Riley County commissioners were presented recommended transfers for the 2021 budget. Seven funds are supported with tax levy dollars; General fund, Riley County Police Department, Capital Improvement, Economic Development, Bond and Interest, County Building, and Health Department. The beginning cash balance for Jan. 1 exceeded what was estimated to begin the year in each of these funds. Budget and Finance Officer Tami Robison recommended they transfer $1 million to the CIP fund for projects not currently activated. The county has $1.98 million dollars in non-funded projects for 2020. She also recommended increasing General Fund cash reserves by $250,000 along with…
Author: KMAN Staff
EMPORIA — Kansas state police are investigating the death of a man being held on charges in the Lyon County Jail in Emporia. Station KVOE reports that 72-year-old Harold Gillen was found slumped over in the bottom bunk of his cell early Friday by guards performing a routine check. Gillen had been held at the jail since March 27 awaiting a pretrial hearing on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Officials say jail staff performed CPR on Gillen until medics arrived at the jail and took over, but Gillen was pronounced dead around 2:30 a.m. Friday. The Kansas…
Friday marks the two year anniversary of Hale Library fire, causing most of the location to be closed since. KMAN spoke with Dean Lori Goetsch about what the has been going on at the library since. Goetsch says they were planning on having the second floor reopened to the students back in March, but were stopped due to the pandemic. Goetsch says fortunately, the pandemic has not slowed down any of the renovations or restorations. In fact, they have been moving forward more quickly without students in the building. The first floor of the library had been open since August,…
Update 2:30 p.m. Friday: A new COVID-19 positive test has been reported Friday afternoon by health officials, the first positive seen in a week. They identify the individual as a 63-year-old man and say disease investigation is ongoing. That makes 6 active cases in the county and a cumulative total of 61 positive novel coronavirus tests. Two people under investigation remain hospitalized awaiting test results. Overall, 102 COVID-19 tests are pending. Original: Riley County novel coronavirus cases continue on a downward trend, seeing a full week without a new positive test. Officials Friday morning reported just 5 active COVID-19 cases…
BELLE PLAINE — A new report shows net farm income in Kansas last year rose to an average of $110,380 per farm, propped up by government payments. The Kansas Farm Management Association released this week its annual economic data based on the 970 agricultural operations that their economists advised on financial decisions. Their figures show farm balance sheets were heavily subsidized by government payments with 72.49% of the income Kansas farmers received last year coming from the government. Additionally, Kansas farmers are projected to harvest 284.4 million bushels of winter wheat this year, industry leaders said Thursday. The forecast from…
BELLE PLAINE — U.S. farmers leaned more heavily upon the federal government last year to finance their agricultural operations amid low commodity prices and trade disputes. And more of the money they borrowed is now delinquent. The Agriculture Department said it has not seen significant change in loan delinquency rates because of the coronavirus pandemic. But it does expect an impact if the the economic fallout continues. Farm foreclosures have not increased. The department is taking a number of measures to help borrowers, including extending repayments for operating loans. The department says it also temporarily suspended loan accelerations and non-judicial…
TOPEKA — Republicans lawmakers in Kansas have hashed out a plan for limiting Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s power to direct the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Their work started Thursday night and continued into Friday morning. The move comes after the state’s GOP attorney general suggested she’s been on “legally suspect” ground for three weeks. Key provisions of the Republican plan would require Kelly to get permission from leaders of the GOP-controlled Legislature to keep businesses closed after May 31 or exercise other broad powers granted to governors during emergencies. Legislative leaders also would have the final say over…
On Friday’s edition of In Focus we spoke with RCPD Director Dennis Butler.
After righting a budget miscalculation, the Riley County Police Department will present a budget to the Law Board that is slightly decreased from 2020’s numbers. But officials at a joint meeting of Riley County and Manhattan Thursday discussed looking for further reductions and potentially codifying how the police department’s carry over cash is handled. RCPD Director Dennis Butler Monday presented the board with a proposed budget flat with 2020’s approved figures — totaling more than $22 million. They approved that budget for publication, but Director Butler says the figures were based on ’20 numbers that did not subtract carry over…
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas softened its quarantine guidelines for meatpacking plants after industry executives repeatedly pushed state officials to allow employees who were potentially exposed to the coronavirus to keep working, text messages and emails show. The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle reported that they obtained messages through an open records request showing that executives at Tyson and National Beef pushed Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam to advocate more-lenient federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. Beam told The Associated Press on Wednesday that his role was to “emphasize internally” in Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration…