Riley County may have passed the peak for the omicron variant. During Monday’s county commission meeting, Health Department Director Julie Gibbs said the county has been seeing decreasing case numbers each of the past couple weeks. In early January, the county saw its highest weekly increase with over 1,200 cases in a single report. This past week’s report had nearly 900 new cases, which Gibbs says is a lot but is continuing to go down. She also spoke with Manhattan Ascension Via Christi Hospital CEO Bob Copple, who says they only had five COVID positive patients in the hospital over…
Author: KMAN Staff
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — Two former correctional officers at the Leavenworth Detention Center have pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle drugs and other contraband into the privately run federal prison. The Kansas City Star reports that 28-year-old Willie Golden, of Overland Park, and 36-year-old Janna Grier, of Horton, entered the pleas last week. Prosecutors said prisoners used an online app to pay bribes to corrections officers to smuggle in tobacco, marijuana and cell phones to prisoners from April through November 2020.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The family of a Kansas woman charged with joining the Islamic State group and leading an all-female battalion has told prosecutors they want nothing to do with her. Allison Ekren made an initial appearance Monday in federal court in Alexandria. She was ordered to remain jailed pending a detention hearing set for Thursday. An attorney was appointed to represent her. Prosecutors say Ekren became leader of an all-female Islamic State unit in Syria in 2016 that trained in the use of AK-47 rifles, grenades and suicide belts. She grew up in Kansas but left the U.S. more…
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Winter is still nearly two months away from ending but Lawrence already is gearing up for swim season as it tries to prevent the kind of lifeguard shortage that delayed pool openings last year. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Aquatics Supervisor Lori Madaus said the city was only able to fill 60 of the 100 lifeguard positions it needed last year to have the two city pools fully operational. The Outdoor Aquatic Center opened a couple of weeks later than usual last year, with reduced hours and features, and the Indoor Aquatic Center continues to have reduced…
WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities have arrested a 15-year-old boy who is suspected of firing an airsoft gun in a Wichita movie theater. KAKE reports that officers responded early Sunday to the AMC theater. Wichita Police Department spokesperson Trevor Macy said the suspect was located running in the area and taken into custody. Authorities recovered two airsoft guns, which are commonly used to shoot BBs. Officials say one victim reported getting into a physical altercation with the suspect, who then punched the victim in the face, dropped the airsoft gun, and fled the scene. One victim was shot by an airsoft…
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ highest court is wrestling with whether a man invoked his right to remain silent before making statements that were key to him being convicted of capital murder. The state Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in an appeal from Kyle Trevor Flack. He was sentenced to die over the fatal April 2013 shootings of three adults and a toddler whose body was found in a suitcase in a rural creek in Franklin County, about 50 miles southwest of Kansas City. Monday’s hearing focused heavily on whether incriminating statements from Flack should have been suppressed at his 2016…
The following summary of calls for service/reports filed by the Riley County Police Department is a portion of those received by police. Some names, addresses, and case details are withheld to follow local, state, and federal law as well as in an attempt to protect community members from being victimized further. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. MANHATTAN, KAN. – Officers filed a report for burglary in the 100 block of S. Oak St. in Ogden on January 31, 2022, around 9:00 a.m. Officers listed a 60-year-old male as the victim when it was…
On Tuesday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with Manhattan City Manager Ron Fehr and City Commissioner Mark Hatesohl.
Among the biggest annual celebrations in numerous East and Southeast Asian cultures, Lunar New Year will be commemorated on the K-State campus with a Saturday celebration. Lunar New Year coincides with the first new moon of the 354-day-long lunar calendar, this year falling on February 1. Festivities vary and can be observed for multiple days, in some cases lasting 15 days until the full moon. This year marks the transition to the Year of the Tiger, part of the 12-year cycle of the Chinese Zodiac. The holiday has numerous names across cultures, including the Spring Festival or Chūn jié (春節 /…
Gov. Laura Kelly discussed her budget proposal to boost state funding for moderate income housing support, calling it a ‘down payment on the future of our state’ during a Monday stop in Alma. Kelly toured living spaces developed from funds provided by grants and loans from the state Moderate Income Housing Program that afternoon, which she has proposed be allocated an additional $20 million in Kansas’ budget. “The ability to take a building like this and to be able to refurbish it for a different purpose,” says Kelly. “But one that will bring people into the downtown area and […]…