City of Manhattan enters agreement with Ottawa nonprofit to contract out animal shelter services
The City of Manhattan will contract out services at the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter. City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved an agreement with Prairie Paws, a nonprofit organization out of Ottawa to manage the shelter. Mayor Mark Hatesohl says the move should give the city a better understanding of how much it’s spending on [...]

The Kansas Court of Appeals hosted its annual hearings at Kansas State University on Tuesday in honor of Constitution Day by hearing three cases. One of the cases involved Riley County resident Gary Kilner who was appealing a decision by the Riley County District Court and Judge John Bosch on a land dispute he had [...]
The Manhattan City Commission approved the 2024 city budget at their bimonthly legislative session on Tuesday. The overall budget grew nearly $40 million from last fiscal year, from $187 million to $224 million, a nearly 20% increase, largely driven by assessed valuations, which were up about 9.5%. The budget includes a 2.9% increase in property [...]
Big changes are coming for the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team. The nonprofit organization, founded in late 2021, as a local effort to resettle some 200 Afghan refugees into the community, has shifted its focus to help receive refugees from any country. This past spring, the organization rebranded from the Manhattan Afghan Resettlement Team, to the [...]
For the second time in a matter of weeks, Riley County officials have closed the Fairmont Park Dog Park, due to possible canine parvovirus contamination. Both large and small dog enclosures will remain closed until at least Monday out of an abundance of caution, after a dog that visited the park, recently tested positive for [...]
A report for theft was filed Monday morning at The Fridge Wholesale Liquor in Manhattan. According to the Riley County Police Department, four suspects — a man and three women — stole approximately $650 worth of alcohol from the store. Surveillance video, shared on The Fridge’s Facebook page, shows the suspects shoving bottles into handbags. [...]
The Manhattan City Commission will look to pass a finalized 2024 budget when it meets Tuesday. The consent agenda includes an ordinance for commissioners to adopt the budget with the scaled back mill levy of 49.000, as directed by a majority of commissioners two weeks ago from the previously proposed 50.470 mill levy. To accomplish [...]
The Riley County Police Department released the August daily inmate numbers at Monday’s Law Board meeting, held in Keats. The Riley County Jail posted a record high average in August of 123.5 inmates, a record confirmed by RCPD Director Brian Peete. To reduce issues of stress and anxiety within the jail, police are using alternate [...]
Authorities have arrested a Manhattan man in association with a fire that officials say threatened structures in a neighborhood south of Fort Riley Blvd and an aggravated battery earlier Monday. In a joint news release, the Riley County Police Department and Riley County Fire District No. 1 say 39-year-old Daniel Lee reportedly struck a 48-year-old [...]
Pottawatomie County Commissioner Dee McKee was absent from Monday’s weekly meeting, one week after a resident brought to light possible discrepancies in McKee’s travel receipts from this past summer to attend various meetings. During public comment Monday morning, former commissioner Barb Kolde, of St. George, called on McKee to step down from the commission. Local [...]