Officials are planning for a lot of comings and goings at Fort Riley over the next two years. Unit deployments and redeployments will see a high of 14,000 soldiers on post and a low of 6,000 soldiers on base, according to a recent report from Fort Riley officials. The estimate of “troops on station” is tentative and a little vague, but it provides a snapshot of what the 1st Infantry Division is doing and how that affects the regional economy. Fort Riley’s total Army soldier population is about 14,000. That doesn’t count family members (15,482), civilian employees (4,475) and a…
Author: Megan Moser
The Manhattan-Ogden school board on Wednesday debated whether too much screen time was hurting students — and whether moving away from devices would hobble students down the road. The board was revisiting a discussion about replacing iPads after having tied 3-3 on the issue at a previous meeting. On Wednesday, board members voted 5-2 to replace 1,200 iPads in the district at a cost of $388,800. Board members Courtney Jane Hochman and Katie Allen opposed. Currently, every student in the district has an assigned device. The district repairs or replaces them on a rolling basis. To view the full article…
Manhattan Housing Authority is in a state of “substantial default,” according to a letter from the federal government obtained by The Mercury. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials say MHA, which oversees federally subsidized low-income housing, is in default “with respect to the covenants or conditions to which the public housing agency is subject.” In 2018, MHA received a low score on its routine assessment and was required to show substantial improvement on subsequent annual assessments. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more local Manhattan news.
USD 383 school board president Jayme Morris-Hardeman on Thursday attracted attention for an anti-ICE post on Facebook. Morris-Hardeman, who in November was re-elected to the Manhattan-Ogden board and in January became president, commented on a friend’s post “Thank you for being an amazing support for all our students. And F*** ICE.” The post to which she was responding was an image that said, “Every student. Every background. Every identity. Every learner. Every story.” To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
Recess is about to get even better for students at Lee Elementary. The USD 383 school board on Wednesday unanimously approved new turf and equipment for the school’s playground at a cost of $375,000. According to a memo, the district has a rotation for replacing turf on all its school playgrounds and playground equipment every 20 years. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told Kansas legislators on Monday that states should invest in their public universities because they are economic drivers. Yormark spoke during meeting of the Joint Committee on Commerce at the Capitol. The meeting was an informational session that touched on recent changes that have changed the face of college athletics, including the player portal and revenue sharing, which involves universities paying athletes directly. Yormark, appearing via Zoom, said he is looking for innovative ways to stay competitive among the other Power 4 conferences. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
Col. Gerald Nunziato said Friday that Fort Riley recorded an increase in the population of military families on base in 2025. That’s good news for the local economy and a positive trend for Fort Riley soldiers. Nunziato was speaking at the Regional Growth Summit, an annual event put on by the Manhattan, Junction City and Wamego chambers of commerce each year. This year’s event was at the K-State Alumni Center. Fort Riley saw a 2.4% increase in family population in 2025, Nunziato said. That’s 15,482 family members living on post of off post in Flint Hills region. Of those, 9,145…
Just over a year into the school district’s CiCo Park improvement project, officials say they are on track for an August completion. BHS Construction project manager AJ Devlin on Wednesday told USD 383 school board members that Phase 2 upgrades to the district’s sports facilities at the park are going well. The upgrades include four new turf ballfields, eight tennis courts, and a track and field throwing area that will include two discus rings with sectors, two shotput rings and a javelin runway. At the ballfields, turf is going down, Devlin said, and workers are installing overhead netting to protect…
School start times will not be returning to the school board agenda after a vote by the new board Wednesday night. As previously reported, USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden last month voted to change school start times for the 2026-27 school year. The shift is intended to address a bus driver shortage and moves elementary start times more than an hour earlier to 7:30 a.m. Members of the public — mostly elementary parents — have since protested the decision, saying it’s too early for young kids to wait on buses and that it will pose problems with childcare. To view the full…
Kansas Rep. Angel Roeser is changing her name — at least personally. She said since it’s a slow process, she won’t change her name for her work in the Legislature right away. Roeser is a Republican representing the 67th District, which includes part of Manhattan. She’s in the second year of a two-year term and said Tuesday she hasn’t decided whether to run again in November. According to Elk County District District Court documents filed Dec. 11, she changed her name From Angelina Roeser to Angelina Tran, which was her last name prior to her marriage to Joshua Roeser. The…