Author: Brandon Peoples

Pottawatomie County Commissioner Dee McKee was absent from Monday’s weekly meeting, one week after a resident brought to light possible discrepancies in McKee’s travel receipts from this past summer to attend various meetings. During public comment Monday morning, former commissioner Barb Kolde, of St. George, called on McKee to step down from the commission. Local resident Michelle Campbell and Pottawatomie County Planning Commissioner Steve Minton are alleging McKee turned in requests for reimbursement totaling about $186 to cover mileage to attend meetings in Topeka, Eskridge and Junction City, which the pair allege McKee wasn’t physically at, based on the recorded…

The current Tuttle Creek Lake conditions are unusual this year, with the lake’s level at 1,073, which is 3 ft. below normal pool. US Army Corps of Engineers Operations Manager Brian McNulty tells KMAN, if these trends continue, the lake could potentially reach near record low pools, rarely seen since the Corps began operations in 1963. Inflow has been low throughout the year, and at one point was 28 cubic feet per second, when typically that number is in the hundreds. With the U.S. Drought Monitor for the area showing levels near severe drought, 650 cubic feet per second is consistently being released from Tuttle…

The Riley County Law Board will take its meeting on the road Monday to Keats Park. The agenda includes an opportunity for public comment, followed by a monthly update from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 17, a Community Advisory Board Update from Chairperson Dennis Cook and one executive session. Consent agenda items include the monthly inmate population report, which shows the August average daily population in the jail was 123.5, the highest figure this year and the highest in the past decade, according to RCPD records, dating to 2013. The Law Board meeting begins at noon in the…

Pavement work is scheduled Monday on a ramp connecting Miller Parkway and Davis Drive to the southbound lanes of K-18. The Kansas Department of Transportation says it will close the ramp from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until work is complete. The closure will be marked by barricades, signs and cones. No detours will be posted for the one-day closure. Motorists are advised to use alternate routes.

Kansas State University is continuing work toward addressing close to half a billion dollars worth of deferred maintenance on campus. In an interview recently with KMAN, President Richard Linton spoke about plans for Ahearn Fieldhouse and the Natatorium. The university is also planning a major infrastructure project for the College of Agriculture, which includes construction of a new Global Center for Grain and Food Research between Call and Weber Hall, as well as new agronomy innovation and research centers’ on the campus’ north side and a new livestock performance arena. Construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of…

The Kansas Court of Appeals will hear three pending appellate cases next week on the K-State campus in observance of Constitution Day. The first case involves a civil appeal involving a violation of zoning regulations from Riley County, between the Board of County Commissioners and local resident Gary Kilner, who contends his property is exempt from the regulations because it’s zoned agricultural. The second case involves a civil appeal out of Pottawatomie County where Employers Mutual Casualty Company is appealing a district court decision dismissing its subrogation lawsuit against Jayhawk Fire Sprinkler Company. The third case case involves legal issues…

Pottawatomie County Commissioner Dee McKee is coming under scrutiny for discrepancies noted in her expenses for trips she took to attend meetings for the Flint Hills Regional Council and other committees she serves on. McKee was initially questioned at the Aug. 28 Board of County Commission meeting by local resident and current planning commissioner Steve Minton if she had attended a FHRC meeting in Council Grove in May, which McKee subsequently affirmed she had. Local resident Michelle Campbell disputed that Monday, citing an expense report McKee turned in noting travel to Council Grove May 16 and the council’s approved minutes.…

Riley County Police say a 58-year-old woman was scammed Monday out of thousands of dollars in an online scam. Officers filed a report for theft by deception in the 100 block of South Dartmouth Drive, when a woman said she was scammed into sending money to an unknown suspect she met online. The estimated total loss is approximately $120,000. Police are asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

A Riley County jury has convicted a former Fort Riley soldier of murdering 21-year-old Joshua Wardi, a Fort Riley soldier from Texas, gunned down outside an Aggieville bar in February 2022. Jurors on Monday returned guilty verdicts finding 21-year-old Tremelle Montgomery responsible of first-degree intentional murder, along with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault against three of Wardi’s friends Donovan Bastien, Jared Musgrave and Tyrece White. The jury deliberated for about an hour and a half, after hearing closing arguments from Deputy Riley County Attorney Trinity Muth and Public Defender Brenda Jordan. Muth portrayed…

A Riley County man on trial for a February 2022 murder in Aggieville will have to wait until at least Monday to learn his fate. Judge John Bosch dismissed jurors Friday afternoon, citing a need for more time to review jury instructions, after discussions with the prosecution and defense.  Former Fort Riley soldier Tremelle Montgomery, 21, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old fellow soldier Joshua Wardi. He also faces three counts each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.  Testimony was heard Friday from the forensic pathologist who investigated Wardi’s manner of death, confirming that Wardi…