A new program in the Manhattan area looks to help entrepreneurs. Spark Manhattan is a new nonprofit organization with a vision to connect, resource, and successfully launch new entrepreneurs in the Greater Manhattan region. Sarah Siders, Executive Director of Spark tells KMAN about the overall mission of Spark. “We’re wanting to grow innovation locally. We want to invest in those businesses and those ideas and that talent that’s building our community and bringing in outside dollars, and we want to keep the talent that we’re growing. We have so many great learning institutions right here in our area, and a…
Author: KMAN Staff
The new Riley County emergency services radio system is now up and running. Emergency Management Director Pat Collins says the system went live Thursday morning even with just a few glitches. “We are live, it’s working great,” Collins told the Riley County Commission Thursday. “The coverage is phenomenal compared to what we have now.” The roughly $5.2 million project has been in the works for nearly five years. The 800 megahertz system will provide more coverage throughout the county for radios used by area emergency services. Preliminary tests show a 97.1% coverage in Riley County and the area 3 miles…
The Kansas State Finance Council has approved about $290 million for the third round of CARES Act funding. Kansas officials have determined, based on a SPARK survey, that they would like to emphasize three different areas during the third round of CARES Act funding. Tami Robison, Riley County budget and finance officer, says the three areas are public health with an emphasis on testing, business resiliency and workforce support with an emphasis on child supervision and essential needs and services with an emphasis on housing stability. “They do have potentially $105 million max allocated to public health, $120 million max…
USD 383 will continue the hybrid method of learning until the end of October, but the school board will continue work to improve upon the model. After being flooded with emails, phone calls, letters, and public comments from concerned parents, the board spent a majority of their meeting Wednesday hearing from teachers and staff about the possibility of changing back to the more traditional 5-day in-person schedule. The meeting started with public comments made by four parents, some of who already made comments at the previous meeting. Roxanne Peterson was one of the parents from last meeting, and since then…
The following summary of calls for service/reports filed by the Riley County Police Department is a portion of those received by police. Some names, addresses, and case details are withheld to follow local, state, and federal law as well as in an attempt to protect community members from being victimized further. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. MANHATTAN, KAN. – Officers filed a report for aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct near the intersection of N 9th St and Thurston St in Manhattan on September 16, 2020, at approximately 5:59 pm.…
On Thrusday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with Manhattan Chamber Daryn Soldan and Sarah Siders. We also spoke with Riley County Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Pat Collins.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Lawrence officials are looking for ways to put the brakes on house parties in neighborhoods near the University of Kansas campus as the number of positive COVID-19 cases among students continues to rise. After a debate during the Lawrence City Commission meeting Tuesday, a majority of the commissioners said they were interested in at least considering an ordinance that would make it a municipal offense to violate local health orders designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the discussion came as the the University of Kansas announced Tuesday that the total…
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Lawrence city officials approved an ordinance that provides protections for immigrants in the country illegally and includes policies regarding how police interact with them. The Lawrence City Commission’s vote on Tuesday came after more than a year of discussion prompted by an immigrant advocacy group. The nondiscrimination ordinance, among other things, prohibits the city from considering immigration status when providing city services. The vote on Tuesday approved provisions that require police to notify the public when they are aware of some federal immigration activities, and if the department changes its current policies on cooperating with federal immigration…
WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities have arrested a 21-year-old man in a Wichita shooting that left one person dead and two others wounded. Jail records show that Terry Quonteze Wallace was booked Tuesday night on suspicion of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony. KAKE-TV reports that the shooting happened around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday after an argument. Capt. Jason Stephens said one shooting victim was located at the scene and later died. The two other victims are in stable condition. Their names have not been released. Stephens said some of those involved are gang members.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas officials are considering spending $50 million to dramatically ramp up testing of people who aren’t showing obvious signs of the coronavirus. A state task force this week backed Kansas Health Secretary Lee Norman’s recommendation to use the federal stimulus money on testing at schools, workplaces and other sites. The goal is to catch coronavirus in people who haven’t even realized they’re carrying it, KCUR reports. Some of the testing would be done at Wichita State University, where a new not-for-profit lab is gearing up to churn out hundreds of thousands of tests by the end of…