Author: Brandon Peoples

The City of Manhattan announced on Friday the hiring of Aaron Stewart as its next Parks and Recreation Director. Stewart, a Manhattan native, has more than 25 years of parks and recreation experience in a municipal setting, and currently serves as Parks and Recreation Director in Garden City. He spoke about the prospect of returning to his hometown at a public reception last Monday. In Garden City, Stewart has led a department that operates 11 parks, an aquatics facility, all recreational programming, an accredited zoo and a nationally ranked golf course. His resume also includes stints in Carbon Valley and…

Road construction is about to ramp up significantly in Manhattan over the next several weeks. As work continues on raising the levee on the city’s east side, City Manager Ron Fehr says interruptions will begin near the intersection of Hayes Drive and Casement Road. Storm sewer construction and related levee work is underway nearby. The intersection is actually part of the levee. Fehr says most of the work will occur on the Hayes Drive leg, with a dike that will go up and a sandbag gap that he says will be filled.  All commercial properties on Hayes Drive will maintain…

Residents living in the Royal Towers apartment building, located near the Kansas State University campus will soon need to find a new home. The Manhattan Fire Department’s Risk Reduction Services sent a notice to tenants March 3 stating the building, located at 1700 North Manhattan Ave.  is being condemned, noting a March 16 deadline for corrective action by the property owner, TD Invest LLC, which took over management of the property from The Prime Company in January. Some residents interpreted that as an eviction notice. Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr says it’s actually more of a start date for residents to begin…

Anthony Middle School students were briefly placed in a “hold” Wednesday following a battery incident in a classroom. According to the Riley County Police Department, a report for battery and criminal damage was reported just after 11 a.m. that morning. Police say an 11-year-old boy is accused of battering a 33-year-old man and 54-year-old woman. The boy also reportedly broke an interior window of the building with a metal chair, causing an estimated $500 in damage. No further information was released. An email to parents from Principal Vickie Cline indicates that a “hold” is a newly implemented tactic, designed to…

A Manhattan woman has been arrested in connection to sex crimes involving a 13 year old boy. The Riley County Police Department says 28-year-old Elizabeth Butry was arrested Tuesday on three counts of rape, two counts of contributing to a child’s misconduct and single counts of attempted rape and furnishing alcohol to a minor. She remained jailed ahead of her first court appearance Wednesday. Online court records allege the incidents occurred several times over the final two weeks of February. A status conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 25 in front of Judge William Malcolm. Due to the nature…

Two Former Wamego teachers pleaded guilty Tuesday in Pottawatomie County District Court in connection to sex crimes involving a former Wamego High School student. Allen Sylvester pleaded to two felony counts of unlawful sexual relations. Pottawatomie County Attorney Sherri Schuck says the offenses are considered presumptive prison, which the state will seek. The court can depart to probation without a finding of substantial or compelling reasons. Deborah Sylvester pleaded to a felony count of aggravated child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of failure to report child sexual abuse as a mandated reporter. The felony offense is presumptive probation, though the…

Riley County officials say a permitted outdoor burn got out of control this past weekend in the southeastern portion of the county, according to a Tuesday news release. The fire scorched over 300 acres of grassland and threatened structures and outbuildings in the area of Deep Creek Road Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported and no structures or livestock were lost. An Everbridge notification sent out Saturday morning noted that outdoor burning would be permitted until 2 p.m. “due to upcoming high fire danger and increasing winds.” “This was a fast-moving fire that threatened multiple homes,” said RCFD#1 Deputy Fire…

There will be no school Wednesday for students at USD 378 Riley County. District administrators have canceled classes so that students and their families can travel to Hutchinson to watch the Falcon girls basketball team compete in the Class 3A state basketball tournament. The Falcons finished the regular season 16-7 under head coach Kelsey Nelson and her brother, assistant coach Jordy Nelson. The siblings just wrapped up their second season at the helm of the Falcon girls program, and have the Falcons in the state tournament for the first time since 2017, following a 46-41 sub-state win over Nemaha Central…

A reception was held Monday, as the City of Manhattan welcomed the four finalists for its vacant Parks and Recreation Director position. Held immediately following the monthly Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, each of the finalists spoke candidly about themselves and why they were interested in coming to Manhattan. A majority even had some ties back to Kansas. Aaron Stewart is currently Director of Parks & Rec. in Garden City and says he came up through recreation primarily in the sports field. He’s held positions in western Kansas and Colorado, but considers Manhattan to be home. “I am a…

More details have been released following a Monday shooting at the Sunset Zoo parking lot. The Riley County Police Department says a 23-year-old man was shot in the neck shortly after 5 p.m. Monday and transported to Ascension Via Christi, and later to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka for further treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The department says further investigation led them to believe the incident to be isolated between two separate, but associated parties. RCPD is working to identify all individuals involved in the shooting. Witnesses in the area told police at least one male suspect fled the scene following…