The Great Plains Theatre has issued a news release stating that Mark Robinson has joined the staff as

Mark Robinson

Director of Education.

Robinson served three years as the Arts Education Manager at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York. He has spent the last 20 years teaching acting, directing, puppetry, playwriting, creative writing, and improvisation with youth of all ages. He has directed more than 70 youth and professional theatre productions.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland with a degree in Speech / Theatre, he has taught Theatre Arts at a wide range of summer camps, arts venues, and schools, including nine years at the Mount Michael Benedictine High School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Robinson will work with the youth of the Great Plains Theatre. His first production with the youth will be Godspell, which will be presented at the Abilene High School auditorium, May 8-10. Tickets are available now. Call the Great Plains Theatre at 785-263-4574 for tickets.

All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. Courtesy Photos.

This information is not criminal history. All individuals included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. JC Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@salinapost.com

The next Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce legislative coffee is Saturday ( Mar. 7 ) at 9 a.m. at the C. L. Hoover Opera House.

State representatives Tom Moxley and Lonnie Clark, plus state senator Jeff Longbine are expected to be in attendance.  They will make comments and can respond to questions from the public.

BELOIT- A Kansas teen was injured in an accident just after 10 p.m. on Friday in Mitchell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1987 Chevy pickup driven by Hannah Marie Pavelka, 16, Jewel, was northbound on Mitchell County 210 Road just north of Kansas 14.

The vehicle drifted into the east ditch. The driver overcorrected and the vehicle traveled into the west ditch, struck the embankment and overturned.

Pavelka, was transported to Mitchell County Hospital.

The KHP reported she was not wearing a seat belt.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A sure sign that spring’s on the horizon: One hour less shut-eye Saturday night no matter when you turn out the lights.

Most people in the U.S. are supposed to push the clock forward by 60 minutes before heading to bed Saturday night. Daylight saving time officially begins at 2 a.m. Sunday local time.

You may have lost a bit of sleep, but in the months ahead you’ll gain an extra hour of sunlight in the evenings.

It’s also a good time to replace batteries in warning devices such as smoke detectors.

The time change isn’t observed by Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.

Today: Sunny. Highs around 64. West winds 5 to 10 mph shifting to the north in the afternoon.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 34. East winds around 5 mph shifting to the southeast after midnight.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs around 64. South winds around 5 mph shifting to the northeast in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

Monday Night Through Wednesday: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. Highs in the upper 60s.

Wednesday Night And Thursday: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. Highs in the upper 60s.

Thursday Night And Friday: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 30s. Highs in the mid 60s.

Repairs are planned Sunday on a minor water leak just off Spring Valley Road and Strauss Boulevard on the southwest side of Junction City.

The city’s public works director Greg McCaffrey said the site is near the Advanced Call Center Technologies location. A valve is leaking water. To do the repairs different businesses would have to be taken out of service, including the call center, if the work was done on Saturday. As a result McCaffrey said the tentative plans are to do the repairs on Sunday instead.

The Geary County Sheriff’s Department worked two non-injury accidents Friday.

In one case deputies responded to Henry Drive and Cannon View Lane. Joshua Grillot, Junction City, was attempting to turn left onto Henry Drive from Cannonview Lane and pulled out in front of Melissa Burch, Junction City, who was southbound on Henry Drive in a Dodge Caravan.

In the second accident deputies responded to a two vehicle accident at mile marker 302 westbound in which Dustin Geissert, White City, was attempting to change lanes in his Ford Taurus, and sideswiped Kyle Wise, Fort Riley, in his Mazda CX7.

Again…there were no injuries in either accident.

A proposal for block grant funding would provide money for two years for school districts in Kansas

( L-R) — State Representative Tom Moxley, State Senator Jeff Longbine, and State Representative Lonnie Clark, visiting with Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Mark Ediger

while the school finance formula is being rewritten.

State Senator Jeff Longbine told a Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce legislative coffee audience that on the surface legislators would say that on the surface the measure would provide $300 million in additional K-12 funding across the state. but he noted you need to dig deeper into to see what is and is not provided.

“Personally, the block grant funding idea is okay with me. I think there are certainly things within the school finance formula that need to be looked at.” One area mentioned by the Senator included assessed valuation per pupil.

“I don’t know how we’re going to write any new formula that provides for adequacy, equity, and spends the same amount of money or the money that the court has told us we need to spend that is going to be radically than what we have.” Longbine added that’s the challenge in front of legislators.

The Senator noted it appears USD 475 would be just shy of $57 million in total state aid in the 14-15 year, and in the 17-18 year be a little over $58 million. “So that looks like a nice increase. But what this bill has also done is it has shifted the state’s portion of the KPER’s payments to the district. So when you start looking at those it’s not really an increase.” Longbine was joined during the legislative coffee by State Representatives Lonnie Clark and Tom Moxley.

