Author: Brandon Peoples

The 15-year plan will guide future decisions on land use, economic development, housing, health, transportation and infrastructure. Planning and Development director Amanda Webb said staff worked on the plan since 2023, with input from several stakeholders throughout the process. “We did community engagement, a public survey, a lot of different workshops across the county … north, south and everywhere in between,” she said. The team was starting to work on the plan with committees and subcommittees when the project went on hiatus in 2024. It was determined a consultant was needed to handle some of the technical aspects of the…

A local nonprofit organization is exploring the possibility of tackling one of its largest-ever housing developments in Manhattan and asked Riley County for feedback on whether the project could qualify for Reinvestment Housing Incentive District financing. Executive director Josh Brewer presented an early concept to commissioners Thursday for nearly five acres in a Northview neighborhood between Casement Road and Spain Drive. He said the organization had its eyes on the land for three years and helped secure rezoning to allow higher-density housing. “We see the proximity to the school as being a really, really strong asset for this,” Brewer said.…

Manhattan’s emerging role in safeguarding America’s food system was on full display Wednesday as USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran toured the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute. Vaden’s first trip to Manhattan comes as NBAF, a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory designed to study and combat animal diseases, nears completion. “Our goal here is to make certain that NBAF is ready for that work, and to make sure it happens as smoothly as possible and to make sure that it happens on time,” Moran said. To view the full article…

Director David Adams told Riley County commissioners on Monday EMS responded to 464 calls in August, a slight increase from the previous month. “The thing I noticed by the hours is really the late morning and then in the afternoons was busier, which tells us that there were more citizens out and about,” he said. Adams said had EMS been overwhelmed just in the evening hours, he likely would have attributed it to more students returning from summer break. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more Riley County news.

Riley County commissioners unanimously approved a $2.8 million contract Monday authorizing BHS Construction to begin work on the remodel of the old Riley County EMS Station at 2011 Claflin Road. The facility will become the headquarters for Emergency Management and Riley County Fire District No. 1. “They’d like to start as soon as we can get a signed contract here,” public works director John Ellerman said. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more Riley County news.

School officials say a threatening post made on Snapchat over the weekend against Anthony Middle School was not credible and the person who posted it has been identified. A message was sent out to parents Sunday afternoon via USD 383’s ParentSquare notification system that school administrators were notified Sunday morning by the Riley County Police Department that an investigation had been launched Saturday evening. Police quickly determined the threat to not be credible. According to Principal Vickie Cline, the individual responsible for making the post will be disciplined in accordance with the USD 383 and Anthony Middle School Student Code…

A gas leak reported Friday morning in the Northview area resulted in five homes being evacuated as a precaution. The Manhattan Fire Department was called out to the area of Casement Road between Hayes Drive and Judson Road shortly before 10 a.m. According to Deputy Fire Chief Ryan Almes, the gas leak developed in the street and got into the sanitary sewer. Firetrucks blocked the street for about four hours before Public Works crews put up barricades. Kansas Gas Service remained on scene late Friday afternoon to work and monitor the situation. It’s unclear what caused the leak. Casement Road…

Federal and state engineers have started an innovative dredging project at Tuttle Creek Reservoir which aims to address decades of sediment buildup. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Kansas Water Office on Wednesday began a 10-day demonstration of water injection dredging — a technology never before tested in a reservoir. It’s the first of three phases to gauge whether the method can remove sediment and extend Tuttle Creek Lake’s lifespan. “We are about half full of sediment right now from the original constructed storage that we had there in the multi-purpose pool,” said Laura Totten, Army Corps of Engineers…

The Manhattan City Commission on Tuesday sent a rezoning request for two properties east of City Park back to the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board. The applicant, Gavin Schmidt, has been petitioning to rezone 300 North 11th Street and 1020 Leavenworth, for almost a year. Doing so would allow both properties, which currently have deteriorating older homes on them, to potentially be used for single family-attached housing, such as a townhome or duplex. “If we can allow for more people to live in its urban core, more people get to experience this neighborhood, more people get to interact with these…

An amended development agreement was approved this week for a workforce housing project on Moro Street after the developer increased the scope of the project. The city commission in June approved an initial agreement for Frontier Development to receive a property tax abatement for a five-unit townhome project at 716 Moro St. Company partner Tyler Holloman said after an oversight on parking regulations, he and fellow developer Ben Burton were able to increase the project from five to seven units, taking the project from a single-floor concept to a two-story concept with a smaller footprint. To view the full article…