Author: Brandon Peoples

Riley County saw a steady stream of people voting in advance ahead of today’s primary. County Clerk Rich Vargo noted 5,154 people had cast their ballots through Saturday, a figure he said Monday would likely approach 6,000 by the noon cutoff for advanced voting. Vargo’s estimate was not far off. The final number of Riley County residents to vote early was 5,716. The uptick in advanced voting largely fueled by an emotional ballot question regarding the constitutional right to an abortion. Washburn University Associate Professor Patrick Miller spoke to CBS News about the ballot question. Vargo encourages voters to be…

The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who failed to register with the state’s offender registry and has ruled the law to be constitutional. On the sole issue the Supreme Court granted for review, Daniel Genson III raised an insanity defense and claimed he was involuntarily committed just days after his time to register lapsed. The Riley County District Court rejected the defense because failing to register is a strict liability crime and precluded evidence of his mental health at trial. Genson had also challenged the Court of Appeals majority refusal to two new claims raised…

Chances are, wherever you’ve been this week, at least one person has probably mentioned the weather. While it’s certainly been an unusually hot month of July, the forecast over the next several days shows, at least some reprieve, especially in the Manhattan area. And while the US Drought Monitor does not currently show any signs of drought impacting Riley and Pottawatomie County, that does not mean the outlook is anything but bleak. Temperatures should return to more seasonable levels this week and there’s even the possibility of some rain, though it might not be enough to mitigate drought concerns going…

Riley County Police say they do not believe there is any public threat after someone reported finding what appeared to be a homemade explosive device this week at a Manhattan apartment complex. Officers were called out to the 1300 block of Flint Hills Place Wednesday evening after a resident found a toilet paper roll with a fuse sticking out of it a few days earlier on her back porch. The resident brought it inside and then reported it to police. RCPD says its Bomb Team was activated to investigate and cleared the scene with no threat to residents in the…

A Junction City man was seriously injured Wednesday after intentionally driving his vehicle across the I-70 median into oncoming traffic. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 24-year-old Aaron Smith was eastbound on I-70 in Geary County, near mile marker 298, shortly before 1 p.m. when authorities say he intentionally drove across the median and into westbound traffic. His vehicle then vaulted from the north shoulder into a tree line on the north side of the interstate. The vehicle rolled, coming to rest on its wheels. Smith was transported to Geary Community Hospital with a suspected serious injury. The crash report says…

The City of Wamego has named a new Chief of the city’s police department. Paul Schliffke, who has served as Deputy Chief of Police for the past nine years, has been promoted to the position permanently. He had served in the role on an interim basis following the termination of former Chief Mike Baker on June 22. The City of Wamego has never said why Baker was fired, though Baker has alluded to friction with the City Manager’s office. Schliffke’s resume includes prior employment with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office, where he served as a deputy, as well as employment…

The Manhattan Fire Department has defended its title, collecting the most votes during the Manhattan Battle of the Badges Blood Drive, to support the American Red Cross. The two-day event wrapped up at St. Thomas More Church Tuesday, collecting 202 pints of blood, which was a little short of its 243 pint goal this year. Officials still tout the event as a huge success, despite being the lowest amount collected in recent years. The event has collected on average, 278 pints of blood each of the past three years. MFD brought in 63 votes, outpacing Riley County EMS (58 votes)…

Bids turned in last week for a new traffic signal at Highway 24 and Columbian Road, came in 18 percent over the engineer’s estimate. Pottawatomie County Counselor John Watt informed commissioners Monday that bids over 10 percent on road projects can’t be approved, though says an exception could be made in this case, based upon a majority of the project being signal work. Any extra costs incurred would fall on the shoulders of the county, a result of a 2020 agreement between the county and the City of Wamego. Public Works Project Coordinator Steve Roggenkamp explains. Roggenkamp says Public Works…

The USD 383 FIT Closet continues efforts to stockpile school supplies for students ahead of the upcoming school year. FIT Closet Coordinator Tracy Emery provided totals Tuesday from this past weekend’s Stuff the Bus event held outside the Manhattan Walmart. The annual effort is a partnership between Konza United Way, K-State Credit Union and Manhattan Broadcasting. A variety of other local efforts have helped make a dent to the FIT Closet’s needs list including help from Grace Baptist, Crestview Christian and First Presbyterian Churches Tuesday. Emery says it’s a huge benefit to those families in the Manhattan-Ogden School District who…

A Yates Center woman was killed and two from Manhattan were involved Monday afternoon in a three-vehicle crash in Woodson County. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash log, 54-year-old Sandra Campbell, was driving a Ford Ranger pickup at the time of the crash. Her vehicle collided with a northbound semi hauling a trailer with an over-sized load. Her vehicle was sent into a counter-clockwise rotation and overturned. The pickup also struck another northbound Dodge Ram pickup after crossing the center line. Campbell, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The semi driver, 56-year-old William Allen, of…