FINNEY COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just before 11p.m. on Wednesday in Finney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2014 Chevy Silverado driven by Robert William Harkness, 85, Scott City, was northbound on U.S. 83 at Friend Road.

The driver disregarded lights on 3 emergency vehicles working an earlier accident, according to the KHP.

The Silverado hit a Finney County Deputy’s 2016 Dodge Charger parked at the scene.

The Silverado continued and struck a 2004 Toyota Corolla before losing control and leaving the highway to the east, coming to rest in a field.

The Corolla was pushed into Liea H. Artz, 21, Scott City, who was standing in the ditch waiting on the Toyota to be towed.

Artz was transported to Scott County Hospital.

Harkness was not injured.

Deputy Jerry W. Quint, 55, Holcomb was sitting in the Charger at the time of the accident and not injured.

JACKSON COUNTY – A Kansas man drowned while fishing on Wednesday in Jackson County.

Just before 3 p.m., emergency responders were called to the southwest corner of 182nd Road and T Rd near Mayetta in rural Jackson County, according to a media release.

Three men were reported to be fishing in a small boat when it capsized in the pond.

The victim identified as John H. Johnson, 91, of Berryton, Kansas believed to have drowned while attempting to swim to the shore.

The body was recovered from the farm pond. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Kansas Dept. of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism are investigating this incident.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Donald Trump’s transition to the presidency.

Kansas congressman Tim Huelskamp says someone “close to the transition” of President-elect Donald Trump has contacted him about becoming agriculture secretary.

Huelskamp lost the GOP primary in his agriculture-heavy Kansas district this year after he was booted from the House Agriculture Committee amid fights with Republican leadership. He also opposed a five-year farm law enacted in 2014.

The Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association and National Association of Wheat Growers endorsed Huelskamp’s challenger, Roger Marshall.

Huelskamp said Wednesday that the USDA needs major reform, including stronger work requirements for food stamps.

Some other possible candidates for agriculture secretary include Charles Conner of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, a former Bush USDA official; former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue; Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller; and Nebraska cattle rancher Charles Herbster.

MARSHALL COUNTY – A Kansas man died in an accident just before 7:30p.m. on Wednesday in Marshall County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Chrysler van driven by Lee James Busch, 43, Marysville, was southbound on 5th Road eight miles south of U.S. 36.

The driver attempted the curve at Sunflower Road without slowing.

The van traveled into the south ditch of Sunflower Road rolled and came to rest on its top facing west.

Busch was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Kinsley Mortuary.

A passenger Timothy Lee Bush, 40, Waterville, was transported to Community Memorial Health Care in Marysville.

Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

KANSAS CITY– A Kansas woman was charged in federal court Wednesday with setting fires as diversions while she was shoplifting at three separate grocery stores, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Tahmekah D. Henson, 40, Kansas City, Kan., is charged with three counts of arson. The fires are alleged to have been set at the following locations.
— Save A Lot, 2815 State Avenue, Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 5, 2016.
— Save A Lot, 2102 Metropolitan, Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 5, 2016.
— Happy Foods, 5420 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 5, 2016.

Documents filed in the case allege Henson set fires in store aisles so she could leave the stores with shoplifted meats during the confusion. In each case there were customers and employees in the stores.

If convicted, she faces a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 20 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.

GIRARD, Kan. (AP) — One of two men who escaped from a southeast Kansas county jail has agreed to a plea deal.

The Pittsburg Morning Sun reports that 27-year-old Steven Ray Barnes pleaded no contest Tuesday to aggravated escape from custody and two unrelated aggravated battery counts. As part of the agreement, charges of aggravated intimidation of a witness, possession of amphetamines and obstruction of official duty were dropped. He faces a 10 year prison term.

One of the aggravated battery charges stems from a 2014 attack that left a Pittsburg State University with a broken jaw. Then in April, Barnes and another inmate Shaun Simpson

scaled a fence at the Crawford County jail’s outdoor recreation area. The other battery count stems from an attack last month that left another inmate with a collapsed lung.

MITCHELL COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 4p.m. on Wednesday in Mitchell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Mack truck driven Walter Lee Adams, Jr., 84, Beloit, by was northbound on Linda Lane one mile south of Asherville.

The vehicle’s right tire went off the side of the roadway.

The weight of the truck caused the vehicle to enter the ditch. The driver overcorrected and the tuck rolled over on its top.

Adams was transported to the Mitchell County Hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A few hundred Topeka students marched to the Statehouse to show they’re diverse and united.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 400 to 500 Topeka High School students participated in the march Wednesday.

Angelo Campos, an 18-year-old senior, says since the presidential election last week there’ve been reports of minorities being discriminated against, and he wanted to show he takes pride in the school’s diverse groups.

Principal Rebecca Morrisey says the march occurred during a morning period when the school’s estimated 1,800 students are in homeroom and that students were allowed to participate if they chose to.

Morrisey says the school’s been working to “make sure we honor both sides of the political spectrum and that we don’t allow negative hate speech from either side of the political spectrum.”