Anderson County Wreck Kills Teen Passenger

A single-vehicle crash near Colony yesterday has killed a teenager. 13-year old Mary Jane Robertson was a passenger in the car driven by Connie McCormick. Highway Patrol records indicate both are from Verona, Missouri, but according to the Chanute Tribune Robertson is a Chanute resident, as is her aunt, McCormick. Highway Patrol troopers say shortly after 8am yesterday, McCormick was southbound on highway 169 north of Colony and went off the right side of the road, vaulting over a culvert at 700 road and flipped twice end-over-end. Robertson was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected out the back window. She died at the scene and was taken to Ferris Feuerborn Funeral Home, according to the crash report. McCormick was taken to Allen County Hospital with what the patrol calls "disabling" injury.

Click It or Ticket Starts Today

Iola police will be taking part in the early-summer "Click It or Ticket" seat belt usage campaign across Kansas. The effort started today and runs through June 6th. During that time, extra patrols will be on the streets and roads, with officer and dispatcher overtime paid in part by a grant form the Kansas Department of Transportation. Iola Police Chief Jared Warner says more than 140 agencies statewide are joining the effort. 69-percent of the people who died in traffic crashes in Kansas last year were not buckled in.

LaHarpe Crash Hurts 4

Highway Patrol troopers say four people were taken to the hospital following a two-vehicle crash in LaHarpe yesterday morning. Troopers say Nora Lewis of LaHarpe was northbound on Jefferson about 9:30am and t-boned an eastbound van in the intersection of 9th and Jefferson. Lewis and two of her three children in her van were taken to Allen County Hospital. The fourth child young enough to still be in a booster seat and was not injured. The driver of the other van, Robert Arnett of LaHarpe, as not hurt, but his passenger, Carrie Arnett, who was on the side where the impact occurred, was taken to Allen County Hospital to be checked out. None of the people taken to the hospital were listed with disabling injuries.

Atea Unemployment Picture Improves

The unemployment numbers for April are in, and officials say all area counties improved from Marh to April. Most are also better than year-ago numbers. While Coffey continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in the area, at 5.6%, Allen and Bourbon counties are close behind at 6.6% and 6.8% respectively. In Allen county that compares to 7.4% last month and is more than one-percent better than last year's rate of 7.9%. Rates for other area counties: Wilson county, 9.4%, down from 9.9% in March and 10.5% last April; Woodson county, 7.1%, down form 7.7% in March and 8.6% last year; Neosho county was nearly stable - 8.3% last month, 8.7% in March, and 8.6% in April, 2009. In Anderson county, the jobless rate stood at 7.2%, down from 8% in March and down slightly from last year's 7.4%

In a statement, Governor Parkinson said, "we’re seeing positive signs of job creation. In the past few months, we’ve seen our economy stabilizing, and in April we’ve experienced actual job growth. Notably, that growth has been in the private sector. While there are still too many Kansans without a job, this is a good sign that our efforts to put Kansans back to work are beginning to materialize." Tyler Tenbrink, Labor Economist with the Kansas Department of Labor, explains:






Statewide, the April 2010 unemployment rate was 6.3 percent, down from 6.9 percent in March and unchanged from April 2009. Three of the 11 major industries in Kansas reported over-the-year job gains in April, with the highest increase in construction. This is the first month the construction industry has reported over-the-year job gains since June 2008.

ACH Forum Dates, Places Set

Dates have been set for the public forums concerning the future of Allen County Hospital. Those forums, to be conducted by the advisory committee prior to a recommendation being made next month to county commissioners on whether to build new or remodel, are scheduled within the first 7 days of next month. The initial forum is Tuesday night, June 1st, in Iola at St. John’s Catholic Church-Parish Hall. The second, in Humboldt on Thursday, June 3rd, is at the Humboldt Public Library. The final forum will be in Moran, Monday June 7th at the Senior/Community Center. Each forum runs from 7 to 9 pm.

