Author: Brandon Peoples

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A freshman Kansas congressman facing felony criminal charges over previously listing a UPS Inc. postal box as his residence on a state voter registration form has been forced to temporarily give up his House committee assignments. Republican Rep. Steve Watkins said Friday that he is “temporarily and voluntarily” leaving the three committees on which he serves. But the House Republican conference’s rules require members facing a potential felony conviction to leave their committee posts. He is accused of voting illegally in a Topeka City Council race in November 2019 and providing false information to a sheriff’s…

Kansas 1st District Congressman and Senate hopeful Roger Marshall was in Manhattan Tuesday amid his 20-county farm tour. Marshall says the goal of the tour is to allow him to hear firsthand some of the needs, challenges and opportunities facing farmers in other parts of the state, outside his congressional district. If elected, Marshall plans to seek a spot on the Senate Agricultural Committee. His trip also included a visit with corn growers in Westmoreland. He currently serves on the House Agricultural Committee. He says the federal government is improving its response to the coronavirus pandemic and shared optimism that…

A new study by Kansas State University researchers confirms that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, cannot be transmitted to people by mosquitoes. According to a release from K-State Friday, Biosecurity Research Institute Director Dr. Stephen Higgs and colleagues from the BRI and College of Veterinary Medicine had the findings published Friday by Nature Scientific Reports. The article, linked here, details the study’s findings, the first experimental investigation on the capacity of SARS-CoV-2. Higgs says the World Health Organization has definitively stated that mosquitoes cannot transmit the virus, but adds BRI’s study is…

Earlier this month, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced the City of Manhattan had received the maximum amount of grant funding for the North Campus Corridor project. According to a release from the City of Manhattan, the nearly $2.9 million is funding improvements of over 2,400 feet of Kimball Ave. between College and Denison and the construction of a new frontage road to the north. Kimball Ave. will also be widened and a protected median will be added to improve safety. An average of 20,000 vehicles travels the corridor everyday, according to a 2014 traffic study. Manhattan is responsible…

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is planning to sign an executive order Monday, delaying the start of the school year for K-12 schools until after Labor Day. “The additional three weeks will provide schools time to work with their counties to get necessary mitigation supplies like masks, thermometers and hand sanitizers and allow superintendents additional time to make plans for what’s best for their district,” she said. The governor made the announcement during a Wednesday news conference with Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman and State Education Commissioner Randy Watson. “Putting nearly half a million kids in…

There will be no graduation ceremony for the Manhattan High Class of 2020. Principal Michael Dorst, in a message to graduates and parents on the school’s Facebook page Wednesday said the in-person ceremony, which had been delayed to Sunday, Aug. 2 has been canceled. The ceremony had been planned outdoors at Bishop Stadium, but due to limits on gathering sizes still at 50, and not likely to rise much by that time, the decision was ultimately made to forego the ceremony. The ceremony typically draws between 1,500 and 2,000 people. Dorst says they’ve developed two alternative options for the Class…

International students currently enrolled at Kansas State University can continue their studies remotely and not have it impact their visa status. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced rescinded guidelines Tuesday for the Student Exchange Visitor program. Previously, it stated international students would be required to take some in-person classes. The action means they won’t have to stop their studies if the university would need to move to all remote classes. The guidelines would have barred international students from the U.S. if all their classes were to be online this fall. K-State joined other universities across the country denouncing the…

The Pottawatomie County Fair will go on, but with some adjustments due to COVID-19. The Fair Board, in consultation with the County Extension Office and recommendations with the Pottawatomie County Health Department announced plans Tuesday with some modifications. It will be open to the public July 30 through August 2. Some activities will be reduced to maintain safe social interaction. The fair board is asking attendees to check schedules carefully as some events have changed. Among them, the open class is restricted to just Pottawatomie County residents. All rabbit competitions have been canceled due to a rabbit disease outbreak. Additional…

Riley County’s top election official says the coronavirus pandemic is impacting the number of poll workers that will be available to assist in the Aug. 4 primary. “We’ve had 81 poll workers for the general election tell us they won’t work this (primary) election. The good news is our community has been responsive and have gotten a lot of new poll workers to sign up,” he said. Many of those long-time poll workers are senior citizens and at greater health risk for infection from the virus. He’s hoping some of them can come back for the general election Nov. 3,…

With less than a month until the official start date for school, members of the USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden School board Wednesday will be presented a first draft of the district’s reopening plan. In a letter to USD 383 families and staff sent Tuesday, the district announced it plans to move forward with both remote and onsite learning for the 2020-2021 school year. An official determination about which option will be in effect when school begins Aug. 12 will be made closer to that date. When selecting the remote learning option, parents would be indicating a desire to have all learning…