The Wamego City Commission heard annual reports. At Tuesday’s meeting, Airport Board member Robert Riat went over the completed enhancements to the Wamego Airport. Riat said two new T-Hangers were built, and a new more efficient beacon light was installed, with the labor done by volunteers. He added the board is working to make the airport something the City of Wamego can be proud of. Riat said the goals include the construction of additional T-Hangers and converting the outdated fuel pumps to credit card pumps. Commissioner Bill Ditto said the Airport is a good example of private/public cooperation. Housing Authority…
Author: KMAN Staff
The Wamego City Commission gets an overview of proposed security enhancements to City Hall. At Tuesday’s meeting, Architect Bruce McMillan and Associate Jenna Williamson presented the proposed plans for making City Hall a secure building. The plan proposed all doors be secured with a control button to allow entry, and building a wall with bullet resistant windows over the existing counters, including the ADA counter. The project is estimated to cost around $60,000. The Commission decided to study the proposal and hold a special work session with McMillan on March 29th at 5 p.m. In other business, Kansas Sampler Committee…
Kansas State University will likely be impacted by Tuesday’s announcement that Gov. Sam Brownback has issued a 3 percent callback in state general funds for all state universities totaling $17 million because of shortfalls in February state revenues. The Kansas Board of Regents will have the opportunity to decide how to allocate the allotment among the state universities. If the 3 percent callback is shared equally by the universities, it translates into a total reduction of about $4.9 million — a 1.5 percent reduction from the fiscal year 2016 current general use budget for Kansas State University. This will be in addition to the…
The results are in! Manhattan City Commissioners received the results of a city-wide survey Tuesday night. 2000 city residents received the survey at random, polling them on their views of things like city government and maintenance. According to a presentation by Assistant City Manager Kiel Mangus and K-State consultant, Dr. Josephine Schafer, results were mostly favorable. Of the 457 completed surveys returned for review, most approved of the job City Administrators are doing. More than 90% of respondents say they feel safe in Manhattan neighborhoods and are satisfied with the quality of life in the Little Apple. City Commissioners weighed…
The City of Manhattan held an open house Tuesday for its newly completed addition, which now houses the Parks and Recreation Department. The department was previously housed in a converted shop in City Park. It was supposed to be a temporary location; but over 30 years passed and Parks and Rec started to feel the impact of a deteriorating facility. “We had 15 people in the building and we had 1 unisex bathroom that had to be shared by everybody,” said Parks and Recreation Director, Eddie Eastes, “so to be able to get our staff in proper accommodations is very important.” As the pressure mounted…
TOPEKA — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has cut higher education spending by $17 million in response to a shortfall in tax collections for February. Brownback announced Tuesday that he ordered a 3 percent cut in the higher education system’s allocation of state tax dollars under this fiscal year’s budget. The Board of Regents and state universities will have to make the adjustments over the next four months. The governor acted after the Department of Revenue reported that the state collected $54 million less in taxes than anticipated in February. The state must now act to prevent a deficit on June 30. Brownback’s…
TOPEKA — Kansas is reporting that it collected $54 million less in taxes than anticipated in February, and the shortfall creates new budget complications. The report Tuesday from the state Department of Revenue came only two weeks after the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a bill to eliminate a projected budget deficit of nearly $200 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. But the state now must act again to avoid a deficit on June 30, before the new fiscal year begins. The department said the state collected $303 million in taxes last month instead of the $357 million projected in a November…
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A group that publishes the Emporia newspaper once edited by late journalism icon William Allen White has bought two family-owned newspapers and a weekly in Kansas. John Montgomery says he plans to retire and has sold the Junction City Daily Union, Abilene Reflector-Chronicle and the weekly Wamego Smoke Signal to Chris Walker’s White Corp. The deal took effect Tuesday. Though financial terms were not disclosed, Montgomery said he plans to keep a Daily Union office and remain in an advisory capacity. Seventy-five-year-old Montgomery is a fourth-generation newspaperman in a family that has been in publishing for…
Charleston, S.C. — The Association of Defense Communities (ADC) and the Defense Communities Caucus today designated 10 communities from across the nation as “Great American Defense Communities” for providing unwavering support to service members and military families. The Great American Defense Communities program was launched this year to acknowledge the unique contributions cities, counties and regions that host installations make to improve quality of life for service members, veterans and their families. This inaugural class of communities was selected by a panel of defense community advocates and experts from dozens of nominees based on the broad range of efforts…
A Fort Riley soldier was identified as the victim in a collision on I-70 in Topeka that happened Monday. Coral Lynn Clark, 24, was killed in the wreck. She was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist. “The officers, NCOs and enlisted members of the 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Pfc. Coral Lynn Clark,” said Lt. Col. Clint E. Tracy, the brigade’s rear provisional commander. Tracy continued, “Coral was a model soldier and an inspiration to her peers and superiors alike through her work ethic and her singing.” Clark joined the…