New Drive-In -- Temporarily -- at Iola Auto Parts

It sounded a bit like an explosion. That's how several customers of Iola Auto Parts described the sound when a car crashed through one of the front windows of the business on south State Street around noon on Thursday. No one was injured in the accident, but it did cause quite a mess, spilling a number of paint cans off of shelves. Employees got that cleaned up in the hours following the accident, and workers had the outer wall and window frame repaired by late afternoon. The parts store remained open the entire time and continued to sell products. They will have to wait a few more days to finally get all the glass replaced.

La Harpe Crash Hurts Two

Two people were taken to Allen County Hospital following a crash last night in La Harpe. Highway patrol reports indicate 46-year old Dennis Womelsdorf of La Harpe was injured in the crash, which happened just before 8:30pm south of highway 54 on Monroe Street. Troopers say Womelsdorf was southbound on Monroe and crossed into the northbound lane, hitting a motorcycle head-on. The driver of that motorcycle, 30-year old Anthony Hulett of Iola, was also taken to ACH by ambulance. His passenger, 27-year old Kyria Ruby of La Harpe, refused medical treatment at the scene.

NECC President is Job-Hunting

The President of Neosho County Community College, Vicky Smith, is one of three finalists for a similar job in Illinois. Smith was at McHenry County College on Tuesday for a public visit and interview sessions. Trustees at the college interviewed a second candidate, from Iowa, yesterday, and the third finalist, from Illinois, is to be there today. Each finalist is visiting the campus this week to meet with administrators, faculty, students and community members before the board makes a selection in mid-June.

USD 257 Board: 5th Graders Recognized, Budget Decisions Neared

While budget may have been the most urgent issue discussed during this week's USD 257 Boar d of Education meeting, there was time for some good news, too. Superintendent Dr. Craig Neuenswander explains:






There's good news on the budget front, with the projected deficit being half what it was originally thought to be. Still USD 257 Board of Education members have to deal with a 415-thousand dollar budget hold, more than half of it caused by declining enrollment. Board members are closer, but have not locked in, the needed cuts -- mostly in teaching positions direclty related to the enrollment loss.

Storms Bring Rain, LIttle Else to SE Kansas

The round of storms anticipated to come through in the late evening hours last night came though much later, departing our area only hours ago. By the time they got here , the storms were most just soakers, but did prompt one round of warnings early this morning. Shortly after 2am, there was a single report of potentially damging hail, by a residnet a few miles south of Fredonia who estimated hailstones of 1.75 inches, or golf ball size. That's the only severe-level hail or wind report received by the National Weather Service anywhere in soutehast Kansas with this round of storms.

Severe Weather Possible Today/Tonight

Today is another weather awareness day in southeast Kansas. Weather service forecasters say a round of storms late this afternoon and this evening may bring heavy rain, large hail, and damaging wind to our area. If the storms make it in within the couple of hours either side of sunset, isolated tornadoes are possible. We'll keep an eye on it and keep you updated throughout the day.

Severe Weather in SEK Brings Damaging Wind

Last night's severe weather, which was part of a system that killed at least five people in Oklahoma, raked parts of southeast Kansas with damaging winds. Most of the damage reported so far is in the Fredonia area, with trees and power lines reported down, and a measured wind gust of 60 miles an hour. Other wind reports were not associated with damage, except for one south of Yates Center, where unspecified damage was reported by the Weather Service along US 75. Wind speeds peaked at 60 in Chanute, 65 in Neosho Falls, and 70 in Yates Center and Gridley. The storms had earlier produced tornadoes west of Wichita which lifted shortly before passing over the city.

