Author: Brandon Peoples

The Geary County School District will pay a former Fort Riley Middle School math teacher $95,000 to settle a lawsuit filed after she was disciplined for refusing to use the student’s preferred pronouns, according to her attorneys. Pamela Ricard filed the suit in March after being suspended three days in the spring of 2021 for the matter. It was also noted that Ricard was required by the district to conceal the child’s social transition to parents.  She claims the district’s policies on preferred pronouns violated her religious beliefs. Ricard was challenging a school district policy that forced her to use…

Junction City Police have released more information about Tuesday’s standoff in the 800 block of Skyline Drive, including the suspect’s name and charges filed against him. Police say 35-year-old Curtis McDaniel, of Junction City, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated child endangerment, felony possession of a firearm and criminal threat. According to police, members of JCPD and the Geary County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance between neighbors involving a firearm. McDaniel is accused of then barricading himself in his home for about 4 and a half hours until S.W.A.T teams deployed and were able to get him…

A Manhattan man was arrested Tuesday in the 600 block of Highland Ridge Drive. According to RCPD, 20-year-old Joshua Garrison was jailed on single counts of aggravated domestic battery and kidnapping shortly after 6 p.m. Garrison is accused of strangling an 18-year-old female victim and forcefully restricting her movements. He remains jailed on a $20,000 total bond. Two Topeka men were also arrested Tuesday, shortly before 7 p.m., near Fort Riley Blvd. and Poliska Lane on a number of criminal charges, following a traffic stop. RCPD says 31-year-old Deshon Smith and 47-year-old Michael Anthony Jones were both jailed after it…

Manhattan city officials say Kimball Avenue will be reopened to all four lanes of traffic between College Avenue and North Manhattan Avenue, starting Thursday. The project, part of the North Campus Corridor plan around Kansas State University, had interrupted traffic flow on the major thoroughfare for almost a year, shutting down last October, as part of a 13 phase planned infrastructure improvement in the city. The two most recent phases were partially funded by $6.8 million in grants from KDOT and the Federal Highway Administration. Motorists will notice wider lanes on Kimball Avenue as well as a center left-turn lane…

One person was injured just before noon Tuesday in a crash on K-99 near the westbound off ramp of Interstate 70 in Wabaunsee County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a semi driver failed to yield to a northbound pickup as it crossed the highway from the off ramp. The semi struck the pickup on the driver’s side. According to the crash report, 40-year-old Keith Murphy, of McFarland, was transported to Stormont Vail with a suspected minor injury. The 63-year-old semi driver, from New York, was not injured.

Junction City Police say one person is in custody following a 4 and a half hour standoff Tuesday afternoon with law enforcement. Authorities with JCPD and the Geary County Sheriff’s Office responded sometime after 5 p.m. to a disturbance between neighbors in the 800 block of Skyline Drive. Upon arrival, an unidentified person barricaded himself within their residence and refused lawful orders given by officers on scene. Local S.W.A.T. teams were deployed and after the 4.5 hour standoff, the man gave himself up to officers without incident. No injuries were reported. Officials continue to investigate but say there is no…

Pottawatomie County commissioners received a less than favorable status update Monday to its ongoing radio systems upgrade, that could see delays well into next year. Motorola representative Richard Nita told commissioners about supply chain delays for the shipment of generators, which had previously been noted to be around 52-weeks. He says their distributor now expects those to be available by the middle of next summer, at best. It was also noted that shelters for the three tower sites are on a 16-week wait, however Topeka-based TFM Comm, whom Motorola is contracted with, had not placed the order as of Monday. Nita…

A Manhattan man charged with killing two people in late 2020 has entered a plea agreement with Riley County prosecutors and will avoid a jury trial. Online court documents say 21-year-old Montrell Vassar entered a no contest plea Friday to two counts of first-degree murder as well as a single count of possession of stolen property. As part of the plea agreement, Vassar agreed to waive his right to an appeal and to pay more than $6,700 in restitution. Vassar was arrested in October 2020 after 23-year-old Javon Gray and 19-year-old Skylar Havens were gunned down from behind in the…

Riley County Police are investigating after a series of altercations in the Aggieville area over the weekend. According to Monday’s RCPD Activity Report, officers arrested 23-year-old Brently Crider, of Manhattan in connection for aggravated assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Crider is alleged to have been in a scuffle around 2 a.m. Sunday with an 18-year-old male near the intersection of North 12th and Moro Streets. Police say Crider fired a gun into the ground after the altercation. He remains jailed on a $50,000 bond. Officers filed additional reports for battery early Sunday, after a 23-year-old man was punched in…

Enrollment numbers for the fall semester at Kansas State University won’t be known until mid-September, but there is some optimism that the university could be close to turning a corner on declining enrollment. President Richard Linton says while it’s too early to project where K-State will be at in terms of enrollment, there are some trends the university feels pretty good about. Linton says under the three-pronged approach of intentional fundraising, in-state tuition for high achieving out-of-state students, and the soon to launch community visit initiative,  K-State will likely see more substantial gains next fall. Enrollment has dipped about 20…