WICHITA, Kan. — The largest school district in Kansas will not require students and staff to wear masks indoors despite the threat posed by COVID-19’s more contagious delta variant. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Wichita school board instead decided to strongly recommend that students and staff wear masks whether or not they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 but to require visitors to wear masks inside. The board’s vote for that policy Monday night was 4-3. The district’s students are returning to classes this week. Kansas has seen new COVID-19 cases rise steadily over the past seven weeks as the delta…
Author: KMAN Staff
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sheriff’s officials along the southeastern border of Kansas say a 2-year-old there has died, likely from excessive heat. The Cowley County Sheriff’s Office says deputies and medics were called just after 6 p.m. Tuesday to a home in the southern part of the county for reports of an unresponsive child. First responders could not revive the child. Sheriff David Falletti says early indications show the toddler died due to heat. Officials have not released details of how the child or where the child was found, but Falletti says no foul play is suspected. Most of Kansas…
Officers filed a report for criminal use of a financial card in Manhattan on August 10, 2021, around 1:15 p.m. Officers listed a 70-year-old male as the victim when it was reported a 16-year-old male used a financial card to remove money from a bank account. The estimated total loss associated with this case is approximately $540.
On Wednesday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with Wamego Interim Superintendent Greg Mann, Rock Creek Superintendent Kevin Logan with Pottawatomie County Schools . We also spoke with Governor Laura Kelly.
Former Pottawatomie County commissioner Stan Hartwich died suddenly Aug. 6 at the age of 65. Hartwich served 12 years on the commission in District 3, winning his initial election to the board through a write-in campaign. The longtime businessman owned and operated his own construction company and farmed and ranched in the area for many years. Hartwich was a 1973 graduate of Onaga High School and was a member of the undefeated Onaga football team. He was later inducted into the Onaga High School athletics hall of fame. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Mt. Calvary…
Housing-study representation The Pottawatomie County Commission has requested representation on a Manhattan housing study steering committee. The discussion came up during Manhattan city manager Ron Fehr’s monthly update to the Pott County Commission. Fehr described during the discussion what exactly will be looked at during the study. The request for representation came after Commissioner Pat Weixelman commented about how Pott County has provided “medium-ranged houses” to local residents for a number of years, to which Fehr was in agreement. The Manhattan City Commission will further discuss the housing study at its next legislative session on August 17. Motor-grader fleet The Pottawatomie County…
Hot and humid weather can spark disease outbreaks on ornamental and garden vegetable plants. Riley County Extension Horticulture Agent Gregg Eyestone says fungicide treatments can only do so much. Eyestone goes on to emphasize the importance of letting the plants dry out after a bout of moisture as a preventative measure against disease. Fungicides are used as a preventative measure not as a curative one, and Eyestone says other practices are necessary in order to keep your plants healthy. The rose and peonies flowers are some of the most affected plants during this time of the year, as well as…
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A 31-year-old Kansas City man has pleaded guilty in a crash in Kansas that killed an Illinois man. Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said Anthony Dorsey pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Nathan Pena, of Brookfield, Illinois. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the crash occurred on Interstate 70 in Leavenworth County in September 2019 when Dorsey was fleeing troopers over an alleged vehicle registration violation. The patrol says Pena was driving another vehicle and both men swerved to avoid a collision but their vehicles crashed. Dorsey faces up to 49 years in…
JOHNSON CITY, Kan. — Authorities are trying to determine what caused a house explosion in southwest Kansas that killed a woman and left a man injured. Stanton County Sheriff Jason Stewart said the explosion and fire were reported Saturday morning in Johnson City. First responders found the woman dead at the scene. A man at the home was taken to a Wichita hospital and was in stable condition on Monday. Stewart said fire investigators had not determined the cause of the explosion as of Monday. No names have been released.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas is seeing COVID-19 vaccinations rise while the more contagious delta variant is increasing new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. State data showed that Kansas averaged 1,080 new COVID-19 cases a day for the seven days ending Monday. It was the first time the average topped 1,000 since Feb. 2. Kansas averaged 30 new hospitalizations and eight new deaths a day for the same seven days. Hospitalizations dropped below 10 per day in mid-June. The latest average for deaths was the highest in five months. But federal data showed Kansas averaged 6,330 vaccine shots a day for the…