A Manhattan native will be the next assistant city manager, according to a release from the manager’s office Wednesday. Dennis Marstall, a Manhattan High School graduate, was selected out of four finalists for the job who were identified through a national search process. Prior to this, Marstall worked for 14 years with the City of Charlotte, North Carolina in various roles including budget and evaluation analyst, economic development program manager, as well as chief of staff/assistant to the mayor and city manager. Most recently he served as Vice President of Community Investment and Impact for the United Way of the Central…
Author: KMAN Staff
Update 11:40 1/2/19 The Kansas Highway Patrol has released the identity of the driver of the vehicle that crashed on K-13 on New Year’s Day. 58-year-old Kelly Ann White of Manhattan was the sole occupant of the 2016 Mazda CX5 that wrecked on Tuesday. White was initially brought to Via Christi with serious injuries, but was later transferred to a hospital in Topeka. Via Christi Hospital officials could not verify which hospital to which she was transported. There is no damage estimate for the vehicle and the cash report indicates White was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the…
Dennis Butler addresses the audience at his swearing-in ceremony, Dec. 31 2018 (Nick McNamara/KMAN). When Dennis Butler came to Ottawa, Kansas after 25 years of service with the Alexandria, Virginia Police Department, he says he didn’t expect to move again in his career. 14 years later, his career has taken a different turn as Butler was sworn in as the 5th Director of the Riley County Police Department in a ceremony in the Riley County Courthouse on Monday. “I look forward to working with all of you with the goal of providing ethical, professional and compassionate service to this community,”…
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas researcher who led a study on social media says giving it up doesn’t make a person significantly happier and concerns about social media may be overblown. Communications professor Jeffrey Hall has told The Topeka Capital-Journal that he was surprised by the finding. Some participants abstained from social media from one to four weeks while a control group continued normal use and reported an average of 72 minutes a day. The study followed 135 people, with most from Kansas. Hall said there doesn’t seem to be a lot of evidence that social media replaces face-to-face…
KANSAS CITY — A new study finds that Missouri and Kansas are among the worst states in using tobacco settlement proceeds to prevent smoking, despite recommendations from federal health officials. The Kansas City Star reports that Missouri allotted $48,500 in its current fiscal year for tobacco prevention programs, even though it received $259 million in tobacco taxes and from tobacco companies. A December report by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Heart Association shows that Missouri’s spending amounts to a fraction of a percent of the $72.9 million the Centers for Disease Control recommended. Kansas fared only slightly better…
Monday’s In Focus program featured a preview of the Little Apple New Year’s Eve celebration in Aggieville with Krista Bramhall, Aggieville Business Association Interim Director. KMAN’s Nick McNamara also interviewed Lt. Governor-Elect Lynn Rogers on the transition taking place in Topeka as he and Governor-Elect Laura Kelly prepare to take office. Finally, KMAN’s Dave Lewis and Brandon Peoples reflect on 2018 in news, sports and politics.
TOPEKA — Kansas has extended the state medical board’s existing regulations for health care providers to the practice of consulting with patients through video conferencing. The State Rules and Regulations Board has unanimously approved three temporary regulations drafted by the State Board of Healing Arts to cover telemedicine under a new law taking effect in January. The new law encourages the use of telemedicine for patients in areas with a shortage of health care providers by ensuring that health insurance covers such services. The seven-member Rules and Regulations Board decides whether an agency can impose temporary regulations immediately without a…
TOPEKA — Democratic Lieutenant Gov.-elect Lynn Rogers says he’s encouraged that the Kansas House has formed a new Rural Revitalization Committee and looks forward to working with its Republican chairman. Rogers will lead an Office of Rural Prosperity once he and Democratic Gov.-elect Laura Kelly take office Jan. 14. The office will promote rural areas, develop policies for serving them and work to ensure that state agencies’ efforts line up with rural communities’ needs. The House committee will examine problems facing rural areas that include declining populations and limited access to broadband service. Rogers said: “The broader the discussion, the…
WASHINGTON — Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts used bipartisan consensus building to pass the 2018 farm bill, but GOP critics say the costly bill betrayed conservative values. McClatchy Newspapers reports that as the 82-year-old Roberts decides whether to seek another term in 2020, observers say his style of traditional work across party lines might now be a liability in a polarized political world. Roberts chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. Critics say the farm bill should have increased work requirements for recipients of food aid and reined in farm subsidies. Neither provision was included in the bill. Roberts has said he…
WICHITA — Authorities say two people are dead after a vehicle fire at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. KFDI-FM reports that a base official says a “fatal vehicle accident” happened around 11 p.m. Sunday at the west gate of the base. Base fire personnel responded and found two people dead. The base says it is working with Wichita police and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to investigate. No other information was immediately released, including the names of the victims.