Author: Brandon Peoples

The City of Manhattan will contract out services at the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter. City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved an agreement with Prairie Paws, a nonprofit organization out of Ottawa to manage the shelter. Mayor Mark Hatesohl says the move should give the city a better understanding of how much it’s spending on services. The city began discussions in January to explore avenues to outsource shelter services, without requiring additional tax dollars. Deputy City Manager Jason Hilgers noted on Tuesday’s edition of In Focus that the city has struggled with turnover at the shelter for several years. Commissioner…

Big changes are coming for the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team. The nonprofit organization, founded in late 2021, as a local effort to resettle some 200 Afghan refugees into the community, has shifted its focus to help receive refugees from any country. This past spring, the organization rebranded from the Manhattan Afghan Resettlement Team, to the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team, to broaden its scope and serve a wider range of individuals in need or resettlement assistance. MART President Susan Adamchak says the goal is fully integrating these individuals into the community. Idrees Khalil, a client of MART, was one of the…

For the second time in a matter of weeks, Riley County officials have closed the Fairmont Park Dog Park, due to possible canine parvovirus contamination. Both large and small dog enclosures will remain closed until at least Monday out of an abundance of caution, after a dog that visited the park, recently tested positive for the highly contagious viral infection. The virus affects particularly puppies and other unvaccinated dogs and is known to spread through direct contact with an infected dog, as well as through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. Pet owners are strongly encouraged to keep their dogs…

A report for theft was filed Monday morning at The Fridge Wholesale Liquor in Manhattan. According to the Riley County Police Department, four suspects — a man and three women — stole approximately $650 worth of alcohol from the store. Surveillance video, shared on The Fridge’s Facebook page, shows the suspects shoving bottles into handbags. The male suspect, who was wearing a red hoodie, can be seen attempting to hide a bottle of what appears to be tequila, down the front of his pants, before putting it back on the shelf because his pants weren’t big enough to hide the…

The Manhattan City Commission will look to pass a finalized 2024 budget when it meets Tuesday. The consent agenda includes an ordinance for commissioners to adopt the budget with the scaled back mill levy of 49.000, as directed by a majority of commissioners two weeks ago from the previously proposed 50.470 mill levy. To accomplish this, city staff new proposal reduces over $347,000 in the city’s employee benefit fund and over $673,000 in the city’s bond & interest fund. According to agenda materials, the new proposal from the city reduces the property tax value to $10.5 million, down from last…

Authorities have arrested a Manhattan man in association with a fire that officials say threatened structures in a neighborhood south of Fort Riley Blvd and an aggravated battery earlier Monday. In a joint news release, the Riley County Police Department and Riley County Fire District No. 1 say 39-year-old Daniel Lee reportedly struck a 48-year-old man with a kitchen pan, causing lacerations, inside a home in the 900 block of South Collins Lane. The victim was transported to Via Christi for treatment of injuries after leaving the location and reporting the battery. Lee is also accused of burning electronic items…

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.