Author: Brandon Peoples

Riley County appears to be on the downhill side of the omicron surge. New COVID cases last week totaled 607, nearly 300 fewer cases than reported the week before. There are 638 active cases in Riley County, a decrease of nearly 350 active cases since last week. The two-week rolling percent positivity rate fell from just over 24 percent to slightly under 18 percent for the current period. As of Wednesday, Ascension Via Christi was caring for 11 COVID-positive patients including three on ventilators and four within the Intensive Care Unit. The new indoor KDHE testing site is now open…

A community-wide housing survey is circulating in Manhattan this month, seeking feedback on housing experiences, conditions and issues. City officials say it’s the next phase of a Housing Market Analysis project, following the establishment of a housing steering committee last August, in addition to multiple rounds of stakeholder interviews and preliminary data collection. The 10-minute survey is accessible on the project website through February 28. The online survey is available in multiple languages through Google Translate. Paper copies can be picked up at Manhattan City Hall, for those without access to the online survey. Hard copies are also being provided…

Applications are now being accepted for the Manhattan Fire Department’s student firefighter program. The program is open to college students 18 and older attending K-State, MATC or Manhattan Christian College. Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes likens the program to a paid internship. “The statistics on the number of people we have that go through the program and then join our fire department and get promoted, is pretty unreal,” he said. Almes says several current firefighters, including himself have taken part in the program. While some have gone on to be firefighters, others have gone on to other successful careers. Almes…

One person was injured Tuesday in a three-vehicle crash near Fort Riley Blvd. and South Manhattan Ave. According to the Riley County Police Department, an SUV driven by 62-year-old Tracy Trout collided with van and pickup truck shortly before 2:30 p.m. Trout was transported by EMS to Ascension Via Christi for treatment of chest pain and a leg injury, but no additional details were released. The van driver, 41-year-old Jerrod Warren, of Manhattan, and the pickup driver, 64-year-old Kevin Hankins, of Olsburg, had no listed injuries.

A 42-year-old Wabaunsee County man jailed in Riley County had some new charges brought against him this week. Scott Habluetzel, of Paxico, was charged by RCPD Tuesday with single counts of aggravated battery and domestic battery. The charges stem from a warrant. An online criminal complaint alleges he battered a woman December 10 at a Riley County residence. In addition, Habluetzel faces a charge of criminal threat against the same woman as well as a charge of assault on a law enforcement officer, from a separate alleged incident in mid-January. He also had a separate arrest Dec. 20 for criminal…

The Kansas Agriculture Secretary was the featured speaker Monday at the annual Riley County Livestock Association annual meeting, held at Pottorf Hall. Mike Beam spoke about the value of agricultural exports, which surpassed $4 billion in 2020, the highest total in Kansas since 2014. “The first half of that (year) was pretty stressful. Prices were pretty depressed. As we got into the later summer and fall, exports started picking up and we saw a pretty good rally in a lot of our commodity prices, largely driven by exports in 2020,” he said. Beam says 2021 values already appear to have…

A new superintendent has been named at USD 320 Wamego. At a special meeting Monday, via Zoom, the Wamego School Board announced the hiring of Rob McKim, who currently serves as Principal at Lansing High School. He was selected from a pool of four finalists that interviewed last week with the board. McKim is a rural Sabetha native with 28 years in education, including the last four years at Lansing. In 2013, he was named Principal of the Year while working at Baldwin High School. In a statement Monday, the board said it was impressed with McKim’s innovative ideas, ability…

After nearly setting a record high Monday, Manhattan is now bracing for a taste of winter weather as midweek approaches. The National Weather Service office in Topeka has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Riley, Pottawatomie and Geary counties from 9 p.m. this evening through noon Thursday. The forecast is calling for approximately 3 to 5 inches of snow for the Manhattan area, with greater amounts likely further to the south and east. A Winter Storm Warning is posted for the same time frame from southwest Kansas to the Kansas City metro, including Topeka and Lawrence. Snow is expected to…

Pottawatomie County commissioners gave consensus Monday to extend its ongoing moratorium on solar farms until January 1, 2023. Doing so doesn’t mean the board and the county planning commission can’t still meet to draft zoning regulations. Commissioner Greg Riat says without it, a resident could in theory start building a solar farm operation on their property. “Just say we’re not going to do any solar farms in our county until January 1 of 2023 and for some reason we get our planning and zoning done in August we take it off.” The current moratorium is set to expire in March.…

A mid-week snow storm appears likely this week across much of Kansas. Up to a foot of snow could dump on some locations between Tuesday night and Wednesday, as an upper level storm system brings a band of heavy snowfall across portions of east central Kansas. Most areas will see between 5 to 12 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka, with the Manhattan area on track to receive about 3 to 4 inches. The greatest amounts of snow are forecast along and southeast of Interstate 35. There is some uncertainty to that and forecasters say…