John T. Booker Jr., 21, of Topeka, Kansas, pleaded guilty to attempting to detonate a vehicle bomb on the Fort Riley military base near Manhattan. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom of the District of Kansas and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin made the announcement. Booker pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia of the District of Kansas to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of attempted destruction of government property by fire or explosion. Sentencing will be set for a later date. The parties have stipulated to a…
Author: KMAN Staff
The former branch manager of a bank in Manhattan was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in federal prison for embezzlement, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom adds in addition, she was ordered to pay $277,000 in restitution. Melissa Vinsonhaler, 34, Manhattan, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a bank. In her plea, she admitted the crime occurred while she was branch manager of KS State Bank on East Highway 24 in Manhattan. She embezzled $277,000 from the bank and made false entries in the bank’s ledger to cover up the crime.
Westar Energy is urging customers to be on alert. The company says imposters claiming to work for the company, were reported in the area on Wednesday. According to a press release issued, Jeff Beasley, company vice president says “The caller creates a sense of panic by saying that electric service will be cut off if payment isn’t made within a short time.” If a customer receives a call thought to be part of the scam, he or she is encouraged to contact Westar and report it to the Kansas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Office at InYourCornerKansas.org.
Police in Riley County arrested Anthony Hernandez, 26, of Manhattan while at the Riley County Police Department on February 2, 2016 at approximately 9:10 AM. Hernandez was arrested on a warrant for extradition of an imprisoned person that originated in Harris County, Texas. There was “no bond” associated with this warrant. Marquis McGraw, 32, of St. George, Kansas was arrested on February 2, 2016 at approximately 11:10 AM while at the Riley County Police Department. McGraw was arrested on a warrant for the offense of aggravated battery which originated in Dickinson County, Kansas. He was given a bond of $10,000.00…
A Topeka woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said. Tiara Jade Newman, 22, Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. In her plea, she admitted that on March 21, 2015, she and her husband, co-defendant Reginald Newman, 29, Topeka, Kan., took a 17-year-old girl from Topeka to Junction City, Kan., for the purpose of prostitution. The Newmans rented two rooms at a Value Place motel in Junction City. The rooms — one room for performing commercial sex acts and the other where the three slept…
Fire at the the Ogden Best Gun Range caused an estimated $25,000 damage Tuesday night. The fire was reported in a storage room. According to Riley County Fire Chief Pat Collins, the Gun range just had smoke damage. Ogden,Tattarax and Keats stations from Riley County Fire responded. Manhattan and Ft. Riley fire units assisted with mutual aid, with 32 firefighters total. The state fire marshal has been called in in to assist with the fire cause and origin. The original call was at 6:14 p.m. with Ogden firefighters on the scene at 6:22. Barry Arp is the owner.
Manhattan City Commissioners are moving forward with yet another rezone in the city and progress is being made on an engineering on-call services list. 2600 Eureka Terrace was the most recent lot discussed by commissioners and Assistant Director for Planning, Eric Cattell during Tuesday night’s City Commission meeting. The commission approved the first reading of an ordiance to rezone the area from a Light Industrial District with Airport Overlay, to a Heavy Commercial District with Airport Overlay. Commissioners first considered the rezone back at the beginning of January. Director of Public Works, Robert Ott requested authorization to advertise a request…
The Kanas Department of Transportation is urging travelers to stay away from the central and western portion of the state, a news release received by KMAN early Tuesday afternoon says. KDOT said westbound I-70 is closed from Salina to the Colorado border and eastbound I-70 is closed from Hays to the Colorado border. Numerous other highways in northwestern Kansas are also closed, or have recently been closed, including stretches of U.S. 36, U.S. 40, U.S. 27, U.S. 83, K-9, K-161, K-117 and K-25. Several highways in southwest Kansas are snow packed and icy. “There is little to no visibility on…
Sales tax numbers were down in January in Manhattan. The latest report from the office of state treasurer Ron Estes shows the Little Apple took in $888,302 in sales tax revenue, compared to $928,134 in January 2015. December sales tax revenue took in $931,578 for Manhattan. Bernie Hayen, the City of Manhattan’s director of finance, said in an email with the report that most retail sectors were part of the decline. Still, retail trade accounted for 64.3 percent of January’s receipts — or $552,002. Accommodation and food services were the next biggest revenue generator and brought in $111,350 for the…
HAYS — A winter storm has dumped up to 8 inches of snow across part of western Kansas and made some roads impassable. The Kansas Department of Transportation is reporting that sections of Interstate 70, U.S. 40, U.S. 36 and Kansas 27 were closed Tuesday near the Colorado border. The agency says many roads in northwest Kansas are packed with snow and icy. National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Husted says 6 to 8 inches of snow has been reported across a large swath of northwest Kansas. Snow is expected to continue falling through the afternoon, with 2 to 6 more inches possible.…