Democrat Brenda Bandy won the District 67 Kansas House seat Tuesday with a total of 4,943 votes, according to unofficial final results. Bandy beat her Republican opponent Stacy Kohlmeier by 514 votes. Bandy said her win reinforces her reason for running and what she found in the homes of constituents as she campaigned. “This really underscores what I was hearing,” Bandy said. “People were ready for a change, and so I am grateful that they saw the same need for a change that I did.” Though Bandy’s election results in her first role in a state office, she said she…
Author: Rose Gruenbacher
Sydney Carlin will continue her service as Kansas House District 66 representative after garnering 3,256 votes in Tuesday’s election. Carlin beat her Republican opponent Noah Perry by 2,164 votes and Libertarian Andrew Frey by 3,117 votes. “I’m thrilled to pieces with the democratic progress that we’ve made,” the Democrat said. “My race is very important to me and to my district and to the state of Kansas. It’s just as important as some of the other races.” When asked about her legislative work after re-election, Carlin was unsure what might be in store depending on other race results. To view…
The victim in a Topeka man’s trial told a Riley County District Court jury the man had raped her on two occasions when she was under the influence and did not give consent. LaMarques Atez Channel, 42, faces charges of aggravated criminal sodomy and two counts of rape against a 34-year-old woman he knows. The charges stem from incidents in 2019 and 2024. The woman testified Tuesday that she had known Channel for a long time. She told the jury about an evening in October 2024 when she and Channel were at the same house with another person they knew…
The victim in a Topeka man’s trial told a Riley County District Court jury the man had raped her on two occasions when she was under the influence and did not give consent. LaMarques Atez Channel, 42, faces charges of aggravated criminal sodomy and two counts of rape against a 34-year-old woman he knows. The charges stem from incidents in 2019 and 2024. The woman testified Tuesday that she had known Channel for a long time. She told the jury about an evening in October 2024 when she and Channel were at the same house with another person they knew…
With less than a week until votes are counted to elect Kansas’ newest class of legislators, Kansas House of Representatives hopeful Brenda Bandy, a Democrat running for the 67th district, raised the most money among local races with $76,766. Republican candidate Stacy Kohlmeier reported just under 20% of Bandy’s donations, with $15,375 raised during the same period, which ended Thursday. However, Kohlmeier had the most donations during the primary reporting period with $45,537. In the 66th district, incumbent Democrat Sydney Carlin raised a total of $18,600. The Republican candidate, Noah Perry, raised $787. Libertarian Andrew Frey did not turn in…
A Manhattan man on Monday pleaded guilty to three fentanyl distribution charges, a fraction of the charges he originally faced across three cases. David Alan Labombarbe, 39, entered a plea deal with state prosecutors in Riley County District Court and now is convicted of distributing between 1 and 3.5 grams of fentanyl, possession of fentanyl and possession of digital drug scales and baggies. The crimes were charged in one of three cases against him. Labombarbe said the charges arose because he was going through a rough patch after the death of someone he knew and was using fentanyl in his…
A former Riley County Jail corrections officer pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of trafficking contraband into the jail for an inmate. Ashley Britt, 24, of Manhattan was initially charged with eight counts of trafficking contraband, but state prosecutors dropped the remaining six charges when she entered the plea deal. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
USD 383 Board of Education member Katie Allen has filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson, District 22 Sen. Brad Starnes and District 51 Rep. Megan Steele, according to documents obtained Wednesday. In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court, Allen says the politicians used their legislative positions to pressure officials to fire Allen from her position in the Kansas State Department of Education following an online comment she made about the shooting and death of political influencer Charlie Kirk in 2025. All three officials are Republicans, and two are running for office in…
A Manhattan man pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges against him alleging sex crimes against children and offender registration violation. Phillip Andrew Dews, 32, entered not guilty pleas in Riley County District Court to one count of aggravated internet pornography trading of a child, four counts of aggravated sex offender registration violation and one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Dews’ case is scheduled for trial starting Feb. 9, 2027. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
A judge convicted an Ogden man of first-degree murder and attempted murder after the man entered a plea deal Wednesday in Riley County District Court. Cordarius Devonte Maurice Gowdy, 24, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm that stemmed from an early morning shooting in October 2023 that killed one man and injured two others. In return for Gowdy’s plea, the prosecution dropped his remaining charges and dismissed a separate case charging him with trafficking a weapon into jail, aggravated assault with the weapon, two counts of criminal threat and…