One dead, one hurt in I-435 accident

Christina P. Linden, 19, Overland Park, was killed in an accident Friday evening on Interstate 435 just east of Lackman Road in Johnson County. A passenger in her car, Benjamin May, 21, Overland Park, was injured. He was discharged Friday evening from Overland Park Regional Hospital.

Linden was eastbound on I-435 when she lost control of the 1995 Mitsubishi PC she was driving for unknown reasons, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol accident report. The car swerved several times, left the roadway and went into the median and struck the guardrail. The vehicle pierced the guardrail and overturned.

Neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt.

Lawrence teen injured in 3-vehicle pile-up

A Lawrence teenager received minor injuries in a three-vehicle accident late Thursday in Jefferson County.

Sarah Heider, 16, was treated and released at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, a hospital spokesman said. The passenger in Heider’s 1996 Chevrolet pickup, Ronald J. Miller, 53, Topeka, also was treated and released at LMH.

Heider’s truck was stopped at a red light at a construction zone on U.S. Highway 24, about 14 miles east of the Shawnee-Jefferson county line, around 10:20 p.m. Thursday, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol accident report. A 1992 Ford Explorer driven by Keith L. Lindsey, 33, Colorado Springs, Colo., rear-ended Heider’s truck.

The collision pushed Heider’s truck into another Chevrolet pickup driven by Michelle Hattemer, 47, Winchester. Hattemer and Lindsey were not injured, according to the accident report.

USDA offers loans to build storm shelters

Topeka (ap) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday a program that will offer some rural Kansas homeowners low-interest loans to build storm shelters.

The Rural Storm Shelter Program requires families to have an income of less than 50 percent of their home county’s median income. Applicants must also live in their own home in a rural area of 20,000 people or less.

The application deadline is Aug. 15.

Tornadoes struck several Kansas communities in May, including one storm that destroyed 80 homes in rural Crawford County in southeast Kansas.