Thursday’s guests on In Focus included Marty Vanier, NBAF Partnership Development Director and Dr. Ken Burton, NBAF Coordinator for USDA APHIS discussing December meetings, an animal disease exercise and impacts of the federal government shutdown on the NBAF facility. KMAN’s Nick McNamara also caught up with new Manhattan Assistant City Manager Dennis Marstall on coming back to work in his hometown. In our final segment Thursday we spoke with Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters of Riley County Area Manager Tara Claussen on National Mentorship Month and the upcoming signature fundraiser for the nonprofit.
Author: KMAN Staff
Junction City’s government will see a small change in personnel after a recent leadership vote. The City Commission unanimously voted for current Mayor Pat Landes to stay on for another year in the position while Jeff Underhill was chosen to replace Phyllis Fitzgerald as vice mayor. Landes was first elected to the commission in 2011 and has served as mayor for multiple terms — this being his fourth. Fitzgerald had initially been nominated to remain in the vice mayor position, but she nominated Underhill who was subsequently elected by the commission. In his upcoming term, Landes wants to put an…
WICHITA — Authorities say a 16-year-old suspect in a Wichita gas station robbery was armed when a customer shot and killed him. The Wichita Eagle reports that a police report lists the teen’s death as a justifiable homicide. Police say a 42-year-old customer pulled out his gun and fired multiple shots Friday after he was robbed. Three other suspects then fled. Police say the robbery is related to an earlier robbery at a Family Dollar Store in which three people held up an employee at gunpoint and took money and cigarettes. A 17-year-old has been arrested in the robberies and…
“Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.” This is one of nine principles of policing attributed to Sir Robert Peel, considered by many to be the father of modern policing techniques and philosophies. I believe this principle to be as relevant today as when it was…
Tuttle Creek Eagle Day, hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Tuttle Creek Lake, returns Saturday, Jan. 5, during peak eagle-watching season. It starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 12:30 p.m. The event has been held for more than 20 years with help from the Northern Flint Hills Audubon Society, the Tuttle Creek Lake Association, the Milford Nature Center and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service. It’s free and open to the public and no registration is required. Participants will get to see live native birds of prey up-close in presentations from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife…
TOPEKA — Kansas’ new Democratic congresswoman is preparing to vote for legislation drafted by her party’s leaders for reopening parts of the federal government. Rep.-elect Sharice Davids said Wednesday the package should have bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and she hopes it can pass Congress quickly. The package includes $1.3 billion for border security. That’s far less than President Donald Trump is seeking for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Parts of the federal government have been shut down since Dec. 22 because of the dispute over funding the wall. Davids said she hopes Trump comes to…
LAWRENCE — The Delaware Tribe has abandoned plans to develop an agricultural heritage center northeast of Lawrence. Chief Chester Brooks said the tribe’s council decided the proposed center would not produce enough revenue to cover the estimated $500,000 cost of developing it. The Lawrence Journal-World reports the tribe, based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is now trying to lease the 92-acre site to another agricultural user. The property is just northeast of the Kansas Turnpike’s interchange in North Lawrence. Brooks says the Delaware Tribe would prefer to sell the land. The tribe bought the property in 2013 with plans to open a…
LAWRENCE — Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly says she’s aware the state may need to help higher education institutions but has more pressing issues she needs to focus on during her first legislative session. The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kelly says the state will “go after the critical issues first,” listing K-12 education funding, Medicaid expansion, infrastructure and the state’s foster care program as the main issues. She says the state will be “doing what we can” for higher education, which saw its budget slashed by $30.7 million under former Gov. Sam Brownback. Lawmakers restored $6 million of that in 2017…
Wednesday’s guests included USD 383 Superintendent Dr. Marvin Wade and board member Darell Edie with a preview of the first school board meeting of 2019. During segment three, Manhattan Parks & Recreation joined the program with updates from Melissa Kirkwood, Sidney Baker (Aquatics/Ice Rink) and Lindsay Sparlin (Arts and Humanities Coordinator). Our final segment featured a flu update from Riley County Health Department Clinic Supervisor Leslie Campbell and Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Andrew Adams.
WICHITA — The Wichita school district plans to pay up to $25,000 to settle a lawsuit with a student who fell on a wet floor at a middle school on a rainy day and broke his leg. The Wichita Eagle reports that a court hearing is set for Monday. The district’s board has voted to settle the lawsuit with the student who fell three years ago as he approached a stair landing at Hamilton Middle School. Court documents say the student “suffered personal injury and incurred medical expenses.” Neither the district nor an attorney for the boy’s family responded to…