Kansas State University has announced the formation of a new team tasked with finding safe ways to provide in-person classes while also complying with health requirements. This comes just two weeks after K-State President Richard Myers announced that the university intends to bring back in-person classes for the fall semester. The Academic Instruction Working Group is made up of K-State staff and faculty and will seek to form an academic instruction model that can maintain health and safety, cater to the needs of both faculty and students and provide a high-quality educational experience while also remaining adaptable to COVID-19 related…
Author: KMAN Staff
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ education commissioner is cautiously optimistic that the state’s 500,000 public school students will be back in their classrooms when the fall semester begins. Commissioner Randy Watson concedes it’s difficult to predict the future as it relates to the coronavirus pandemic. Concerns about spreading the virus prompted schools to go to mostly online learning since mid-March. Watson says the Kansas Department of Education intends to present a reopening guide to school districts by July 10. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Watson acknowledges that if cases surge again, things could change.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas says she was among the few Democrats to vote against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill because it faces a such a small chance of making it through the Republican-controlled Senate. Davids was among just 14 Democrats to vote against the bill on Friday. The Kansas City Star reports that her vote came as a surprise because Davids has repeatedly called for aid to states and cities facing revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would provide $5.2 billion to Kansas over two years and another $5.1…
MISSION, Kan. — A fourth inmate has died of the coronavirus during an outbreak that has sickened hundreds at the state’s largest prison. The Kansas Department of Corrections announced Monday that the Lansing Correctional Facility inmate who died Saturday was over the age of 60 and had underlying medical conditions. His name wasn’t released, but the corrections department said had been imprisoned since 1989 on charges that included aggravated robbery and first-degree murder. The prison near Kansas City has been the hardest hit in the state, with 88 staff members and 750 inmates testing positive. Two of the staff members…
Riley County Historical Museum Director Cheryl Collins was our guest Monday. The topic for the conversation was Outgrown, Outdated or Obsolete: Objects that once were common, that are now uncommon.
The Wamego Hospital Foundation has been gifted a large passenger van with a wheelchair lift to help transport patients. The van is valued at $23,500 and was donated from Diamond Health, operating partner of Heritage Senior Behavioral Health in Wamego. It will be used to transport patients to and from other facilities for non-emergent care. “We recognize the challenges that lack of transportation may pose, especially in rural communities, in obtaining necessary health care. Diamond is honored for the opportunity to provide this donation,” said Trey Steckline, Vice President of Operations for Diamond Health. Prior to the donation, the hospital…
Riley County is retaining an hour of operation limit for restaurants, but removes additional restrictions for child care operators in the local iteration of Kansas’ plan to re-open businesses and public facilities. Local health officials updated the public on the COVID-19 response online Friday, saying the county remains at 12 active cases despite an additional positive test coming in since Wednesday. An additional recovery report brings the local recovery total to 47 individuals out of a cumulative 60 residents who tested positive. Two people under investigation remains hospitalized, and one local person has died from the disease. Read here for…
Despite Gov. Laura Kelly not moving onto to phase two of the reopening plan, Riley County offices will open to the public on Monday. Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says county offices are allowed to reopen Monday, with limited services. She told Riley County Commissioners Thursday she’s been pleased that positive cases for the most part have remained steady. “With the first phase of reopening, we knew that we would start to see a spike in our numbers as early as yesterday. As long we can stay steady onto Monday, then we hope we have reopened at a good place,”…
On Friday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with Kansas State Research & Extension 4H Agent John Jobe. We also spoke with Riley County Seniors’ Service Center Director Jami Ramsey. Pottawatomie County HR Director and Public Information Officer Crystal Malchose also joined the program. T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter Director Deb Watkins wrapped up the program with a preview of the animals they have.