HAYS, Kan. (AP) NEW Corp. says it will close its calling center in Hays March 31. The company made the announcement Tuesday to 280 employees in Hays. The Hays Daily News reports NEW Corp. is the fifth-largest employer in Ellis County. It received significant incentives from the city of Hays, Ellis County and private investors when it opened in 2004. NEW Corp official Terri Feely says the plant is closing because the company could not find enough qualified workers. He says NEW Corp. never reached its goal of having 450 employees and could not keep the plant running at full…
Author: KMAN Staff
With the increase in stolen vehicles this past year in Riley County, Riley County police are considering options that would aid recovery efforts in such instances. RCPD Captain Tim Hegarty told county commissioners Monday the department is scheduled to have a demo vehicle in April that will have a mobile license plate reader. This is a camera mounted on the front of a police vehicle. That vehicle would then drive around town and through parking lots, taking pictures of license plates, notifying officers is a particular vehicle is stolen or not. “What this system also allows us to do is connect…
Manhattan City Staff presented commissioners Tuesday night with a look at revenues for this past year in advance of the 2013 budget process to begin later this spring. Bernie Hayen, Director of Finance, and Pamela Jager, budget officer, informed the commission $18.9 million dollars was levied in property taxes for the 2012 City Budget. Of that, $4.3 million will be used for the funding of City Operations, including debt service. Outside city services, those not under the control of City Manager Ron Fehr, will receive $14.5 million. “You’ve seen my own personal property taxes for the last 11 years,” Hayen…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas Senate committee is preparing to vote on a bill that would redraw the state’s U.S. House districts to reflect population changes over the past decade, with a possible direct imipact on Manhattan. The bill on the Reapportionment Committee’s agenda Wednesday contains a plan from Chairman Tim Owens, an Overland Park Republican. That plan moves the northeast Kansas community of Manhattan into the 1st Congressional District of western and central Kansas, something local officials oppose. It also puts all of Lawrence in the 2nd District of eastern Kansas, rather than splitting it between the 2nd and…
An Ogden woman has waived a preliminary hearing that was set for Tuesday afternoon, in connection with attempted second degree murder charges. Elizabeth Heaven, 29, is set for an arraignment and plea on Feb. 6 in Riley County District Court. Heaven was taken into custody in early July 2011 following a domestic dispute at an Ogden residence and subsequent injury accident. Heaven’s charges include two counts of attempted second degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, and various traffic violations.
The Social Service funding issue is still a hot one, and Tuesday night’s Manhattan City Commission work session tried to alleviate the issue a bit with a discussion on options that could be used to take some strain off of the City’s social service funding. The Commissioners chose to pursue three of the discussed options: a city credit card program, a voluntary purchasing card program for city vendors, and voluntary donations on utility bills. “What I like about this, to me it’s a positive way of approaching (funding social services),” Commissioner Wynn Butler said. “No one ever said ‘let’s dump…
Riley County Police indicated K-18 was being re-opened to traffic shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, after about an hour of closure due to a gas line leak. A spokeswoman indicated the problem had been resolved. The gas leak has forced the closure of a stretch of K-18 from Seth Child to Scenic Drive, impacting both east and westbound lanes, shortly before noon. According to Riley County Police Captain Kurt Moldrup the leak occurred in an eight inch line located 200 yards north of Stagg Hill. In addition to vehicular traffic being impacted, Riley county Police dispatchers indicated flights at Manhattan…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas legislator is trying to give the dog breed that played Toto in “The Wizard of Oz” a leg up by making it a state symbol. Rep. Ed Trimmer’s bill would designate the Cairn Terrier the official dog of the state which also has an official tree and grass. Brenda Moore of Augusta, who works with the South Central Kansas Kennel Club, says the breed was chosen because of its role in the movie, and to avoid conflicts with dog breed owners. Trimmer tells The Wichita Eagle he knows Kansas faces serious issues and expects to…