Author: Brandon Peoples

The state’s top agriculture officials took part in the 2023 Kansas Agricultural Growth Summit, hosted at the Manhattan Conference Center. Gov. Laura Kelly kicked off the summit, touting the industry’s importance to the state and its strength despite challenges from drought. “There’s no doubt: Kansas remains a worldwide powerhouse in agriculture. But it’s also clear that to keep our ag industry modern and competitive, we have to solve two major challenges facing us: water and workforce shortages,” Kelly said. Those topics were the focus of the morning session Thursday, led by K-State Agricultural Economics professor Nathan Hendricks and National Council…

A legal nonprofit has filed a federal civil rights complaint against Kansas State University, alleging an annual scholarship it promotes is racially discriminatory and violates federal law. In its complaint, The Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project alleges K-State’s Joey Lee Garmon Undergraduate Multicultural Student Scholarship violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for recipients of federal money to create, support and promote a racially segregated program. It also alleges such conduct violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The organization, which was involved in the U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Harvard University’s race-conscious admissions policies earlier…

Preliminary enrollment numbers were shared Wednesday with the Manhattan-Ogden School Board, showing an anticipated growth this fall of about 1.6%. The report was shared at Wednesday’s board meeting, which was moved from the Robinson Education Center to the Manhattan High School commons area, due to a power outage, which delayed the meeting by a half hour. About 97% of the district’s estimated 6,539 students have enrolled for the fall, with the first day count at just under 6,400. There are still about 140 students yet to have enrolled for the fall, including 118 at Manhattan High School, based on data…

Riley County has temporarily closed the Fairmont Park dog park, after a dog who visited the park was diagnosed recently with canine parvovirus. The highly contagious viral infection affects puppies and unvaccinated dogs and is known to spread through direct contact with an infected dog, as well as through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. The county closed the park as a precautionary measure. Pet owners are strongly encouraged to keep their dogs away from the dog park during the closure, which is in place through the weekend and follow their veterinarian’s guidance on vaccinations and preventive measures. Any pet…

Source: WalletHub WalletHub is out with its 2023 Best and Worst Community College rankings and a local school is up near the top. It ranked Manhattan Area Technical College No. 2 overall, earning a fifth place nod for career outcomes and eighth place for education outcomes. MATC has consistently ranked among WalletHub’s top community colleges, including a No. 4 ranking last year. WalletHub compared more than 650 community colleges across 19 key indicators of cost and quality. It also conducted a state-level analysis of the best and worst community college systems, ranking Kansas No. 14 in the nation. Source: WalletHub

A Manhattan man was arrested this week on a warrant from Jackson County for drug distribution and possession. The Riley County Police Department says 44-year-old Andrew Jones is charged with unlawful distribution of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia. Jones was already jailed at the time the new charges were filed, following a February arrest in Riley County for unlawful possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. He remains jailed on a $20,000 bond.

City officials will review and discuss results of a recent community survey at Tuesday’s Manhattan City Commission legislative meeting. Over 11,000 households took the survey which gauges resident satisfaction with city services, quality of life and potential support for future projects. Some of the highlights include a 90% satisfaction with quality of life, 84% satisfaction with the quality of parks. Around 78% support or strongly support development of an indoor aquatics center and 81% support or strongly support rehabilitation of existing homes for workforce housing. The survey also found residents divided on options for Moro Street in Aggieville, with 42%…

Officials say a multimillion dollar runway reconstruction project at the Manhattan Regional Airport is still behind schedule and may not reopen by the targeted Sept. 6 deadline. Engineer Diane Hofer, with design firm Olsson, provided a progress report at Monday’s Airport Advisory Board meeting. Airport officials noted that phase 3, which includes the crosswind runway construction, is about 25 days behind schedule but should wrap up by mid-week. Director Brandon Keazer says they had hoped to have phase 3 done by Monday. Keazer explains some of the reasons for the over three week delay. Hofer says for everyday the project…

City officials say the westbound right-turn lane onto 3rd Street from Fort Riley Blvd will be closed starting Thursday for a construction project. Westbound traffic will still be able to turn right onto South 3rd Street. Construction will not impact eastbound, northbound or southbound traffic. The work and closure are expected to last through Aug. 31.

Motorists are advised that the Manhattan Public Works Department’s Street Division will close the westbound lanes in the 300 block of Bluemont Avenue today for asphalt repairs. Westbound traffic on Bluemont will be detoured north on 3rd Street to Vattier, west to 4th Street and back south to Bluemont. City officials say in addition, the southbound lane of 3rd Street will be closed just north of Bluemont along with the northbound left-turn lane. No timetable has been announced for the project.