April is sexual assault awareness month. During the current health pandemic, it is important, now more than ever for victims to report sexual crimes. Community resources are still available 24 hours a day. (See below). Ascension Via Christi sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Stephanie Killbourn recently joined KMAN’s In Focus with some information on how many victims typically seek services. “One to four cases come in each month and in that you also have to remember Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes at only 68 percent”, said Killbourn. RCPD Victim Advocate Coordinator Melissa Mosher who was also…
Author: KMAN Staff
Julie Gibbs, Director, Riley County Health Department
Manhattan’s Downtown Farmer’s Market will start on the date originally planned after narrowly securing a permit Tuesday evening. The market will open on April 18 following a 3 to 2 vote via ZOOM by the Manhattan City Commission. Mayor Usha Reddi proposed moving the start date to May or June over concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Reddi says the start date is near when the state and nation will be approaching the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, and that postponing the opening date was endorsed by Riley County Health Department Director Julie Gibbs. She also expressed concern that the…
Dossie Langford, a custodian at West Elementary School in Wamego, has been selected as a top-10 national candidate for the 2020 Cintas Custodian of the Year award. Langford has been the school’s custodian for about 17 years and, in addition to her regular work duties, is credited with setting up decorations, maintaining displays and bulletin boards, making popcorn for the school, running the concession stand at the West Fall Carnival and spending several hours off the clock making the school look nice. Langford says she was not expecting the nomination. She also says the kids she works with are part of what…
Manhattan is moving forward with the creation of its five-year consolidated Community Development Block Grant plan, and will be getting additional federal funding for COVID-19 response. City Commissioners Tuesday via ZOOM discussed priorities for the federal CDBG grants intended to benefit low and moderate income residents and neighborhoods and allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Administration is anticipating funding in the $850,000 range. The CDBG program provides funds for safe and suitable housing projects, improvements to the accessibility of housing as well as community infrastructure and services, and generally promote sustainable and viable communities. Manhattan…
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Officials in one Kansas City suburb have postponed their popular farmer’s market amid concerns about the coronavirus, while another in Wichita is set to open Saturday. Like grocery stores, farmers markets have been described in stay-at-home orders as “essential businesses” that can continue to operate. But city officials in Overland Park, Kansas announced the markets’ postponed opening on Tuesday under pressure from the public. Meanwhile, in Wichita, the Kansas Grown Farmers Market Board decided to proceed with extra safeguards in place.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A woman who ran a Kansas town’s post office was sentenced to probation for stealing gift cards from the mail. Stacy Vasko was sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation for a misdemeanor count of obstructing mail. She was also ordered to pay $200 in restitution. Vasko intially was charged last summer with two counts of mail theft by a postal employee. She was living in Salina and was the only employee in the Brookville post office when the thefts occurred. She was caught after a postal investigator determined Vasko had used a gift card taken from…
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The number dead after a coronavirus outbreak at a Kansas City, Kansas, rehabilitation facility has grown to six with another 50 patients and staff testing positive. Health officials with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County said Wednesday that seven of the sickened residents of Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation are hospitalized. Wyandotte County’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Greiner, blamed the high number of cases on “a confluence of bad circumstances,” including a lag in testing results. KCUR reports that Greiner also said Tuesday that the close interactions required at a rehab facility helped fuel the spread.
Ascension Via Christi hospital is delaying all nonurgent elective procedures until at least May 4. This is an extension of an existing 30-day suspension on elective procedures that was put in place on March 16. Ascension Via Christi President Bob Copple explains why they are implementing an extension. Copple says he hopes other health organizations are doing the same. For more COVID-19 updates from Ascension Via Christi officials, tune in to News Radio KMAN throughout the week at 7 a.m..