MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Police say the death of the 22-year-old grandson of Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder has been ruled a suicide.
A Riley County Police Department report obtained through an open records request says Matthew Snyder died last week of asphyxiation at his home in Manhattan.
The police document says Riley County police responded to an emergency call made by his father, Sean Snyder, who is Kansas State’s special teams coach. No one else was injured and no foul play is suspected.
The Snyder family is requesting that only family and friends attend the funeral on Thursday at a Manhattan church. Kansas State Athletics Director Gene Taylor said in a statement last week that the Snyder family is “greatly appreciative of the outpouring of support.”
Along with the summer births of a red panda cub and a white-handed gibbon baby, Sunset Zoo is also welcoming a female Asian clawed otter and a Bennett’s Wallaby joey.
The female Asian small-clawed otter, Abigail, came to Sunset Zoo from Greensboro Science Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Abigail is in the Asian small clawed otter exhibit full time, with male Asian small-clawed otter, Bagus.
Sunset Zoo has also announced the arrival of a new bennett’s wallaby joey. Staff expect the joey to start emerging from its’ mother’s pouch around seven months of age.
In June of 2017 a red panda cub was born and is doing well. The young male cub has been named Xing Xing, which means star in Mandarain Chinese.
The baby white-handed gibbon named Tucker that was born in May of 2017 is also thriving.
Sunset Zoo will be hosting a Happy Zoo Year animal enrichment event on Saturday, January 27th from noon to 3:30 p.m. Keepers will have enriching activities with a variety of animals, including the white-handed gibbons, and will be available for questions.
The Community Health Needs Assessment results were presented to the Geary Community Hospital Board of Trustees on Tuesday.
According to the Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Hospital, Nikki Davies, many of the challenges discovered are similar to those uncovered in a 2014 assessment. “A lack of available healthy food options, fewer environments that support physical activity, too much access to alcohol and tobacco. We are the number one food insecure county in the state, but also the number one obese county in the state, highest smoking rate as well as the highest drinking. These are categories that we are number one in that we do not want to be number one in anymore.”
Education and collaboration among local organizations and initiatives will be necessary to meet the challenges. Davies noted work has begun in the past two years, especially with the Hospital, Live Well Geary County and the Health Department to address these issues. She added the needle doesn’t mover overnight and it is a long term endeavor to make positive change. The success by Delivering Change in helping decrease the infant mortality rate in the community was one positive result cited by Davies.
She said, “This Blue Cross Blue Shield grant that Live Well received is a $500,000 grant, and granted is a drop in the bucket compared to what we really need to do long term, but opens the doors to more funding so we can be sustainable long-term and expand the initiatives we already have. Such as the Farmer’s Market which is a great resource for our community and different educational events that we can maybe provide for the community, and educating our community on really what’s available.”
Davies and Geary Community Hospital CEO Dr. Joseph Stratton will discuss the Community Health Needs Assessment Thursday on 1420 KJCK during the JC Now program at 7:48.
Geary County and the three other counties in the 8th Judicial District have been selected to pilot a proactive family resiliency program call Strengthening Families 10-14. It is for parents and youth ages 10-14.Two other judicial districts, the 5th and 12th, are also in the pilot program.
Training is scheduled January 29-31. The Geary County team participants include: Deb Andres FCS Agent; Luan Sparks, USD 475 Director of Student Support; jessica Partida, Life Skills Instructor, 8th Judicial District Community Corrections; Amanda Whitebread, Behavior Interventionist, USD 475; tina Smith, Facility Director, Fort Riley Community and Youth Services; and Chez McClelland, 6th Grade Counselor, Junction City Middle School.
A class is being offered this spring at Junction City Middle School from April 6 – May 18. Another class co-sponsored with Community and Youth Services is planned for late spring, as well.
The information was reported during the weekly Geary County Commission meeting.
Valley View Senior Life has welcomed Lynn Andres as the company’s newest Neighborhood Care Coordinator.
Andres has been in the healthcare field for more than 24 years, all within the Flint Hills area.
“I’m excited about coming to work with a group of individuals that work so well as a team and with such enthusiasm and true love for the elderly,” Lynn said.
Tyrone Wilkens, VVSL Administrator stated.” We are very excited to welcome Lynn to the VVSL family. By adding Lynn to our team of management we will be able to continue to provide each and every resident and team member with the absolute best care and support. She truly shares our vision, passion and above all our commitment to providing the best care and support 24/7.”
