Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Homicide Not Responsible For Dighton Man's Death

The Lane County Sheriff's Office has ruled out homicide in the shooting death of a Dighton man. The shooting happened shortly after midnight on Friday.

On Tuesday, authorities released the name of the victim, Vernon Barnett, 32. An autopsy was performed Friday afternoon, but the exact details of the shooting have not been released. The KBI is continuing their investigation.

Cabin Pressure Loss Reason For Emergency Landing

There are new details about an emergency landing made at the Garden City airport.

An airplane carrying 137 passengers from Las Vegas to Wichita was forced to land in Garden City on Saturday evening. The Allegiant Air 707 plane experienced a loss in cabin pressure and stopped in Garden City at 6:30. No one was harmed during the process.

Passengers had to wait for nearly six hours before a new plane could make it to the airport and take them to Wichita. The original aircraft was fixed and left the airport later.

Flash Flooding Wednesday Morning In Gove

Heavy rains Wednesday morning were giving several Northwest Kansas residents a scare. In Gove County, some areas received two to three inches of rain in a one-hour period. The downpour created several places with surface water runoff.

The city of Gove was impacted the most. Gove County Emergency Management says the water found it's way into at least one basement in the southeast part of town. Other parts of town are seeing minor runoff issues as well, but no creeks have flooded.

Police, Firefighters Busy With Fireworks-Related Activity

The Fourth of July made it a busy weekend for Garden City police and fire crews. From Friday through Monday, police officers issued 20 citations for fireworks violations. In addition, firefighters responded to 16 fireworks-related calls, more than usual for the holiday.

Most responses dealt with grass fires and dumpster fires. Authorities think a big reason for the increase was due to the lack of moisture in the area.

Wheat Harvest Wrapping Up

It didn't take long for this year's wheat harvest to wrap up. A new report says 85% of wheat acreage was cut across the state before the holiday weekend. That's 4% above average. However, the northwest corner of Kansas is just now getting into the brunt of the harvest with 69% of the crop remaining to be cut.