Author: Brandon Peoples

JUNCTION CITY — An investigation is underway after a Junction City Police Department employee was involved in an incident Tuesday morning in the department’s parking lot. The Junction City Police Department requested assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation around 9:30 a.m. to investigate the circumstances of the man’s death which were initially reported by the Junction City Union as a suicide. According to the KBI at around 9:10 a.m. a Junction City police officer exited the police department and discovered a 58-year-old civilian employee who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound. KBI says there is no evidence that a…

A Riley County Judge has pushed back a status hearing for a 41-year-old Texas man accused in a pair of rape cases. At a hearing Tuesday, Sean Morgan’s attorney Barry Clark noted some issues from both sides obtaining discovery evidence to proceed in the case. A new status hearing has been reset for March 3 at 1 p.m. in front of Judge William Malcolm. Morgan, who was not present at the hearing, was excused from Tuesday’s status hearings as well as the March 3 hearing. He continues to work and live in Texas. Morgan stands charged with the 2015 rape…

Phase one of renovations for the Fort Riley Museums are nearing completion and phase two will begin later this year. On KMAN’s In Focus last week, museum complex director Dr. Robert Smith said the physical remodel of the exterior is almost finished and coming together for the U.S. Cavalry and 1st Infantry Division museums. Smith says some features include a reinterpretation of the U.S. Cavalry evolution as well as the post itself. A major key moving forward on this project is how the museum preserves its historic artifacts, some which date back to the American Revolution. While the building will…

The Riley County Police Department says a Manhattan man with several warrants, who had eluded capture for quite some time, was apprehended over the weekend in Johnson County. Jesse Sexton was brought into custody Saturday on a charge of obstructing the legal process. No bond was issued. Sexton has a court appearance scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Johnson County District Court. Earlier this month, Sexton wound up on the Riley County Police Department’s Most Wanted List for multiple warrants including failure to appear on numerous occasions, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, criminal threat, 11 counts of theft…

CLEVELAND — An Ohio teenager who intended to set off an explosive device at a high school in his home town was also responsible for calling in a hoax hostage situation at Manhattan’s Lee Elementary School last November. Allen Martin Kenna, 18, has been charged with attempted use of an explosive device and interstate communication of threats. The charges were filed this week by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland. FBI investigators learned from a diary found on his laptop that it was Kenna who called the Riley County Police Department in Manhattan last November saying someone was being held…

Seven Manhattan High students are finalists for the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program. Each were named semifinalists in September for the national award and moved on to finalist round, joining roughly 15,000 students across the nation. Of that group, about half will receive merit scholarships based on their abilities, skills and accomplishments without regard to gender, race, ethnicity or religious preference. The seven finalists include Elizabeth Hone, Elizabeth Kim, Ethan Myer, Alejandro Ortiz, Allen and Robert Zhang and Stepan Zarkov. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit…

A 28-year-old man suspected in a September aggravated assault which resulted in shots fired near Aggieville was arrested by Riley County Police Wednesday. Travell Hairston is charged with aggravated assault, criminal discharge of a firearm and criminal damage to property in the September 15 incident in the 1300 block of Fremont Street. There were no reported injuries. The incident occurred in a parking lot where a house party was going on. The arrest report also lists a probation violation charge in addition to two failure to comply with traffic citation charges. Hairston was jailed on a total $12,500 bond but…

Kansas State University officials have responded to a watchdog report linking a new student organization on campus to a white nationalist movement. In an email to KMAN Thursday, Vice President for communications and marketing Jeff Morris said the university has nothing in its guidelines to regulate against white nationalism and says America First Students is an independent student organization, not operated or controlled by the university. Morris’ statement reads: “Kansas State University has a long and proud history of commitment to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate in all matters. Every member of the university community shares in the responsibility…

A multi-vehicle wreck near a busy Manhattan intersection disrupted traffic and sent at least one person to the hospital Wednesday evening. The Kansas Highway Patrol says two passenger cars, a Nissan Altima and a Mercury Grand Marquis and a semi truck were stopped at a red light in the southbound lanes of Tuttle Creek Blvd. north of Kimball Ave. just before 5:30 p.m. A fourth vehicle, a GMC Acadia could not stop as it came to the intersection and struck one of the vehicles, causing a chain reaction. One of two passengers in the Nissan, 25-year-old Brianna Porter of Manhattan…

TOPEKA — Manhattan Mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Usha Reddi testified Tuesday in favor of a bill that would remove the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual abuse in civil suits. “Kansas is on the right side of the law, having no statute of limitations for criminal sexual abuse, and it should do the same in civil suits. Sexual abuse is about power and in cases of sexual abuse, it’s usually someone you trust,” she said. Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, Reddi shared her own experience as a survivor of child sexual abuse and how she was able…