Author: Brandon Peoples

Riley County has rolled out a new program to schedule COVID vaccines. The new software will allow individuals to select a 30-minute window that best fits within their daily schedule to receive a shot. In the past, eligible vaccine recipients could only select one hour intervals. Only those who registered with Riley County will be notified of available appointments. Appointment eligibility notifications and instructions will be sent through Everbridge and only those who receive a notification will be able to set an appointment. Anyone unable to make an appointment will have their name kept on the list and they will…

One person was hospitalized following a Thursday morning fire near 5th and Bluemont Ave. The Manhattan Fire Department says firefighters were dispatched just before 10:30 a.m. but found a single-story home with no visible flames or smoke. Fire crews determined that the fire was extinguished prior to their arrival. One occupant who was home at the time was transported by Riley County EMS to Ascension Via Christi. The owner of the home is listed as Ramona Riniker. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Loss is estimated at $100.

Fort Riley officials say the Henry Drive reconstruction project has been pushed back to late next week. The project, initially planned to begin on March 22, will now begin March 26. It runs from Smoky Hill Road to Ray Road and calls for a closure of this portion of Henry Drive until November. Traffic will be detoured around Marshall Army Airfield. The Henry Access Control Point and Visitor Control Center will remain open through the project. Henry Drive provides access to Fort Riley from I-70, via Exit 301

Riley County officials reported 19 new positive coronavirus cases and 16 additional recoveries Wednesday, but says Ascension Via Christi has no COVID patients currently in its care. Vaccines continue to roll out with boosters being given to those in Phase 2 who were vaccinated on or before Feb. 17. Beginning next week Riley County, in accordance with KDHE will start vaccinating those in Phase 3 and 4. So far 6,073 residents are fully vaccinated. Nearly 6,200 have received their first dose. WellHealth continues to offer free saliva-based testing daily except Sundays at 419 Holiday Drive through May 21.

The Manhattan Regional Airport will soon be resuming its flights to Chicago. The airport announced that starting May 6, travelers will be able to fly directly to O’Hare from Manhattan via American Airlines. It will include a daily morning flight departing from Manhattan and a daily return flight in the evening. The flight schedule was put on hold back in the summer amid COVID-19 restrictions. Flights to and from Chicago can now be booked online at flymhk.com.

A Clay Center meat processing plant is a total loss after a fire late Tuesday night. Fire crews responded to the Clay Center Locker Plant near Hwy 15 around 11:30 p.m. According to WIBW-TV, an explosion was reported after firefighters had been on scene for a half hour, which blew out the front windows, with debris landing on the highway. Highway 15 was closed for several hours overnight as a result. A cause of the fire has not been determined. This is a developing story.

Manhattan firefighters say a sprinkler system extinguished an apartment fire early Wednesday morning. The structure fire at The Links, located at 517 Gatlinburg Way, was reported shortly before 4 a.m. Crews found a three-story apartment building with nothing visible from the outside. An investigation determined the sprinkler system activated in the kitchen of a first-floor apartment and extinguished the fire. A dog and cat were safely removed from the apartment The occupants of the apartment were not home at the time. No injuries were reported. Loss is estimated at $5,000 to contents and $15,000 to the structure. The fire cause…

The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the recent theft of a van, a trailer and a UTV in rural Wamego. Deputies were dispatched Monday for the theft of a white 2001 GMC G2500 van, with an attached flatbed trailer that was hauling a 2008 Polaris model black UTV. It’s believed the theft occurred sometime around 6 a.m. Monday in the 4600 block of K-99. The van was recovered later Monday in Jackson County by the Potawatomi Tribal Police. The trailer and UTV are still missing. The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information to contact Capt. Darrin Stewart at 785-457-3353.…

Traffic congestion in the Aggieville area should ease up soon as construction nears completion on the new Marriott hotel near 12th and Bluemont Ave. Sidewalk improvements continue in front of Coco Bolo’s and Starbucks, with work adjacent to the hotel and turning the corner onto 12th Street within the next four to six weeks. Deputy City Manager Jason Hilgers tells KMAN the City Engineer is feeling the pressure to reopen the right eastbound lane as the project gets closer to being finished, which should allow traffic to move more smoothly through town. “It’s something we look forward to doing here…

New construction continues to soar in Pottawatomie County despite the pandemic. County Appraiser Robin Knoblauch presented an overview of assessments for fiscal year 2020. Included within that was new construction which is up over 10 percent compared to last year. “$54,920,370 in new construction for the year 2020 during a pandemic is crazy to me. But the market’s pretty hot. It’s a seller’s market right now by all means,” Knoblauch said. Overall, the total valuation of all property in Pottawatomie County increased nearly 3 percent. The average sale price for county residential dwellings in 2020 was approximately $245,000. Most of…