OLATHE – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2003 Dodge minivan driven by Raymond D. Nalley, 54, Olathe, was southbound on Interstate 35 driving erratically and exited at the scales.

The van crashed into the back of a Kenworth semi that was stopped on the entrance ramp to the scales.

Nalley was transported to Olathe Medical Center. The semi driver was not injured.

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

BOONEVILLE, Mo. -The National Transportation Safety Board has released an initial report on their investigation of the November 30, plane crash near Boonville, Mo., that killed a Salina man and injured three others.

The post-accident examination revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal engine operation.

It did say the pilot Charles K. Sojka, Salina, re-routed the flight from the original plan due to the difficulty of navigating through low clouds near Sedalia.

According to the report, a surviving passenger revealed that the pilot extended the landing gear without any difficulties. However, when the pilot reduced engine power, in attempt to reduce airspeed, the engine experienced a loss of power. The pilot was able to briefly restore engine power by advancing the throttle, but the engine quickly lost total power. The passenger reported that the pilot then began making rapid changes to the engine throttle and mixture control without any noticeable effect to engine operation. The passenger stated that the airplane eventually “stalled completely,” about 250 feet above the ground, as the pilot prepared for a forced landing; however, the passenger did not recall the airplane impacting terrain.

The pilot Charles Sojika died in the crash. His wife, Brenda Schewe, 56, Salina, and her children, Kathryn Taylor, 25, Wichita, and Jacob Taylor, 23, Kansas City, Mo., survived.

See the full NTSB report here

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey says groundwater levels are declining in an aquifer that serves parts of Oklahoma and seven other states.

The USGS has released a report on changes in groundwater levels in the High Plains Aquifer, also known as the Ogallala Aquifer. USGS scientist Virginia McGuire says measurements between 2011 and 2013 represent a large decline in groundwater levels and are likely due to increased groundwater pumping.

In 2011, water in the aquifer totaled about 2.92 billion acre-feet, a decline of about 267 million acre-feet, or 8 percent, since 1950. Change in water levels from 2011 to 2013 was a decline of 36 million acre-feet in just two years.

The aquifer underlies about 175,000 square miles in Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and killing an 8-year-old Topeka girl will not face the death penalty.

A Shawnee County jury on Tuesday said it was unable to unanimously recommend that 31-year-old Billy Frank Davis Jr. receive capital punishment for the death of Ahliyah Nachelle Irvin. The girl disappeared from a Topeka apartment in March 2012. Her body was found later the same day stuffed inside a clothes dryer in a blood-stained basement near the apartment.

Defense attorneys argued that Davis had mental health issues and was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and didn’t intend to kill the girl.

Under state law, the jury’s decision means that Davis will be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. His sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 13.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say record cattle prices have led to an increase in cattle theft reports.

Authorities say five longhorn cows and a bull, worth at least $10,000, were recently taken from a pasture in southeast Kingman County. A Reno County producer says four 600-pound calves were stolen this month.

The Kansas Animal Health Commissioner tells the Hutchinson News he noticed an uptick in theft reports funneled through his agency’s brands department.

On Monday, the Kansas attorney general and the state’s agriculture department announced an agreement to form a new investigative unit to combat the increase in cattle thefts. It will assist local law enforcement agencies in their suspected cattle theft investigations.

SALINA – Police have arrested a man in connection with a robbery and an attack on a woman at a downtown coffee shop.

Captain Mike Sweeney said James A. Brown, 44, was taken into custody without incident in the 100 block of N. 8th on Monday night.

Brown is alleged to have robbed the Iron Street Coffee Roaster on December 11.

Police say Brown went into the business, displayed a knife and demand money from a woman employee.

The woman suffered scratches and a puncture wound to her neck.

She was treated for her injuries at the hospital.

Brown left the business with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Brown was booked into the Saline County Jail on requested charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated kidnapping, and an a outstanding municipal court warrant.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State University will receive an $11.5 million donation from Koch Industries and the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation.

The university said Tuesday the gift is the largest single-time donation in the school’s history.

The Wichita Eagle reports the money will be divided in five ways: $4.5 million to expand and renovate the Charles Koch Arena and the Student Athlete Success Center; $3.75 million for a “Maker Space” in a new building for inventors and entrepreneurs; $1.54 million for Honors College scholarships; $1 million for student inventions; and $460,000 for moving expenses when the new Global Trading Center relocates to a new building.

The donation to the athletic department starts a fundraising project of about $15 million for athletics facilities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is condemning what he calls a “heinous attack” on a Pakistani school.

Obama says terrorists are once again showing their depravity with the shooting spree that killed 126 in the city of Peshawar.

Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School Tuesday morning in the worst attack in Pakistan in years. Most of the victims were students in the first through 10th grades.

Obama says the U.S. stands with Pakistan in its efforts to fight extremism and promote peace. He offered prayers to the victims and their loved ones.