WABAUNSEE – A Junction City man was injured in an accident just after 4 a.m. on Sunday in Wabaunsee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2008 Jeep SUV driven by Russell Scott Coleman, 28, was west bound on Kansas 18 one mile east of Wabaunsee. The vehicle left the roadway and struck an embankment.

Coleman was transported to Stormont Vail.
The reported it was uncertain if he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

Junction City police arrest reports:

–Mutalib Ahmed, 23, Junction City, suspicion of 11 counts Identity Theft, 3 counts misdemeanor Theft, 4 counts Criminal Use of a Financial Card.

–Lachon Clay Jackson, 27, Junction City, suspicion of Domestic Battery

–Christopher Olin Crotchett, 33, Junction City, suspicion of Driving while suspended, and Theft of Motor Vehicle

–A juvenile was arrested at the Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of 4 counts Battery on a Corrections Office and 3 counts Assault.

–Callie Keener, 31, Junction City, on an Arrest and Detain warrant.

–Kameen Gibraum Thornton, 39, Junction City, on suspicion of Driving While Suspended

–Christian Tyler Hall, 21, suspicion of Theft, Junction City

–Brian D. Martin, 31, Junction City, suspicion of Domestic Battery

–Corey Conn-Tung, 23, Junction City, suspicion of DUI, Carrying Concealed Weapon While Under Influence of Alcohol

–Douglas John Mancuso, 58, Junction City, suspicion of Public Intoxication

–Police responded to the 300 block of West 11th at 12:25 a.m. Saturday for a report of shots fired. No injuries were reported, and no arrests.

Spring Valley Road on the southwest side of Junction City will be closed between Strauss Boulevard and Lacy Drive Monday due to repairs on a 16-inch water main. Junction City Public Works Director Ray Ibarra said the road closure begins at 9 a.m. The repairs should be completed by Tuesday morning.

Today will be our coolest day of the week with highs only reaching the lower to mid 60s. Most areas should reach near 70 degrees and into the lower 70s Tuesday through Thursday. There may be a slight cool down back into the mid to upper 60s on Friday. Enjoy the warm week ahead!

Today: Sunny. Highs around 62. East winds around 5 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows around 37. South winds up to 5 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny. Highs around 72. Southwest winds up to 5 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. South winds around 5 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night And Thursday: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. Highs around 70.

Thursday Night Through Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 40. Highs in the mid 60s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 60s.

Saturday Night And Sunday: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 30s. Highs in the lower 60s.

TOPEKA- The Office of the State Fire Marshal’s Investigation Division, the Beloit Police Department and the Beloit Fire Department are continuing to collaborate in the investigation of an arson that occurred February 11, 2015 at 821 East South Street, Beloit, Kansas.

Kansas Fire Marshal Doug Jorgensen is announcing a reward of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) involved in setting this fire.
Anyone with information regarding this fire should call 1-800-KS-CRIME or the Investigation Division of the Office of the State Fire Marshal at 785-296-8984.

All persons included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. Courtesy Photos.

This information is not criminal history. All individuals included in this post are innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law. JC Post assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, or completeness, of this information. Any person who believes information provided is not accurate may submit a complaint to admin@salinapost.com

In the wake of the Fort Riley community listening session US Senator Jerry Moran is continuing to show his support of Fort Riley.

On Saturday Moran visited Fort Riley and toured the new Irwin Army Community Hospital. He explained that during the listening session one of the strong focuses was on the investment the Army has made to the infrastructure at Fort Riley and, “how could we walk away from that?”

“I hadn’t seen the new construction. I wanted to have that fresh in mind so I could better describe that to Army officials,” Moran told JCPost.com Monday.

Moran is a member of the Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee and they will be meeting later this week with General Raymond Odierno, Chief of Staff of the Army and John McHugh, Secretary of the Army. He explained Saturday’s visit was in preparation for that upcoming meeting.

“So that I have a good understanding of what information and questions that we want to present to those two very important witnesses. As we suspect, and I think we know, ultimately what happens at Fort Riley will be up to the Secretary of the Army, Secretary McHugh. We want to certainly set the stage in the hearing to put Fort Riley in the best light possible.”

Fort Riley is among 30 military installations that are being carefully looked at while the Army is considering downsizing it’s troop force. Over 4,200 people attended the Army Community Listening Session in Junction City back on February 9th.

With temperatures hovering around 70 degrees the past few days Rolling Meadows Golf Course has seen an influx of golfers.

John Bernstein, PGA General Manager at Rolling Meadows explained that the course was busy this past weekend.

