Two persons are dead after a crash at 12:51 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15, at 55th Street and Freeman Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., a police spokesman said.
When police arrived at the scene of the single-vehicle crash, they found a man in his mid-60s and a woman in her late 40s dead from their injuries, the spokesman said.
The preliminary investigation showed that the victims were traveling southbound on 55th Street at a high rate of speed, the vehicle left the roadway, hit a tree stump and caught fire, resulting in a single-vehicle fatality accident, the spokesman said.
The identity of the victims will not be released until there has been a positive identification and family has been notified, police said.
The crash is under investigation by the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Traffic Support Unit-Critical Collision Response Team.
A cold front is moving into the area this weekend, and residents will no longer see the highs in the 50s of the last few days.
Skies will be cloudy in the morning, then gradually clearing on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Friday’s high temperature will be near 36, the weather service said.
A northwest wind of 11 to 16 mph will gust as high as 24 mph.
Friday night, the low will reach 19 degrees, with a north northwest wind of 7 to 9 mph, according to the weather service.
Saturday, expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 31, the weather service said. There will be a north northwest wind of 6 to 9 mph.
Saturday night, the low will be around 14, according to the weather service. A light and variable wind will become northwest 5 to 9 mph after midnight.
Sunday, it will be partly sunny and cold, with a high of 14. A north wind will be 11 to 15, with gusts as high as 21 mph, according to the weather service.
Sunday night, the low will be around 4, the weather service said.
Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it will be mostly sunny with a high near 22, the weather service said.
Monday night, it will be mostly cloudy with a low of 17.
Any win on the road in the Jayhawk Conference is big but Kansas City Kansas Community College coach Kelley Newton may look back on the Blue Devils’ 59-56 triumph at Highland Wednesday as one of the year’s best.
The conference opener for both teams, the win put the Blue Devils (11-6) in position to take the lead in the league race with a home win over Johnson County Saturday at 4 p.m. Ranked No. 6 in the NJCCC Division II national poll, JCCC ran its record to 15-2 win a 74-66 win over Southeast Nebraska Wednesday.
“Should be a great game,” said KCKCC coach Kelley Newton. “Ranked team, great rivalry, conference and regional opponent, bragging rights. They’ll come in ready and we’ll be ready.”
The Blue Devils led at Highland 52-45 with less than 5½ minutes left only to fall behind 56-53 before pitching a shutout the final three minutes.
A short jump shot by Jonathan Murray – KCKCC’s only field goal in the final 6:22 of play – cut the deficit to 56-55 with 1:23 left and Mike Lee put the Blue Devils ahead with a pair of free throws with 1:06 remaining.
Highland got off a pair of go-ahead shot attempts after Lee misfired on two free throws following a steal at the 52.1 second mark, rebounding the first miss to set up a game-winning try in the final seconds.
However, Brandon Hasim missed badly on a 3-point try from the corner and the Blue Devils got possession on a jump ball. Just two of seven from the foul line in the final three minutes, the Blue Devils’ Kellan Turner went to the foul line and clinched the win with two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining.
“A great win on the road and a great way to open up the conference,” Newton said. “Getting the jump ball at the end was big and Kellan made the free throws that counted. I thought Highland had a great game plan and executed it well. They took us out of the things we wanted to do but we made one or two more plays that made the difference. It certainly put me on high alert on what to expect the rest of the way.”
Sophomore Dehven Talley of Shawnee Mission Northwest was the catalyst in the win, drilling his first six 3-point attempts before a lone miss in a career high and game high 20-point performance. He also had five rebounds and two assists. “Dehven’s shooting was huge and really kept us in the game, especially the first half,” Newton said.
Turner added 16 points and three assists and Murray 11 points and five rebounds for the Blue Devils, who were outrebounded 27-23 and outshot from the field (.468-.388). However, the Blue Devils were guilty of only 12 turnovers while forcing 18 and committed just 11 fouls, sending the Scotties to the free throw line just seven times.
“Defensively, we did a good job of keeping the ball out of the paint, moved our feet and used less hands,” Newton said. “And our guards did a good job of sticking to the defensive game plan.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.