Author: Brandon Peoples

The Kansas Department of Transportation announced Monday two projects to take place April 4-5 on a rural stretch of K-16 in Pottawatomie County. Two locations will be closed over the two-day period while maintenance crews replace underground pipes. K-16 will be closed to traffic April 4 just east of Blaine, between Kansas Avenue and Marshall Road. Then on April 5, K-16 will be closed, approximately two miles east of Onaga, between Straight Creek and Lincoln Roads. Closures will be in place 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days and motorists are advised to use alternate routes.

The Kansas Department of Transportation says a patching and concrete replacement project on I-70 in Riley and Wabaunsee counties has been delayed a week and will now start March 27. The work will stretch from the Riley/Geary county line to K-30 in Wabaunsee County but will not impact bridges and bridge approaches in the corridor. Crews are planning work in both directions in roughly 4-mile stretches of the interstate, resulting in lane reductions, width restrictions and reduced speed limits of 60 mph. On and off ramps will remain open during the project. KDOT says work will take place Monday through…

Pottawatomie County Commissioners on Monday approved the 2023 asphalt bid from Shilling Construction, who last week submitted a lone bid of over $1.9 million. As routine as that process was, the chip seal bid process was anything but routine. After two bids were publicly opened at last week’s meeting, Public Works officials became aware of a third bid submitted prior to the deadline that went unrecognized, according to County Counselor John Watt. Watt advised commissioners that they could simply ignore the bid that went to the spam email, based upon language spelled out in the county’s bid process. The other…

Pottawatomie County Appraiser Robin Knoblauch provided an update to county officials Monday, regarding the office’s work with taxpayers questioning or wanting to appeal their 2023 value notices. As of Monday, her office had 46 scheduled appeals. She says the major class of increase was residential, which according to the county wide index average was up 14.6%. Most small towns in Pottawatomie County also showed an index value much higher, by up to 6% or more. Knoblauch says in speaking with other county appraisers across the region, the average valuation increases in northeast Kansas have been approximately 15%. She calls it…

Firefighters had a busy afternoon Monday as a grass fire, fueled by strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures, scorched around 300 acres in southeastern Riley County. The blaze was fully contained as of 6 p.m. Riley County Fire District No. 1 had been dispatched initially for a fire in the median of Hwy 177, near Deep Creek Road. Due to the speed and intensity of the fire, mutual assistance was called in from Kansas Forest Service, Geary County Rural Fire Department Explorer Post and Wabaunsee County Fire District No. 8. Contracted air support from Heinen Brothers Ag Services was…

Philanthropy and community service was recognized at the 10th annual Community Foundation Awards Monday. In addition to the awards, the meeting also serves as a transitional meeting from one Board of Trustees Chair to another. Jackie Hartman Borck handed those duties over to Kim McAtee. A dozen awards were handed out at the ceremony. The Young Trustee Volunteer Award went to Jamie Coons, who helped start the annual Young Trustees Chili Cookoff several years ago, and reflected on first coming to the area. The Philanthropist Award went to Robert and Tracey Debruyn, founders of the Master Teacher, who are also…

Fort Riley officials say one person was shot following an incident early Monday morning at the Trooper Gate, located on the southwest side of the installation. According to an initial report, a suspect drove through the gate just before 7 a.m. and was stopped by the automatic vehicle barrier and then exited their vehicle. Fort Riley Military Police say that’s when the situation escalated, ultimately leading to the suspect being shot by the guards. The driver is receiving medical attention for non-life-threatening injuries. Army CID and the Fort Riley Military Police are investigating. No further information has been released.

The Riley County Board of County Commissioners are planning to host quarterly meetings this year outside of Manhattan. Meetings will be held at 6 p.m. in the smaller cities within the county. Commission Chair Kathryn Focke says it’s important to make local government accessible to everyone and says she’s hoping to send the message that “commissioners are here to serve rural residents too.” The first of four meetings will take place March 30 at Riley City Hall. The next will be held June 29 at the Leonardville Community Building. The third quarter meeting will be Aug. 31 at the Randolph…

The Red Cross is encouraging residents to roll up their sleeves this week. The Manhattan Community Blood Drive will take place Monday and Tuesday at Pottorf Hall in CiCo Park. Red Cross Kansas District spokesperson Kristi Ingalls explains there are some added bonused if you come out to donate blood. She also recommends using the Red Cross Blood Donor App to schedule your appointment. Ingalls says the Red Cross is always aiming to keep the shelves stocked so blood is always readily available to patients who need it. Appointments can also be scheduled at redcrossblood.org. The drive runs from noon…

Plans are on hold for the Midtown Aggieville development after one of the project’s investors pulled funding. The Manhattan Mercury reported the pause Friday after Back 9 Development President TJ Vilkanskas said an unnamed investor was not making its deposited funds for the $53.9 million project, despite a prior verbal agreement. The amount invested reportedly amounted to half of the capital raised. Vilkanskas says the investor cited the final announcement of the K-State Foundation’s third office building as a main concern, as well as macro-economic factors such as the ongoing banking crisis unfolding. All land, labor and materials have been…