Author: Brandon Peoples

An investigation is underway into an alleged threat at Manhattan High School earlier this week. A report for aggravated criminal threat was filed just after noon Wednesday, according to Friday’s Riley County Police Department Activity Report. Officer listed a 16-year-old suspect, identified as Daniel Marshall, of Manhattan, who reportedly used an educational technology site known as Padlet, to post a threat toward the school. Marshall was arrested Thursday morning and subsequently charged with aggravated criminal threat. He was transported to the North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Junction City. In a separate incident, RCPD also arrested a 15-year-old…

WESTMORELAND — It was a busy day for sentencing in Pottawatomie County District Court Thursday. Wrangler Hooker A 19-year-old Pottawatomie County man convicted in the rape of a 4-year-old girl will spend close to 25 years behind bars. Wrangler Hooker was sentenced by Chief Judge Jeff Elder Thursday to 287 months in prison, including 165 months on a single count of rape, and 61 months each on single counts of aggravated indecent liberties and sexual exploitation of a child. Each count carries an additional 60 months of post-release supervision. County Attorney Sherri Schuck stated in Thursday’s hearing that Hooker intentionally…

Informational public meetings are scheduled in March surrounding the future of solar farms in Pottawatomie County. The county plans to host two come-and-go meetings where people can ask questions from county planning and zoning officials regarding proposed regulations regarding solar facilities. The meetings are a precursor to an anticipated formal public hearing this spring with the Planning Commission. Planning Commission and Planning and Development staff have been drafting regulations since last March for large-scale solar farms. The proposed regulations cover small-scale solar projects known as solar gardens. Meetings will take place March 3 at Iron Clad in Wamego and March…

The Riley County Health Department continues to see active COVID cases drop as testing demand also continues to decline. The latest weekly update Wednesday showed 249 active cases in the county. It includes 230 new cases along with 374 additional recoveries since Feb. 9. The two-week rolling percent positivity rate fell to 16.6 percent, from 22.3 percent for the previous period. To put that in perspective, last week the active cases were at 394. Two weeks ago, active cases were at 638 and peaked at well over a 1,000 active cases just one month ago. Ascension Via Christi had eight…

An Oklahoma-based employee-owned horse and livestock trailer manufacturer has announced expansion into Kansas and the subsequent acquisition of Manhattan’s TravAlum, a local aluminum trailer manufacturer in the Green Valley Business Park. Cimarron Trailers announced Wednesday it has acquired the assets of TravAlum and will convert the existing space into its first expansion outside of its home base in Chickasha, Oklahoma. The asset acquisition will close TravAlum on March 30 and it will re-open under the re-branded Cimarron title March 31. The roughly 30 Manhattan based employees are being encouraged to consider new positions at Cimarron. Economic development officials are praising…

The Flint Hills Regional Leadership Program has announced it will expand to include members living in Wabaunsee County. The board chose Wabaunsee County due to its geographic and economic ties to its other member counties which include Riley, Pottawatomie and Geary. Wabaunsee County Commission Chairman Joel Fager said in a Monday release that expansion represents “an investment into young business, community and government leaders that will define the future of the county.” Executive Director Jack Lindquist adds that Wabaunsee County will host the class for a day this fall to explore common local themes – to include prairie utilization and…

 Kansas State University’s new president wasted no time getting to work Tuesday, providing testimony to the Kansas House Committee on Higher Education Budget. Dr. Richard Linton spoke to committee members about the university’s support for Gov. Laura Kelly’s proposal to hold tuition flat by increasing nearly $50 million worth of public-private scholarship funds to universities across the state. He also highlighted some of the ongoing needs for the university, which includes a backlog of $442 million in deferred maintenance for Mission Critical Facilities. “It’s like getting on a treadmill, when you’re running at 3 and the treadmill is going…

Pottawatomie County commissioners are submitting paperwork to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment toward cleaning up some waste build up on a property near St. George. County Sanitarian Scott Schwinn told commissioners Monday he’s received complaints about the property. “Ultimately, if they decline to clean it up, the county is going to be on the hook for cleaning it up and we will be reimbursed up to $10,000 for that,” he said. Anything above that $10,000 threshold will be the county’s responsibility. According to the illegal dump notification and information form, the roughly 2-acre property is at 4385 Blackjack…

The owners of the former Munson’s Prime restaurant in Junction City, destroyed by fire nearly one year ago, are the new owners of the former Brookville Hotel restaurant property in Abilene. Reports surfaced online Monday that Charles and Deanna Munson bid $926,000 during a bankruptcy sale to acquire the property put up for sale by Pinnacle Bank. The Munsons had the lone bid and are planning to open a new restaurant called Legacy Kansas. They say they plan to acknowledge the history of both restaurants in their new venture. That includes the traditional family style chicken dinners the Brookville became…

A Fort Riley soldier accused of murdering a fellow soldier in Manhattan’s Aggieville district last weekend made his first court appearance Friday, via video conference. Seated in a wheelchair from the Riley County Jail with a visible right leg injury, 19-year-old Tremelle Montgomery stared ahead, without counsel, while Judge Kendra Lewison read the four charges against him, including a single count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Montgomery is accused in the Feb. 5 shooting death of 21-year-old Joshua Wardi, a Fort Riley soldier from Texas. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says according to witnesses, the…