Author: Brandon Peoples

Fire officials say a Manhattan mobile home was destroyed by fire Friday night. The Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to Redbud Estates Mobile Home Park, at 2500 Farm Bureau Road, shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday for the report of a structure fire at Lot 45. Crews noted there was heavy fire showing from the single-wide home and within 10 minutes, officials had searched the home and extinguished the fire. The mobile home was unoccupied and under renovation at the time of the fire. Loss is estimated at around $35,000, including content and structural damage. The cause of the fire remains…

A pair from Manhattan are jailed on a host of drug-related charges, following an arrest Thursday afternoon near 14th and Pierre Street. The Riley County Police Department says 38-year-old Benigno Aquino Jr. and 18-year-old Neassa Thomas were arrested after a traffic infraction. Police found meth and drug paraphernalia in their car. Both were charged with possession of meth, possession of meth with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Aquino additionally was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Bond for Aquino was listed at $41,000. Thomas remains jailed on a $25,000 bond.

Preliminary enrollment numbers released by the Kansas Board of Regents Thursday showed a 2.5 percent overall decrease at Kansas State University. Total enrollment is 19,722 for the fall semester, down 507 students from the previous year’s mark of 20,229. It marks the first time since 1988 that enrollment has dipped below 20,000. It’s the eighth year of declines at K-State since enrollment peaked at 24,766 in 2014, representing an over 20 percent decrease over that period. (Historical K-State enrollment data from 1863 to 2021 are shared below.) Earlier this week, at the Intergovernmental Luncheon, K-State President Richard Linton noted the…

Riley County COVID numbers continue to improve, with state health officials lowering the weekly incidence rate to a moderate level Wednesday. According to data provided by the Riley County Health Department Wednesday, 18 new COVID-19 cases were recorded the week of Sept. 17 through Sept. 23. That lowered the incidence rate per 100,000 people to 24.2. For the second straight week, Ascension Via Christi reported no COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Health officials say an 86-year-old fully–vaccinated woman, who died Sept. 2, became the 96th COVID-related death in Riley County. COVID-19 vaccines continue to be administered along with boosters at…

A pair of Manhattan organizations have been awarded more than $85,000 in grants to provide services for crime victims. The Office of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday that The Crisis Center received just north of $53,000 to recruit, train and supervise volunteers to assist professional staff who provide in-person, around-the-clock crisis intervention services, as well as a safe shelter for sexual and domestic violence victims in the center’s five-county region. Sunflower CASA has also been awarded more than $18,000 to provide supervised visitation and monitored exchange services to children and their non-residential parents; $10,000 to support the CASA…

An Illinois man convicted earlier this year for assaulting his former girlfriend two years ago at a Manhattan hotel, to the point she sustained temporary hearing loss, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Isain Lopez, 26, was sentenced Tuesday by Riley County District Court Judge Kendra Lewison to 272 months on his conviction of aggravated kidnapping. He was also sentenced to 41 months on a conviction of robbery, 32 months for aggravated battery, 12 months for aggravated domestic battery and six months for a conviction of criminal threats. Judge Lewison ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, for…

As developers continue to work on planning for residential areas around Oliver Brown Elementary School, some guidance was given to the Pottawatomie County Planning and Zoning staff about how some of that should continue. County Planner Stephan Metzger indicated that a developer is trying to plan for how to design a subdivision east of where Junietta Road ends past Moody Road. Planning staff recommended against a Junietta Road extension to Lake Elbo Road in favor of more cost-effective routes to be prioritized instead. Metzger cited two viable reasons for not extending the road. While the road may not be necessary…

No injuries were reported after a tractor caught fire Tuesday afternoon near Leonardville. Volunteer crews with Riley County Fire District No. 1 were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. to a rural area near Fairview Church and Walnut Creek Roads. Upon arrival, they found a John Deere silage chopper tractor fully engulfed in flames.  Seven volunteer firefighters on three apparatuses extinguished the fire with an hour and crews managed to keep it from spreading to nearby fields.  A damage estimate wasn’t immediately available, but the tractor was a total loss.

A Manhattan man convicted of killing two men will spend the next 32 years behind bars. Montrell Vassar was sentenced by Riley County District Court Judge John Bosch Monday, to 387 months in prison for his role in the shooting deaths of 23-year-old Javon Gray and 19-year-old Skylar Havens. The pair were gunned down from behind in October 2020 in the 700 block of Allison Ave. during the course of a robbery. As part of a plea agreement entered last month with prosecutors, Vassar had agreed to also pay more than $6,700 in restitution. According to Deputy Riley County Attorney…

A status hearing for Robert Iacobellis was held Monday, as the defendant appeared yet again without counsel, weeks after dismissing his court-appointed attorneys. Iacobellis, who stands charged with 27 counts of sexual abuse involving four individuals, informed Judge Kendra Lewison that he has been unable to secure funding to hire Lawrence-based attorney Christopher Joseph. He says he had secured half of the $50,000 needed, but then learned the price had doubled to $100,000. Iacobellis said he has two people, including a family member, helping secure funding for the costly legal battle, but indicated that the price tag may be out…