The Devin Center, site of the Monday Board of Education meeting
The Geary USD 475 Board of Education was presented with two options Monday for live streaming their meetings online from the Devin Center. They will consider the options at their February 5th meeting.
One option involves use of the Ross system, explained BOE President Ferrell Miller. “That’s a system that could allow us to do closed captioning, to slice video on the fly and send that information to You Tube so it could be seen live.” The estimated cost would be approximately $68,000 with annual updates totaling about $14,500.
The second option involves the TriCaster system, including the use of staff would cost approximately $56,600. Miller stated, “We could even skype that. Students could be trained to use it. It could be a good entry level experience for them as part of their career options. TriCaster equipment has already been utilized in the past at Junction City High School.
There will also be immediate work to put a sound system in place to amplify the Board members voices during their meetings so they can be better heard.
The topic has arisen in response to public input and interest in having the meetings televised or live streamed. Public input on the proposal to stream the meetings live is welcome.
The Board has also decided to move their meeting start times to 5:30 p.m. at the Devin Center beginning in February. The first half hour would be allotted for teaching and learning presentations, with the business portion of the agenda including the public comment session starting at 6 p.m. That is being done to allow members of the public to get off work or eat an evening meal before attending the Board meeting.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed a 21-year old Fort Riley soldier, Dakota Blake Noah, shot himself Sunday evening and later died at a hospital.
The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement reporting that at approximately 5:25 p.m. Deputies and Grandview Plaza police officers were dispatched to the 11000 block of J Hill Road for a third party report of an armed and possibly suicidal subject, inside a vehicle.
Upon their arrival contact was made with a man sitting inside a vehicle that was parked in an access driveway. Deputies attempted to communicate with him, but a short time after attempting communication, he shot himself. Noah was transported to Geary Community Hospital where he later died.
Fort Riley officials have reported that Pvt. Dakota Noah was an infantryman with Company b, 1st Combined Arms battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div.
Noah joined the Army in September 2016 and arrived at Fort Riley in January 2017. He had not deployed. His home of record was Wellington, Colorado.
MANHATTAN — A national publication produced by students for students has recently placed the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in the upper half of a list of the top 10 veterinary colleges in the United States.
Citing what it calls an “I Kan(sas)” attitude toward solving problems, College Magazine lists several factors to support a No. 4 ranking for Kansas State University among U.S. veterinary colleges, including a high standard of excellence in patient care and scientific discovery in the area of infectious diseases. Further emphasis was placed on the university’s large animal expertise, impact on the cattle industry, learning objectives, student proficiency and the ability to identify and treat diseases.
“We are honored to be ranked among these exceptional peer institutions and universities,” said Bonnie Rush, interim dean of the college. “It is gratifying to be recognized for areas we have identified as our own strategic priorities: exceptional teaching, impactful research, outstanding service and extraordinary graduates.”
Second-year veterinary student Maggie Massey, Butler, Missouri, was quoted by the magazine for expressing her appreciation of the large animal faculty, citing Kansas State University instructors raise students to a “different level” to groom them to be industry leaders.
College Magazine’s ranking methodology is based on a variety of factors, such as data from the National Center for Education Statistics, news articles, university websites, course catalogs and student statements. The site also considers scholarship opportunities and noteworthy initiatives, and then applies a formal list of criterion scored on a 1-5 scale, with the lowest scores placing schools on top.
K-State News and Communications Services
Division of Communications and Marketing
First responders on the scene of Monday’s fatal crash -photo courtesy WIBW TV
DOUGLAS COUNTY— A Kansas woman died in an accident just before 2:30p.m Monday in Douglas County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire driven by Kristina Lisa Robinson, 37, Junction City, was eastbound on U.S. 40 just east of Bob Billings Parkway. The driver failed to negotiate the curve and lost control of the vehicle. It slid sideways, crossing into the westbound traffic. An eastbound 2013 Chevy Malibu driven by Elijah Joseph Garcia, 20, Lawrence, struck the Sunfire in the passenger side right front quarter panel.
Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene. Garcia was transported to KU Medical Center.
A passenger in the Malibu Phillip Kwabena Amfoh Afful, 18, Lawrence, was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.
Robinson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.
RILEY COUNTY— Two people were injured in an accident just after 4p.m. Monday in Riley County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 Mazda Tribute driven by Mason Josiah Randolph, 28, Manhattan, was westbound on U.S. 24 nine miles west of Manhattan.
Due to road conditions, the driver lost control of the vehicle. It struck a 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo driven by Mark Andrew Fritzson, 40, Manhattan.
Randolph and Fritzson were transported to Via Christi. Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
