Author: Brandon Peoples

Riley County health officials on Monday saw new positive cases of coronavirus slightly outpace the number of additional recoveries. The health department tallied 67 new cases and 51 additional recoveries since Friday’s report. One positive patient remains hospitalized at Ascension Via Christi. Local health officer Julie Gibbs informed the county commission Monday that testing remains ongoing at their swabbing station.  They are still working with Konza Prairie Community Health on staffing for their permanent respiratory clinic and swabbing sites.  Gibbs hope to open those sites by mid-October. “Meanwhile, Konza is still doing swabbing in the tent in the afternoons in…

Rather than waiting until January to purchase vehicles for its fleet, the Riley County Law Board is allowing RCPD to do so now to ensure they can fulfill their request. The Law Board gave the police department early permission to use funds from its 2021 budget to purchase seven 2021 Dodge Durango SUVs totaling about $292,000. RCPD Director Dennis Butler says they had to submit a request now, due to the manufacturer shutting down production for an extended period this year. “It delayed just everything and so the guidance we received from them was that if we wanted to receive…

Riley County Police have arrested one of two suspects tied to an alleged robbery and kidnapping late last year. Aaron Michael Noonan, 25, of Colorado Springs, Colo. is charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated robbery and a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. Noonan was arrested Thursday on a Riley County District Court warrant. He remains jailed on a $150,000 bond. Online court records allege Noonan and a relative, 29-year-old Lee Dennis Noonan attempted to set up a fake drug deal with the intent to rob and kidnap a male victim. Charges were filed…

Contact tracers have been working seemingly around the clock these past few months getting in touch with people who may have come in contact with someone infected with the novel coronavirus. Due to the uptick in cases locally and statewide, scammers may be posing as health department employees trying to take advantage of the situation. Riley County Health Department Director Julie Gibbs explains what to watch out for. “Some people have been calling saying that they want more information from individuals such as social security number or date of birth. Our contact tracers will never ask for that information,” she…

A Clay Center man was injured early Thursday morning after his semi overturned in rural Pottawatomie County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says a 2019 Mack truck driven by 56-year-old Gerald Taylor went off the road north of K16 highway at Wheaton Road, just east of Wheaton. The incident occurred around 6 a.m. Taylor was transported by Pottawatomie County EMS to Onaga Hospital with unspecified injuries. KHP says he was wearing a seat belt.

Federal dollars are now available to Manhattan area nonprofits through the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. GMCF President and CEO Vern Henricks spoke about the application period on Monday’s GMCF Community Hour on News Radio KMAN. Henricks says these dollars come from the CARES Act, approved by Congress earlier this year. “We’re helping administer the $500,000 of those funds to the nonprofit agencies. That will be a process that we undertake the review of some of those grant requests and distribute that grant money,” he said. Funds must be used to cover expenses incurred as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,…

The former operator of the Wamego Wastewater Treatment Facility was indicted Wednesday on federal charges of violating the Clean Water Act. According to a release from US Attorney Stephen McAllister’s office, 47-year-old David Schleif of Belvue was charged with discharging untreated or inadequately treated sewage from the Wamego facility into the Kansas River. The crime is alleged to have taken place between May 2017 and August 2019. Schleif also faces 19 counts including falsified data in discharge monitoring reports. The falsified reports showed lower levels of biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and E. coli than indicated by actual test…

Riley County health experts say a large increase in positive coronavirus cases is largely blamed on delays in getting results, but plans are underway to fix the problem. Wednesday’s report included 111 new positive cases and two additional recoveries since Monday’s report. Ascension Via Christi is monitoring three positive patients. Local health officer Julie Gibbs says the electronic surveillance system EpiTrax has experienced delays in data collection, with the majority of new positives included in Wednesday’s report from up to two weeks ago. Recent problems have also led to software crashes and incomplete information. In order to combat the delays,…

Wamego High Principal Kale Katt says school teachers are navigating curriculum to the best of their abilities, but fears the challenges may be too overwhelming for some. Speaking to the USD 320 school board Monday, Katt opened up about the challenges teachers are facing in his building. (NOTE: A link to the full meeting video is shared below. Principal Katt’s comments begin at the 1:59:43 mark) “It’s difficult to juggle your remote students and your on site students at the same time. Teachers have to have every single thing set up on their computer, even different windows pulled up so…

An open house is planned later this month for a new clinic in Riley. A ribbon cutting for the new Riley Family Physicians clinic will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. September 26. The new clinic has been under construction since spring, located just west of the Dollar General store in Riley. The one million dollar facility features six large exam rooms, a modern procedure room, an in-house lab, a spacious lobby and administrative spaces. It will be staffed with a board-certified technician and a nurse practitioner. The new clinic is scheduled to open in early October. The clinic…