The Environmental Protection Agency is collecting soil and water samples this month from industrial sites in Great Bend.

The Great Bend Tribune reported that the samples will be taken from around the former O’Neill Tank site and the former Plating Inc. site near the Great Bend Municipal Airport.

Plating Inc. is a contaminated site that is monitored by EPA’s Superfund Division, under a federal program to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

Meanwhile, officials are trying to determine is there’s contamination at the former O’Neill Tank site. EPA spokesman David Bryan says oil and water samples collected at the O’Neill Tank site and adjacent properties will assess low-level radium contamination and other possible contaminants, such as arsenic, chromium and other metals.

by Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

The good weather during the Kansas State Fair was no doubt a contributing factor. The fair which was held here in Hutchinson back in September saw an increase in attendance according to figures released Friday afternoon by State Fair Manager Denny Stoecklien.

He says they finished the ticket audit and the total for those attending the fair was 343,007. He says that’s an increase of 3,631 over 2011.

Only one day of the fair saw bad weather but that did bring welcome rains to Hutchinson and South Central Kansas.

Firefighters have rescued a woman who fell into a well in suburban Kansas City.

The Kansas City Star reports that the fire crews responded to a call Sunday afternoon that the woman had fallen into the well in Merriam.

Firefighters from Overland Park and Merriam had her safely out of the well within about 20 minutes.

She was taken to a hospital, but it’s unclear how far she fell into the well and if she was injured.

Police in northeastern Kansas say a high school student who was shocked by an officer’s stun gun had been holding a knife to his own throat.

The Overland Park Police Department has issued a statement explaining the use of the stun gun on a 14-year-old boy at Shawnee Mission West High School.

A school resource officer called police Thursday when the boy entered the principal’s office and pulled out a pocket knife. Officials say the boy didn’t threaten the principal but refused to drop the knife.

Police said Friday the student had been holding the knife to his own throat. Officers used the stun gun after deciding he was a danger to himself and others.

The boy was checked at a hospital and taken to Johnson County’s juvenile assessment center.

Two people from Denver injured in a single car crash Friday morning on I-70 in Ellsworth County.

According to a Kansas Highway Patrol report, 32 year old Rebecca Salley was driving westbound on the interstate a milepost 206 when the left wheels of her car dropped off the left side of the roadway. Salley over corrected and the car came back on the road, crossed both westbound lanes.

The car went into the ditch and turned broadside then rolled 1 1/2 times. Car came to rest on it’s top.

Salley was life flighted to a Wichita hospital.

A passenger,two year old Gabrielle Salley was taken to the Ellsworth Hospital for treatment of injuries.

The wreck happened just after 10:30am.

The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld a state law imposing a $250,000 cap on damages that can be awarded for pain and suffering in personal injury lawsuits.

The court ruled Friday against Eudora resident Amy Miller, who challenged the 1988 law imposing the cap on non-economic damages. Miller sued her doctor for removing the wrong ovary from her during surgery in 2002.

Business and medical groups had urged the court to uphold the law, saying it keeps insurance premiums affordable. Miller’s attorneys had argued that the cap violated the Kansas Constitution’s guarantees of a right to trial by jury.

The court said setting limits is a policy issue for the Legislature to settle.

A Douglas County jury awarded Miller nearly $760,000 in damages in 2006, but the award was reduced.

A Kansas mail carrier says he’s extremely grateful for a letter he recently received.

William Fox says he had been searching frantically for a wallet that went missing on Sept. 12, shortly after he cashed his paycheck. He was convinced someone stole it.

Then Fox received a letter in the mail a few days ago. It was from Flying Donuts in Wichita, telling him to stop by.

The Wichita Eagle reports when Fox went to the store, owner Tricia Davis handed him the wallet, with all the money inside.

Davis says Fox left the wallet but it did not contain a phone number. After waiting a few days and hoping Fox would return, she finally wrote the letter to the address on the driver’s license.

By Fred Gough ~ Hutch Post

On Tuesday, detectives from the Reno County Sheriff’s Office conducted a sting and arrested 3 females for prostitution or related offenses.

Detectives had been watching social media sites and found information alleging prostitution. The sting was conducted with the cooperation of a Hutchinson motel who’s name officials would not release.

30-year-old Heidi Joy Koehn, of Inman; and 23-year-old Brittany Leah Morris, of Winfield; were arrested and charged with 1 count of prostitution. 21-year-old Nikole Jere Buford, of Wichita; was arrested for promoting prostitution.

Details of the arrest have not been made public.

Topeka police are looking for a 10-foot-tall bronze statue called “Forgiven Man” after it was stolen from a church.

The statue was stolen early Wednesday from a memorial garden in front of the First Congregational Church. Police say they received a call from a witness who saw two men load the statue into a pickup truck.

Police say the bronze statue is worth $10,000. The thieves also did about $400 damage to a concrete bench and sign at the church.

The church’s pastor, Tobias Schlingensiepen, says he believes the statute is worth more than $10,000.

Schlingensiepen is the Democratic nominee for the 2nd Congressional District seat. But he says he’s sure the theft had nothing to do with politics.