TOPEKA — State officials in Kansas are insisting that eliminated and delayed payments to a pension fund for teachers and other government workers won’t affect retirees. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that officials with the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System assured retirees’ financial safety to a legislative oversight committee on Monday. The message is part of the retirement system’s annual report to the Legislature about the actuarial value of the pension fund and the estimated difference between its current assets and long-term obligations. KPERS is a pension system that manages retirement accounts of more than 300,000 members, including state employees. The…
Author: KMAN Staff
Wednesday’s guest was former Kansas Gov. John Carlin of Manhattan.
A $40-plus million road and pedestrian improvement project is moving closer to construction. The North Campus Corridor project will bring significant changes to sections of Kimball, North Manhattan, College and Denison Avenues. If planning and funding continues to move forward as expected, the project could get started with a bang as early as next summer. The commission discussed funding strategies, Tuesday, which utilize a mix of city funds, KDOT and TIGER grants, STAR Bonds and help from Kansas State University. The commission also discussed timelines and strategies for utilization of the quarter-cent sales tax voters approved this past election. The…
Updated Wednesday morning: After almost a year since its reopening, The Hut: Bayou Bar & Grille (formerly known as Hibachi Hut) on Poyntz Ave is closing its doors this Saturday evening. Bud and Bobby Cox and business partner Dave Dreiling would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the loyal Hut guests for coming with them on this journey in downtown Manhattan. “We gave it our best shot,” said Bud Cox, owner. “We hoped that bringing back some of the Cajun and Creole recipes from the original Hibachi Hut in Aggieville would help bring The Hut back to its…
A federal appeals court has refused to hear the appeal of a Topeka man who tried to set off what he thought was a bomb at Fort Riley in 2015 to support the Islamic State, according to a report by the Associated Press. A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed on Tuesday the appeal filed by John T. Booker, Jr., challenging some conditions of his supervised release. It ruled the Booker had waived his appeal rights in his plea deal. Booker was sentenced in July to 30 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised…
Mary Vanier of Manhattan has given a gift of $1 million to Kansas State University to create at least 30 matching gift scholarships as part of the K-State Family Scholarship Program, K-State Today announced Tuesday. This program is an initiative of the KSU Foundation to increase scholarship dollars to help K-State attract and retain students and to inspire new donors to invest in student success. The Mary L. Vanier K-State Family Scholarship will be used to match at least 30 new gifts for scholarships. New gifts of $30,000 will be matched with $30,000 from Vanier’s gift. $10,000 will go into…
LENEXA — Investigators are trying to determine why a Kansas man entered a suburban Kansas City Costco with a handgun and began screaming, prompting an off-duty police officer to fatally shoot him. Police identified the man shot to death Sunday at a Costco in Lenexa as 58-year-old Ronald Hunt, of Edwardsville. Witnesses and police said he was yelling and threatening customers when Kansas City, Kansas, police captain Michael Howell shot him while customers and employees fled. Howell, who was shopping at the time, has 22 years of law enforcement experience. The police department said Monday Howell fired his weapon after…
Today’s guests on In Focus were Pottawatomie County Commissioner Dee McKee and K-State’s Biosecurity Research Institute Director Dr.Stephen Higgs.
Riley County commissioners Monday morning approved 2-0 the installation of a streetlight at the intersection of College Avenue and Marlatt Avenue north of Manhattan. One commissioner, Marvin Rodriguez, was absent. County Public Works Director Leon Hobson said a recent article in the newspaper concerning the intersection led officials to give it a look. “I don’t know if you did see in the paper, but there was a question as to why there wasn’t one at this intersection when there was one at Browning and a couple over at Denision,” Hobson told commissioners. “So following that article, we did go out…
The arraignment for a Manhattan man who has been charged for leaving the scene of a hit-and-run in April has been continued to Dec. 4 at 9 a.m., according to Senior Deputy County Attorney Barry Disney on Monday. The arraignment for Nicholas Blaha was originally scheduled for this week inside the Riley County District Court. Blaha had his preliminary hearing on Nov. 14. Blaha, who is also being charged for aggravated battery, was named a suspect in May after 21-year-old Amber Wilhelm suffered serious injuries after being hit by a pickup while crossing Bluemont Avenue in Manhattan from 12th Street on foot…