TWO KANSAS ROAD WORKERS KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN

Two highway workers were killed on U.S. 59 in Douglas County Tuesday, hit by a pickup truck that sped away but was later stopped by authorities, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. Patrol Lt. John Eichkorn said the victims were Tyrone T. Korte, 30, of Seneca, and Rolland Griffith, 24, of El Dorado. Korte was an engineering technician who had worked for the Kansas Department of Transportation since November 2002, and Griffith was an employee of a KDOT contractor, Dustrol Inc., of Towanda.

Korte and Griffith were doing resurfacing work on Highway 59 when they were hit. Eichkorn said the pickup was driving south when it hit the workers. He identified the driver as Ramona I. Morgan, 48, and the passenger as Sabrina J. Morgan, 26, both from Chewelah, Wash. He said the investigation was continuing and both women were in the Osage County Jail in Lyndon.

The accident occurred south of Lawrence, about six miles north of the U.S. 56 intersection. Eichkorn said the patrol was notified of the accident at 9:47 a.m. About 25 minutes later a trooper responding to the accident caught up to the truck traveling west on U.S. 56, but it refused to stop.

Troopers and Osage County sheriffs' deputies used "spike sticks" to stop the truck about 15 minutes later, and the two women were taken into custody.

Authorities said this is the first time since 2005 that a KDOT worker has been killed in a construction zone.