Local governmental groups Thursday seemed to agree on how to word the sales tax question on the August ballot, although work remains on the matter, especially for the city of Manhattan. Manhattan City Commissioner Wynn Butler indicated he sees no alternative but to support the sales tax, with the possibility of easing property taxes. Riley County Commission Chair Karen McCulloh reiterated the county’s portion of the tax would continue to be used on roads and bridges, but also mentioned money going to some of the smaller cities in the county. While the two local governmental groups seemed agreeable Thursday, one group…
Author: KMAN Staff
Unemployment numbers for September have been released, with the city of Manhattan showing a 4.4 percent rate. That’s down from August’s 4.9 percent rate and last year’s 4.8 percent. Manhattan’s was the second lowest one of 16 listed in the Kansas Department of Labor numbers. Only Leawood was lower, with a 4.3 percent figure. The Manhattan metropolitan area also fared well, with 5.4 percent, compared to six percent the month before and 5.6 last year. The metro area includes Riley, Pottawatomie, and Geary counties. That was the lowest in terms of metro-areas, with Lawrence/Douglas county the closest, having a 5.9 percent…
Riley County Police have released this sketch of the man they suspect was involved in the weekend shooting of a Fort Riley soldier in Ogden. Investigators say 28-year-old Army Sgt. Ronald Evans Taylor was found dead late Friday after crashing his car into a house Ogden. The two-tour veteran of Iraq had been shot, but authorities have not said where the shooting occurred or how many times Taylor was hit. The shooting occurred a few blocks from Taylor’s off-post home in Ogden. Riley County Police are not commenting on whether he might have known the killer. They’re also not talking…
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) A northeastern Kansas man has been sentenced to life in prison for molesting an 8-year-old girl. The Kansas City Star reports that 43-year-old David D. Brewer, of Olathe (oh-LAY’-thuh), was sentenced Wednesday in Johnson County District Court. The sentence includes a chance for parole after 25 years. Brewer was accused of molesting the girl in October 2007, and pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent liberties. Prosecutors dropped charges involving two other children as part of the plea agreement.
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) A traffic stop in northeastern Kansas yielded a big payoff. Geary County Undersheriff Tony Wolf tells WIBW-TV that a deputy stopped a car for speeding in a construction zone Wednesday morning on Interstate 70. The deputy thought the car was suspicious and brought in a K-9 drug-detecting unit, which led to a search of the vehicle. No drugs were found, but Wolf says deputies discovered nearly $180,000 in cash inside a duffel bag. The car was traveling from Columbia, Mo., to somewhere in Colorado. Geary County authorities released the driver but seized the cash. Wolf says…
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) The national debt will be the focus of a town hall forum next week at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene. The program takes place Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium. After an opening presentation, participants will meet in small groups to discuss possible approaches to solving the debt problem. A similar event will be held earlier in the day for students at Abilene High School. Suggestions from both gatherings will be sent to Washington for consideration by federal decision makers at a meeting next spring.
WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) A southern Kansas woman who bought a winning $10,000 Kansas lottery ticket a year ago has hit the jackpot again, on the same date at the same small-town convenience store. Billy Joe Knox of South Haven scratched off a $10,000 winner Oct. 13 at the Casey’s General Store in Wellington, where on Oct. 13, 2010, she had done the same thing. The Wichita Eagle reports Knox is a deputy clerk in Sumner County District Court, and her husband, Willie, farms and works for the county’s road and bridge department. She says the couple are frugal and probably…
BELLEVILLE, Kan. (AP) A 2-year-old Belleville boy has died after being run over by a payloader tractor near Scandia in north-central Kansas. The Salina Journal reports Cayden Michael Dunstan was with his father, who was strapping down large hay bales that had been loaded onto a semitrailer. The Republic County Sheriff’s Office says the tractor was being backed away from the trailer when Cayden ran into its path and was run over just after 7 p.m. Saturday. Cayden’s parents took him to a hospital in Belleville, where he died as a LifeWatch helicopter waited to fly him to a hospital…
MULVANE, Kan. (AP) The first slot machines have started arriving at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane as the state-owned facility gets closer to its anticipated January opening. The Wichita Eagle reports the casino will receive 1,310 of the machines, which will arrive in truckloads of 50 to 70 this week. The slot machines were under heavy surveillance Wednesday as they arrived at the casino, which is still under construction. General manager Scott Cooper says cameras will monitor installation and remain focused on the machines around the clock to make sure nobody tampers with them. A spokesman for Peninsula Gaming,…