Franklin County Indiana

KANSAS CITY | Homicide victims identified

<strong><span class="subhead">KANSAS CITY | Homicide victims identified</span></strong></p><p>Police on Monday identified three men killed Sunday in two shootings.</p><p>Neighbors reported a shooting about 3:50 a.m. in the 3300 block of Indiana Avenue. Officers found the bodies of Oscar T. Owens, 26, and Aeson H. Griffin, 24, both of Kansas City, in a parking lot behind an apartment building. Witnesses saw a fleeing vehicle.</p><p>About 10:40 p.m., police were called to the 4100 block of Agnes Avenue, where they found Tyrone Williams, 21, lying in the grass. He had several gunshot wounds. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">OTTAWA | DNA evidence leads to arrest</span></strong></p><p>Thanks to new DNA evidence, Ottawa police arrested a 51-year-old man in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage girl in 2000. Ralph E. Corey, 51, is being held in the Franklin County jail on $500,000 bond. </p><p>The case involves a 16-year-old girl who was abducted from a Walmart parking lot and assaulted twice on Feb. 19, 2000.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">OLATHE | Payroll fraud alleged</span></strong></p><p>Johnson County prosecutors have charged a former Olathe businesswoman with stealing from companies through a fraudulent payroll scheme.</p><p>Suzanne Hayden, 35, was charged with three counts of felony theft, one for losses of more than $100,000. She conducted business under the name Easy Pay Payroll Services, prosecutors said.</p><p>She took the money through a scheme involving the nonpayment of payroll taxes to federal and state authorities, they said.</p><p>Anyone who conducted business with her or her company is asked to call 913-971-7787.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">KANSAS CITY, NORTH | Baby sitter convicted</span></strong></p><p>A baby sitter from Kansas City, North, was convicted Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Izzack Doolin, a 16-month-old killed in August 2008. </p><p>Megan E. Griffith, who is in her late 20s, was a family friend who was watching the boy at her home when he suffered blunt trauma to his head. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">KANSAS CITY | Biker dies in wreck</span></strong></p><p>A 32-year-old Kansas City, Kan., man died Saturday after his motorcycle struck a car at 35th Street and Indiana Avenue. </p><p>Adrian Hickman was riding south on Indiana at 12:30 a.m. when he struck a westbound Buick broadside, police said. </p><p>A witness told police the Buick had the green light.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">KANSAS CITY | Passenger dies of injuries</span></strong></p><p>A 54-year-old man died early Sunday after another vehicle hydroplaned on the interstate during heavy rain and struck the car in which he was riding.</p><p>Police said James Garrett, believed to be from Kansas City, was riding in the back seat of a northbound car on Interstate 435 near 23rd Street when another vehicle struck some standing water and spun. The car hit Garrett&#x92;s car, forcing it into the path of a tractor-trailer. </p><p>Police closed I-435&#x92;s northbound lanes from 3 a.m. to about 4:30 a.m. to investigate. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">AREA | Police focus on stolen equipment</span></strong></p><p>Dozens of law enforcement officers on both sides of the state line conducted saturation patrols and checkpoints Monday morning looking for stolen construction and lawn equipment.</p><p>The officers, part of the MoKan Heavy Equipment/Auto Theft Task Force, also looked for commercial vehicle safety violations. About 75 officers from 10 area agencies took part in the enforcement effort.</p><p>Police in Johnson and Wyandotte counties and Kansas City, Kan., made 70 stops, checked 150 pieces of equipment, made 49 vehicle inspections, issued 16 tickets and put seven trailers out of service for safety violations.

Northwest Franklin County, Indiana Weather: Tornadoes, storms ...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) - Violent storms ripped across the south overnight and for most of Friday, killing at least nine people including three children, and cutting a path of destruction through Little Rock, Ark. and Jackson, Miss., authorities said early Friday evening.

Six of the seven fatalities in Arkansas were caused when uprooted trees smashed into houses, National Weather Service meteorologist John Robinson said.

The trees were falling through houses, Robinson said, adding that he could not recall a time in recent memory when so many fatalities occurred because of fallen trees in Arkansas.

In Oklahoma, two elderly sisters were killed when a tornado hit the double-wide mobile home they occupied, according to school board President Bennie Evans.

Among the dead in Arkansas Friday were two boys, ages 6 and 7, and an 18-month-old girl. The seven-year-old and his mother were killed after a tree fell on their house in Little Rock.

"All I heard was a boom boom," said a neighbor, Jennifer McShane, while surveying the destruction that left the mother and her seven-year-old son dead.

The storm left Little Rock with uprooted trees, downed power lines and destroyed traffic signals, Robinson said.

At least four tornadoes were also reported in Alabama Friday and more storms were expected tonight, officials said.

Art Faulkner, director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, noted the state has several large events this weekend, including sports events at the University of Alabama and Auburn University, and a major NASCAR race at Talladega expecting more than 100,000 fans. "This is causing us to do some extra planning," Faulkner said.

The Talladega Superspeedway alerted fans on its web site to watch the weather and take necessary precautions.

A senior citizen in Sumter County, Alabama was hospitalized after a tree fell on her house, collapsing the roof and ceiling and pinning her down, said Sumter County Emergency Management Agency director Margaret Bishop-Gulley.

And local officials reported severe structural damage in Jackson, Miss., with lines down and roofs off. An 18-wheel semi-trailer truck flipped over on I-20, shutting down the highway. There have been no fatalities reported, though eight people have been injured, one critically, authorities said.

"It was like a bomb went off," said one man in Clinton, Miss., north of Jackson, who did not wish to be identified. His home was destroyed when a tornado passed through the area north of Jackson.

Franklin County, Indiana, marriages ...

Franklin County, Indiana

Franklin County, Indiana

History of Franklin County, Indiana; Her People, Industries and Institutions

History of Cass County, Indiana, From the earliest time to the present ... : together with an extended history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the state of Indiana