Austin Morton
Regional Reporter
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Austin Morton is an Oklahoma native, so the trip to Kansas wasn’t a far one. He is now the Regional Reporter for KWCH, stationed out of Hays.
Austin is a recent college graduate, and during his time at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, he worked for his school's broadcast department, NWTV7. Here he helped revamp the program and its social media accounts, as well as anchoring for the weekly newscast.
On his days off, Austin enjoys playing video games with his fiance, taking his cat Trippy on walks, or watching the Chiefs on Sundays.
Going to school for Mass Communication, Austin enjoys engaging with communities and letting their stories be told.
Updated: 21 hours ago
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Every bit of moisture helps, but there hasn’t been near enough consistent, steady rainfall to improve extreme drought.
Updated: Mar. 24, 2023 at 7:00 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Concerns about TikTok security elevate the discussion to Congress and a potential ban in the U.S. With that comes worry from TikTok users across the country, including college students who use the app on a daily basis.
Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 7:21 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Technology is helping to spread the word about lesser-known attractions in southwest Kansas.
Updated: Mar. 22, 2023 at 7:58 AM CDT
|By Austin Morton
The brother of a student who died in December says the show of compassion is helping the family heal.
Updated: Mar. 14, 2023 at 7:41 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Learning to conserve water at a young age, dozens of families in Hays celebrated World Water Day on Tuesday.
Updated: Mar. 13, 2023 at 6:56 PM CDT
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
A therapy dog in Hays is helping people through stressful situations.
Updated: Mar. 2, 2023 at 5:03 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A two-decades-old unsolved double murder in Great Bend is getting new attention with the release of a documentary.
Updated: Feb. 27, 2023 at 4:47 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The town of Liberal saw some of the worst of it with homes heavily damaged and downed power lines.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2023 at 7:14 PM CST
|By Austin Morton
Sophia Linenberger said she hopes Patrick Mahomes can use motivation from the wristband she gave him to go as far as he can go.
Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 7:19 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Needing volunteer help is nothing new and national parks are no exception. Just outside the town that shares its name, Fort Larned needs volunteers to help the historic site with its efforts to educate and entertain visitors.
Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 12:31 AM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
In Ellinwood, a new local business, Crazy Wolf Coffee, is serving up drinks in a unique way and quickly finding success in doing so.
Updated: Jan. 31, 2023 at 7:22 PM CST
|By Austin Morton
The Camber Children’s Mental Hospital is set to open by the end of February in Hays.
Updated: Jan. 30, 2023 at 4:50 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A piece of military history is coming to life with a special project in a small Barton County town.
Updated: Jan. 25, 2023 at 5:51 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
In the week leading up to Kansas Day, preparation to celebrate the state’s 162nd birthday is underway at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center in Barton County with a focus on the state’s insect: the honeybee.
Updated: Jan. 24, 2023 at 11:32 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
12 News looked into the recent snow’s effect on Cheyenne Bottoms, a wetland occupying about 41,000 acres.
Updated: Jan. 23, 2023 at 6:33 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A Hays home sustained heavy damage, but a mother is grateful after a pickup rolled into her 2-year-old son’s bedroom. She’s relieved because the family wasn’t home when it happened.
Updated: Jan. 19, 2023 at 5:30 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The subject of a historic sighting in Western Kansas is getting continued care about two-and-a-half hours from where the discovery happened.
Updated: Jan. 12, 2023 at 10:31 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The Santa Fe Trail's history is celebrated in Pawnee County.
Updated: Jan. 10, 2023 at 8:29 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Board of education members in the Central Plains school district in their meeting Monday night voted to close the junior/senior high school in Wilson,
Updated: Jan. 5, 2023 at 6:20 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Approaching a week since 22-year-old Daniel Howard was shot and killed outside a bar in Oklahoma City, teammates and coaches with the Fort Hays State University football program, are remembering Howard as more than an athlete.
Updated: Dec. 29, 2022 at 7:47 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A 12-year-old girl near Bucklin recently started a creative endeavor that’s evolved into a successful business.
Updated: Dec. 27, 2022 at 6:29 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
It was a long week for an Army servicemen in Kansas before the improbable happened just in time for Christmas.
Updated: Dec. 26, 2022 at 5:35 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Though the weather is set to warm up significantly this week, pipes in homes and businesses still need to be cared for.
Updated: Dec. 23, 2022 at 8:50 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
For many Friday, Dec. 23, was the day to hit the road for holiday destinations.
