Author: Brandon Peoples

Another special school board meeting is scheduled Tuesday night for Riley County USD 378 schools. (See agenda below) Meetings have become a weekly norm lately in Riley County Schools, as the board, which has been tight lipped regarding the future of suspended Superintendent Cliff Williams, plans to enter an executive session to discuss contracts and personnel matters. The meeting comes just two weeks after a majority of the board moved to start negotiations between its hired counsel, the Hoover Law Firm of Junction City and Mr. Williams. Four of the board members have consistently voted to keep Williams suspended since…

The Manhattan City Commission will vote on a pair of amendments to contracts related to construction in Aggieville when they meet Tuesday. (See below agenda attachment) Two years ago the city entered into a design contract with Olsson and a Construction Manager at Risk contract with BHS for 12th Street infrastructure improvements between Moro and Laramie Street, and Laramie from 12th Street to North Manhattan Avenue. The project was paused when the Midtown construction project was stopped last spring. The city had paid close to $128,000 of its $567,000 owed to Olsson as of June, but with new agreements on…

One person is dead following a crash Monday morning on K-99, south of Wamego. A Kansas Highway Patrol dispatcher confirmed to KMAN that the single vehicle crash occurred shortly before 6 a.m., just south of the I-70 junction near Alma. According to the crash report, 51-year-old Jerry Anstey, of Alma, was northbound on K-99 when his Ford Focus left the roadway, re-entered the roadway and spun, striking an embankment on the passenger side, before overturning. Anstey, who was not restrained, was ejected from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Construction on a key section of Kimball Ave. begins this week on a project that will continue well into the summer. The Manhattan Public Works Department is expected to close Kimball Ave. Monday to vehicular and pedestrian traffic west of Denison Ave., to near the Grain Science Center and K-State rowing facility. The closure will allow crews to begin the second part of the final phase of a replacement and reconstruction of the Denison/Kimball Ave. intersection. City Engineer Brian Johnson… North-south traffic will remain in place through the intersection until mid-May, when the entire intersection will close for the summer,…

A Junction City woman was injured Friday morning after rolling her vehicle in rural southern Geary County. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, 29-year-old Andrea Raye Linn, was northbound on U.S. 77 about seven miles south of Junction City when she lost control of her pickup due to icy conditions. The truck entered the west ditch and overturned. Linn was transported to Stormont Vail Hospital with only minor injuries.

Pottawatomie County will be expanding its board of county commissioners from three to five seats in the next general election, but getting to this point has been anything but simple. Voters approved expansion in November 2022, and many presumed expansion would occur during the next election cycle in 2023. However, complexities within state statute prompted delays, pushing back expansion until November 2024, when county commissioners are typically up for election. This created a potential violation of state law, which currently requires counties to have no more than a simple majority of its commissioners on the ballot during an election cycle.…

Riley County officials agreed Thursday to hold a future work retreat to further discuss facility upgrades and funding. Commissioners were presented with several ways to pay for the upgrades, either by bonding or possibly utilizing sales tax, but decided to have a more in-depth discussion first on what upgrades were needed. Commission Chair John Ford. Commissioners came to consensus that the issue of courtroom space was the likely top priority. No date was scheduled for the work session. The first discussion item will be to determine if the former First Christian Church building, which the county owns, can be used to help…

Riley County Police Department Director Brian Peete spoke to the Riley County Commission Thursday about a large scale active shooter training he’s planning in the area later this year. No date has been scheduled for when that will take place, but Peete says he has meetings scheduled this week with several top officials, including the head of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, as well as officials from Fort Riley and the FBI. In the near term, Peete says police are coordinating their response ahead of Fake Patty’s Day. As noted earlier this week, police opted not to ask for additional help from…

A Manhattan High School employee was battered Wednesday while trying to break up a fight between two students. The Riley County Police Department says a report for aggravated battery was filed just before 11:30 a.m. A 36-year-old woman and a 14-year-old boy were listed as victims. The woman had been intervening and was battered in the process by a 15-year-old boy. No arrests were noted and police released no other details, due to the age of the victims.

Authorities say the shooting incident at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration appeared to have stemmed from a personal dispute and not an act of terrorism. Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves confirmed during a Wednesday news conference that there are 23 victims, including one fatality. “The victims’ ages range between 8 years old and 47 years old. At least half of our victims are under the age of 16,” she said. Three people are currently detained, two of whom are juveniles, according to the police chief. No charges have been filed as of yet, but Graves announced they do expect…