Riley County now has its second coronavirus related death. The Riley County Health Department was notified that an 88 year-old Riley County man died after testing positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. He was one of the three new positive cases reported on yesterday. The patient was hospitalized in a neighboring community where he was being treated for multiple complicating conditions. No further information will be released about the patient. “We are deeply saddened by this loss of life,” said Local Health Officer Julie Gibbs. “The Riley County community has worked together to slow the spread of coronavirus and I…
Author: KMAN Staff
Overland Rd. Bridge The Pottawatomie County Commission approved the advertising of bids for the replacement of bridge MCR17 on Overland Rd.. The bridge, which has one of the lowest sufficiency ratings of all 266 Pottawatomie County bridges, has a projected cost of about $328,933.80. In discussing this project, Peter Clark, the Pottawatomie County Public Works Dept. director, emphasized to the commission the need to analyze revenue and expenditure levels for the Rural Highway Fund, which pays for most of the county’s bridge replacements. Clark says that between the Rural Highway Fund’s 2020 starting balance of about $1.9 million, revenue of…
TOPEKA, Kan. — A document shows Lansing Correctional Facility is the largest single source of Kansas coronavirus cases, followed by the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant near Garden City. The Kansas City Star reports that the document contains a detailed account of every outbreak since May 19 in Kansas. The list was provided to the newspaper by Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation from a records request. At least 846 cases and six deaths through May 19 were traced to the Lansing prison. The Tyson plant near Garden City has seen 571 cases and one death according to the document.
SHAWNEE, Kan. — Authorities say a 20-year-old Kansas man drowned while swimming in a pond. Shawnee County emergency personnel responded to a call Sunday afternoon about a reported drowning in a pond on private property in Shawnee. Police said in a news release that witnesses reported the man was swimming when he went under water and did not resurface. The Shawnee Fire Department and Overland Park Police Department dive team recovered the body of Treyvion Baskin of Kansas City, Kansas, from the pond Sunday evening.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Coronavirus cases are increasing faster in Kansas’ four most populous counties than they are in the state as a whole and account for the majority of new cases reported since last week. The state Department of Health and Environment said Monday that Kansas has had 10,650 coronavirus cases since the pandemic arrived in early March. That’s up 257 or 2.5% since Friday. The number of COVID-19-related deaths rose by four to 236 total since early March. The number of cases is growing faster in both Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the Kansas City area, as well as…
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says counties “shouldn’t feel pressure” to loosen restrictions if they aren’t seeing a decline in new coronavirus cases or new hospitalizations. Kelly made the comment Monday with cases increasing faster in the four most populous counties than the state as a whole. Kelly said she’s feeling hopeful because Kansas is making enough progress in containing the novel coronavirus for most of the state’s 105 counties to loosen restrictions further. Her office and the state health department are advising local officials that as of Monday they can allow mass gatherings of up to 45…
MULVANE, Kan. — Authorities in southern Kansas are trying to learn the identity of a person whose badly decomposed body was pulled from the Ninnescah River over the weekend. Sheriff’s deputies were called to an area in northeastern Sumner County, west of the Kansas Turnpike, on Sunday afternoon after someone fishing in the river spotted the body. Authorities say they are unable to speculate how the person died or whether the victim was a man or a woman because of the deteriorated condition of the remains. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center in…
Riley County commissioners are looking to keep the 2021 budget as flat with 2020 as much as possible. Budget and Finance Officer Tami Robison presented a budget calendar, development worksheet, and the appropriation request history. The commission has voiced their want to keep the budget as flat as possible, even with personnel. The current appropriation requests for 2021 are currently flat with last year, with five agencies asking for increases. ATA Bus is the only agency asking for less since they received 30 thousand dollars in grants. The current value of a mill for Riley County is $669,563. This equates…
Riley County Commissioner John Ford and Riley County Clerk Rich Vargo were our guests on Tuesday morning’s program.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Health officials are asking everyone who attended a Lawrence protest over the death of George Floyd to monitor for symptoms of the coronavirus after one of the participants tested positive. The Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said in a news release Friday that the infected person didn’t wear a mask while attending Sunday’s protest, which attracted thousands of people to the downtown. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the person’s sample was taken on Thursday, and Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health epidemiology staff was notified of the positive test on Friday. The patient disclosed during the contact tracing and disease-investigation…