KMAN Local News 2023 Year in Review: July to September

All this week we are taking a look back at some of the top news events in the Manhattan area for 2023. Today we take a look back at the third quarter of the year from July through September with KMAN News Director Brandon Peoples….

July opened with a bang in Wamego as the community celebrated its annual Boomtown 4th of July celebration, though officials had to push up the fireworks display to avoid severe weather in the area. The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office reported that a Wamego man was struck by lightning the next day while walking back from a pasture.

As the new school year began, open houses became the norm locally. K-State unveiled its new home for “The Pride of Wildcat Land” marching band in late July. The new Tracz Family Band Hall is located in the World War I Memorial Stadium at K-State. Director of Bands Dr. Frank Tracz says it’s nice having a centralized location just footsteps from their practice field.

“The real value of this is when the band gets in here and we start to rehearse, and we realize how efficient and effective it is to put instruments away, to get things cleaned up to get to the practice field, if the weather changes were 15 steps away from safety instead of four blocks,” he said.

K-State also opened the doors to the Morgan Family Arena, the new home of the K-State volleyball team in August.

Meanwhile Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 district officials celebrated the completion of one of its biggest bond projects over the last few years when Manhattan High School united its campus to include freshmen students this fall.

“You see the difference in a more modern high school than previous designs. So you see more open spaces, you see more collaboration spaces, you see some of that stuff coming out. I think that’s just more open, bright, cheery, welcoming, and instead of just, you know, just normal walkways in classrooms, said Eric Reid, who was promoted to Superintendent of Schools starting July 1 after eight years serving as assistant superintendent. His predecessor, Dr. Marvin Wade retired in June.

“I can’t even remember a time where anybody has said that’s not my job description. It’s just what needs to be done and how can I help and that’s not just staff, but that’s parents and students. It’s everybody. So it’s been great to have that kind of teamwork approach to trying to make things better for our students in our entire system, he said.

During the course of the past year, the Riley County Extension office began discussions with the Riley County Commission over facilities needs within the current fairgrounds at CiCo Park. A task force was created and by the summer time ideas were floated about the possibility of the fairgrounds relocating, possibly outside of Manhattan.

But again, the problem becomes where does it go? Fairmont Park, there’s still some concern about floodplain. There’s concern about maybe having to put some of the structures on ground that’s not in the floodplain, which would mean private property,” he said.

The conversations over the future of the fairgrounds remain ongoing.

In August, Stormont Vail opened its new Manhattan campus.

“It began with the dream all the way back in 2012. And then more earnestly a couple of years ago, we began to dream about what it would be like to have space to meet together, to all be under one roof,” said CEO Dr. Robert Kenagy.

The new facility along North Manhattan Ave. is 79,000 square feet and houses primary care, specialty care, lab and imaging services.

In September, the first commercial flight in over four months touched down to a water cannon salute at the Manhattan Regional Airport.

Airport Director Brandon Keazer said it was good to put this project finally in the rearview mirror.

“A year ago, we had a 44 year old piece of concrete that was out there. It needed to be replaced. It’s definitely past its useful life. The FAA has a useful life of 20 years. So the community, got 40 years out of it. And here we are, after four and a half short months, we’ve got a brand new runway out there that’s going to last this community for the next 30 years.

The project was delayed more than three weeks after some electrical issues were noted in August. As a courtesy to travelers, the airport offered a promotion, giving patrons free parking for the duration of the delay after reopening. Two months later, city officials announced the airport had its best month for enplanements on record, even eclipsing totals from before the COVID-19 pandemic.