WEATHER ALERT: Large Hail, Strong Tornadoes Possible Tonight

TODAY IS A DAY TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE SKY AND YOUR RADIO ON, AS WELL AS TO CONSIDER EACH TIME YOU GO SOMEWHERE WHAT YOU MIGHT DO IF THREATENED BY SEVERE WEATHER WHILE YOU'RE THERE. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTERS SAY THE POTENTIAL FOR A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK EXISTS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VERY STRONG SHEAR WILL PROMOTE SCATTERED SUPERCELLULAR THUNDERSTORMS THAT WILL BE CAPABLE OF DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AS LARGE AS BASEBALLS AND TORNADOES. WITH A VERY STRONG SOUTHWEST MID-UPPER LEVEL FLOW...THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR STRONG LONG-TRACK TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AS THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SURGE OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS...THE PRIMARY THREAT SHOULD TRANSITION INTO DAMAGING STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS OF 70
TO 80 MPH TONIGHT.

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS OUTLINED A HIGH RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR AN AREA THAT STARTS IN CENTRAL NEOSHO AND WILSON COUNTIES AND EXTENDS SOUTH INTO OKLAHOMA. AROUND THAT, A MODERATE RISK OF SEVER WEATHER EXISTS, INCLIDNG THE IOLA AREA. tHE ENTIRE LISTENG AREA IS INCLUDED IN AN AREA AT RISK FO SIGNIFICANT, OR EF-2 TO EF-5 TORNADOES AS WELL AS BEING PEGGED WITH A 45-PERCENT PROBABILIYT OF HAIL, SOME OF IT LARGER THAN 2 INCHES. THE THINKING AT THIS TIME IS THAT STOMRS WILL DEVELOP VERY CLOSE TO THE KANSAS TURNPIKE AROUND 4-6PM AND MOVE EAST AT UP TO 50 MILES AN HOUR.

CrimeStoppers 050510

Here's Mike Ford with this week's CrimeStoppers Report:






You can also submit tips online.

USD 257 To Lose 8 Teachers

The budget realities facing USD 257 are hitting home, as the "last minute" for making decisions concerning teacher contracts is rapidly approaching. In a normal year, the deadline would already be past, but legislators extended the notice requirement to May 21st because of the budget situation. Iola school board members dealt with the issue last night:






Iola Superintendent Dr. Craig Neuenswander's comments came during his regular radio appearance this morning.

Neosho County Injury Wreck

Highway patrol troopers say a Tulsa-area driver failed to stop at the US 59/K39 junction north of Erie, rear-ending a pickup driven by a Chanute woman. The crash happened last night about 6:30, and resulted in the injury of the passenger in the Oklahoma car and the area woman. According to a crash report, Johnny Allen Case of Sand Springs, Oklahoma was northbound on 59 and failed to stop, plowing into the county-owned pickup driven by Roberta Harris of Chanute, which was stopped at the intersection. Case and his passenger Deandra Faulkner, were checked out at the scene and she was taken to a local hospital. Harris was also determined to have a possible injury and taken to the hospital.

Moran Teen Hurt in Saturday Crash

A Moran teen was hurt in a Saturday evening crash west of his hometown. Highway patrol troopers reports Zachery Knight was taken to Allen COunty Hospital for treatment of his injuries following the crash, which happened about 6:15 Saturday evening on t US 54 west of Moran. Knight was eastbound, troopers say, in a 1995 GMC Pickup. He crossed the oncoming lane and became airborne as he entered the north ditch, rolling several times. The pickup came to rest on its wheels. Troopers say they don't know if Knight was wearing a seat belt.

Quick Reaction After Being Distracted Keeps Wreck from Being Worse

An Iola woman is lucky to be alive, according to officials investigating her crash Friday afternoon. Alexa Setter crashed about 2pm Friday, striking the east end of the old iron bridge over Indian Creek on Utah Road about eight miles northwest of Iola.
Setter, on her way to work in Burlington, suffered minor injuries, mainly bruises from deployment of the car’s air bag. She narrowly misses impacting the iron beam head-on, impaling the passenger side of the car instead. She was alone in the car, on her way to work in Burlington.