Author: Brandon Peoples

Manhattan City Commissioners received an update Tuesday on the Midtown Development project in Aggieville and some new requests from Back 9 Development, the firm in charge of the project. Back 9 is requesting a one year extension on the original development agreement to the middle of 2026, when construction is expected to be completed on the estimated $35 to $45 million project. President TJ Vilkanskas also is requesting an amendment to the tax increment financing plan to assist with a new proposed 108 room hotel and parking garage adjacent to the initial project. Commissioners were generally supportive of the TIF…

A Manhattan man in custody at the Riley County Jail was arrested on new charges Monday. RCPD says 43-year-old Michael Westgate was arrested on two warrants for failure to appear. The original charges for the warrants were: possession of opiate, opium, narcotic, or certain stimulant and theft of property or services. Westgate remains jailed on a total $52,000 bond.

A 24-year-old Nebraska man was arrested Monday on a Riley County District Court warrant charging him with child sex crimes. Nicholas Seeman, of Lincoln, is charged with 21 total counts including a single count of rape, 12 count of aggravated indecent liberties, four counts of criminal sodomy, two counts each of indecent solicitation and sexual exploitation of a child. The Riley County Police Department says the crimes were reported in March. An online criminal complaint alleges the crimes happening over several months between January and October of last year, involving a single victim who was under the age of 14.…

The first commercial flight in over four months touched down Monday just before noon at Manhattan Regional Airport. Two Manhattan Fire Department trucks greeted Envoy Air flight 3439 from Dallas, with a water cannon salute as it entered the jet bridge. The airport has been closed to commercial flights since early May as a multimillion dollar expansion of the runway took place. Airport Director Brandon Keazer says it’s good to have the project in the rearview mirror. The first flight from Chicago arrived about an hour later Monday. Keazer says the airport can now turn its focus over to upgrading…

Riley County Police say a Junction City teenager was jailed this past week on a warrant charging him with attempted first-degree murder. According to Saturday’s arrest report, 17-year-old Mikal Kairson was arrested by Junction City Police Sept. 18 at the North Central Kansas Regional Juvenile Detention Facility. In addition to the attempted murder charge, Kairson also faces single counts of aggravated assault and criminal discharge of a firearm. RCPD says the charges stem from an incident from last year, but could not provide additional information Saturday. The case number listed on RCPD’s arrest report (22-003615) is connected to two separate…

Geary County Schools USD 475 cut the ribbon Friday on its new state-of-the-art Morris Hill Elementary, located on Fort Riley. The new school combines the former Jefferson and Morris Hill Elementary schools and will eventually accommodate 590 students and be 99,000 square feet. Principal Melisa Burgess, who had a hand in the school’s design, says the new building has more space for teachers to conduct  collaborative learning. The facility also includes a dedicated space for breakfast and lunch, replacing a combined space for meals and gym classes in the old building. It also includes storm shelters, designated flex labs for…

Six months after the Midtown development in Aggieville was put on pause, City of Manhattan officials are expected to receive a progress report at Tuesday’s work session that will also include some new requests from the firm in charge of the multimillion dollar project. Back 9 Development President T.J. Vilkanskas will present an updated timeline Tuesday, showing design and fundraising will continue through mid-year 2024 for both the Midtown project and a new hotel space to be constructed in Aggieville. Construction would begin by the middle of next year, continuing through mid-2026. The Midtown project was paused in March after…

Riley County officials on Thursday approved a motion for a new mural to be installed at the county fire station in Zeandale. Resident Diane Hoobler, representing the Friends of the Zeandale Fire Station 101, presented a draft example of the mural which the artist plans to start painting on Oct. 7. She says some of the art depicted in the mural, including the train station will be made larger, for a better visual perspective. She discussed some of the other identifying landmarks. The train station, the Pawnee Trail and the old Zeandale school will be depicted in the mural. Once…

Riley County Commissioners received an update Thursday from the Riley County Fairgrounds Task Force. Riley County Extension Director Gary Fike, who chairs the task force, says there is a strong push for a long-term solution to vacate the current fairgrounds and relocate to property west of the Public Works facilities on Tuttle Creek Blvd, where the county already owns land. Fike says vacating CiCo Park however requires some additional input on the task force, due to interests of both the City of Manhattan and USD 383. Task force member and former commissioner Dave Lewis spoke to commissioners Thursday, strongly advocating…

A Manhattan man was arrested Wednesday on a warrant alleging two counts of probation violation. The charges against Curtis Simms, stem from original arrests in January 2022 for interference with law enforcement and domestic battery and battery charges, as well as violation of a protection order. Simms remains jailed on a $100,000 total bond.