The Riley County commission officially adopted its 2018 budget Thursday. The vote was 3-0. The county mill levy was set at 38.881 — a .043-mill decrease from 2017. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 in assessed, taxable property value. The county’s total budget for 2018 will be just short of $59 million. The 2017 budget totaled $50 million, but county officials say revenues are higher for 2018 and that the value of the mill also increased. Because of that, an increase of the mill levy wasn’t necessary. Commissioners praised area agencies for keeping requests flat for 2018, and…
Author: KMAN Staff
Today’s guest on In Focus was Riley County Commission Chair Ron Wells.
TOPEKA — Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy have announced a revamped plan to merge after Kansas regulators scuttled an earlier deal. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the deal announced Monday morning would form a utility with a combined equity value of about $14 billion. The move comes after the Kansas Corporation Commission denied the $12.2 billion sale of Topeka-based Westar to Kansas City, Missouri-based Great Plains Energy in late April. Regulators cited concerns about a high price, the capital structure, merger savings and Kansas job retention, among other issues. Under the new deal, each share of Westar Energy could…
Today’s guests were Clinical Associate Professor Sue Nelson of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Manhattan Mayor Usha Reddi and City Manager Ron Fehr. Sue Nelson: Mayor Usha Reddi and City Manager Ron Fehr:
Today’s show featured Riley County Extension Health, Nutrition, and Food Safety Agent Ginny Barnard, Manhattan Building Official Brad Claussen and others, and Cheryl Richt and Dr. Amy Rosine with K-State School of Music, Theatre and Dance-Flint Hills Vocal Academy. Ginny Barnard: Brad Claussen and others: Cheryl Richt and Dr. Amy Rosine:
Pottawatomie County is grappling with what to do with its courthouse and hopes to chart a course within a year. County officials hosted a crowd of nearly 100 people in Westmoreland Thursday night to tour the courthouse — the second oldest one in the state — and hear what may be next for it. Peter Clark, the public works director for the county, told KMAN Thursday one of those options would be to raze the structure and start over with a new building. Clark said Clint Hibbs of BG Consultants shared a completed financial study on the options of razing the…
PALCO — There was standing room only as Senator Jerry Moran held a town hall meeting in Palco Thursday. Palco has fewer than 300 residents and is about 212 miles northwest of Wichita. Moran’s event was his first scheduled town hall meeting during the July Fourth congressional break and came after he said he opposed a bill overhauling health care drafted by top Senate Republicans. A Moran town hall in June in the Kansas City area sometimes grew rowdy. Critics of the Senate GOP plan were promising to transport people to Thursday’s event. Medicaid, Medicare, the cost of prescription drugs,…
WICHITA — A Georgia man pleaded guilty in a fraud scheme that cost Sedgwick County more than $566,000. U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said in a statement Thursday that 49-year-old George James, of Brookhaven, Georgia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. James said someone called only A.H., asked to deposit some money into James’ account. In October, Sedgwick County received an email from someone claiming to be from Cornejo and Sons asking the county to send payments to a new bank account. The county sent about $566,000 to his James’ account in Georgia before realizing that Cornejo didn’t request the account change.…
Officers filed a report for sexual battery in Riley County on July 7, 2017. Officers listed a 16 year old female as the victim when she reported that a 40 year old male known to her had touched her inappropriately over the past several months. Due to the nature of the crimes alleged, no additional information regarding this case will be released. Officers responded to the 300 block of Fort Riley Blvd. on July 6, 2017 at approximately 1:30 PM for a report of an aggravated assault. Officers listed Hai Dinh, 27, of Manhattan, as the victim when he reported…
WICHITA — Nearly a week after apologizing to a federal magistrate court for an admitted mistake, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has now appealed to a federal district judge a $1,000 fine levied against him for misleading the court. His court filing late Wednesday evening came hours after U.S. Magistrate Judge James O’Hara refused to reconsider the fine and an order requiring him to submit to a deposition by the American Civil Liberties Union. The judge had fined the Kansas Republican for misrepresenting the contents of documents he took into a November meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump and…