Author: Brandon Peoples

A new principal has been named at Junction City High School. The USD 475 school board announced Tuesday the hiring of Merrier Jackson, whose served as the school’s interim principal since November. Jackson took over following the indefinite suspension of former principal Melissa Sharp, after a student complained Sharp asked her to remove her Islamic head scarf, known as a hijab, while walking in the school hallway. “I’m excited about the leadership and school improvement experience Ms. Jackson brings to the district and Junction City High School,” Superintendent Dr. Reginald Eggleston said. “She is student-focused and will work collaboratively with…

A former Manhattan city commissioner says she intends to file for a seat on the USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden school board. Thrive! Flint Hills Executive Director Jayme Morris-Hardeman announced her intent to file with the Riley County Clerk’s Office Wednesday. In a news release Tuesday, Morris-Hardeman said she believes the district is facing many important issues. Those include diversity, equity and inclusion for students and staff; allocation of resources in times of uncertain state funding; a re-evaluation of service delivery following lessons learned during the pandemic and a need to continue addressing class sizes. In addition to work with Thrive, Morris-Hardeman…

Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr says the city is making some progress in paying down its debts. In total, the city has about $260 million in total obligations. Fehr says the city is not required to, but issues its utility debt, most of which is lower than some of its other obligations and are coming due within 10 years. Fehr says the city issues general obligation bonds for those rather than traditional utility revenue bonds, due to lower interest rates. “When we structure those bonds in that way, they are calculated as part of our overall debt service limit and…

Pottawatomie County Commissioner Dee McKee says she wants more public awareness surrounding alternate routes to and from the new Oliver Brown Elementary School in Blue Township. Access to the new school from Hwy 24 is somewhat limited and McKee says a major traffic incident could cause some major disruptions. “I think it’s going to be essential that we look at that and the Green Valley Road that’s two lanes wide that needs some work on the side of the bridge and there may be a day where something gets closed. They need to know the route around,” she said. The…

Kansas State University is planning a vigil and counseling sessions this week following Tuesday’s guilty verdict t in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. K-State President Richard Myers, in a written statement Monday said “While we can’t predict or control the outcome of this trial, we can determine our response to the jury’s decision.” He’s called for a thoughtful, peaceful reaction, regardless of opinions. Four counseling sessions are scheduled Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. and then Monday through Wednesday next week from 2 to 5 p.m. inside the Morris Family Multicultural Student Center. A vigil and moment of silence will…

Phase 3 of a Wildcat Creek bridge replacement on K-18 is now underway. The final phase, which began Monday, includes the construction of the south half of the bridge and lanes. As a result, a traffic shift is beginning this week and will be head-to-head in the newly constructed westbound lanes to allow construction to commence in the eastbound lanes.. Rosencutter Road access at Fort Riley Blvd remains closed and detours for south Rosencutter will continue via Seth Child Road and Stagg Hill Road. Poliska Lane and the commercial entrance opposite of Poliska will be right-in, rightout access for the…

Pottawatomie County Commissioners heard a concern Monday about an abandoned house in Blue Township. Resident Richard Wollenberg says the home at 8739 Eagles Landing Drive has been vacant for an extended period of time. The homeowner, who now lives in Connecticut, has not maintained the home and Wollenberg says the building, which is deteriorating has had issues with kids playing inside. “What I’d like to see happen is that you start an abatement process where you charge them, send them a letter to them every month, and say that they need to do something with this house,” Wollenberg said. He…

Former Gov. Jeff Colyer has officially launched his campaign to retake the seat in 2022. In a statement this morning, Colyer said Kansans have an opportunity to “change course and be a leader for conservative, pro-family and pro-constitution values,” criticizing the Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration over its response to the pandemic including coronavirus shutdowns and Easter gatherings in 2020. He also slammed the current administration for having a pro-choice agenda and prioritizing convicted felons first over law-abiding residents in terms of vaccine distribution. Colyer, who also picked up an endorsement from Sen. Roger Marshall Monday, says getting the Kansas economy…

Residents flocked to Wamego this weekend for the return of Tulip Festival. The annual festival draws in thousands to the city for two days filled with 120 vendors, live entertainment in the park and a beer, wine and cider tasting event. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jason Toll says they’re hoping this weekend prepares them for Wamego’s other large events. “All of last year, canceling all the events, we were real hesitant on how to come back and thought if we did it right, this could be a breakthrough and looking forward to 4th of July and paving the way,”…

Mercy Community Health Foundation surpassed its $90,000 goal in 10 days of fundraising during February’s No-Gala Gala. The online fundraiser was a temporary substitute for the in-person gala typically held annually in February. Proceeds funded critical patient care devices including high flow nasal cannulas equipment and BiPAP machines which reduce the likelihood of patients with severe respiratory conditions being placed on ventilators. It also helped purchase four ventilators for ICU patient rooms at Manhattan’s Ascension Via Christi Hospital. The Mercy Foundation has funded over $231,000 toward pandemic-related expenses at the hospital. A total of $41,000 in matching funds were provided…