Tuesday’s guests on In Focus were Riley County Commission Co-Chair Marvin Rodriguez and Emergency Management Director Pat Collins.
Author: KMAN Staff
Downtown Manhattan denizens and visitors alike now have a new way to get around the district through a new shuttle program. The Green Apple Bike program recently unveiled the Downtown Area Shuttle, also known by the acronym DASH, to provide free rides around downtown. According to posts on the Green Apple Bikes Facebook page and website, the service is a continuation of its vision of increasing personal mobility in the city in addition to reducing traffic in high congestion points. The DASH is a fully-electric, 5-passenger shuttle. According to GAB, it features three point seatbelts as well as high backseats…
LAWRENCE — Recent flooding is delaying plans for a newly legal crop of hemp in Kansas. Rick Gash is a farmer in rural Butler County who operates the Hemp Development Group. He is one of many farmers who hoped to plant hemp seeds this year after the Legislature legalized the crop in 2018 and allowed Kansas farmers to begin harvesting hemp this year. The crop can be farmed only through the state’s research program, which requires a state-issued license. Gash was preparing 80 acres to plant hemp last week but his land was flooded after heavy rains. The Lawrence Journal-World…
WICHITA — Spring fieldwork at farms across much of Kansas has stalled after days of widespread rains and flooding. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that growers had a little more than a day this past week that was suitable for fieldwork. Corn planting in Kansas is behind with just 46% of this season’s crop now seeded. Usually by this late in the spring about 67% of the corn has been planted. Soybean plantings are at 7%, also behind the 16% typically seeded by this time. About 1% of the sorghum and sunflower crops have been planted. The agency…
TOPEKA — The Kansas State Board of Education is concerned enough about e-cigarette use among high school and middle school students that it is reviewing the issue. The 10-member elected board is scheduled to have a presentation on vaping Tuesday, during its regular monthly meeting. The board plans to get a briefing from a Kansas Department of Health and Environment official who oversees efforts to reduce youth tobacco use and a presentation from the Blue Valley school district in Johnson County about its efforts to reduce vaping. The federal Food and Drug Administration says e-cigarette use among high school and…
KANSAS CITY — The Kansas Supreme Court says victims injured by drunken drivers can’t sue the bars that served them. KCUR-FM reports that the high court’s ruling on Friday comes in the case of Jeff Kudlacik, who was placed in a medically induced coma and faced months of rehabilitation following a car accident involving a drunken driver in 2015. The driver who hit Kudlacik, Michael Smith, had a blood alcohol content of nearly 0.18, which is more than twice the legal level of impairment in Kansas. Kudlacik sued the two bars that served Smith before the accident. But the Supreme…
Fort Riley and Kansas State University will partner up to survey long untouched land within the installation. The two organizations signed their first intergovernmental support agreement with one another May 13 in the K-State Alumni Center. Archaeology experts and students from the university will be able to work with the post’s cultural resources archaeologist, providing their expertise while gaining field experience. Fort Riley Garrison Commander Col Stephen Shrader says the partnership with KSU is significant and that they can’t do what they do without the support of the community, including their 101 partner organizations. “Installation Management Command is taking this…
High waters at Tuttle Creek Reservoir have been impressive as of late, rising to over 1,123 feet as of Monday, nearing the second highest level in the lake’s history. As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s seen an uptick in the the use of drones capturing images of the lake and sharing online. The Corps reminds the public that the launching, landing and operation of drones on Corps of Engineers property is prohibited without a permit. They can be obtained at a cost of $75 for a period of three years. The Corps says the permitting…
MANHATTAN — A special flag raising ceremony was held Monday at the Riley County Law Enforcement Center as a remembrance to soldiers missing and those who never returned home. RCPD raised its POW/MIA flag in an effort to raise awareness to educated citizens on what it represents. This coincides also with Riley County becoming the first in the state of Kansas to receive a designation as a POW/MIA county. That was bestowed on the county by the Jefferson Barracks Museum in Missouri. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 82 thousand Americans remain missing from several conflicts including…
Monday’s guests included Dr. Bob Larson from the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine, Director of Animal Services Deb Watkins from T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter and multiple guests from First Christian Church in Manhattan.