The cost of the Manhattan Conference Center expansion has risen from originally planned, but city commissioners Tuesday approved a contract amendment to avoid impacting property taxes. The city agreed to a $3.5 million, 14,000 square foot expansion in January of 2019, but HCW-Manhattan LLC says demand on subcontractors in the region due to various ongoing projects including NBAF increased the costs to a $4.99 million price tag. To reduce the impact of the costs, the city will commit an additional $500,000 of sales tax-funded Economic Development money and four years of Transient Guest Tax revenue to reduce the principal cost…
Author: KMAN Staff
Education was the focus of Wednesday’s program which featured USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade and school board president Curt Herrman. UFM Community Learning Center Executive Director Linda Teener joined us alongside Education Coordinator Kayla Savage for a preview of events including Crafternoon on Nov. 16 and classes upcoming for all ages in November and December.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a woman found dead under “suspicious circumstances” in a natural-gas filled Topeka home was a Shawnee County Department of Corrections employee. Police identified the woman Monday as 36-year-old Brandi Prchal. Her cause of death is under investigation. Officers investigating reports of a gas leak in a central Topeka home found her dead inside. Topeka police say a man found ill inside the home, 36-year-old Jeremy Lardner, of Topeka, was treated and released from a hospital and then booked into jail. He faces possible charges of first-degree murder and criminal threat. Police have released no…
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 indecent liberties with a child and electronic solicitation of a child in Manhattan on November 5, 2019, at approximately 1:25 PM. Officers listed multiple female juveniles as victims…
MARYSVILLE, Kan. (AP) — The former clerk of a northeast Kansas county has admitted to spending more than $100,000 of taxpayer money for personal use. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release that 44-year-old Sonya Laurette Stohs, of Marysville, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Marshall County District Court to felony misuse of public funds. Sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 7. A Kansas Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Secret Service investigation found that Stohs used more than $100,000 in county funds to pay for various personal items between May 2013 and April 2019.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has ended an unusual practice for redrawing the lines of legislative districts that has cost university communities political clout. Voters on Tuesday approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution eliminating a requirement for the state to adjust federal census figures when the Legislature redistricts itself every 10 years. The adjustment counts college students and military personnel not where they’re living but in a “permanent” home elsewhere. For thousands of people, that’s outside Kansas. Kansas is among only a few states that adjust federal census figures for redistricting, and before the practice started in the 1990s,…
Manhattan businesswoman Kristin Brighton received the most votes in Tuesday’s election for the USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden school board race with 6,172. Incumbents Curt Herman and Darell Edie placed 2nd and 3rd. and newcomer Brandy Santos bested Joseph Dasenbrock for the 4th seat on the board. Brighton spoke with KMAN after the election about some of the goals she hopes to accomplish when she takes office in the new year. “There’s so much going on between all the construction projects that we’re going to get to help see their way through over the next couple of years and then all the…
Morse, Hatesohl and Estabrook win seats on the Manhattan City Commission Numbers may be unofficial but they are final. The Manhattan City Commission will see some shake up in the new year. Incumbent Linda Morse received the most votes in Tuesday’s Manhattan city commission race, garnering 3,649 votes or 37 percent. Morse says one of the things she’s looking most forward to is expanding internet access for students and in areas like Aggieville. “We have some little pieces of what we could have in the future but it’s going to be some important in the future for our children in…
The Pottawatomie County Commission unanimously agreed to devote up to $17,000 towards kitchen repairs at the Wamego Senior Center estimated to cost about $34,000 during their meeting Monday. Wamego Senior Center spokesperson Ross Hill says they serve about 150 meals per day with roughly 30,000 being served last year. Commissioner Dee McKee says that while she appreciates the work done by the center, the meal service can cause problems for small-town grocery stores. “All the food they bring in and say ‘come get the free this and free that,'” McKee said. “That closes the grocery store in those towns pretty…
Tuesday’s guests were Manhattan City Mayor Mike Dodson and City Manager Ron Fehr.