Author: Brandon Peoples

Owners of an oil pipeline that ruptured last month in Washington County, have entered into an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the oil discharge. The directive was finalized January 6 between TC Oil Pipeline Operations, which operates the Keystone Pipeline, and the EPA. The agency is requiring the company to recover oil and oil-contaminated soil and vegetation and contain the further spread of oil in Mill Creek. All work required under the order will be completed under EPA oversight. In a statement, the company says it appreciated the agency’s willingness to work cooperatively. The Keystone…

Two people were killed Monday evening in a wrong way crash on Interstate 70 in Geary County. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a Chevy Cruze, driven by 32-year-old Kelly Clements, of Fort Riley, was eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-70, just outside of Marshall Army Airfield at around 7 p.m. Her car collided head on with a Hyundai Elantra, carrying 76-year-old Gary and 72-year-old Donna May, both of Milford. Clements was pronounced dead at the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt, according to the crash report. Donna May was transported to Stormont Flint Hills Hospital in…

Expansion of the Pottawatomie County Commission won’t occur until 2024. County Counselor John Watt informed commissioners Monday that when voters approved expanding the county board from three to five seats this past November, the decision triggered a number of statutes, including whether expansion would occur as part of a special election or at the next general election – left to the discretion of Gov. Laura Kelly. Kelly’s decision was to have it put it on the ballot for the next general election, which Watt says will be in 2024 rather than this year, according to Kelly’s chief counsel. “That also…

Junction City Police are investigating the death of an 18-year-old Ogden man as a homicide. Officers were dispatched to the 2700 block of Fort Avenue just after 1 p.m. and located the body of Carson Simon, a white male. It is unclear how Simon died. Police are seeking information in reference to the investigation or to Simon’s whereabouts between 9 p.m. Thursday and 10:30 a.m. Friday.  Anyone with information should contact Geary County Crime Stoppers at 785-762-8477 or the Junction City Police Department at 785-762-5912. Police say this is an active and ongoing investigation. 

One person was seriously injured Friday in a crash near the intersection of Hwy 24 and Flush Road.  The Kansas Highway Patrol says a pickup was northbound on Flush Road, just after 11 a.m. and failed to yield right-of-way to a westbound SUV. The impact sent the pickup into the north ditch and the SUV sustained significant front-end damage.  The pickup driver, 65-year-old Terry Nelson, of Westmoreland, was transported to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka with a suspected serious injury, according to the online crash report. The report indicated he was not wearing a seat belt. The other driver, 65-year-old…

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) achieved a major milestone recently. “As of December 20, a couple weeks ago, DHS finished commissioning of the facility,” said Tim Barr, NBAF Program Manager for the Department of Homeland Security. Barr shared those comments on Thursday’s edition of KMAN’s In Focus. Barr says commissioning also came in under the $1.25 billion budget established by federal officials in 2014, despite challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction slowed on the facility in 2020 and disruptions to the supply chain as well as inflation, also created delays, with officials pushing back the commissioning…

The Riley County Democratic Party on Thursday will elect a candidate to succeed State Senator Tom Hawk in the Kansas Legislature. A convention to elect Hawk’s replacement is taking place at 5:30 p.m. at the Flint Hills Discovery Center. Party Chair Katie Allen is one of at least two candidates who have expressed interest in the position. Manhattan City Commissioner Usha Reddi has also thrown her name into consideration. The person selected will fill the remaining two years of Hawk’s term. The process for nominations is open to any Democrat residing in the 22nd Senate District. The 76-year-old Hawk was re-elected…

The Manhattan-Riley County chapter of the League of Women Voters is welcoming two speakers from the Kansas State School Board Thursday. The organization says Board Chair Jim Porter and VIce Chair Janet Waugh, will speak to a gathering at Meadowlark Hills in the Prairie Star Restaurant. Waugh, who represents District 1 – encompassing Riley and Pottawatomie counties – will speak about school mascots and the state school board’s recent decision to recommend Kansas School Districts to phase out the use of Native American mascots and imagery. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. It is free and open to the…

A Salina man was jailed Tuesday on two outstanding warrants for failure to appear in Riley County District Court. The Riley County Police Department says 47-year-old Jason Meyer Smith remains jailed on an $80,000 bond. The first warrant stems from Smith missing court Aug. 5 for an original charge of possession with intent to distribute after meth was found in a car he was in during a June 27 traffic stop near 11th and El Paso Lane in Manhattan. The second warrant is for failing to appear Sept. 6 for original charges of possession with intent to distribute meth, marijuana,…

Updated 1/6/23 8:45am Further investigation into Joseph Varvel, 25, of Manhattan, and Zane Thomas, 27, of Junction City, has led to our discovery of a separate incident on January 1, 2023, involving the same victim as the January 2, 2023, kidnapping on Gatlinburg Way in Manhattan. Varvel and Thomas were reported to have held the 26-year-old male victim at gunpoint, and beat and strangled him while driving him around in a car against his will throughout the Manhattan area. Both are charged with one additional count each of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, with Varvel also receiving one count of…