Riley County Health Department Director Julie Gibbs joined KMAN in the 7am hour to provide our COVID-19 update.
Author: KMAN Staff
The Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved increases to water utility rates Tuesday. The rates for water and wastewater will increase 3%, along with a 3% increase and fixed $1.66 surcharge per equivalent unit for stormwater. This surcharge increase will help to pay for the levee project, which should cover around 70% of the costs. The commercial rate will be set at $8.08, with the residential rate set at $8.08 starting January 1st 2021. Although the original ordinance did not explicitly state these funds are to be fenced off for the levee, Commissioner Usha Reddi liked the idea of adding that…
Christmas season is here and that means it is even more important to understand fire safety. Manhattan Fire Department Marshall, Jake Powell, says historically the number of house fires increase during the winter months. He says there are a few simple things you can do this holiday season to keep your home safer including using lights in their proper places. He tells KMAN why it is important to use lights for their intended purpose. “They’re designed to be indoor only,” Powell says. “They’re not supposed to be outside, exposed to the weather. There is probably a lighter covering on the…
A Fort Riley man has been arrested on multiple sexual abuse charges involving a minor. According to Riley County Police, 23-year-old Tavian Garrett was arrested Tuesday on five counts of rape and five counts of aggravated criminal sodomy. The victim in the incident is a 12-year-old girl. Police say the incident was reported to police Nov. 24. No further details have been released, due to the nature of the crime. Garrett remains in Riley County Jail on a $350,000 bond.
On Wednesday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with USD 383 Superintendent Marvin Wade and board member Curt Herrman. And Manhattan Fire Department Fire Marshal Jake Powell talks holiday fire safety.
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 battery and criminal damage to property in the 400 block of Clydesdale Dr. in Ogden on December 1, 2020, at approximately 10:05 p.m. Officers listed Opportunites Unlimited and a…
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita police say a man died when a stolen car he was driving crashed during a police pursuit. Wichita police Capt. Wendell Nicholson says the vehicle was stolen about 6 a.m. Tuesday after it was left running to warm up. Police saw the vehicle and began a pursuit. Nicholson says the driver eventually clipped another vehicle in an intersection and the car crashed into a telephone pole. The driver was ejected and died at the scene. The driver’s name has not been released. Wichita police and the Kansas Highway Patrol are investigating.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas officials say they are concerned about the state’s 911 service, after a nearly three-hour outage across southern Kansas during the weekend. It’s at least the third major disruption to 911 service in the state in four years. An audit in 2018 warned the system was at risk of outages affecting emergency departments. A 911 Coordinating Council has been working for years to move Kansas to the next generation of service, called NG911. Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat who is a member of the council, says the state has ignored the basic requirement to have a…
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — Medical providers say anticipated staffing shortages amid surging coronavirus cases could hit rural hospitals especially hard because smaller communities have more limited options for finding providers to cover for sick workers. The Kansas Hospital Association reports that about 44% of the state’s hospitals on Monday were anticipating staffing shortages this week amid an expected rise in COVID-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday. Five rural Kansas counties Rush, Republic, Ellsworth, Rawlins and Kearny rank in the top 25 counties in the nation with the most new cases per capita in the past 14 days.
PRATT, Kan. — Kansas troopers say a man was killed and a woman seriously injured when their small sport utility vehicle hit a deer before being hit by another vehicle in south-central Kansas. Television station KAKE reports the crash happened just after 9 p.m. Tuesday on U.S. 54 east of Pratt. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the westbound SUV hit a deer and became disabled, sitting sideways in the roadway. It was then broadsided by a camper van, killing 65-year-old Gregory Hettmansberger, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The patrol says Hettmansberger’s passenger, a 70-year-old woman, was taken to a Wichita hospital…