Pottawatomie County employees will get a slight mid-year pay increase following commission action Monday morning in Westmoreland. Commissioners unanimously settled on a 3.5 percent increase, effective July 1 to help assist employees struggling to stay afloat amid rising inflation. The increase was agreed upon after an initial proposal Monday from County Administrator Chad Kinsley, seeking [...]
Local officials will soon be considering annexation of a portion of the Green Valley area into Manhattan as part of the Scorpion Biological Systems development planned near Hwy 24 and Excel Road. Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Daryn Soldan presented a timeline that includes the City of Manhattan planning to consider a [...]
Wamego Police Chief Michael Baker has been suspended, for reasons that are currently unclear. KMAN received an anonymous news tip Tuesday stating that Baker had been suspended with no reason given. We reached out via email to CIty Manager Stacie Eichem for comment. She responded saying “It is the policy of the City of Wamego [...]
The National Weather Service has confirmed that Saturday’s damage from the Spillway area was part of an EF-1 tornado that began 3 miles east of Olsburg on an 11 mile path toward the southeast side of Tuttle Creek Lake. The tornado was on the ground for about 13 minutes and had estimated peak winds at [...]
Riley County crews were out Sunday assessing damage from Saturday evening’s severe storms. Teams from the Riley County Appraiser’s Office and Manhattan Fire Department’s Risk Reduction Division have been tasked with going through neighborhoods. Downed power lines and large tree limbs remain the most reported damages. Riley County’s Public Works Facilities sustained significant damage as [...]
Tornadic thunderstorms impacted the Manhattan area Saturday night, producing a confirmed tornado near Tuttle Creek State Park on what was the 14th anniversary of the 2008 tornado, that caused widespread damage in the Little Apple. Numerous trees were uprooted at Tuttle Creek State Park Saturday, in the River Pond area and officials late in the [...]
More charges were filed Friday against a 44-year-old man who once worked as a nurse at a Manhattan preschool. The Riley County Attorney’s Office has filed eight additional charges against Joshua Penabaz as part of an ongoing investigation. A news release from the Riley County Police Department alleges Penabaz raped a 5-year-old student while employed [...]
An Onaga man escaped serious injuries after an accident in Atchison County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 19-year-old Keegan Wood was southbound on US 73 when a deer ran into the roadway, striking his motorcycle, causing it to overturn. The crash occurred just after 1:30 p.m. about 4 and a half miles south of Atchison. [...]
2022 Cowboy Poetry Contest Finals (Friday 7 p.m. at the Flint Hills Discovery Center) The best cowboy poets in Kansas are taking the stage Friday for the state finals in the 2022 Cowboy Poetry Contest. The Flint Hills Discovery Center serves as the backdrop for the annual event. Poetry contest chair Ron Wilson, of the [...]
Newly installed Flint Hills Regional Council Executive Director Jerry Lonergan, provided his inaugural update to the Pottawatomie County Commission Monday. Lonergan says the council recently received a $500,000 Brownfields grant from the Environmental Protection Agency Region 7. The EPA officially presented the check to the council, during a ceremony Wednesday at the Geary County Commission [...]