Author: Brandon Peoples

Fire officials say a Thursday afternoon fire at a Junction City apartment building was kept from becoming much worse thanks to quick work from firefighters. Junction City Fire Chief Terry Johnson says fire crews were dispatched around 2 p.m. to the Bluff Apartments at 1810 Caroline Street where heavy fire and smoke was visible on the building’s second and third floors. Johnson says the fire was contained to the one building and extinguished. The fire originated in the right corner of the third floor balcony of the structure. The building was evacuated while crews put out the fire. No injuries…

A traffic stop in Junction City landed an Arkansas bank robber in jail Thursday afternoon. Junction City Police pulled over a passenger car for speeding on Interstate 70 just before 3 p.m. The driver, 45-year-old Nathaniel Painter was found to have robbed a bank on Tuesday in Paragould, Arkansas. He was still in possession of most of the money that was taken in that incident. Painter is being held with no bond at the Geary County Detention Center awaiting extradition back to Arkansas.

A new traffic signal is coming soon to Wamego’s west side after the city and Pottawatomie County recently entered into an agreement. It will be installed at the intersection of US-24 and Columbian Road using a Kansas Department of Transportation grant to fund construction. The remaining costs will be split between the two entities. USD 320 Wamego Superintendent Tim Winter says students use that intersection frequently as it’s near the sporting complex Construction is estimated to cost around $300,000 with an additional 60 to 80,000 for engineering design and inspection. In other school news, Winter says the school board at…

Some major facilities upgrades are happening soon for USD 323 Rock Creek Schools. During Monday’s school board meeting, the district entered into a contracted agreement with the Rock Creek Diamond Club, a group of businesses and individuals wanting to build a baseball diamond out on the Rock Creek campus, north of the softball diamond. USD 323 Superintendent Kevin Logan says a special meeting is likely on Dec. 16 to finalize the contract. The district currently uses a baseball field in Westmoreland but it cuts into practice time for students among other KSHSAA restrictions. The new campus baseball field could be…

The Kansas Supreme Court docket for next week includes a petition for review in a Riley County drug-related case. The high court will review State of Kansas v. Anthony M. Brazzle, who appealed several drug-related convictions following a 2015 sting operation at the Royal Inn Motel in Manhattan. Brazzle argues the district court erroneously admitted evidence related to a prior drug sale with undercover police detectives. He also argues they erroneously instructed the jury on possession of oxycodone, noting the evidence produced at trial was insufficient to support that conviction. A majority of the Court of Appeals’ panel rejected Brazzle’s…

Kansas State University Police responded to a call early Thursday morning regarding an unconscious man in the Washington Marlatt Memorial Park (Top of the World). Upon arriving, officers located the deceased individual inside a vehicle who had apparently taken his own life. The deceased is a K-State student in the industrial engineering department. His name was released late Thursday morning by K-State Division of Communications and Marketing. Out of respect for the family, KMAN is not publishing his name. The Office of Student Life and Counseling Services are available for anyone who may be affected.

A Manhattan woman is featured in a reality TV cooking competition which debuts Thursday night on ABC. Sally Newton, a Kansas State University research professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics is a contestant on season 5 of The Great American Baking Show. A fan of the show and its predecessor The Great British Baking Show, Newton applied each of the last two years to be a contestant and ultimately was selected this year. She says baking is her hobby. The program is inspired by its predecessor The Great British Baking Show. Newton, a big fan of both…

A teacher at Frank V. Bergman Elementary is the 2020 USD 383 Master Teacher. The district announced Monday that Reading Specialist and Title I teacher Debra Schapaugh was this year’s awardee. She has taught in the district since 1979 at Marlatt, Northview, Strong Kindergarten and Bergman. She earned her B.S in Elementary Education from Purdue University, a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from K-State and a Reading Specialist Endorsement from Emporia State. “What an honor to represent our district for the Master Teacher Award,” Schapaugh said in a district news release. “Collectively, my work is certainly influenced by the thoughtful…

USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden school officials broke ground Monday on the College Hill Early Learning Center’s construction project. The $7.3 million facilities improvement will see the addition of a new storm shelter, expanded campus to include 11 classrooms, age-appropriate playgrounds and more. Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade says Monday’s ceremony was the district’s opportunity to thank the community for its support. “We knew we could deal with curriculum, staffing and a lot of different things, but facilities is kind of a tough one. You have to have the community behind that in order to be able to build facilities with the right…

A Missouri man serving two life prison terms for sexually abusing two male students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis is in custody in Riley County. RCPD says 25-year-old Devonta Bagley of Belton, Missouri was arrested and booked on a Riley County warrant late Friday night for aggravated failure to appear. Bagley, a 2017 Kansas State University graduate, has a pending case for allegedly abusing a student at a campus fraternity house in the fall of 2017. He was initially arrested in September 2017 on charges of aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated burglary. He’s currently being held on a $750,000…