Author: Brandon Peoples

1:35 pm Tuesday update Riley County officials say the portion of Wildcat Creek Road that closed Tuesday morning, due to a turned over semi truck has reopened to traffic. Original story 11:25 a.m. Tuesday Wildcat Creek Road is currently closed, due to a semi that turned over sometime before 11 am Tuesday on an icy stretch in the 500 block. The Riley County Police Department says no injuries were reported. The road is expected to be blocked for several hours. Motorists are advised to use an alternate route, if traveling in the area.

WTC commitment approved Riley County commissioners moved Monday to commit $5,000 toward a grant application to expand public WiFi hot spots to under-served areas of the county. The action follows a request from WTC last week seeking support for a 10% match toward an ADOPT grant from the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. The program will award close to $15 million to organizations in Kansas addressing challenges of broadband availability. The company should find out within the next few weeks if it qualifies for the project. Keats lagoon project update In other business, Riley County officials hope to make a…

Riley County USD 378 has placed its superintendent on administrative leave following action earlier this month. The school board on voted 4-3 on Jan. 8 to place Cliff Williams on administrative leave with pay, for currently unspecified reasons. Erin Flair has been named interim superintendent. Flair declined comment on the matter, in a phone call with KMAN Monday. The board held a special meeting on Jan. 18, where board member Nathan Mead moved to revoke a legal letter implemented at the prior meeting and reinstate Williams as superintendent. However that motion failed 3-4, with board members Jarred Anderes, Samantha Brown,…

One person was transported Monday morning following a two-vehicle crash near 3rd Street and Fort Riley Blvd. The Riley County Police Department says the crash happened just after 11 a.m. Names of the parties involved weren’t immediately available, but the injuries were not believed to be life threatening. The other driver was not injured, but was cited following the crash. It was the second such crash in that area since Friday, when three vehicles collided near 4th and Fort Riley Blvd. Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales, 74, of Manhattan, was hospitalized following that crash with non-life threatening injuries. Police said 42-year-old Joshua Lewy,…

Riley County officials say a local resident lost their pet and their home to a weekend fire near Hunter’s Island, south of Manhattan. Crews from Riley County Fire District No. 1 were dispatched Saturday evening for reports of smoke and flames and found a mobile home fully engulfed in flames near several other outbuildings and structures. No civilian injuries were reported, but a dog perished in the fire. More than two dozen firefighters responded and extinguished the fire and remained on scene for several hours afterward to monitor conditions. The house was a total loss. “With temperatures in the single…

A March hearing is scheduled for a California man accused of firing multiple rounds of ammunition into a car parked in Aggieville. The Manhattan Mercury reports that 31-year-old Travell Hairston made his first court appearance Friday, via Zoom. Hairston is charged in Riley County District Court with attempted first-degree murder, stemming from a February 2020 incident. Prosecutors allege Hairston intended to kill a 27-year-old man who owns the damaged vehicle. Despite entering a plea agreement prior to a jury trial set in July, he also faces numerous other charges from separate incidents, dating to 2019, including four counts of aggravated…

9:30 am update Repairs have been made to the water main break, but residents are still being advised to conserve water until at least Monday afternoon. Original story 6 a.m. Monday Belvue residents are being advised to conserve water until further notice. A water main break was reported around 3:30 a.m. for Rural Water District No. 4, which encompasses primarily southeastern and central Pottawatomie County. It’s unclear if a boil advisory will be necessary. Last week, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued one for two days after an issue at the water tower. A timeline for repairs to…

Temperatures will warm back to near normal this week, but precipitation chances could make travel dicey over the next few days. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from Sunday evening through noon Monday, for the potential of freezing rain or drizzle causing a glaze up to one-tenth of an inch of ice on area roadways. Another round will likely build up Monday evening into Tuesday morning with rain and freezing rain both possible as surface temperatures hover near freezing, though forecasters are less certain about precipitation chances Monday night. The Manhattan area will see conditions change…

Business leaders from across the region gathered at the Manhattan Conference Center Friday for the annual Flint Hills Regional Leaders Retreat. Hosted by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, the event featured community updates from Manhattan, Junction City, Wamego, Kansas State University and Fort Riley. One of the keynote speakers Clint Runge is a founding partner of Archrival, a youth culture agency that helps brands reinvent themselves to be relevant to teens and twenty-somethings. Runge spoke about generational differences and behaviors that exist in today’s workplace. He says most Gen Zers talk to each other about brands and are more bottom up versus…

The Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation (ECODEVO) has a new executive director. Local author and small business coach Shanna Goodman, of Wamego, was introduced by the organization during Friday’s Flint Hills Regional Leaders Retreat. The Wamego businesswoman has spent the better part of the last decade working in marketing, public relations and business development. Originally from the Dodge City area, Goodman has a Bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in Health and Human Sciences and a Master’s from the University of Central Missouri in Mass Communication. She succeeds Jack Allston, who retired in October, after nine successful years on the job and…