Author: Brandon Peoples

In it’s latest weekly report, the Riley County Health Department confirmed there are some coronavirus variants which have been identified locally. The health department says 39 new positive cases were identified Wednesday along with 32 additional recoveries since the June 16 report. Six COVID-positive patients are currently receiving care at Ascension Via Christi Hospital. Two are in the Intensive Care Unit. A total of 21 positive cases from variants of concern are noted in the report, including 10 from the Delta variants and 10 from the Alpha variant. One case from the Epsilon variant was also confirmed. Health officials say…

Noon Wednesday update The suspect in a Tuesday shooting in south Manhattan has turned himself in. According to Riley County Police, 23-year-old Jamie Smith, of Manhattan, surrendered to RCPD Wednesday shortly after 10:30 a.m. and was taken into custody on a charge of attempted first-degree murder. Smith is accused of shooting a 38-year-old female victim at an apartment near Yuma Street and Juliette Ave. The woman was transported to Ascension Via Christi in critical condition. Her name has not been released. Smith has been arrested twice previously this year — once in April and once in January, on charges of…

Demolition is now underway at the former Oppy’s Service Station at 3rd and Fort Riley Blvd in Manhattan. The site is the future location of a new Casey’s convenience store planned for construction sometime later this year. According to Manhattan Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes, no building permit has been issued yet. The Manhattan City Commission vacated a utility easement in October to pave way for future construction. The Iowa-based convenience store is reportedly also exploring a second Manhattan location, at the southwest corner of Tuttle Creek Blvd. and Kimball Ave. There are over 2,300 Casey’s stores across the country,…

A former USD 383 paraprofessional, charged with multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a child, appeared for a status hearing Tuesday from his jail cell in Riley County. Aaron Zachry, of Junction City, faces seven total counts after police earlier this month found sexual images of children on his phone. He was arrested June 4 at Northview Pool after a report of suspicious activity. Two of the seven alleged charges involve victims under the age of 14. He remains jailed on a $360,000 total bond. Zachry’s attorney Barry Clark plans to file a motion for a bond reduction June 29…

The coronavirus pandemic may not be officially behind us yet, but local health leaders are seeing at least some reprieve in new case numbers. Riley County Health Department Director and Local Health Officer Julie Gibbs says the percent positive rate was about 6.6 percent the week before last with about 30 new cases. Testing and vaccines continue to be administered at the health department’s headquarters at 2030 Tecumseh Road. Gibbs says public health clinic workers are going above and beyond just fulfilling the department’s COVID response this summer. Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Renee Lucas continues to oversee contact tracers and follow…

A 22-year-old man was jailed over the weekend after reportedly threatening two individuals with a gun outside an Aggieville bar. The Riley County Police Department says Eugenio Rodriguez of Fort Riley was arrested early Sunday morning outside of Tubby’s in connection on the offense of aggravated assault. A 19-year-old and 21-year-old male were listed as victims. Police say Rodriguez was issued a total bond of $10,000 and was no longer confined as of Monday’s report.

A Riley County jury has convicted a 34-year-old Ogden man on sex crimes involving minors following a five day trial last week. Michael Sears was found guilty on six total charges, including rape, attempted rape and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. Deputy Riley County Attorney Bethany Fields tells KMAN that all counts face a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison, due to the victims being under the age of 14. Jurors got the case Friday but recessed for the weekend and finished deliberations Monday morning. Sears was arrested in Shawnee County in February…

A preliminary hearing is scheduled this week in the case of Bob Iacobellis, the former Manhattan restaurant owner accused of more than two dozen sex abuse charges involving three minors. Iacobellis is awaiting trial on 26 total counts which include charges of rape and aggravated indecent liberties. A 10 a.m. Friday in-person hearing is scheduled with Judge Kendra Lewison. The case had initially been set for June 10, but was postponed due to uncertainties with spacing due to COVID. The courts are now utilizing space at the Wareham Opera House for trials. It’s anticipated a trial date could be set…

A Wamego man cashed in not one, but two winning Kansas Lottery tickets recently. Christopher Gast cashed in on $11,000 in winnings over the past two weeks. He won big two weeks ago playing the $20 scratch ticket $100,000 Cash Party, hitting the second-tier prize of $10,000. Gast told lottery officials he plays about every day, but had never won any prize this big. His luck continued, when, two weeks later, he bought a ticket from the same store, winning an additional $1,000 playing the same game. The winning tickets were both sold at the Short Stop in Wamego 807…

The final piece of the new Douglass Recreation Center was unveiled Saturday as part of the annual Juneteenth celebration in Manhattan. A mural, entitled Triumphant, was designed by Wichita native EuGene Byrd III of Atlanta, Georgia. It honors the strength, pain, joy, faith, knowledge, sacrifice and perseverance of black residents in the community from past to present. Where the center now sits in southern Manhattan, was once where African Americans predominantly resided, says Douglass Center Director Dave Baker. “That’s all changed in the last 20 to 30 years and so one of my goals was to do as much as…