Author: Brandon Peoples

ADMIRE — A Wamego man sustained injuries in a single-vehicle crash in northern Lyon County early Tuesday. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office reports 34-year-old Andrew Kuchera was southbound on Kansas Highway 99, about four miles north of Admire when the crash occurred. Kuchera failed to negotiate a curve in the highway, causing his vehicle to leave the road and crash into a small creek. The crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Kuchera was transported by ambulance to Newman Regional Health in Emporia, then transferred to KU Medical Center in Kansas City. Authorities say his injuries are not life-threatening. Kuchera was…

TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly is calling on the Senate to take a vote on Medicaid expansion and she says it needs to happen this week. At a news conference Tuesday morning, she chided Senate leaders for dragging their feet. She says her proposal, passed by the House March 21, is very similar to a plan that passed the legislature in 2017 with strong bipartisan support. Kelly expressed her frustration saying that as the regular session is winding down, “halfway there isn’t good enough.” The time for blocking progress has long since passed. Now is the time for a vote…

MANHATTAN — Volunteers are being actively sought for a wide range of activities happening this spring and summer with the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department. Those efforts are ramping up in anticipation of National Volunteer week happening April 7-13. Flint Hills Discovery Center Volunteer Coordinator Jurina Watts says for special events, they’ll typically use 60 to 70 volunteers, but with only 25 to 30 volunteering on a recurring basis, the need for more volunteers always exists, especially for one major event coming up next month. Other FHDC events coming up are ribbon cuttings for the prairie garden terrace and trail…

MANHATTAN — High water in the Tuttle Creek Lake area continues to make many roads in and around the lake impassable. On its Facebook page Monday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released photos showing flooded areas surrounding the lake with some buildings in the state recreation completely submerged. Monday morning’s readings had the lake’s elevation at 1,112.66 feet, or 37.66 feet above normal pool. Inflow was at 6400 cubic feet per second with outflow measuring 160 cubic feet per second. Several roads are closed surrounding Tuttle Creek Lake. The public is advised to be respectful of barricades and never…

MANHATTAN — The Riley County Police Department is requesting more than $830,000 in increases to its yearly budget for 2020. The requests are part of a nearly 4 percent increase proposed by leadership at a special budget meeting Friday with the Riley County Law Board. The proposal includes nearly $21.5 million for operating costs, roughly $831,000 or 3.8 percent more than its 2019 budget. Items requested to be funded in the 2020 budget include hiring officers, creating an on-call pay system and working attempts to rectify under-funding in several accounts including overtime. Director Dennis Butler spoke about the requests Friday…

MANHATTAN — Three finalists have been named for the position of principal at Marlatt Elementary. USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden Schools announced Friday that Lee Elementary Assistant Principal Erica Bammes, Marlatt Assistant Principal Sheila Stephens and Junction City Middle School Assistant Principal Dr. Gilbert Davila will meet with community members, employees and students at three separate meet-and-greets this week at the school’s library. Bammes has over 17 years of educational experience as a classroom teacher and assistant principal. Stephens has over 20 years of educational experience as a classroom teacher and assistant principal. Dr. Davila has been in education for over 30…

SALINA — An anonymous letter by three men alleges sexual abuse at the hands of a Manhattan Catholic priest who was superintendent of Seven Dolors Grade School and Luckey High School in the 1950s and 1960s. William H. Merchant, who died in 1975, is alleged by the three men to have molested and assaulted them and other boys at the school. Merchant’s name was released with 14 other clergy members within the Catholic Diocese of Salina following an audit. None of the 14 priests are in active ministry today. Two are still living and have been laicized, meaning they are…

FORT HOOD, Texas — The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed Lt. General Paul E. Funk II for appointment to the rank of general. He’s assigned as commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Funk, a former Fort Riley commanding general, has served as commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood since March 2017. He was in Fort Riley Thursday attending the Distinguished Service Cross ceremony for Sgt. Robert Debolt. A date for a change of command has not been finalized. A successor at Fort Hood has not been announced.

JUNCTION CITY — Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf has been arrested, for the second time in less than six months by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Wolf was taken into custody Friday afternoon on two new counts of felony theft. The charges allege Wolf used county funds to purchase items that were then sold for personal profit, or maintained for personal use. He also appeared Friday morning at a pretrial conference regarding the charges he was previously arrested for on Oct. 18, 2018. In that case, Wolf is accused of gifting a county-owned firearm to someone, and also unlawfully using…

Friday’s guest on In Focus was Riley County Police Department Capt. Tim Hegarty, who updated us on upcoming budget information for 2020, a change in the RCPD’s vehicle purchase program and crime prevention in the area.