Author: Brandon Peoples

Riley County confirmed a ninth positive case of coronavirus Friday morning. Two of the positive cases are being treated at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan. As of Friday morning, the Riley County Health Department had 13 pending tests and over 20 people continuing to be monitored. The number of negative tests is up to 75. Cases in Pottawatomie County meanwhile remain at two. Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says the most recent positive cases are all travel associated and there remains no evidence of community spread to this point. That point was reiterated during the Friday morning update on…

Depending on the length of the COVID-19 pandemic, some questions are beginning to mount over what effect, if any it will have on the 2020 elections. Current state law prohibits all mail ballot elections in an election with a candidate’s name on the ballot. They can only be used for special questions. Kansas State University Department of Communications Associate Professor Dr. Tim Shaffer says if a change is made, it will need to happen quickly. “The reality is, voting by mail is going to require a lot of logistics if we were to do it on a national scale, at…

Hospitals are desperately trying to keep up with the influx of cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. Dr. David Pauls, a general surgeon with Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan has volunteered to become the hospital’s senior triage officer. Surgeons like Dr. Pauls are trained in triage through mass disaster situations. “Fortunately I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve had to do a major, big type triage situation. Part of it is that I’ve been here for a long time. It’s my way of doing what I can to help the community,” he said. While the situation isn’t dire…

The Manhattan Regional Airport continues to operate, albeit with very minimal traffic in and out of the terminal. “Yes we’re still open. American still has flights scheduled. We still have flights that are going out, but that schedule is very fluid, it’s changing daily,” said Airport Director Jesse Romo. The daily 5:50 p.m. departure to Dallas-Fort Worth has been cancelled and will not be on the schedule between April 7 and March 5. Romo says the economic impact caused by the pandemic will be significant. “Our revenue sources have definitely taken a tumble as well as a lot of businesses…

Riley County saw three new positive cases of COVID-19 reported Tuesday. Pottawatomie County also reported one new case. 7 p.m. update Late Tuesday, the Riley County Health Department learned that a 22-year-old K-State student who traveled to England in the group with a K-State journalism professor tested positive. The professor, Drew Smith, was released from the hospital and is recovering at home. Health officials say the student has been in quarantine in their Manhattan home since returning to the community March 18. The health department has been in daily contact with them. The student has been sick for the last…

Kansans needing to file unemployment benefits due to loss of income related to COVID-19 are being encouraged to do so online to alleviate the high volume to its call center. Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that the Kansas Department of Labor is receiving over 230,000 calls everyday. “We went from an average of 1,800 unemployment claims per week at the beginning of March to over 60,000 as of Sunday,” she said. As a result, Kelly says the state has doubled its capacity at the call centers. Employees are working extended hours and additional phone lines are being added while employees…

UPDATE: 7:45 a.m. Tuesday A third person in Riley County has tested positive for COVID-19. The Riley County Health Department received information late Monday night that a 57-year-old man tested positive. He presented to Ascension Via Christi Hospital Friday, March 27 and was tested the same day. The man is currently in the Intensive Care Unit at Via Christi and is considered an imported case, and not an instance of community spread. The patient had recently traveled to a church meeting in the Kansas City area. His family members are currently in quarantine at their home in Riley County. The…

After Congress passed a record $2 trillion dollar bill in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the question becomes how long folks will have to wait to receive their money from the federal government. “The circumstance is that we were not prepared,” said U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Monday on the KMAN Morning Show. Moran says some individuals could begin receiving those checks as early as two weeks from now, but it’s likely many will have to wait a bit longer. “The secretary of the Treasury committed to me about a week ago that those checks would be out in about…

Riley County Police made two significant arrests over the weekend. The first involved 19-year-old Royce Dixon of Manhattan, who’s charged with one count of rape from a 2019 alleged incident. Dixon was arrested Friday afternoon on a Riley County warrant. He remains jailed on a $150,000 bond. In a separate, unrelated incident, 40-year-old Tyran Hernandez of Manhattan man was arrested Sunday night for probable cause on domestic charges. Monday morning’s arrest report lists two counts including aggravated assault; use of a deadly weapon and domestic battery. Hernandez remains jailed on a $6,000 bond. No further details have been released on…

The number of total positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus strain jumped to 319 on Sunday, nearly five times as many cases as there were just a week prior (64 — according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on March 22). With those numbers expected to climb higher in the next few weeks, many medical facilities have had to make difficult decisions about postponing elective surgeries. Manhattan’s Ascension Via Christi and Wamego Health Center stopped earlier this month, postponing most procedures until early May as it attempts to save blood, supplies, medication and personal protective equipment. Manhattan Surgical…