PHOENIX — The judge in the Jodi Arias murder trial declared a mistrial in the penalty phase Thursday after the jury reported for a second time that it was deadlocked on whether to sentence her to life in prison or death for killing her boyfriend in 2008. The judge scheduled a retrial for July 18. A new panel likely will be seated to try...

GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors. Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council who cast ballots,...

Connie Jeanette Wait Bruce, 64, died May 22, 2013, at South Wind Hospice in Pratt. She was born Jan. 6, 1949, in Eureka, the daughter of Bernice E. and Earl Wait Jr.Connie was a 1967 graduate of Sharyland High School in Mission, Texas. She married Charles S. Bruce on Dec. 12, 1969, in California.

Roger Dee Bales, 72, of Abilene, passed away Tuesday, May 21, 2013.Roger was born in Pratt, on June 27, 1940, to Dorothy (Richard) and Ralph Bales.Survivors include his son, Joel Bales of Abilene; daughters, Sara Bales (Robert Gatton) of Portland, Ore., and Katie...

The EF5 tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday has caused untold damage and claimed at least 24 lives. If you want to help, check out the information below.    

Vivian Ione Simms, age 84, died Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at Hilltop Manor in Cunningham. She was born March 5, 1929 in Wiseman, Ark., the daughter of Ira and Daisy (Barnes) Reeves. She was a homemaker.On Sept. 12, 1948, she married Marion E. Simms, at Pratt. He died August 8, 1994.

MOORE, Okla. — Spotlights bore down on massive piles of shredded cinder block, insulation and metal as crews worked through the night lifting bricks and parts of collapsed walls where a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood. At least 51...

A one-vehicle accident southeast of Pratt resulted in burned out pickup.

A Turon 2-year-old was killed and three others injured in a one-vehicle accident Monday morning on K-61 about a mile and a half northeast of Preston.

A Pratt teenager was injured following a one-vehicle accident Friday afternoon just northeast of Pratt.