TOPEKA (KSNT) - Police were investigating the possible smell of gas at a local middle school. On Thursday morning the Topeka Police Department was called to Landon Middle School at 731 S.W. Fairlawn Road on reports of a possible gas smell. Students were evacuated to an area church and Topeka West High School. Local authorities have given the all-clear to return to school, according to a USD 501 spokesman. School will be resumed within the hour. "Again, thank you for supporting us in taking the added safety step out of an abundance of caution," USD 501 Spokesperson Dan Garrett said. More inform ..read more

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” The state Court of Appeals ru ..read more

Widespread showers and storms are expected to move through the area during the morning and afternoon today. While there's a chance a cell or two may get strong enough to have hail up to the size of quarters in them this morning, most of the storms through early afternoon aren't expected to be severe. Highs today will most likely stay in the 60s as our southeasterly winds start picking up. Another round of storms look to develop later this afternoon and evening out in western Kansas that may end up moving into our area later tonight. Some of those may end up being strong or severe with damaging ..read more

EMPORIA (KSNT) - The City of Emporia issued an alert for a water main break on Thursday. The water main break is located at 24th Avenue and Prairie Street near Greenbriar Drive. The city said residents may experience a loss of water. City crews are working on the break and don't have an estimated repair time. Last year a series of water main breaks plagued the city. City officials attributed the issues to century-old pipes and water tower maintenance. The water main breaks resulted in the city asking residents to conserve water. More information will be provided as it becomes available ..read more

KANSAS (KSNT) - U.S. agriculture officials say dairy cattle must be tested before moving between states. On Monday, March 25, milk samples from sick cows were collected from two dairy farms in Kansas and another in Texas. These samples tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) which is also known as the bird flu. At that time officials said there was no risk of the virus being spread to humans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, two farmworkers have been infected with the bird flu. Officials said that samples from a cow in Kansas showed that the vir ..read more

TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KSNW) -- A fifth person has been arrested in connection to the murders of Kansas moms Jilian Kelley and Veronica Butler. According to the Oklahoma state court records, an arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday, April 24, for Paul Grice, 31, on suspicion of two counts of murder in the first degree - deliberate intent, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. According to the affidavit of probable cause for an arrest warrant for Grice, during an interview, he admitted that he was a part of the planning, killing and subsequen ..read more

TOPEKA (KSNT) It would be objectively absurd to say Marrit Mead and Jaycee Ginter haven't done enough for Washburn softball. The local duo has broken records and made history left and right for several seasons now. After starting at Washburn in 2021, time is ticking on the college careers of this legendary pair of Ichabods. Before their senior campaigns even began, Ginter and Mead combined for five All-American selections. With one series left in the 2023 regular season, their numbers are already off the charts. Ginter, a Shawnee Heights graduate, has struck out more batters than anyone else ..read more

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A member of the 1st Air Cavalry Division, Sergeant E5 Warren Wood would spend a year in Vietnam transporting everything from ammunition to wounded soldiers. In the late 1960's while the draft was in full swing, Wood had a skillset that set him on a different track heading into the conflict overseas. “As luck would have it, I had some skills so I was put into a skilled position rather than the infantry even though I was with an infantry division," Wood said. "I was what they call a heavy equipment mechanic, wheel and track ..read more

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Washburn Rural Unified athletes are signing contracts with Major League Soccer (MLS) Club Sporting Kansas City. Sophomores Conner Schonlaw and Gentry Scheid, and senior Cohen Nimz traveled to Compass Minerals National Performance Center Tuesday as part of the MLS Unified Exchange Program. The athletes got the chance to attend Sporting's practice and meet the players. They also signed their own contracts, making them official Sporting Kansas City athletes, and capped their day with a "Media Hype Shoot" and a meal prepared in the team kitchen ..read more

SHAWNEE COUNTY (KSNT) - An off-duty fire fighter saved the day for one homeowner west of Topeka. What started out as a day involving garden work quickly turned into a call to action for firefighter Jeremy Steimel. That's because he noticed a fire coming from his neighbors house. "For some reason looked over and saw smoke and thought 'man, that don't look right,'" Steimel said. "Kind of all my last years of being on fire department kind of just kicked in, I went to work." Work is exactly where John Cantrell was at. He then got a call from his wife saying he needed to come home. Thankfully, due ..read more