By Emma Loura

After nearly two years of construction, The Bilbrey Family Event Center is ready for its first rodeo. K-State officials cut the ribbon Friday on the new facility off Denison Avenue, which will host about 40 events each year.

“It’s a really exciting day for Kansas State University,” said Dan Moser, interim Eldon Gideon dean of the college of agriculture. “As we think about our future as the premiere next-generation land grand university, our commitment to agriculture, to students, to outreach, to service, to industries, this facility’s really going to put us on the map.”

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The history and ecology of the Flint Hills region was on full display Saturday at the Flint Hills Festival in Manhattan.

“Flint Hills Festival is our one day of the year in which we bring everyone together to celebrate the Flint Hills Region,” said Stephen Bridenstine, director of the Flint Hills Discovery Center. “The food, the music, the culture, the heritage. We kind of do it all.”

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As March Madness is in full swing, there were even some talented hoopers in the Little Apple last week.

Athletes on teams located around the eastern half of Kansas competed in Special Olympics’ state basketball and cheerleading tournament Friday and Saturday at the Anthony and Eisenhower recreation centers in Manhattan. Manhattan has hosted the tournament since 2023; before that year it was at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.

Friday morning started with teams partaking in individual skill, cheerleading, speed dribble and team skill competitions. Basketball games then got underway shortly after noon.

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By Emma Loura

That’s what RCPD director Brian Peete told Riley County commissioners on Thursday as he outlined an online campaign to promote safety on the unsanctioned holiday, which likely still will happen with a police presence this year, regardless of the announced divorce.

Fake Patty’s Day is an annual event geared toward college students. Because St. Patrick’s Day typically falls during K-State’s spring break, bars in Aggieville feature drink specials and events on a Saturday before students leave town. The Aggieville Business Association no longer sponsors Fake Patty’s Day officially, but many individual bars still mark the celebration with deals and special activities.

The event, which draws thousands of people to Manhattan, usually leads to a litany of arrests and citations, including for violence and property damage. Peete on Thursday said many people are concerned about Fake Patty’s Day and have reached out to RCPD to express “a lot of anxiety.”

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