Author: Brandon Peoples

MANHATTAN — A public hearing is scheduled next month in Manhattan to consider the adoption of proposed regulations for the Industrial Hemp Research Program. Due to the passage of Senate Bill 263 by the 2018 Kansas Legislature, the Kansas Department of Agriculture is proposing the promotion of new rules and regulations relating to the research program as authorized by the Alternative Crop Research Act, which can be found at agriculture.ks.gov/ProposedRegs. Written comments can be submitted prior to the hearing through that web page. The hearing is open to anyone interested in attending and public comment will be accepted during that…

MANHATTAN — Kansas lawmakers will head to Topeka in less than three weeks and a major focus will again be on education. Following this year’s Kansas Supreme Court ruling that current funding laws passed by the state require adjustment for inflation, there is optimism that the funding issue gets resolved in 2019. 66th District Representative Sydney Carlin (D-Manhattan) says lawmakers will find the money to do what the court requires, noting that changes to the 2012 income tax law have been largely, but not totally reversed. The additional funding needed to satisfy the court is roughly $90 million over the next…

Update 4:15 p.m. 1/4/19 Following a forensic autopsy, signs point to 19-year-old Jacob Bouck’s death being the result of homicide. Pottawatomie County Sheriff Greg Riat revealed the information in a release Friday. The case is still being investigated by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Department, the Wamego Police Department as well as the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. No further information was made available. Bouck, whose Facebook profile indicates he was a McDonald’s employee, was a 2017 graduate of Wamego High School. Update 2 p.m. 12/28/18 Officials have identified the man whose body was pulled from the Kansas River near Wamego on…

MANHATTAN — The Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry Analytical Lab has been renamed. The lab, located in Weber Hall was renamed earlier this month in honor Dr. Ben E. Brent. Dr. Brent spent 36 years serving K-State and Animal Sciences and Industry stakeholders. He joined the K-State ASI faculty in 1966. D. Guy Kiracofe, KSU ASI professor, explained, “Ben was the faculty member who put ‘science’ in animal science and industry. He made a huge contribution to our department.” Dr. Kiracofe explains that Dr. Brent helped build ASI’s reputation as a research department, which helped recruit…

Residents in the small Wabaunsee County town of McFarland received an unwanted Christmas gift this week in the form of a boil water advisory. That advisory remains in place until further notice after a loss of pressure was noted late Christmas Eve by officials at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination. KDHE advises those in the boil water advisory to follow these tips: If your tap water appears dirty, flush the water lines by letting the water run until it clears. Boil water for…

JUNCTION CITY — Police say one person is dead and another is in custody following a Christmas Day shooting. Junction City Police Officers were sent to an apartment at 948 Grant Ave. where they found 31-year-old Jenna Schafer of Junction City dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Detectives and officers worked throughout the day developing a suspect. At around 6:30 p.m. 33-year-old Dion Green of Junction City was arrested on charges of first degree murder in connection with this incident. Police say this is an ongoing investigation and no further information will be released. Anyone with information related to this…

WAMEGO — With some restrictions on industrial hemp being lifted thanks to this year’s Farm Bill, Kansas legislators will begin to determine what impact that may have on the future of the agricultural economy. 51st District Representative Ron Highland (R-Wamego), a guest on KMAN’s In Focus recently, says after lawmakers passed a bill last year authorizing hemp research within federal regulations, the legislature may have to come back to the bill and potentially repeal it altogether. Highland says it could open up new income avenues for ag producers, but stopped short of saying that legal marijuana is a possibility in Kansas. Highland…

MANHATTAN — You can’t have Christmas without a Christmas tree. One local organization has been busy selling them this season in an effort to raise money for youth activities in the Manhattan area. The Manhattan Breakfast Optimists Club shut down tree sales this week and club president Keith Behnke says they nearly sold out all their inventory, even despite the blizzard the area experienced the weekend they opened after Thanksgiving. Behnke said the sale, which usually garners between $8,000 to $9,000, wrapped up with less than 30 trees left. The remaining trees will be left outside the gate on Plymate…

MANHATTAN — Time is running out for holiday shopping and the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce hopes residents will continue to do their shopping here locally. One of the ways the chamber is encouraging that is through Little Apple Dollars, or gift certificates that can be used at most any Manhattan business. Chamber President and CEO Lyle Butler explains the benefits to buying Little Apple Dollars. Little Apple Dollars promote shopping locally. Typically several hundreds of thousands of dollars of the gift certificates are sold. They can be purchased in any denomination year-round but can only be purchased at the…

TOPEKA — Kansas Labor Department figures show the state’s November unemployment rate of 3.2 percent was just barely lower than the previous month’s rate and down from 3.5 percent in November 2017. Labor Secretary Lana Gordon shared optimism about what that means for job-growth. Seasonally adjusted job estimates indicate total nonfarm Kansas jobs increase by 1,500 from October. Private sector jobs also increased by 1,500 from the previous month. Senior Labor Economist Tyler Tenbrink says that’s good news for the workforce. In the Manhattan area, unemployment remained at 2.5 percent, unchanged from the previous month, and down from 2.6 percent in…