NEWTON – Three people were injured in an accident just before 9 p.m. on Sunday in Harvey County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Pontiac Montana driven by Francine J. Olson, 71, Inman, was westbound on U.S. 50 two miles west of Newton.

The vehicle attempted to make a u-turn and was struck by a 1995 Honda Accord driven by Christina L. Lin, 21, Halstead.

Olson, Lin, and a passenger in the Honda, Kelly L. Wasson, 45, Halstead, were transported to Newton Medical Center.

The KHP reported Lin was not wearing a seat belt.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a woman is critically injured after being stabbed nine times by a group of women.

Sgt. Ed Brower described the woman’s condition as stable on Sunday in an interview with The Wichita Eagle.

The 29-year-old victim tells officers the attack happened at an apartment complex on Saturday night. She says at least four women attacked her.

She was stabbed six times in the back and three times in the side. Bower says the victim suffered a punctured lung. He didn’t release her name.

No arrests have been reported.

LUCAS, Kan. (AP) — A toilet-shaped restroom in a small north-central Kansas town has placed second in a national contest.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the honor was bestowed upon the Grassroots Art Center’s Bowl Plaza in Lucas last Wednesday, which was World Toilet Day. The public restrooms at Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia were voted No. 1.

The competition is sponsored by Cintas, a company that designs restrooms. The finalists in the “Top 10” best restrooms in the nation contest were named in September, and people could vote for their favorites.

The Lucas facility got its start in 2008 when the town’s approximately 400 residents banded together because there was a need for a public restroom. It took them four years to raise money and design the facility.

GREENSBURG- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 1 p.m. on Sunday in Kiowa County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Freightliner semi driven by William Staud, 49, Haysville, was westbound on U.S. 400 just west of U.S. 54.

The wind blew the truck and trailer from the westbound lanes to eastbound lanes. The truck came to rest in the south ditch.

Staud was transported to Kiowa County Medical Center.

The KHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The interim director of the Kansas Association of State Employees says state correctional officers are being put at risk because of critical staffing shortages in state prisons.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Rebecca Proctor testified last week before the Joint Committee on Pensions, Investments and Benefits. The legislative committee may consider legislation to standardize the pension benefits of Corrections Department employees.

Proctor told the committee about inmates attacking guards and said all the adult facilities are short-staffed. She says that lawmakers should address wages before looking at pension benefits.

Department of Corrections spokesman Jeremy Barclay confirmed that job vacancy rates in the state prison system range from 10 to 15 percent at each facility. He says low wages and dangerous working conditions are a big part of the problem.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A vandal with an apparent love of Marilyn Monroe has targeted a Hutchinson neighborhood.

The Hutchinson News reports that the sultry star’s likeness appears spray-painted on a column portion of a roundabout. The image of Monroe appears in a stencil on all four sides with her last name written above the image. Two appear in red. The others in blue.

Hutchinson police received a call about the graffiti around 7 p.m. Saturday.

Investigating Officer Josh Jones says it’s not known who created the images or how long they had been there.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A legislative committee is looking into changing the way municipal elections are conducted in Kansas to boost turnout.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that in Kansas, city and school board races are held on a completely different cycle from federal and state races.

Over the last five years, no fewer than 10 municipal election bills have been offered in the Legislature. Some have proposed merging the municipal races with state and federal races in even-numbered years, while others have proposed holding them in November of odd-numbered years.

So far, none of those proposals has passed, but lawmakers did agree at the end of the 2014 session to have an interim committee study the issue and make a report to be considered in 2015.

The committee got to work Friday.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Even before state courts decide whether Kansas spends enough money on public schools, an education funding lawsuit is complicating efforts by legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback to close budget shortfalls.

A three-judge panel in Shawnee County District Court expects to rule by the end of December in a lawsuit filed in 2010 by parents of more than 30 students and four school districts. Both sides predict an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The case is affecting state officials’ thinking as they wrestle with predicted budget shortfalls totaling more than $714 million for the current budget year and the one beginning in July.

Aid to public schools is the biggest item in the state’s annual budget. Many legislators are wary of cutting it with the lawsuit pending.

ERIKA NIEDOWSKI, Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The federal government shelled out billions of dollars to get health insurance marketplaces going in the 14 states that opted to run their own. Now they must act like true marketplaces and start paying for themselves.

Under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, state-run health insurance exchanges need to be financially self-sustaining starting in January. Some appear to be on that path, while others have unclear funding models or even none at all.

Rhode Island, for example, received high marks for the smooth rollout of HealthSource RI amid last year’s stumbles by the federal government.

But the state doesn’t have a way to pay for the exchange’s long-term operations, and some lawmakers in the state General Assembly have suggested shifting to the federal exchange.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer is causing western Kansas to lose many of its perennial streams.

A water expert said at a workshop in Lawrence this week that many streams in western Kansas used to be fed by the aquifer because its water table was higher than the streams. But because the aquifer’s water table has dropped 3 feet of more below the stream beds, most of the streams are now dry year round.

Kansas Geological Survey geohydrology section chief Jim Butler called it a tremendous loss to the state’s ecosystem.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Butler said the problems could be solved if western Kansas farmers pumped less water by using techniques such as no-till.