An Ogden man arrested on drug distribution charges in August was arrested again Friday night for escaping custody and probation violation. Billy Joe Womack, 32, was taken back into custody at the Westwood Motel in Manhattan just after 9 p.m. Friday. Womack was one of several arrested for drug charges in August that involved opiates, meth and distribution. Womack is in the Riley County Jail on a bond of $103,000.
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA — The U.S. Senate is not carrying over a Kansas City-area attorney’s nomination for a federal judgeship in Kansas into next year. Senators didn’t vote on Holly Lou Teeter of Lenexa before wrapping up business for the year Thursday. Her nomination then appeared Friday on a list of those not being carried into next year. Senate rules require a nominee who hasn’t received a vote by year’s end to be nominated again unless senators unanimously agree to carry the nomination forward. The Judiciary Committee endorsed the 38-year-old Teeter’s nomination in November on a 19-1 vote. She is an assistant…
A former Kansas State worker says in a federal lawsuit that the university didn’t adequately respond to her complaints of sexual harassment by a co-worker. In a lawsuit filed this week, Paulette Arnold says she was harassed for nearly three years while working in the Information Systems Office. She says the systems coordinator, Kevin Yaussi, sent sexually explicit emails, inappropriately touched her and left her inappropriate gifts. Arnold says she and another worker reported Yaussi’s behavior to their supervisor. The Kansas City Star reports the university determined Yaussi had harassed Arnold but only ordered him not to interact with her…
Manhattan High School football coach Joe Schartz will not be facing any charges for child endangerment, according to a press release from Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson sent to KMAN Friday afternoon. The matter stems from investigations into hazing and the football program that first came to light in October. Wilkerson also said his office has two employees who have a child or relative who are members of the football team. Because of that conflict of interest, Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman has agreed to have either himself or another attorney in his office serve as a special prosecutor concerning…
TOPEKA — A spokesman for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s nomination for an ambassador’s post is set to return to the White House. McConnell communications director David Popp said in an email Friday that Brownback’s nomination is not on a list of those to be carried into next year. The Senate finished its business for the year Thursday night without voting on Brownback’s nomination by President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. Brownback was nominated in July. Under the Senate’s rules, an appointee whose has not received a confirmation…
Unemployment numbers for the Manhattan metro area including Riley and Pottawatomie counties went up just a little in November–but Manhattan is still the lowest for metro areas in the state at 2.6 percent. October numbers were 2.3 percent. Even Manhattan combined with Junction City shows a low rate of three percent for November. Junction City and Geary County by itself was 4.6 percent. Area county numbers for November released by the Kansas Department of Labor were 2.5 percent in Pottawatomie, 2.7 in Riley, 3.4 in Clay County and Geary County, which tends to be higher, had a 4.6 percent rate.
Manhattan High School Principal Greg Hoyt released a statement Thursday concerning investigations into hazing and the football program that first came to light in October. The investigations done by the school district and the Riley County Police Department have been completed, according to officials. The RCPD has sent its findings to the county attorney’s office. The matter has clouded the future of football coach Joe Schartz. During Wednesday night’s USD 383 School Board meeting, no action was taken on Schartz. Instead, the board put Schartz’s fate in the hands of superintendent Marvin Wade. “Our desire to be thorough and to hold…
Update: Wendy’s on the west side of town burst into flames Thursday resulting in an emergency response by the Manhattan Fire Department. Manhattan Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief, Ryan Almes spoke with KMAN Thursday regarding the fire that impacted the Wendy’s on Anderson Avenue on the West-side of town. Almes said when crews arrived on scene, they found fire and smoke coming from an air conditioning unit on the roof. Fire had extended to the roof, but Almes added crews were able to knock it down quickly. Almes didn’t have a cost estimate for damages, but he said based on…
Today’s guests on In focus were Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce President Lyle Butler and C. Clyde Jones.
After a national search, Bryan Samuel has been selected as Kansas State University’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, effective March 2018. Samuel is the director of the Office of Equity and Diversity at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where he has been a leader in diversity and inclusion initiatives since 2009. In his new position at Kansas State University, he will report to the university president and serve on the President’s Cabinet. “Bryan Samuel’s leadership experiences and extensive professional qualifications give him the tools he will need to effectively lead Kansas State University toward greater diversity and inclusion,” said President Richard…