“We’ve had quite a bit more play than we have had in several previous weekends,” said Bernstein. “Obviously having snow a couple of weekends ago didn’t help much, but it was great to have the sunshine out and warmer temperatures. That tended to bring out a lot more people that are a little bit restless, needless to say, sitting at home waiting for golf weather.”

Bernstein and his staff did a lot of work over the winter months preparing the course for this summer, including a lot of tree work.

“Getting rid of diseased or trouble trees that were causing a problem with play or were a potential to cause some safety issues, so we’ve opened some things up quite a bit. The rough was over seeded last spring and the fairways were over seeded last fall, so we’re expecting those to start popping any day now.”

He added that he is now seeing day to day color changes in the grass as it continues to get greener and greener.

Other changes this year include some rate changes. Effective February 1st weekday, twilight and annual fee’s increased by 3 percent. Weekend rates and cart rental fee’s did not change.

Crews have fixed the 12″ water main and have restored service to the two businesses along Spring Valley Road.

They are now focusing on the 16″ line that runs east to west underneath Spring Valley Road. Greg McCaffery, Municipal Services Director explained that they hope to have that break fixed by tonight in order to restore water to one residence.

—

Crews are continuing to work on repairing two large water mains in the vicinity of Spring Valley Road between Strauss Boulevard and Lacy Drive.

Greg McCaffery, Municipal Services Director confirmed that the city has hired a private firm to work on two broken water mains in that area. One is a 16″ pipe and the other is a 12″ pipe, “because of the perplexity of it, via the depth as well as the size of the pipe that we’re dealing with, our staff does not have the proper equipment to be able to handle those repairs.”

As of 2:30 p.m. Monday crews were focusing on fixing the 12″ pipe in order to restore water to two businesses in that area by late afternoon. Once the 12″ line is repaired crews will then focus on the 16″ line which does serve one residence.

McCaffery is hopeful that the entire system will be back “online” later this afternoon if not by tomorrow morning.

Spring Valley Road is closed between Strauss Boulevard and Lacy Drive while the repairs are being made.

A protest petition against the proposed Westar Energy substation in southeast Geary County has been filed.

The County’s Planning and Zoning Administrator David Yearout said the petition was filed by area residents, meaning for the conditional use permit on the project to be approved it must be by a unanimous vote of the members of the governing body.

The proposed substation would be located on a 20-acre site.

On Monday Yearout briefed the County Commission on the conditional use permit. “They took it under advisement. Want to go through all the materials that were submitted, and read the reports. And they have rescheduled that for re-hearing next Monday.”  The Commission must also consider approval of the haul route for the materials needed to prepare the site and build the substation.

Michael Pagels, Little Apple Post

Mike Stanton, KSU-SGA

MANHATTAN -This week, Kansas Senators will vote on Senate Bill 133, which will give minors in the state limited legal immunity when they contact authorities for help during an alcohol ­related medical emergency. If the bill passes, it will go before the House of Representatives for a confirmation vote.

Upon passage by both houses of the legislature, it will go to the desk of Governor Sam Brownback to be signed into law.

“In short, Lifeline 911 gives the victim and one or two others immunity from charges of MIP or MIC if they meet certain requirements when reporting the incident,” according  to Mike Stanton, PR Director of the K-State SGA.

“Basically, they have to be the ones to initiate contact with law enforcement, and they have to cooperate with law enforcement throughout the process. It does not protect from charges like DUI or social hosting or purchasing for minors. ”

The bill began as a campaign platform for the student body presidency at Kansas State University. Last March, Reagan Kays was inspired by similar laws in other states, including Indiana and Louisiana, and promised students he’d advocate for a Lifeline 911 law in Kansas.

He and vice president Cody Kennedy ran a successful campaign based largely on the #YourLife platform, in which they said they’d implement a policy in Manhattan and then attempt to do so on a state level. After more than a semester of hard work, K-­State adopted Lifeline 911 as a campus­wide policy and bills were introduced to the legislature.

Kays garnered support from dozens of people and organizations along the way, including state senators and representatives, university administrators, law enforcement officials, and students across Kansas.

“Lifeline 911 will give young people in Kansas the peace of mind to contact law enforcement when a friend is in danger from drinking too much,” said Kays. “In the heat of the moment, every second counts, and this law will make students more confident in dialing 911.”

Both the House and Senate passed the Lifeline 911 bills out of committee in February, but the bill in the House was not scheduled for consideration and died on the floor. The Senate bill was “blessed” by Senate President Susan Wagle and referred back to committee. It is now listed in the Senate’s General Orders and is expected to be considered for a vote early this week.

“We’re in contact with Senators and are asking them all to vote ‘yes’ on the bill,” said Kays. “We’re passionate about the law because we’re confident it will save lives. We hope it’s not used often, but if Lifeline 911 saves even a single Kansan, our efforts have been worth it.”