Author: Brandon Peoples

WESTMORELAND, Kan. — The Pottawatomie County Comprehensive Plan (a.k.a. Plan Pottawatomie 2040) was adopted Monday. The Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the plan which serves as a guide to planning development in the county through 2040. Commission Chair Travis Altenhofen, who served on the steering committee, was the only commissioner to oppose the 119-page plan, which cost the county more than $158,000 to conduct. Commissioner Dee McKee praised the plan, noting it gives the county’s planning crews more guidance over the next 20 years. McKee questioned Altenhofen’s reasoning for going against the plan. Pat Weixelman agreed that…

A status conference is scheduled Tuesday for a 60-year-old Manhattan restaurant owner accused of sex crimes involving three separate victims. Robert Iacobellis was arrested Aug. 2. He faces one count of rape and two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. A complaint filed through Riley County District Court alleges sometime in 2014 Iacobellis had sexual intercourse with a female victim who was 11 years old at the time. The complaint also alleges that sometime in January 2018 he fondled a female victim who was 10 years old at the time. The third allegation says sometime in January 2018…

Severe storms pushed through the region last night, knocking out power briefly to more than two thousand Manhattan residents. The storm dumped 2 to 4 inches of rain throughout most of the area, in addition to hail up to golf-ball size and prompted overnight flash flood warnings. Storms intensified further south. In Wabaunsee County, a few tornado warnings were issued last night, with some brief touchdowns noted by storm spotters near Volland and Eskridge. An official with the Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office tells KMAN the storms didn’t cause any widespread damage as most of the impact was over rural areas…

You may notice more activity happening on Bluemont Hill above the iconic MANHATTAN letters. Work began this week on a new ADA accessible platform to enhance safety for those who visit the area for the view of the city. It’s a project funded by the Manhattan Kiwanis Club. The Manhattan Kiwanis Club has maintained the letters for over 91 years and in recent years raised more than $70,000 to create a platform at the overlook. Past Kiwanis President Rod Kalivoda says members go up there twice a year to power wash the letters and noticed some treacherous areas surrounding the…

Our “From the Principal’s Office” news series concludes with a look into Manhattan Virtual Academy. While students get back to classes in the physical classrooms Wednesday, many more students are also beginning classes virtually. Manhattan Virtual Academy begins its 13th year as a virtual school, housed within Manhattan High School. It enrolls students in grades 6 through 12 annually. Principal Brooke Blanck oversees the program. “Our classes are all web-based. We have live virtual classrooms and our teachers are actually in those classrooms teaching at certain times of the day with students enrolled in that class. We have kids from…

A Manhattan man convicted of attempted rape and other crimes was sentenced this week in Riley County. The Manhattan Mercury reports 19-year-old Tommie Baggett was sentenced Monday by Riley County Judge Meryl Wilson to nearly 25 years in prison, including 77 months for the first count of attempted rape, 190 months total for two other counts of attempted rape and two counts of burglary. Baggett also received 13 months each for three counts of attempted battery. Baggett was convicted for the 2017 attacks on three women who were sexually assaulted at their homes. In June, Baggett was acquitted of four…

The Pottawatomie County Commission has approved its $34.4 million budget for 2020. The budget which lowered the mill levy by more than a mill and a half passed by a 2-1 margin, with Chair Travis Altenhofen voting no after the public hearing. Altenhofen’s hang up was on a so-called slush fund which showed a little more than $5.2 million in unclassified dollars. At a recent joint meeting with the county’s planning commission, Altenhofen put forth a 10-year plan that would tie in where transfers come from each year versus leaving them unclassified. Commissioner Dee McKee voted for the budget because…

We continue our KMAN News Series “From the Principal’s Office” today highlighting the preschools in Manhattan/Ogden Schools. For this edition, we speak with Teri Bailey-Johnson at Eugene Field Preschool. The first day of school can be a lot to take in for children, especially if they’re heading off to preschool. But a focus on early learning district wide in Manhattan/Ogden Schools has made the transition a little less of a burden on the youngsters who will step into both Eugene Field and College Hill this fall. Eugene Field Preschool Principal Teri Bailey-Johnson is in her 17th year in education, having been…

We continue our KMAN News Series “From the Principal’s Office” today highlighting the preschools in Manhattan/Ogden Schools. For this edition, we speak with Elisabeth Nelson at College Hill Preschool. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are not the only ones starting school soon. The community’s youngest learners will be starting their first day of preschool August 20 in the district’s two early childhood education centers. One of those buildings — College Hill is under construction, meaning a temporary space had to be secured. Elisabeth Nelson is the principal and director of early learning. “We’ve recently moved to Trinity Presbyterian Church…

Don’t expect the construction zones across Manhattan to ease up much before the end of the month. On KMAN’s In Focus this week, Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr updated the progress made so far by Public Works crews on a variety of projects. Weather has delayed some of that progress on multiple projects. Fehr says they had hoped to get most of the work completed by the time classes begin at Kansas State University. “We’re anticipating Kimball west of Hudson should be open to two-lane traffic by the first football game and we hope to have Kimball east of Seth…