Kansas

Kansas City homeowner sees cars slide off of Interstate 35; wants MoDOT to add guard rail

Published

2 years ago

January 18, 2024

Kansas City homeowner sees cars slide off of Interstate 35; wants MoDOT to add guard rail

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Interstate 35 rolls on by in front of Lucas Orozco’s home in Kansas City, Missouri, but he says snowy tire tracks on the hillside aren’t supposed to.

“I mean, look at these tire tracks; they would have come down further if that cement sewer block wasn’t in the way,” he said.

VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s Megan Abundis

Orozco said this week, two cars in one day slid off of the highway into the hill, but it came a little too close for his comfort.

KSHB 41 News staff

Hill near Lucas Orozco’s home

A video from his ring camera shows a truck sliding down the hill aiming straight for Orozco’s home.

“To see the truck coming down, and sliding down and spinning, it’s a little scary,” he said.

Orozco said it’s happened in previous years too, and provided photos of trucks in the front of his yard.

“Regardless, there is no guard rail,” he said.

That’s what he wants to see — the Missouri Department of Transportation adding a guard rail to the interstate hill that’s right in front of his home.

“First thing people say when I show these pictures is, ‘Where is the guardrail?’ I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.

The drive on I-35 near his home shows a gap in the railing just a few hundred feet right from his block.

“I don’t care how this slope was designed or whatever, but I was told stuff rolls downhill,” he said. “One day, instead of a car or a truck, it’ll be a semi rolling downhill into my house, and if my kids are playing outside like kids should be able to do on snow days, they will have to run for their lives.”

KSHB 41 reached out to MoDOT about adding a guardrail, what it takes, and if it could be done.

MoDOT wasn’t able give an answer, but said the local engineer is in touch with Orozco.

“I’m going to keep fighting for it; I know my neighbors want it too,” he said. “I plan on being here my whole life; I don’t want to have to worry about my kids.”

—

Source link

Click to comment

Kansas

Kansas man sentenced to 4 years in connection with 13-year-old Linn County boy’s death

Published

8 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Kansas man sentenced to 4 years in connection with 13-year-old Linn County boy’s death

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Bates County Circuit Court judge Friday sentenced a Linn County, Kansas, man in connection with the December 2025 death of Airen Andula, 13.

Damon Leonard, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison for abandonment of a corpse, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of abandoning a corpse on May 22.

Andula disappeared from his Pleasanton, Kansas, home on Dec. 21, 2025. A day later, law enforcement found the boy’s body in a ravine in Bates County, Missouri. He had died from multiple dog bite injuries.

Police were led to the boy’s body after a phone call from Leonard.

Court documents said Leonard “admitted that he transported the deceased child from Kansas to Missouri and left the body in the bottom of the creek” before he returned home.

KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva spoke with Andula’s family earlier this week — after the guilty plea and ahead of Friday’s sentencing.

His family shared that the guilty plea brought a small sense of justice, but it didn’t do much to ease the pain of their loss.

READ MORE | Family of Airen Andula speaks out ahead of sentencing

“We’re missing our kid every day of our lives,” the boy’s father Charles Andula told Silva.

Leonard received credit for time served of 158 days in his sentence, per court records.

—

Source link

Kansas

Gas, diesel fuel prices down over past week across nation, Kansas

Published

20 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Gas, diesel fuel prices down over past week across nation, Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – It may not seem like a lot of relief, but gas and diesel prices have declined over the past week.

Friday morning’s national average for a gallon of unleaded gas was $4.39, according to the Automobile Association of America.

That’s down three cents from $4.42 on Thursday; down 16 cents from a week ago; but was up 17 cents from $4.22 a month ago and up $.23 from $3.16 a year ago.

Gas and diesel fuel prices are down this week in Kansas and across the nation, according to the American Automobile Association.(KALB)

In Kansas, AAA says, unleaded gas on Friday was averaging $3.96 a gallon — down four cents from $4.00 on Thursday; down 13 cents from $3.96 a week ago; but up 26 cents from $3.70 a month ago; and up $1.07 over $2.89 a year ago.

Diesel fuel also was dropping in price. AAA says Friday’s national average for a gallon of diesel was $5.52 a gallon — down three cents from $5.55 on Thursday; down 12 cents from $5.64 a week a go; but up six cents from $5.46 a month ago and up $1.98 from $3.54 a year ago.

Kansas diesel fuel prices, according to AAA, checked in at an average of $4.98 on Friday. That’s five cents below $5.03 on Thursday; down 16 cents from $5.14 a week ago; but up 24 cents over $4.74 a month ago; and up $1.72 from $3.26 a year ago.

In Topeka, GasBuddy.com on Friday morning showed unleaded gas prices ranging between $3.77 and $4.09 in Topeka, with diesel fuel going for between $4.94 and $5.29 a gallon.

Source link