Two western Kansas women are among three people killed in a head-on collision in Finney County about six miles north of Garden City.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says 21-year-old Phillip Cook of Littlefield, Texas, was southbound on U.S. 83 at 9:19 p.m. Friday when he crossed the center line and struck a car driven by 81-year-old Doris Reed of Scott City.

Both drivers and 68-year-old Leta Weems of Scott City, a passenger in Reed’s car, were killed in the crash. A second passenger in Reed’s car, 73-year-old Alice Odea of Scott City, was taken to a Garden City hospital where her condition was not available.

A Kansas woman says she doesn’t want anyone else to feel the pain of losing a loved one because of texting while driving.

Nineteen-year-old Ashley Umscheid died in 2009 while texting her sister, Amanda, as she drove near Manhattan. She lost control of her pickup, which flipped end over end and threw her into a ditch.

Since then, Amanda Umscheid of Paxico has worked to convince teenagers not to text while driving.

She’s been part of television and radio commercials, billboards, flyers and pamphlets. She also travels about three times a month from Paxico to high schools and colleges around the country to speak about her sister’s death.

The Kansas City Star reports Kansas reported 495 wrecks involving cellphones last year, with three deaths and 234 injuries.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback joined legislative leaders in unveiling a “property tax transparency” law intended to stem the rise of such taxes when assessed property values increase.

The governor said Friday the bill would require local governments to publicly vote to raise property taxes, rather than approve budgets based on growing assessments. He said the state does not intend to raise its share of property taxes.

Republican state Sen. Susan Wagle says the plan would put a flexible cap on property taxes, and exempts new construction.

Democrat state Rep. Jim Ward says Democrats tried to pass property tax relief last session that would have taken effect this year. He says the governor is not being honest because Kansans understand that income taxes can’t be cut without affecting local property taxes.

Salina Police continue to seek help from the public in locating two suspects wanted in connection with a shooting early Monday morning in east Salina.

Lt. Scott Siemsen says it is believed that 22-year-old Armani Ramos and 26-year-old Ariana Waite are still in Salina.

Ramos is considered to still be armed and dangerous. it is also believed that Ramos and Waite are together most of the time.

They might be driving a 2005 white Mazda Tribute with Kansas licence plate 020 CCU.

Both were involved in an incident about 3:30 Monday morning in the 300-block of S. Ohio where two people were shot. Neither were life threatening injuries.

Warrants have been issued for Ramos on a attempted 2nd degree murder charges. Waite also has a warrant out on her for aggravated burglary and battery.

If you think you may have seen either Ramos or Waite, or the white Mazda, call Salina Police at 9-1-1, or 826-7210, or Crimestoppers at 825-TIPS.

A hotel development project in downtown Lawrence might solve an historical mystery dating to the early 1900s.

City officials say they are likely to ask for test excavations at a proposed hotel site to look for evidence that several black soldiers killed in Quantrill’s Raid are buried there.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a 1903 master’s thesis by a University of Kansas student contends the soldiers were buried there, but historians haven’t been able to corroborate the claim.

Kansas state archaeologist Robert Hoard asked City Manager David Corliss in March to consider allowing him to do test excavations at the site before any development occurred.

A spokesman for the project’s development group said he was open to discussing the issue with city officials.

The Kansas Supreme Court is considering the appeal of a man sentenced to die over the killings of a Great Bend couple in 2004.

The justices were hearing arguments Friday in the case of Sidney Gleason. He is challenging his convictions for capital murder and other crimes and his death sentence.

The murder victims were Miki Martinez and boyfriend Darren Wornkey. Their deaths were days after the robbery of a 76-year-old man in February 2004.

Prosecutors say Gleason and cousin Damien Thompson worried about what Martinez would tell police about the robbery.

Workney was shot while he sat in his Jeep outside his home. Martinez was taken to a rural area and strangled and shot.

Thompson avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty to Martinez’s murder.

The former head of a western Kansas program that took World War II veterans to Washington is accused of stealing more than $100,000.

LaVeta Miller was arrested Thursday on a warrant charging her with theft by deception. A Barton County records clerk says Miller is jailed on $20,000 bond. The clerk didn’t know if Miller had an attorney.

Miller worked as program director for Central Prairie Honor Flight until she was fired in July. The Great Bend group raised nearly $1.2 million and conducted 17 Honor Flights that took 1,100 Second World War veterans to Washington from 2008 through 2011.