equipment and processing as well as advanced animal and analytical laboratory research.

“K-State can be the epicenter of pet food technology,” he said. “I don’t believe this kind of regional collaboration of academic, industry, and civic partners exists anywhere else in the country.”