Author: KMAN Staff
Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency buses continue to operate amid COVID-19 closures, though it’s not business as usual. Executive Director Anne Smith spoke with KMAN remotely on In Focus and says their routes will be changing as a result of the outbreak. Hours of operation will not change, but starting Monday, March 30th, ATA buses will only operate on their Saturday routes. As a result, buses will skip some usual stops and the number of buses on routes will decrease — resulting in buses only coming to each stop about once per hour. Smith says they’ll also be suspending subscriptions…
Kansas State University journalism professor and COVID-19 patient Andrew Smith remains in intensive care, but says that “things are looking up.” “We’re not to the finish line yet,” Andrew Smith said in Facebook video from his bed at Manhattan’s Ascension Via Christi Hospital. “But they’re getting better.” Smith, an educator, actor and Common Table president, is the first Manhattan area resident to test positive for COVID-19, which he contracted while on a trip to London with his family and a class of students from the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. While those students and his family quarantined…
Reduced capacity The Manhattan Emergency Shelter recently had to reduce its capacity in order to comply with quarantine and social distancing guidelines meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Despite these changes, Emily Wagner, Executive Director for the shelter, says they are still taking in clients. According to Wagner, the moratorium on home evictions has helped keep the number of people in the shelter down. She says however, that she is worried about what will happen once the moratorium is lifted. Wagner says that if the COVID-19 situation reaches a certain point in Riley County, public-quarantine sites may become available,…
Wednesday’s program featured conversations with USD 384 Blue Valley/Randolph Superintendent Brady Burton and USD 378 Riley County Superintendent Cliff Williams regarding the shift to more online learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. Flint Hills Area Transportation Authority Executive Director Anne Smith discussed the changes to aTa bus service amid the pandemic and an upcoming switch to Saturday service starting March 30. Manhattan Emergency Shelter, Inc. Executive Director Emily Wagner discussed how the shelter has remained open amid the pandemic and some of the challenges and questions remaining ahead for the homeless community.
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a 30-year-old Garden City man died at a Tyson Fresh Meats plant in western Kansas. Finney County authorities say Kendrick Gregory was injured early Monday at the plant in Garden City. The sheriff’s office says Gregory was doing maintenance on an assembly line when he apparently was pulled up by his harness against a take-away belt. A co-worker was able to cut Gregory free. He died later at a Garden City hospital. The investigation is continuing.
Oklahoma City (AP) — Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores says its founder, Bill Braum, has died. He was 92. The company announced the death Tuesday. The company says in a statement that Braum died Monday at his home in Tuttle, Oklahoma. He grew up in Emporia, KS, where he worked for the small butter and milk processing plant his father ran. He inherited the plant, but later sold it. Braum launched the chain bearing his name in 1968 with 22 Oklahoma stores. The chain has grown to nearly 300 stores with locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.
The combination of an upcoming severe weather season and mandates preventing people from gathering in groups greater than 10 could make things difficult for those who don’t have their own storm shelter. Pottawatomie County Emergency Management Director Jennifer Merrow says if it comes down to it, immediate safety will take priority. She also says if severe weather were to happen, her team is prepared despite having to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. Merrow is urging county residents to sign up for the Everbridge emergency notification system as this will be a primary way of receiving emergency messages as the COVID-19…