On Friday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with Riley County Police Department Director Dennis Butler. We also previewed the Pott County Fair with 4H Ambassadors Tyree Figge, Kiersten Blankley, and Hayes Rickstrew. 4H agent Daniel Skucius also joined us.
Author: KMAN Staff
Ernie Minton, Kansas State University College of Agriculture dean, is encouraging the federal government to make investing in agricultural research facilities part of its ongoing infrastructure spending discussions. According to Minton, an Association of Public and Land-grant Universities report shows that 69 percent of agriculture-research buildings at land grant universities are 25 years of age or older, with many having been built between the 1950s and 1980s. The same report shows that $11.5 billion worth of renovations and repairs and an additional $550 million in annual repairs are needed at the 97 institutions that were studied. Despite the large dollar…
No changes have been made to the draft COVID reopening plan for Manhattan-Ogden Schools. Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade informed the board Wednesday that they still plan on opening the schools without mask or vaccination requirements. COVID positive rates have continued to rise in the county over the past couple of months. Wade said the administration would be reviewing the plan again before the end of the week to go over the all aspects of the district. Wade says while they were hoping to not have conversations about vaccines and masks, the district is still in a better place now than…
WICHITA, Kan. — Spirit AeroSystems says it plans to hire more than 4,600 workers in Wichita by 2024 and expand its manufacturing plant in south Wichita. It’s a turnaround for the aviation company, which lost more than 5,000 jobs after the 737 Max was grounded and because of the coronavirus pandemic. The City Council received the company’s hiring forecast on Tuesday. Spirit ended 2019 with more than 13,200 employees in Wichita, which dropped to about 8,000 by the end of 2020. The company said it plans to have 12,619 employees in Wichita by 2024.
TOPEKA, Kan. — A 34-year-old Washington County man has been convicted in the deaths of a woman and her cousin in Topeka. Richard Showalter, of Greenleaf, was convicted Tuesday for his role in the beating and stabbing deaths of 28-year-old Lisa Sportsman and her 17-year-old cousin, Jesse Polinskey in July 2018. Showalter was the third man convicted in the case. Lisa Sportsman was the estranged wife of 43-year-old Bradley Sportsman, of Hollenberg, who pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to almost 46 years in prison. The third suspect, 22-year-old Matthew Hutto, of Clay…
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita police have identified a 28-year-old man who died in a crash near Park City while he was fleeing from officers. Police say Gabriel Christian Seim was behind the wheel of a small sport utility vehicle that sped away from a traffic stop and collided with a pickup truck. The truck driver suffered injuries that are not considered life threatening. Police spokesman Charley Davidson says that before the traffic stop, officers had received a report of Seim selling drugs while armed. Police who spotted Seim’s vehicle pulled him over and say he sped away when officers ordered…
Officers filed a report for aggravated battery in Ogden on July 21, 2021, around 4:47 a.m. Officers listed a 50-year-old female as the victim when it was reported a 52-year-old male suspect physically injured her. The victim was transported to Via Christi for treatment of minor injuries. William Welsey Flesher Jr., 52, of Ogden was arrested in connection for aggravated battery. Flesher was issued a total bond of $10,000 and is no longer confined at the time of this report. Officers filed a report for aggravated burglary in the 2800 block of St. Matthew Cir. in Manhattan on July 21,…
On Thursday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with K-State Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy Director Dr. Tim Shaffer. We also spoke with Pawnee Mental Health Services Executive Director Robbin Cole.
Riley County emergency services personnel came together Wednesday for a joint training exercise at Manhattan Catholic Schools. The event was part of a three-day event during which staff from the Manhattan Fire Department, Riley County Police Department, Riley County EMS and other law enforcement partners, such as the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office. ran through active violence simulations, such as school shootings. Manhattan Fire Department battalion chief Mark Whitehair says the simulations are based on past real-life crises. The training itself is made to be as realistic as possible. RCPD lieutenant Tim Schuck says the scenarios use alarms, simulated gun fire…
After new information from the Centers for Disease Control labeled Riley County an emerging hotspot for COVID-19 cases, officials with the Health Department addressed their concerns while making the pitch for those unvaccinated to change that. In the past week, more than 60 new cases have been identified, bringing the total number of active cases to 108. Nine patients are being treated for the virus at Ascension Via Christi, one of whom is in the ICU. Riley County Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says the top issue being identified in surveys of those who are unvaccinated is that there is…