Mcpherson County

One person is dead after an accident in McPherson County. It happened on U56 about one mile east of Canton just after 3am Sunday morning. Authorities say James Stang of Marion was going eastbound when another vehicle going westbound went left of the center lane and hit the Toyota Tacoma that Stang was driving. Stang was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehilce was taken to a Wichita hospital where they are in fair condition.

A Salina man is dead after he crashes head-on into a truck in McPherson County. The Kansas Highway Patrol says Jamie Walter Freeman, 32, was driving southbound on K-61, about 4 miles south of Mcpherson, when he attempted to pass a slower moving vehicle and struck a truck in on-coming traffic. Freeman was taken to the hospital where he died. A passenger in the car suffered serious injuries. The driver of the truck was not hurt.

An Ellis man is dead after being struck by a semi while crossing the road in McPherson County Wednesday night. It happened just after ten o'clock on I-135 south of Lindsborg. The Kansas Highway Patrol says the semi was headed north when it struck 32-year-old Wesley Kraft, who was standing in middle of the road. The driver of the truck is from New Mexico. He was not hurt.

A runaway from the Saline County Jail is arrested and back in custody. Scott Cordell was granted a furlough on January 13th to attend a funeral. He failed to return to the jail that afternoon. On january 20th Saline County deputies were notified that Cordell was in McPherson County near Inman after authorities received reports of a suspicious person. Cordell was taken into custody by the Inman Police Department. He could be charged with aggravated escape from custody.

A Salina man is dead after a crash in Mcpherson County. It happened Monday afternoon on K-61, four miles south of McPherson. Authorities say that he was driving southbound when he tried to pass a slower moving car on K-61. He crashed into a truck going northbound. 32-year-old Jamie Walker was killed. Another person in the car was taken to the hospital in McPherson. The driver of the truckdid not suffer any life threatening injuries.

A McPherson County man has pleaded guilty to using a 9-year-old girl to produce child pornography. 50 year old Philip Andra Grigsby of Marquette pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. Grigsby initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita. The complaint alleged the investigation began in Australia earlier this year when an Australian man was arrested by police in that country.

An elderly woman dies after a three vehicle accident in McPherson County Friday afternoon. It happened two miles south of McPherson on K61. Authorities say 80-year-old Flora Larkin of McPherson was killed when the car she was driving hit another vehicle that swerved into the lane she was in. Officials say that car was trying to avoid another vehicle. One person in that second vehicle was air lifted to a Wichita hospital.

Three people from Nebraska are killed in an accident on I-135 in McPherson County. It happened just after 11:00am on Saturday about four miles north of McPherson. Authorities say the driver of the SUV was going southbound on I-135 when he possibly fell asleep. The vehicle left the roadway and entered the median. It then rolled several times. Five of the seven people inside were thrown from the vehicle. A 10-year-old passenger in the car was one of the three killed. The three were not wearing a safety restraint.

Kansas is hit with another round of severe weather on Friday night.  The Eyewitness Newsroom has received multiple reports of strong winds, hail, and storm damage from across the state. National Weather Service reported 60mph wind gusts in Butler County and 70mph wind gusts in Marion County. Westar Energy reported 2,419 customers were without power as of 12:13am.  The outages were in Chase, Douglas, Greenwood, Lyon, Marion, Nemaha, Ottawa, Reno, Saline, and Sedgwick counties.

McPherson County will have a preliminary hearing for two men accused in the death of a Tabor College student. 26-year-old Brandon Brown died in September after a fight in McPherson. He was a Tabor College football player Alton Franklin and Dequinte Flournoy are charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder.  Prosecutors are preparing to present evidence against the two men charged in connection with Brown's murder. Please check www.kwch.com for updates throughout the day.

One person has died in a tanker truck explosion in Rice County. It happened on Kansas Highway 56 and 31st Road around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Kansas Highway Patrol says 50-year-old Clinton Koehn of McPherson died when his truck went off the roadway, hit a concrete culvert, overturned and caught fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers closed the highway to the McPherson County line while crews cleared the scene. We spoke with Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Gary Warner on Wednesday morning.  He says they don't know why the truck left the roadway.

A new report shows that Sumner County is the top winter wheat producer in Kansas.  The Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reports that Sumner county growers cut almost eighteen million bushels this year. McPherson county is second with about eleven million bushels, followed by Reno County with more than ten million.      The highest yields are in Crawford County.  Farmers there averaged more than sixty one bushels of wheat per acre.  That breaks the record of 50 bushels per acre set back in 1997.

McPherson County will have a preliminary hearing for two men accused in the death of a Tabor College student. 26-year-old Brandon Brown died in September after a fight in McPherson. He was a Tabor College football player Alton Franklin and Dequinte Flournoy are charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder.  Prosecutors are preparing to present evidence against the two men charged in connection with Brown's murder. Please check www.kwch.com for updates throughout the day.

A McPherson County man has pleaded guilty to using a 9-year-old girl to produce child pornography. 50 year old Philip Andra Grigsby of Marquette pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. Grigsby initially was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Wichita. The complaint alleged the investigation began in Australia earlier this year when an Australian man was arrested by police in that country.

A 26-year-old football player from Tabor College remains in critical condition after being found lying in the street.  McPherson police found Brandon Brown unresponsive around 4:00 a.m Sunday. Police were called to the 400 block of north Carrie for reports of a large party.  When they arrived, they found Brown unconscious and unresponsive in the street.  He was flown to a Wichita hospital where he remains on life support. He's originally from Sacramento California. He's a junior at Tabor College in Hillsboro.  He plays as a defensive lineman on the football team.

A runaway from the Saline County Jail is arrested and back in custody. Scott Cordell was granted a furlough on January 13th to attend a funeral. He failed to return to the jail that afternoon. On january 20th Saline County deputies were notified that Cordell was in McPherson County near Inman after authorities received reports of a suspicious person. Cordell was taken into custody by the Inman Police Department. He could be charged with aggravated escape from custody.

A man released from the Saline County Jail last week for his mother's funeral, still has not returned. Officials in Saline County are asking for the public's help to find Scott Cordell. Our news partners at The Salina Journal report that Cordell had been in jail since November, after he failed to appear in court in a drug case. The Journal reports that officials let Cordell out at 8:00 Friday morning to attend his mother's funeral in McPherson County. He was supposed to return by 3:00 on Friday afternoon, but has not been seen since.

Three people from Nebraska are killed in an accident on I-135 in McPherson County. It happened just after 11:00am on Saturday about four miles north of McPherson. Authorities say the driver of the SUV was going southbound on I-135 when he possibly fell asleep. The vehicle left the roadway and entered the median. It then rolled several times. Five of the seven people inside were thrown from the vehicle. A 10-year-old passenger in the car was one of the three killed. The three were not wearing a safety restraint.

Kansas is hit with another round of severe weather on Friday night.  The Eyewitness Newsroom has received multiple reports of strong winds, hail, and storm damage from across the state. National Weather Service reported 60mph wind gusts in Butler County and 70mph wind gusts in Marion County. Westar Energy reported 2,419 customers were without power as of 12:13am.  The outages were in Chase, Douglas, Greenwood, Lyon, Marion, Nemaha, Ottawa, Reno, Saline, and Sedgwick counties.

Severe storms moved through north-central Kansas Wednesday night. There are reports of tornado touch downs in Mitchell (near Cawker City) and Dickinson (near Solomon) counties. So far, there are no reports of injuries or damage. Large hail, up to softball size, was reported in the Abilene area. A viewer tells Eyewitness News he saw funnel clouds come down and go back into the clouds near Canton in McPherson County. He also reports ping-pong to golf ball size hail.