KCTV’s Brad Stephens introduces viewers to local restaurateur and dance leader Maria Chaurand

Kansas State has for much of the season been led by its stellar guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, but on Thursday one of the Wildcat big men came up huge and propelled K-State to one of its most impressive wins of the season with a 83-64 win over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

Jamar Samuels scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half, helping No. 9 Kansas State turn a rematch into a rout with an 83-64 win over Oklahoma State Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

A former propane company manager has been sentenced to four years in prison for embezzling $3.5 million from his employer.

Kansas City Superintendent John Covington says the shuttering of nearly half the district’s schools will be done by fall.

A representative of the teachers union responds to the passage of the right-sizing proposal in the Kansas City, Mo., School District.

A local man is upset after police ask him for a DNA swab as they continue to search for the Waldo rapist.

A Prairie Village mother faces a judge on what court records said was her fifth drunken driving arrest.

The board member who cast one of the votes in favor of the district’s right-sizing plan says it was not an easy decision.

Emergency crews shut down the north and southbound lanes of US 169 Highway after a fatal crash on Thursday afternoon.

Street vendors hustle to keep customers coming back during the Big 12 Basketball Tournament.

Basketball fans are bringing big bucks to Kansas City this month.

A man from the Czech Republic has been sentenced to three years in prison for failing to return a recreational vehicle he rented in western Missouri.

The University of Kansas basketball team is gaining quite a collection of T-shirts as they continue to gain historic honors.

Taelor Karr scored 16 points and Kari Kincaid added 14 as Kansas State held off a late charge by Texas Tech to beat the Lady Raiders 59-51 in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday.

Police say they have arrested two men accused of robbing a convenience store in Lee's Summit.

Kansas City School Superintendent John Covington says the decision to close almost half the district's schools was difficult and painful but "unquestionably the right thing to do."

The Kansas City, Mo., School Board voted 5-4 to close 26 schools in the district, while emotion and racial tension filled seeped from the decision.

The first day of the Big 12 tournament came with an upset and a few blowout wins, setting up four more games on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the tournament.