Author: KMAN Staff

New outdoor dining platforms will soon be constructed next to AJ’s Pizza and Pool House Kitchen and Bar in downtown Manhattan. The move, which was unanimously approved by the city commission, will bring the number of outdoor dining platforms in Manhattan to nine. Mayor Wynn Butler says he supports the decision because of how the other platforms have helped downtown businesses during the pandemic. “I also felt it was very important to do so because the government put them in a bad situation by limiting the amount of patrons they can put in their restaurant,” Butler said. “So this expanded…

A name change for a Manhattan street will honor a late civil rights leader. The Manhattan City Commission Tuesday officially approved renaming 17th St. to Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. during its meeting Tuesday, While the decision was made unanimously, it has faced some opposition. Daniel Bosch, a 17th St. resident, says the change could affect someone’s ability to receive mail, navigate the city and address envelopes. “I sat there and counted and there’s 23 characters in the name,” Bosch said. “What do I abbreviate it to, just MLK? Or do I put the zip code 66502 dash four digits…

TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican lawmakers narrowed their proposal to cut Kansas’ income taxes before it cleared its first legislative hurdle. A GOP leader said Wednesday that they’ll put off further action at least a short while to consider how the plan might affect the next state budget. The Republican-controlled Senate tax committee endorsed a bill reducing income taxes by about $170 million during the budget year that begins July 1. The measure would provide relief to individuals and businesses paying more in state income taxes because of changes in federal tax laws in 2017. The bill initially would have provided…

GARDNER, Kan. — The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office has identified skeletal remains found last month in northeastern Kansas near Gardner Lake. Television station WDAF reports that officials announced Tuesday that the remains are those of 48-year-old Matthew Lee Manion. Officials say the cause of death remains under investigation. Manion’s remains were found Jan. 11 near the lake located just north of Gardner and recovered by crime scene investigators and detectives the next day. No other information on Manion or the investigation was immediately released.

TOPEKA, Kan. — The top child welfare official in Kansas says her agency has tightened financial oversight of one of the state’s largest foster care management providers. The Kansas Department for Children and Families said in a news release Wednesday that provisions have been added to the grant agreement with Salina-based Saint Francis Ministries. Secretary Laura Howard says she remains concerned about Saint Francis Ministries’ prior lack of transparency regarding their financial health. The state’s child welfare agency said in December employees of Saint Francis Ministries had falsified documents to show visits with families that never took place.

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 500 block of Pillsbury Dr. in Manhattan on February 2, 2021, at approximately 12:58 p.m. Officers listed Energy Center Manhattan Pool as the victim when it…

USD 383 Manhattan/Ogden Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade and board VP Kristin Brighton joined us to preview Wednesday’s school board meeting, which includes a recommendation from the redistricting committee on school boundaries. Manhattan Fire Department Chief of Risk Reduction Ryan Courtright and Fire Marshal Jake Powell joined us for an update on the Hampton Inn fire Jan. 20 as well as building construction updates in the community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN0JxdBCass Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks limped into last night’s Sunflower Showdown losers of four of their previous five games and on the verge of falling out of the top 25 for the first time in 12 years. It was the most beatable and pedestrian Kansas team that Kansas State has faced in years. Yet, the result was as predictable as ever. Kansas 74 K-State 51. The Wildcats never led and trailed by as many as 26. They have now lost four straight Big 12 games by at least 20 points – a feat unmatched in school history. The average margin…

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas health department says a coronavirus variant did not cause a fast-moving outbreak at a state prison that infected dozens of inmates and staff. Health department spokesperson Kristi Zears said Monday that testing shows the COVID-19 outbreak at the Winfield Correctional Facility in south-central Kansas was not caused by virus variants first detected in the United Kingdom or South Africa. The state Department of Corrections reported that the Winfield prison had 14 active cases among staff and 112 among its population of about 450 inmates as of Thursday. Public health officials had feared a variant because…