Author: Brandon Peoples

A Pottawatomie County jury has convicted a 21-year-old Wamego man for contributing to the overdose death of another man. McKaine Farr was found guilty of distribution of a controlled substance, causing death. The 21-year-old supplied six Fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills to 21-year-old Jayson Ebert in early September 2021. Ebert was found dead two days later from an overdose. A medical expert testified during trial that Ebert’s cause of death was a combined Fentanyl/cocaine intoxication. In an audio recording played for the jury earlier in the week, Farr admitted to a KBI investigator that Ebert paid him $200 through Venmo to acquire…

A jury trial for a man accused of providing Fentanyl-laced pills that led to a Wamego man’s overdose death two years ago continues in Pottawatomie County District Court. Jurors heard additional testimony from the state’s witnesses Wednesday in the trial of McKaine Farr, who is charged with distribution of Fentanyl, resulting in death. An audio recording was played in court that featured KBI investigator Robert Besenyi questioning Farr in June 2022, nine months after Jayson Ebert’s September 2021 overdose death. Farr admitted in the recording to being the middle man, who helped Ebert acquire six oxycodone pills from a provider…

Kansas State Senator Usha Reddi, appointed to the seat nearly one year ago to serve out the remainder of Tom Hawk’s term, will seek to hold onto that post in next year’s election. The former Manhattan city commissioner announced her candidacy for the Kansas State Senate Wednesday. Reddi is preparing for her sophomore session and expects things will slow down for her as she’s had time since May to work on bills before lawmakers return to Topeka next month. Reddi’s Senate Committees last session included Transportation, Assessment and Taxation and the Joint Building State Construction Committee. Reddi is the first…

Country Stampede has found a new home, in the Kansas City area. The 28th annual music festival will take place at Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs from June 27 to June 29, 2024. JC Entertainment, the ownership group for Country Stampede, issued a statement Monday saying the move to the Kansas City area will provide a great opportunity to introduce new fans to the festival who haven’t had the opportunity to travel to its previous locations. Country Stampede was held in Manhattan for over two decades, but was moved to Topeka in 2019 due to flooding concerns at Tuttle Creek…

Kansas State University will host fall commencement activities this weekend in Manhattan and Salina, recognizing summer and fall semester students eligible for degrees. Ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. Friday at Bramlage Coliseum, kicking off with the Graduate School graduations – and, for the first time ever, graduates will be clad in purple caps and gowns. Retiring K-State Provost Charles Taber will be the speaker. Among the speakers at Saturday’s ceremonies will be USD 313 Buhler Superintendent Cindy Couchman for the College of Education and Quantum Health CEO Zane Burke for the College of Business Administration. Couchman is a 2014 inductee…

We’re staying. Those words adorn a banner that drapes over the mezzanine inside The Dusty Bookshelf. Owners of the long-standing Aggieville bookstore will not close in the spring as previously thought, after their lease was recently renewed for another year. The company celebrated the announcement in a social media post Thursday. Owner Diane Meredith says she had spent a few hours that day packing books to potentially take to their Lawrence location when she received a phone call from her landlord. It’s a turn of events from July, when The Dusty Bookshelf announced the real possibility of closure after Meredith…

Authorities are investigating a past theft of five Black Angus cattle. In a social media post Saturday night, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office says it was notified Nov. 17 and says the cattle were reportedly stolen from an 80-head pasture in the 17000 block of Onaga Road in Onaga. The cattle are branded on their left hip and also had white ear tags. All five of the stolen cows had calves, but the calves were not stolen. The Sheriff’s Office says the cows could have been taken anytime between May 15 and Nov. 2. Anyone with information can contact Detective…

Two Manhattan-Ogden teachers were announced last week as the district’s nominees for 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year. Mac Phrommany teaches American Literature and is the debate and forensics coach at Manhattan High School. He’s also a recipient of the National Speech and Debate Association Honor Society Diamond Coaching Award and has taught at MHS since 2018. Phrommany says he believes in nurturing a low-pressure environment for learning, saying “when students feel like they can be goofy, and we can direct that energy constructively, we have created a healthy learning environment.” Shannon Downs has been teaching kindergarten at Theodore Roosevelt…

A Manhattan man is behind bars after an arrest last week on a warrant charging him with violating the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The Riley County Police Department arrested 35-year-old Travis Layne Thursday. The arrest report lists 11 counts of violating the offender registration act and one aggravated count thereof. He remains jailed on a $50,000 bond. According to the Kansas Offender Registry, Layne has two past felony convictions from Shawnee County from 2007 for attempted indecent solicitation of a child under the age of 16. Layne is required to register as a sex offender through February of 2032.

Authorities are searching for the person responsible for a drive-by killing of a trophy buck in southern Riley County. According to a social media post from the Kansas Game Wardens, it happened around 10:30 a.m. Nov. 24 a few miles south of Zeandale. The buck was shot with a rifle through the hind end and died. Officials say a local farmer was feeding their cattle nearby when the deer ran out and someone in a white Chevy truck fired one shot from the passenger side, striking the deer. The farmer was reportedly walking in the pasture near the cattle and…