Author: Brandon Peoples

JUNCTION CITY — A new superintendent has been named for USD 475 Geary County Schools. At a meeting Monday, board members announced they had selected Dr. Reginald Eggleston to lead the district. The decision was unanimous (7-0). Dr. Eggleston will begin his position as Superintendent in April. Eggleston has spent more than 24 years in public education and currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. His time in the classroom as a Special Education teacher he says is the foundation for his core beliefs and success as an educator. He currently serves as the Commander of the…

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — A Kansas man stationed at Fort Riley is under investigation in Arkansas after allegations surfaced over the weekend that he tried to meet up with a 16-year-old girl for sex. According to a release from the Baxter County, Arkansas Sheriff’s Office, 31-year-old Andrew O’Brien of Junction City was arrested early Saturday at a Mountain Home, Arkansas parking lot near the girl’s home. The Sheriff’s Office says O’Brien had requested and received explicit photos and texts from the unidentified teen. He was booked on felony counts of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual…

MANHATTAN — In an effort to mitigate the economic impact of a foreign animal disease event, officials with the Kansas Department of Agriculture are leading an annual preparedness event at the Manhattan headquarters. This year’s mock scenario involves the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States. KDA Emergency Management Coordinator David Hogg says the department has several state agencies, federal and local government, industry and university officials participating in the four-day exercise. Those agencies then coordinate a planned multi-level response to help mitigate the economic impact of such an incident. Hogg says if such an incident actually occurred it…

MANHATTAN — Riley County Police are seeking the public’s help identifying five individuals allegedly linked to recent thefts at Manhattan Town Center. The police department says its interested in speaking to four African-American females and one African-American male individual seen in surveillance footage at the store following a Dec. 13 theft at Foot Locker. Images can be found on the RCPD Facebook page. Anyone who can help identify these individuals is urged to call Riley County Police at 785-537-2112 or Crime Stoppers at 785-539-7777.

RILEY — The community of Riley came together Sunday to send hundreds of balloons into the air in honor of 9-year-old Isabella “Bella” Plemons. Pastor David VanBebber led the community in the balloon release, seen in the video below. The teal balloons,were Bella’s favorite color. Bella died Dec. 5 after the car she was riding in was struck by another vehicle at the intersection of Highway 24 and Highway 77. Her mother and four siblings, who were also in the car, survived. One younger sister is still recovering from her injuries. Following the balloon release, the community gathered for a reception…

MANHATTAN — A new project at Kansas State university to support global food security has received a major funding boost. On Thursday, it was announced that K-State’s Global Food Systems Economic Prosperity Accelerator will be funded by a $745,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies program. The awards are designed to create and expand cluster-focused entrepreneurship and technology transfer programs. The project was one of 24 selected from more than 230 proposals to receive funding. The grant will fund Accelerator activities from January 2019 through January 2022. Overall aims will be to…

MANHATTAN — The City of Manhattan has a new Human Resources Director. On Friday, City Manager Ron Fehr announced that Tammy Galvan had been appointed to that office. Galvan will be responsible for employee and labor relations, risk and benefits administration and training, and organizational development programs and processes for the City of Manhattan. The Human Resources Director oversees all human resources activities for the city. Galvan started with the city in 2011 as a Human Resources Generalist and was promoted to Administrative Coordinator in the Parks & Recreation Department in 2014. She was then promoted to the position of…

MANHATTAN — Riley County Police made a pair of drug-related arrests Thursday near a Manhattan elementary school. Dane Simonsen, 32, and Christina Reyes, 31, of Manhattan were arrested and charged with multiple counts of drug distribution. The arrest took place in the 700 block of Fremont Street, near Woodrow Wilson Elementary. Simonsen and Reyes each face 10 total counts including multiple charges of distributing opiates, depressants and stimulants within 1,000 feet of a school and distribution or possession with intent to distribute drug paraphernalia. Simonsen and Reyes are both lodged in the Riley County Jail. Simonsen is lodged on a…

Thursday’s In Focus featured a special sneak peek performance of Fort Riley’s First Infantry band trombone quartet. Trombonists 1st Sgt. Christopher Martin, Specialist Cameron Smith, Sgt. Jonathan Stoby and Staff Sgt. David Winslow joined us to perform three pieces of holiday music. We also chatted with VFW Post 1281 Chair Jerri McBride and Co-Chair Ed Mueller previewed Saturday’s Wreaths Across America ceremony. In segment three we discussed happenings at Flint Hills Christian Schools with Principal Tim McDonald. Finally in segment four, Dave Lewis, Brandon Peoples and Nick McNamara reflected on the 50th anniversary of the Nichols Hall fire and the…

MANHATTAN — Thursday marked 50 years since a devastating fire at Nichols Hall on the campus of Kansas State University. Riley County Historical Museum Director Cheryl Collins joined us on a special In Focus program in October discussing the year 1968 and says it was one of the largest fires in Manhattan’s history. On December 13, 1968 the fire, believed to be set by an arsonist protesting the Vietnam war, destroyed radio station equipment, sheet music, instruments and recordings of famous speakers from the university’s Landon Lectures series. One item survived. The marching band director had taken home the sheet music…