Updated: Dec. 23, 2022 at 1:31 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
It’s the most wonderful time of the year and one Kansas town is celebrating being known as “The Christmas City of the Plains.”
Updated: Dec. 22, 2022 at 6:28 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
A powerful winter storm blanketed Kansas Thursday morning, bringing in cold and creating slick roads slick, but it also produced a lot of business for tow companies across the state.
Updated: Dec. 14, 2022 at 8:27 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
With the holiday season upon us, a roofing company in Hays wants to give back in a big way.
Updated: Dec. 12, 2022 at 8:12 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
The special election concerns a half-cent sales tax that’s been in place for nearly two decades.
Updated: Nov. 25, 2022 at 8:15 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
As the holiday season kicks off, the extended drought is impacting a celebration staple.
Updated: Nov. 24, 2022 at 6:43 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
Convoy Of Hope Wichita held its annual Thanksgiving outreach on Thursday serving hundreds of meals at Bethel Life Center in south Wichita.
Updated: Nov. 23, 2022 at 6:41 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Great Bend Economic Development is looking to grow its town by launching a new program for entrepreneurs.
Updated: Nov. 16, 2022 at 10:27 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
The pheasant and quail hunting season has begun in Kansas, but the drought has changed a few things like where to find the birds.
Updated: Nov. 10, 2022 at 7:20 PM CST
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The Kansas State Board of Education on Thursday voted to recommend changes for schools with Native American-themed mascots. It’s the latest in an ongoing conversation that’s drawn strong responses from both sides. Hays is one of more than two dozen school districts that could be affected.
Updated: Nov. 9, 2022 at 6:04 PM CST
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
Abilene will soon be the new home of the world’s largest belt buckle.
Updated: Nov. 3, 2022 at 6:10 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Like many rural communities, Russell is facing a housing shortage. But instead of building new homes, city officials are looking to revitalize a 100-year-old hotel.
Updated: Nov. 2, 2022 at 5:17 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Fort Hays State University is making Kansas history with Wednesday’s announcement that it will be the first state university in Kansas to offer women’s wrestling.
Updated: Oct. 27, 2022 at 8:54 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A match at Hays Middle School creates a special connection between an assistant principal and an eighth-grade teacher.
Updated: Oct. 24, 2022 at 8:10 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Early in-person voting began Monday in Sedgwick County, two weeks and one day out from the midterm general election.
Updated: Oct. 20, 2022 at 9:36 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
A Great Bend man has been practicing the craft of woodcarving for more than 20 years, carving out caricatures and winning contests with his work.
Updated: Oct. 19, 2022 at 7:47 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton
Wednesday, News 12 spoke with students and recent graduates of Fort Hays State University who stand to benefit from the student loan forgiveness.
Updated: Oct. 17, 2022 at 6:45 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
With cyber-attacks and the costs to resolve them increasing nationwide, professors at Fort Hays State University saw a need.
Updated: Oct. 12, 2022 at 4:50 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Salina Regional Health Center is partnering with the Oklahoma Mother’s Milk Bank, an organization that provides milk to mothers and babies in surrounding states.
Updated: Oct. 10, 2022 at 7:39 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Rural towns across Kansas face continued drought conditions compounded by a concern with a lack of available firefighters.
Updated: Oct. 6, 2022 at 9:16 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
In what’s considered a big step toward cleaner energy in southwest Kansas, Seaboard Energy held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its news biodiesel plant in Hugoton.
Updated: Oct. 4, 2022 at 8:14 PM CDT
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
With October being domestic violence awareness month, an organization in Hays is holding their annual tree lighting event.
Updated: Sep. 29, 2022 at 6:01 PM CDT
|By KWCH Staff and Austin Morton
A new cheese factory in Dodge City will begin construction Friday morning.
Updated: Sep. 27, 2022 at 9:21 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
You can fish however you’d like at Ellis City Lake. Kansas wildlife officials just wants help getting all the fish out of the water.
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022 at 8:46 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The small Russell County town of Gorham recently got a little sweeter.
Updated: Sep. 13, 2022 at 6:28 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
The micro factory will house multiple manufacturing companies with the hope of those companies expanding and staying in Hays.
Updated: Sep. 8, 2022 at 11:14 PM CDT
|By Austin Morton and KWCH Staff
Results Thursday night from the Ellis school district show support for a school bond.
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