WICHITA — Another high-level Sedgwick County official has been forced out amid an FBI investigation. The Wichita Eagle reports that commissioners voted 3-2 on Wednesday to pay County Manager Michael Scholes $205,427 to get him to leave. Commissioners said their reason for forcing out Scholes was that he had created a toxic environment. Scholes had been under fire after providing information to the FBI in an investigation last year of Commissioner Michael O’Donnell, who is awaiting federal trial on wire fraud and money laundering charges related to campaign funds. O’Donnell, who’s still a member of the commission, voted against the…
Author: KMAN Staff
WAMEGO — The Wizard of Oz was recently named the most influential movie of all time according to an article by the Telegraph news. It beat out Star Wars, Psycho, and 47,000 other films. The article cited work from researchers at the University of Turin who developed a computer program that measures the success of a film by how many times it is referenced in other films and how many spin-offs were created from it instead of by box office sales or reviews. Gift shop manager of the Oz Museum in Wamego, Katlyn Stubbeman, commented on the recognition. Stubbeman said one…
Fredrick Swinson, 31, of Junction City, was arrested while in the 200 block of North 5th St. in Manhattan on December 5, 2018, at approximately 11:30 PM. Swinson was arrested on a Riley County District Court warrant for failure to appear. Swinson was issued a total bond of $10,000.00. Swinson was not confined at the time of this report.
WICHITA — Animal rights groups are challenging a Kansas law banning secret filming at slaughterhouses and other livestock facilities. At issue in the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday is the state’s “Ag-Gag” law enacted in 1990. The law makes it a crime for anyone to take a picture or video at animal facilities without the owner’s consent or to enter them under false pretenses. The Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Center for Food Safety and others contend in their lawsuit that undercover operations expose unsafe and inhumane conditions. They argue such investigations are a crucial form of free speech. The Kansas…
TOPEKA — Incoming Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she is “stunned” by a state agency’s lack of response to a shortage of residential psychiatric beds for children. The Wichita Eagle reports the shortage of beds has left about 140 Kansas youth waiting for residential psychiatric care. During a meeting Tuesday of a task force studying the state’s child welfare system, Kelly suggested she wants significant changes after she takes office in January. Susan Fout is deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services. In response to Kelly’s remarks, Fout acknowledged some children are not getting the psychiatric…
WICHITA — A 26-year-old Wichita man has been arrested after two children, ages 2 and 4, arrived at Via Christi Hospital St. Joseph suffering from gunshot wounds to their hands. Wichita police spokesman Charley Davidson said the children were playing with a handgun Tuesday when they were each injured. Davidson said the 2-year-old was treated and placed in protective custody. The 4-year-old was still hospitalized Wednesday after surgery. Davidson said Delano Wayne Rogers and the children’s 21-year-old mother were home while the children were playing with the gun. Davidson said Rogers is a friend of the children’s mother. He drove…
GREAT BEND — Great Bend police who responded to reports that a man was bitten by a venomous snake allegedly found the snake decapitated and hallucinogenic mushrooms at his home. The department says on a Facebook post that officers went to the home of 25-year-old Ari Hooley on Tuesday after he was treated Monday for bite from a Coral Cobra, a venomous snake. It is illegal to own an exotic or venomous snake in Great Bend. KAKE-TV reports Hooley refused to cooperate with officers. When they returned later with a search warrant, officers found the snake decapitated and buried. Police…
The Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved phase 2 of the Aggieville Infrastructure Report at their meeting Tuesday. The plan lays out possible features for the business district’s future, incorporating community input that came in the form of surveys as well as focus groups. It included multiple options, ranging from various street and parking designs down Moro and Laramie, a potential pedestrian mall on 12th Street stretching from Laramie to Moro, alley improvements, publicly available WiFi as well as a parking garage at the intersection of Manhattan Avenue and Laramie. None of the features were specifically chosen for approval, the report…
Water, sewer and stormwater service rates are set to rise come the new year.The Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved the increases at their Tuesday meeting. City staff recommended the increases to rates for water and wastewater services in order to keep pace with “community growth and to ensure adequate funding of various projects for the operation, maintenance, and capital improvements to the City’s public water supply, distribution systems and sanitary sewer collection treatment systems.” The yearly increases are based on a cost of service study performed in 2015. Increases to stormwater services are also to keep up with rising costs,…
In Focus guests Wednesday included USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade and Board of Education member Leah Fliter. We also spoke with Pottawatomie County Economic Development Executive Director Jack Allston about the 2018 Labor Force Analysis.