SALINA — Kansas health and parks officials have closed a Salina lake because of a toxic blue-green algae bloom. The Salina Journal reports that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism have closed Lakewood Park Lake. Officials say conditions at the lake are extremely dangerous for humans and pets. All contact with the water at Lakewood Park Lake is prohibited. Also, a public health warning was issued for Webster Lake in Rooks County. Boating and fishing are allowed, but bodily contact with the water should be avoided. Skin exposed to the…
Author: KMAN Staff
OLATHE — Kansas superintendents are working together to fight teen suicide. The Kansas City Star reports that Blue Valley, De Soto, Gardner Edgerton, Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Spring Hill school districts in Johnson County have announced plans to work together on the issue. The districts also plan to consult mental health providers, parents, religious leaders and local businesses. Tim DeWeese is the executive director of Johnson County Mental Health. He says it’s an unprecedented collaboration for the area, as school leaders and community groups have typically worked separately on mental health and suicide prevention programs. Johnson County Mental Health says…
WICHITA — A government report says Kansas farmers are forecast to harvest more than twice as much corn than wheat this year. The National Agricultural Statistics Service forecast on Friday Kansas corn production at 658 million bushels, about 4 percent below last year’s crop. The crop is expected to be harvested off 5.1 million acres this fall. That compares to the recently completed winter wheat harvest which the government estimated at 277 million bushels, down 17 percent from last year. Kansas harvested 7.3 million acres of wheat. The agency also forecast the state’s sorghum harvest this fall to total 231…
TOPEKA — Authorities say a Topeka police officer suffered minor injuries when he was bitten by a man he was trying to take into custody. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the incident happened Friday afternoon when police were called for a man refusing to leave another person’s apartment. Shortly after the first officers arrived, a call went out for an officer in need of assistance, drawing a large police response. The officer bitten was taken to a local hospital with injuries that included broken skin. Three other officers were taken to a local hospital for decontamination for exposure to blood…
The Riley County Police Department made an arrest related to a 2017 homicide on Saturday. Officials wrote in a release that 32-year-old Steven Meredith of Junction City was arrested in connection with the October 2017 death of 48-year-old Carrie Jones of Junction City. Meredith was arrested on a warrant of “first degree murder” issued by the Riley County District Court. Meredith has been confined to the Riley County Jail on a $1,000,000 bond.
Riley County Clerk Rich Vargo tells KMAN Independent candidate for Riley County Commission Aaron Estabrook only had 320 accepted petition signatures. He needed 408 to be on the November ballot. Vargo says Estabrook’s petition county commissioner was unsuccessful. Estabrook wrote in a Facebook comment that he would find out Monday why so many signatures on his petition were rejected. The former Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education member filed as a candidate last week. He was seeking the seat of current county commissioner Ben Wilson, who is not running for re-election. Estabrook has also ran as a Democrat for the…
Hale Library is still in recovery from the fire in May. According to the Dean of LIbraries, Lori Goetsch, the progress has been significant during this phase. “We’ve got almost every floor emptied, except for the third floor of the library” Goetsch said. ” We’ve taken out over about 100,000 boxes of books.” Once they get the building cleaned out Goetsch said they will begin the process of renovating the library. They expect the infrastructure work will not begin until October or November, and the remodeling phase will begin even later in the spring or summer. Hale library will not be…
Riley County Public Works announced road projects on mulitple roads in the county. Officials said in a release that they would be starting fog seal projects on various roads Thursday, August 9. Roads being fog sealed include Mound Ridge Road, Lakeside Drive, Hi-View Drive, Winkler Mills Road, Lasita Road, LK&W Road, Stagg Hill Road, Skyway Drive, Wildcat Creek Road and West 68th Avenue. Through traffic is allowed during the work, but they are advising motorists to take alternate routes when possible as delays of up to 15 minutes are to be expected. Public Works is also beginning a construction project…
LA CYGNE — Officials say a man has drowned at a private lake in eastern Kansas. The Kansas parks department reports 55-year-old Melvin Eugee Steirwalt, of Kansas City, Kansas, drowned Wednesday at Tanglewood Lake near La Cygne. Witnesses reported they saw Stierwalt jump off a platform but they later couldn’t find him and called authorities. Game wardens using sonar recovered his body about noon on Wednesday.
LEAVENWORTH — Federal labor officials say a Leavenworth businesswoman has been sentenced to more than four years in prison and ordered to pay $4.3 million in restitution for embezzling from companies she owned. Brenda Wood was sentenced this week on two counts of bank fraud and one count of theft from an employee benefit plan. Wood owned Professional Cleaning and Innovative Building Services, a commercial cleaning services company in Kansas City, Missouri, and four businesses in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Prosecutors said she embezzled from employees’ 401(k) plans and took about $4.3 million from fraudulent loans and identity theft. She also…