Author: Brandon Peoples

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…

The Riley County Health Department on Monday added 43 new active cases to its overall count from three days prior, but also logged two more deaths from a COVID outbreak location. The total number of active cases is 663, with 719 recovered. The county recorded two more coronavirus-related deaths over the weekend, bringing the total number of deaths to eight. The two patients who died were residents of Homestead Assisted Living Care in Manhattan. Three people from that outbreak of cases have now died in the past month. In total, Riley County has recorded 1,390 cases since March. Additional details…

The Kansas Supreme Court has reversed two aggravated criminal sodomy convictions for a Riley County man. Ziad Khalil-Alsalaami was previously convicted of the two counts involving a 13-year-old girl at a house party in 2010. The Supreme Court said in its decision Friday the convictions must be reversed because his trial counsel was ineffective and therefore violated his rights under the Sixth Amendment, which ensures a right to a speedy trial. Khalil-Alsaalami argued his trial attorneys were ineffective because they stipulated that a confession he made during police interrogation was voluntary. At a hearing later on his ineffective assistance claims,…

RADCLIFF, Ky. — Junction City Police have announced the arrest of a suspect in a May double homicide. According to Captain Trish Giordano (Jord-don-oh), 21-year-old Nathaniel Roderick Holmes, also known by the alias “Nook” was taken into custody Wednesday in Radcliff, Kentucky on a Geary County warrant for two counts of first-degree murder. Radcliff is located southwest of Louisville. Holmes is currently being held in a Kentucky jail awaiting extradition back to Kansas. Bond has been set at $2 million. Holmes was the second alleged suspect in the double murder of Dylan Spencer and Aaron Villareal (Vill-uh-ray-all) on May 7.…