BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Two drivers were killed in a head-on collision that occurred when a suspect fled from authorities in southwest Missouri.

Taney County Sheriff Jimmie Russell says the incident started Monday evening when deputies were called about a domestic violence situation. Deputies went to the area south of Branson, and saw the suspect’s truck on the way.

Russell says when deputies tried to stop the driver, the truck rammed a patrol car, then crossed over into the opposite lane of traffic, going south in the northbound lane. The driver crossed into Arkansas, where his vehicle hit a northbound car head-on.

Russell says the suspect driver and the driver of the northbound car were killed in the crash.

SIKESTON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say three Memphis men are accused of trying to steal a semi trailer loaded with toilet paper valued at $70,000.

The trio — ages 36, 42 and 51 years old — were arrested early Sunday after Sikeston and Missouri state police saw them drive off with the trailer from a Sikeston trucking company.

Officers at the time were monitoring the company after other thefts from it had been reported. Local news reports indicate the semi tractor used in Sunday’s theft had been stolen that night from a trucking company in Memphis. All of the men are charged with felony stealing. Sikeston police say the investigation continues.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Reno County health officials are taking steps to help stall the spread of a whooping cough outbreak before school starts.

The county has more than 70 suspected whooping cough cases.

As of Friday, Reno County had 41 confirmed or probable cases of whooping cough, which accounts for 20 percent of all cases in the state. That was up from 18 on June 29.

Reno County Health Department Director Nick Baldetti says the continued outbreak has health officials concerned about the possibility of a potential “micro-outbreak” once school starts again.

He says the county health department is working with school districts to prepare and hopes to have vaccination clinics set up for Buhler, Haven and Nickerson districts.\

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers tips for parents on its Web site here.

 

CYLINDER, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 58-year-old Iowa man tried to rescue his son who was overcome by fumes in a hog manure pit, but both men later died.

The accident occurred Saturday afternoon in the northwest Iowa community of Cylinder. The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office says Gene Opheim and his 32-year-old son, Austin, were making repairs when Austin was overcome by the gases. His father then entered the pit to save his son but also was overcome.

Fire and rescue personnel were called to the scene. The Sheriff’s Office says the men were removed from the pit and taken to Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg, where they were pronounced dead.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 28-year-old Wichita man accused of trying to kill his girlfriend also is being investigated for possible animal abuse after video surfaced of the woman’s kitten being thrown against a wall.

The man, whose case will be presented to prosecutors on Tuesday, was jailed Friday on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder.

He is accused of shooting a man his 23-year-old girlfriend brought home to protect her after she and the suspect got into an altercation late Thursday at a local night club.

The suspect was taken into custody the next morning.

A Snapchat video shows the girlfriend’s kitten being twice thrown against a wall. The 16-week-old kitten was taken to a veterinarian for treatment but was later euthanized because of its injuries.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — One year after 51 homeless veterans were given free housing for up to a year, the program has offered a glimpse into the challenges and successes of the homeless eradication model called “rapid rehousing.”

The program was managed by a local nonprofit but funded with federal housing dollars running through St. Louis’ human services department.

A case manager of the $530,000 program says the biggest challenge was gaining the veterans’ trust.

Fourteen of the participants are living independently in their own apartments, and many of them have jobs.

Twenty-three have transferred to a housing voucher program, while five others have moved out of town. Three qualified for other housing assistance, four died and two others were put in nursing homes.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republicans and Democrats in Kansas both hope March 5 caucuses will lure serious contenders for their parties’ 2016 presidential nominations into the state.

Each party’s executive director said Monday that it picked a Saturday for its contest to lessen the chances that prospective voters would have to miss work to participate. The date also is only four days after Super Tuesday, when a dozen states are expected to have caucuses or primaries.

The parties’ executive directors said the timing of the election could make it attractive for candidates to come to Kansas to campaign.

Each state party plans to use the caucus results to allocate delegates to its national nominating convention among its presidential candidates.

Kansas has 40 delegates to the Republican convention and 37 to the Democratic convention.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A study shows that the Lawrence area had several of the top accident sites along the Kansas Turnpike.

The 2010 Long-Term Needs Study compiled for the Kansas Turnpike Authority shows that six of the top nine accident spots on the 236-mile turnpike were in the Lawrence area, and two were on the I-70 stretch approaching Kansas City.

The report also says the turnpike’s south Wichita interchange is another top accident location in the turnpike system, coming in at No. 9.

The Wichita Eagle reports the high accident areas are along the more heavily traveled stretches of the Turnpike, particularly along I-70 between Topeka and Kansas City.

The K-7 interchange at the Bonner Springs exit approaching Kansas City had the most accidents with 43.

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — An autopsy will seek to help determine the identity of a woman’s body found floating in a flooded area of southeast Missouri.

The Sikeston Standard Democrat reports that the body was found Sunday night in Pemiscot County after authorities received a call about a van stuck in a bean field.

Responding officers found the body and pulled it from the water.

Police believe the woman had been dead for several days. The autopsy will also seek to determine cause of death.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Recent flooding in southwest Missouri has been a boon for anglers because it forced trout out of a large hatchery pool site into areas along a popular trout stream. Flooding closed the Roaring River State Park in Barry County for two days earlier this month.

But Roaring River trout hatchery manager Paul Spurgeon says when the flood hit, some of the big trout at the hatchery pool, which is off limits to anglers, were washed out of the pool into the river, where fishing is permitted.

Spurgeon says several thousand trout likely washed into the river. But no fish were lost from the hatchery pens.

Roaring River is where the Missouri record rainbow trout — an 18-pound, 1-ounce fish — was caught in 2004.

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