Author: Brandon Peoples

Following the expiration of Riley County’s mask ordinance Sunday night, the USD 384 Blue Valley school board has changed course on its district policy requiring masks on school property. At a special meeting Monday, the board unanimously decided to make the wearing of masks and face coverings optional for the remainder of the school year. The last day of school is May 28. In addition, the board voted to end the practice of taking temperatures upon entering a school building or bus. Other mitigation efforts including social distancing, hand washing and sanitizing will continue. In other business Monday, the board…

Pottawatomie County commissioners reviewed a contract with Bartlett and West to continue a plan for road and thoroughfare improvements in the Green Valley area. While not finalized, the nearly $75,000 contract will include an overall project scope, complete with an outline for how and when those projects can occur. County Planner Stephan Metzger says the project essentially creates a road map for future development. “This plan is really going to dive down into individual roads need to go here, this is kind of what the material costs are going to be, these are the long term maintenance costs are going…

Two co-defendants accused in a November 2019 murder at a west Manhattan apartment complex will appear in separate settings later this summer. At a status hearing Monday, Shamar Sutton’s attorney Jeff Adam informed Judge Grant Bannister that they are awaiting a jury trial for Sutton’s co-defendant Richard Goens, before entering into any plea agreement. Sutton is one of three men charged in the first-degree murder of Tanner Zamecnik Nov. 1, 2019. He additionally faces charges of attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal discharge of a firearm. Goens had been set for trial last month, but Judge Bannister…

Manhattan area state lawmakers fielded questions at a virtual legislative forum Friday, hosted by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce. On the topic of the legislature’s likely veto override of proposed income tax cuts in Kansas, 51st District Rep. Ron Highland (R-Wamego) says he believes it’s one of the first things the legislature will consider when veto session begins Monday. “There are some parts of that which need to be looked at a little bit further. So I think there will be some discussion and possibly some changes in that bill. I think with some minor changes, we can get…

Riley County Police are seeking the public’s help identifying a truck involved in an incident where shots were fired in the early morning hours of April 23 at the Park Place Apartment complex on Cambridge Place. Police say a criminal report was filed that morning when an unknown suspect fired approximately seven shots in the direction of one of the apartment buildings and then fled. No one was injured, but several pieces of property were damaged. RCPD has shared surveillance video showing a white truck going through the parking lot on its Facebook page. Anyone with information should contact RCPD…

The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of a state law abolishing a medical malpractice claim known as a “wrongful birth.” The 4-3 decision affirms a Riley County District Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by parents who alleged their prenatal doctor negligently failed to inform them about serious fatal abnormalities observable from an ultrasound. Alysia Tillman and Storm Fleetwood of Manhattan sued their physician, Dr. Katherine Goodpasture, for denying information about their child’s severe brain defects. The information could have allowed the couple to seek an abortion. A statute barring these types of lawsuits was passed by the Kansas…

A state lawmaker from Wamego is being recognized Monday as a new inductee into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame. A ceremony for 51st District Rep. Ron Highland will take place at 9 a.m. in the old Supreme Court Room at the Statehouse. He’ll also be recognized at 10 a.m. on the floor of the House of Representatives. Retired Lt. General and 67th District Rep. Mike Dodson, of Manhattan, will conduct the ceremony on the House floor. Highland was stationed as a platoon leader in Korea at the time of the capture of the Pueblo Naval Ship.…

Riley County’s mask ordinance will expire this weekend after commissioners voted 2-1 to rescind its health order two weeks earlier than initially planned. Commission Chair John Ford and commissioner Greg McKinley voted in favor of ending the ordinance. McKinley said the county should’ve ended the ordinance a month ago. Ford says he’s finding it difficult to defend the mandate with only one positive case outside Manhattan. “I’m a policy maker, I make policy. I’m not a healthcare expert, I’m not a public health expert and I’m never going to be. Common sense and sensibility tells me that I need to…

Road projects are causing some delays for residents in northern Riley County. Perhaps the most notable is on K-16, the Green Randolph Road bridge over Tuttle Creek Lake. The Kansas Department of Transportation began a mill and overlay Monday, extending from Randolph east to Hwy 99. USD 384 Blue Valley Superintendent John Cox says it’s causing 15 to 20 minute delays to and from school. “It really has put us in a situation with our buses because we shuttle kids back and forth but we’re trying to accommodate and make adjustments as needed. Busing after school is the biggest impact…

Boomtown is back. The annual Wamego Fireworks Show will return this summer and event planners say it will be bigger and better than ever, after the popular 4th of July celebration was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. A 45 second hype video was posted to the Wamego Fireworks Show Facebook page and the Chamber of Commerce has an event page set up on its website. It includes the return of the city carnival June 29 through July 4 and a host of activities including live entertainment, the 4th of July parade down Main Street. KMAN’s sister station B104.7 will…