Author: Brandon Peoples

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…

Officials from the City of Manhattan, Riley County and Pottawatomie County sat down Thursday to discuss budgetary challenges amid the newly adopted Senate Bill 13. The legislation, passed this spring, is intended to increase transparency in property tax collections in the state. It requires all taxing entities to create budgets at a revenue-neutral rate (RNR), setting a tax rate for the current year which results in the same revenue as was collected the prior year. The RNR, as defined by the new law, is the mill levy at which an entity collects the same dollar amount of property taxes as…

The Wamego School Board met briefly Friday to approve the hire of new principals at Wamego Middle School and Wamego High School for the upcoming school year. Interim Superintendent Greg Mann spoke about the hiring process at Friday’s meeting. Brad Couture will lead the middle school after serving as an assistant principal and athletic director for several years at Republic County Schools in Belleville. Julie Schrum will lead the high school, following a two year stint as principal at Norton Community High School. A formal meet and greet is planned closer to the start of the school year. The school…

Riley County Police say a motorcyclist is in critical condition following a Thursday crash near the intersection of Anderson Ave. and Woodland Street. Investigators say 71-year-old Dennis Rhoden, of Solomon, had swerved his 2003 Harley-Davidson into oncoming traffic to avoid a car turning at the intersection shortly before 4 p.m. He was transported to Ascension Via Christi for treatment of undisclosed injuries.