Author: Brandon Peoples

After Manhattan’s Ascension Via Christi Hospital reported its highest number of COVID-19 positive inpatients, that number has declined slightly. Health officials (today) Wednesday confirmed Ascension Via Christi is caring for 23 positive patients, down from a high of 25, including five being treated in the Intensive Care Unit. In addition, 83 new positive cases and 80 more recoveries have been confirmed. The health department says there are 480 active cases currently in Riley County. The percent of Riley County residents testing positive for COVID-19 during the first week of January was 12.6 percent, a jump of nearly 3 percent from…

One person is dead and two others are injured following a crash Tuesday evening near Rossville. Authorities were dispatched shortly after 7:30 p.m. after a passenger car struck a deer on Hwy 24, about a mile east of Rossville. The driver was attempting to avoid hitting the deer, and in doing so, left the roadway, drove into a ditch then turned back into the roadway where it struck an oncoming vehicle. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 63-year-old Lucinda Mitchell of Rossville, a passenger in the first car, died at the scene. The driver, 61-year-old Christopher Mitchell, also of Rossville,…

Riley County Police arrested a 21-year-old man Monday on a warrant for his involvement in an alleged incident from last spring. Timothy Bell is charged with two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of aggravated robbery and one count of kidnapping. An online criminal complaint alleges that on May 22, Bell broke into an apartment in the 1800 block of Claflin Road and robbed a victim at gunpoint, taking an unspecified amount of cash, then kidnapped the victim. He was jailed on a $35,000 bond but was no longer confined as of Tuesday’s arrest report.

A trial date is now set for a former Manhattan restaurant owner accused of multiple counts of sexual abuse. At a status hearing Monday, held via Zoom in the case of Robert Iacobellis, Judge Kendra Lewison scheduled a motions hearing for 9 a.m. April 21, with a seven day jury trial slated to begin June 10 through June 18. It’s anticipated the first two days, which are a Thursday and Friday, will be designated for jury selection, with the trial continuing the following week. Iacobellis, who was arrested in August 2019, remains jailed on 26 charges, including allegations of rape…

Kansas State University’s Lafene Health Center has been selected as a vaccine distribution site and will receive and administer vaccines for students, faculty and staff, based on the state and local priority groups and vaccine availability. When that happens is uncertain, says K-State Vice President for Communications and Marketing Jeffery Morris. “We have the protocols, we have the freezers to store the vaccines, we have the processes figured out, we have the databases necessary to track and follow up with people to get their second round of shots,” he said. “What we don’t have right now is any vaccine.” Morris…

Ascension Via Christi is now caring for 18 COVID positive patients, the highest number of active hospitalizations in Riley County to date. The Riley County Health Department also reported Monday it has two patients under investigation at the hospital, four of the positive patients are in the Intensive Care Unit. In an email to News Radio KMAN Monday, Via Christi President and CEO Bob Copple stated the census at the Manhattan hospital has been trending upward for a few weeks, with a mix of non-COVID and COVID patients. “This is the situation we are all trying to avoid where you…

One person was injured late Saturday night in a two vehicle crash in Clay County. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported the driver of a minivan was southbound on Hwy 15 attempting a left turn but failed to yield to an oncoming northbound Chevy Silverado. As a result, the pickup overturned and came to rest on the east shoulder. The driver of the minivan, 83-year-old Loretta Jackson of Junction City, sustained a possible injury according to the crash report. She was wearing a seat belt. The pickup driver, 63-year-old Vernon McGee of Clay Center, was taken to Clay County Medical Center…

A Junction City man is back behind bars after failing to appear for a court hearing. Online court records show 33-year-old Frederick Swinson was due in Riley County District Court Friday for a first appearance to face criminal charges from a June 2019 aggravated robbery and burglary in Ogden. He was arrested Thursday on a warrant. Swinson is charged with one count each of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Three people were listed as victims in the case. Court records show Swinson has several past convictions in Riley County Swinson remains…

The first group of staff and physicians at Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan have received the second doses of the coronavirus vaccine, with more planning to get vaccinated Friday. “We have another clinic, another 70 or some folks who will get their second vaccine and by end of day Monday, we’ll be close to 300 people here in Manhattan and also at our facility in Wamego that will have had their second round of vaccinations,” says Bob Copple, President and CEO of Ascension Via Christi. Because it takes three weeks between doses for the Pfizer vaccines and four weeks for…

Kansas State University’s President and Provost have both condemned the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday. K-State President and 4-star military general Richard Myers issued a statement (see below) Thursday where he stated the nation witnessed actions at the nation’s capital no one ever thought was possible. He said “the very institutions of our democracy came under attack by armed rioters acting as an uncontrolled mob. The violence and damage we saw tears at the very fabric of a civil society. This shows what can happen when conspiracy theories and lies overwhelm facts.” Myers noted many take for…