The Kansas Supreme Court has reappointed Judge Meryl D. Wilson to a two-year term as chief judge of the 21st judicial district. Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss announced the news through a press release from the court. Wilson’s term is effective Feb. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2017. Wilson has served as district judge in the 21st judicial district since April 1997. He presides over cases in Clay and Riley counties. “We are glad that Judge Wilson agreed to serve another two years as chief judge, providing continuity in capable leadership in the 21st judicial district,” said Nuss. “It is my honor to…
Author: KMAN Staff
19-year-old Shawn Crowder was sitting at home watching TV, when he came across a televised meeting of the Manhattan City Commission. The topic? Protections against the discrimination of LGBT individuals. Crowder left his home at 10 p.m., determined to share his plea for help with local leaders. With several states around the nation considering bills said to encourage discrimination, the young gay man who hopes to one day become a politician simply told commissioners, “Please let us have our rights.” His sentiment followed a tale of teenage discrimination that forced him to drop out of high school. Like the teen’s,…
Firefighters responded to the scene of a house fire Thursday morning. The Riley County Fire Department said crews from the Keats station arrived to smoke billowing from the attic of an unoccupied home at 3090 Keats ave. Additional crews arrived on the scene and a living room ceiling was opened to expose and extinguish the flames. Total damages are believed to be under $10,000.00.
Today’s guests on In Focus included Executive Director of the Governor’s Military Council John Armbrust, and Riley County Farm Bureau advocates Mary Mertz and Melissa Wahl.
Officers with the Riley County Police Department arrested Danielle Jones, 37, of Junction City, while in the 400 block of Holiday Drive in Manhattan on several warrants for failure to appear. These five warrants originated in Geary County and were served on Wednesday at approximately 6:20 p.m. Jones was given a total bond of $215,000 and at the time of this report was no longer located at the Riley County Jail.
Members of the USD 383 Board of Education were left scratching their head after hearing a report about a new House bill which could replace block grant funding. Director of Business and Accounting Lew Faust spent more than 30 minutes briefing Wednesday nights audience about recent legislative actions, including moves legislators to secure funding and appease the Supreme Court’s orders. According to Faust, the state is hoping to meet the court order by securing funds through the extraordinary needs fund, which is money that is already allotted to schools. Faust also spoke about HB 2741, which drew remarks from board…
Destructive fires that saw the close of Tuttle Creek Boulevard Tuesday, were ignited by workers at the K-State Beef Stocker Unit. As reported by the Manhattan Mercury, Riley County emergency management director Pat Collins revealed the news Wednesday afternoon – saying a “torch or a welder” ignited the blaze while a fence was being built. As previously reported by KMAN, approximately 100-150 residents of a mobile homepark were assisted in leaving their homes as a result of the fire. According to Collins, one home was lost as crews battled the flames.
WICHITA — The man convicted of killing abortion provider George Tiller is in a Kansas court for arguments over resentencing issues. Scott Roeder’s life sentence with no chance of parole for 50 years was among many vacated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that juries, not judges, must decide whether aggravating circumstances existed to warrant increasing the punishment above mandatory minimum sentences. Wednesday’s hearing is expected to take up a number of routine issues, such as jury questionnaires, aggravating factors and other motions. Roeder was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Tiller, who was shot in a church…
CHENEY — A volunteer Kansas firefighter has been hospitalized after he collapsed while working to extinguish a weekend grass fire. The Cheney Volunteer Fire Department says the 48-year-old firefighter became unresponsive Sunday afternoon while he was operating a water truck used to battle the blaze. Cheney Fire Chief Brad Ewy told KAKE-TV the firefighter suffered a brain bleed. The man’s name hasn’t been released. He’s been in critical condition at a Wichita hospital. Ewy says he’s been a volunteer firefighter and EMT for seven years and that a fund has been set up to help the firefighter and his family.
WICHITA — Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is moving forward with a policy change that would make it harder for transgender people to change their gender on their birth certificates. The Wichita Eagle reports that under current regulations, one can change the gender listed on his or her birth certificate by showing medical paperwork that indicates an anatomical or physiological change occurred. The governor’s administration has proposed changing the regulations so that the gender on a person’s birth certificate can only be changed if the person signs an affidavit saying the gender was incorrectly recorded on the original certificate and also provides medical…