Author: Brandon Peoples

Officials at Kansas State University announced Thursday some last minute adjustments in preparation of Friday’s Landon Lecture. According to the K-State Division of Communications and Marketing, doors at McCain Auditorium will open at 9 a.m. Friday, 30 minutes earlier than originally announced. With a large crowd expected, university officials announced the adjustment to ensure sufficient time for all attendees to enter through the additional security measures. K-State is instituting its clear-bag policy, similar to sporting events for the lecture. For those driving to campus, metered parking will not be available at Fairchild and Anderson Hall and the McCain circle. Secretary…

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court will hear two cases next week involving appeals from Riley and Geary counties. The case from Riley County is a petition for review of Ziad Khalil-Alsalaami (zee’ odd call leel’ awl suh law’ mee) vs. the state of Kansas. Alsalaami was convicted in 2011 of two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in 2012 and was denied by the Supreme Court for a review initially. In 2014, Alsalaami filed a motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at trial and on direct appeal. After a full hearing, the district court…

Riley County Police have identified a 16-year-old girl who drove drunk and damaged a Manhattan duplex over the weekend. Keaira Robinson was arrested Saturday afternoon shortly before 3 p.m. on the charge of driving under the influence, after failing a DUI test. No injuries have been reported. The home damaged was located at 2421 Anderson Ave. The owner of the property is listed as William and Margaret Goe. Robinson was not confined as of the weekend arrest report.

Flooding continues to be a problem in Manhattan, as evidenced last Friday when 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in the early morning hours. Hayes Drive was one of the roads affected with a sinkhole developing north of McCall Road, less than a mile north of another sinkhole south of Walmart at the Bluemont and Hayes intersection. Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr explains what caused the sinkhole to develop. “We had another sanitary sewer line failure and breakage, north of where Levee Drive intersects it. It undermined some of the roadway and caused a service line gas line break…

A status hearing for a Manhattan man accused of sex crimes is moving forward. Robert Iacobellis appeared via his jail cell Tuesday for his third hearing in as many weeks, in front of Judge William Malcolm. Iacobellis informed the court that he was to meet with an attorney Friday to represent him, but due to flooding that morning, his meeting was cancelled and reset for September 4. After receiving the necessary paper work to find a court-appointed attorney, Judge Malcolm ultimately appointed public defender Cole Hawver as his counsel. The judge set the hearing to be continued two weeks to…

Riley County Public Works crews are beginning a culvert replacement project Tuesday north of Ogden this week. The department says Vinton School Road will be closed through November 1 from West 68th Ave. west to Mallon Road. The project has been allotted 80 working days, and is expected to be completed by late October. Adverse weather conditions could cause delays. Motorists who travel in this area are encouraged to find an alternate route during construction.

As Hurricane Dorian continues to wreak havoc on the Florida coast and surrounding region, a number of fire departments from Kansas are deploying firefighters and rescue crews to help with the effects of the storm. The Manhattan Fire Department is one of those crews sending firefighters. On Monday, the department shared a photo of five members who have packed up their Rescue 2 unit as well as an SUV and UTV for the response. It’s part of the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office statewide task force. They’re joined by members of the Junction City and Fort Riley Fire Departments as…

A message of rural prosperity was shared Thursday in Manhattan as Lt. Governor Lynn Rogers stopped by the 2019 Governor’s Ag Summit. The two-day summit, which concluded Friday at the Manhattan Conference Center featured close to 500 agriculture industry officials coming together to speak about issues important to the state’s largest industry. Rogers says during the 2018 campaign, he and Gov. Laura Kelly heard often from rural communities that they felt under served by state lawmakers in Topeka. Rogers was tasked with heading up the state’s Office for Rural Prosperity and completed a listening tour through 12 cities, visiting countless…

4:30 p.m. Friday update Manhattan Public Works crews have had their hands full in the wake of flooding that occurred early Friday morning in the city. Between 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in a short matter of time, causing street flooding in Manhattan, a house fire caused by lightning and significant deterioration of roads in central and east Manhattan. Additional rainfall is expected on Saturday. Moderate flooding also occurred on Wildcat Creek, cresting at 17 feet but no evacuations were issued, though Poliska Lane was closed. One resident, who lives on Woodduck Ave. near Wildcat Creek west of…

WESTMORELAND, Kan. — A Pottawatomie County Judge has denied a motion to reconsider charges against a 52-year-old St. Marys man initially charged with a host of sex crimes involving his children. At a preliminary hearing Friday afternoon in Westmoreland, Judge Jeff Elder upheld his previous ruling to dismiss several charges against Peter Palmeri, due to the statute of limitations running out. Palmeri was charged in July with two counts of rape, six counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.…