Andover

"He came and said, 'People have been nice to me in my life and I want to return it,'" said attorney James Hargrove about a recent gift one Andover man left in his will. The Andover Police Department gets some high-tech gadgets because officers were nice to the right person.  One man leaves nearly $60,000 to the Andover Police and Fire Departments in his will. "I had the pleasure, and it is a pleasure, of distributing over $200,000 to the Andover Fire department, Police Department, the United Way of the Plains, the American Lung Association and Heartspring," said Hargrove.

The Storm Team 12 weather center is a silent contrast to the noisy newsroom a few yards away. Inside of one of the television studios at the station, bright monitors line the walls, tracking cloud and precipitation patterns that drift across Kansas. Day or night you can find Merril Teller, Ross Janssen, Mark Larson, Rodney Price or Dean Jones quietly studying maps and analyzing data.  Click here for weather and behind the scenes photos But when the station first went on the air in 1953, like most TV stations, Channel 12 didn't have a meteorologist.

Cheryl Hochhalter is the new principal of Andover Central High School. She's stepping into the position currently held by Mark Templin. Templin is retiring at the end of the year. He's has been the principal at the school before it opened and has served the district for 22 years. Hochhalter has been the assistant principal of Andover Central High School since 2007.

The Andover City Council agrees to look at changing a median, just built, on 21st Street. The median limits left-hand turns into, and out of, the Quail Crossing Subdivision. "There are 162 homes here and they rely on this as the main entrance for the entire development," explains Jeanie Shackelford, who lives in the subdivision. Shackelford and others say they had no notice the median was going to be built. They add that having to travel on side streets in order to turn left onto 21st doesn't make sense.

With three golf courses inside city limits, a lot of golfers live in Andover. A new ordinance makes getting around a little bit easier for them. "We think it's pretty cool because now, when we go over to the club, we can get there real easily and not have to worry about traffic and stuff like that. We were always worried the police would pull us over," said golfer Paul Hanneman . Golf carts typically must stay on the designated path, but they are now street legal for roads with a speed limit of 25 miles an hour or less.  "The golf carts can only be operated from sunrise to sunset.

It's been 20 years, but Tracey Oakley could tell you about it like it was yesterday. "I came out of shelter and there it was, right there. I remember somebody grabbing me and we all went down into the shelter and it was just like 'oh my.'" She lost nearly everything when her mobile home was destroyed on April 26th, 1991. "That's the floor of it," she points out in pictures she brought to a reception at Andover City Hall, marking 20 years since an F5 tornado hit the town.

Duke Evans remembers the day vividly. "When it went across the plowed field out there you could see all the dust come up," says Duke Evans. In the same place he stood twenty years ago, at Terradyne Country Club, Evans recounts details about the day he shot video of an F-5 tornado that tore through Andover and several other towns. Attending a golf tournament, Evans says he heard people screaming to take cover but as dozens of people ran for safety, he went upstairs.

Parents of two Andover High School students have filed suit against the district. “I have two sets of parents who are very upset their sons didn't get a fair shot at making the team,” says attorney Corlin Pratt who represents the parents. “Neither set of parents are saying their kids are superstars, but what they're saying is their kids deserve an even playing field.” They filed suit because of former Andover High School head basketball coach Jason Stucky.

It began with complaints about water that smelled like paint thinner and gasoline.  Now, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is taking steps to correct a well water contamination problem in Andover. The affected area is the Easter Addition, near E. 21st Street and N. Prairie Creek Rd. Six homes in that neighborhood have been found to be contaminated by benzene or other petroleum related chemicals, state health officials said. A total of 31 homes have been tested since the initial complaint January 5th.  There are still a handful left to test and some test results that are still pending, an official said.

It's already been a memorable 2013 for Andover High School Senior Michael Raehpour. "I just got back from Washington, D.C. " Michael told us in January during band practice. "I was playing at the inauguration parade with the KU trumpet ensemble. " Michael was there with what's become his trusty sidekick, Claudia. That's the name he has given to his trumpet. "It has a good overall sound. There are some that have a brighter or darker sound, she's right in the middle so I can play good lead jazz, I can play good solos but I can also play some classicals and some chamber groups.