HUTCHINSON, Kan. — An attempt by County Commissioner Dan Deming to give direction for the Reno County Planning Commission over a proposed wind farm failed to get any support from his fellow commissioners.

Deming wanted issues addressed and put into a legally binding agreement, but other commissioners failed to go along with it.

Commissioner Deming talked about his desire to have issues of concern for residents brought up during the planning commission hearings and the request by Next Era Energy for a special use permit:

 

Deming was asked if these are things that Next Era Energy had already agreed to abide by with any potential agreement. He confirmed they have, but adds that he wants the planning commission to take concerns seriously while considering other proposals in the future:

 

Deming said thye are lucky that it’s Next Era who is working with the county and citizens as opposed to others:

 

This has been a controversy that has made a lot of news over the past couple of months. Once the application is made, it will go through the normal planning process where all of these issues should be addressed.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 33-year-old woman was arrested last Friday on drug distribution charges and again failed to get her bond reduced when she appeared before a judge Wednesday morning.

Francesca Wharton is now charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute, possession of personal use drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

District Judge Joe McCarville wouldn’t even consider a bond reduction because of the charges which came after two search warrants were served including a vehicle and a local home.

Besides the drugs and paraphernalia, officers also found a Winchester .22 caliber rifle that was reported stolen through the Reno County Sheriff’s Office. An additional glock handgun was also found in the residence.

Wharton is jailed on a $30,000 bond and will be back in court on Jan. 9.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The hearing for a Hutchinson man charged in a distribution and gun case is in recess, because the state wants to call a witness who may have seen 22–year-old Dallas Combs break into a home.

A tip to law enforcement for a man wanting to sell a handgun led to the search of an apartment on Aug. 21.

Once inside, officers found drugs including a bag of marijuana in a seller’s quantity, some guns and drug paraphernalia.

Combs and 21-year-old Rommie Jackson were arrested and suspected in the case.

Authorities apparently saw Combs leaving the apartment in the 100 block of East B and a search of his person indicated that he had drugs on him.

The hearing is scheduled to resume next month to give the state time to find this other witness.

Judge Joe McCarville did find that Combs violated his corrections in two other cases and will hear arguments of disposition on that next month.

RICE COUNTY, Kan. — The crack repair work on K-14 from the Reno/Rice county line to the city limits of Lyons, excluding the town of Sterling, will be suspended starting Dec. 13, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

This project will resume in March 2019 or when daily temperatures allow the work to proceed.

Pavement Pros LLC of McPherson is doing the work at a cost of $92,865.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — On Tuesday, the Reno County Commission agreed to spend up to $25,000 to renovate their audio and visual system at the courthouse. This would include live-streaming and the recording of meetings.

Originally, they were considering spending just over $23,000 for the upgrades, but Mike Matthews, Director of the IT Department, indicated to the commission that the audio system would need some additional equipment costing around $600.00. Therefore, the commission agreed to increase the spending for no more than $25,000.

The decision to upgrade the system came after the streaming of the audio and video quit twice while recent commission meetings were in progress. This occurred with overflow crowds then unable to watch the meetings over the proposed wind farm where both sides, those for and those against, were allowed to give their thoughts and opinions.

The county will place TVs and other equipment in the basement of the veterans room and other commission chambers so that closed-circuit feeds can be streamed from there.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson USD 308 School Board voted Monday night to proceed with improvements at Faris Elementary School.

At the Nov. 12 meeting, the board toured Faris Elementary to see the needs of additional space for classrooms and offices. Since 2015-16, the total number of students at Faris with individual education plans has jumped 35 percent to 99 percent in the 2017-18 school year. As a result, there are more special education teachers in the building, and more students that are needing assistance from social workers and counselors.

During that November meeting, the board directed staff to see what moving the gymnasium and cafeteria to the northeast corner of the existing school and dividing and re-purposing the current gym area as a classroom would cost. The school’s staff found that the enhanced plan, which was approved Monday, would cost about $2.6 million, or about $1 million more than an earlier proposed plan.

The board opted for the more expensive plan as a way to future-proof the facility.

The approved plan will move the gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen to the northeast corner of the school and will renovate the existing gym into a classroom and other student spaces.

The existing cafeteria/kitchen was designed for a building with fewer students. When the building went from a 1.5 section-per-grade facility to a two-section facility with the 2006 bond issue, the cafeteria was not enlarged.

Capital improvement funds designated for the building’s improvements will pay for the Faris addition.

Monday night’s session was another neighborhood meeting for the board, this time at Morgan Elementary School, 100 W. 27th.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 32-year-old Hutchinson woman was bound over for trial on charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

Amanda Gresham and 30-year-old John Sullivan were taken into custody of the case back in October.

Gresham and Sullivan, along with 38-year-old Titus Thompson, are the believed suspects behind the abduction of 50-year-old Leon Levasseur, who was taken by knifepoint from his residence, then placed in his car and driven to an area near Burrton, where he was finally able to escape and call 911.

Police say the recovery of multiple items taken from Levasseur’s residence led them to the arrests.

Detectives determined Thompson and Sullivan were dropped off in the area of Avenue B and Elm in the morning hours of Oct. 22, by Gresham with the intent to commit the robbery.

Gresham was also found to have violated her community corrections for cases from last year where she was convicted of aggravated battery, aggravated burglary and possession of drugs and those sentences totaling seven-year were ordered to be served.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It’s a first for the Diamond W Wranglers to team up with the Dancers of ArtisTree to premiere “Cowboy Joy” at the Fox this Saturday.

Josh Davies, Director of the Fox talked about this show:

 

He also talked some about the group, the Diamond W Wranglers who he says have traveled all over the world:

 

It will be a one-of-a-kind holiday show and includes dancing according to Davies:

 

Tickets for the Cowboy Joy show can be ordered by going online at www.hutchinsonfox.com, calling the box office at 663-1981, or stopping by the theater at 18 East 1st.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With the holiday season upon us, everyone is going to be undergoing a lot of social interaction with family, friends and others. However this can also mean being exposed to viruses including the flu.

Director of the Reno County Health Department Nick Baldetti says even now, it’s time to get a flu shot, but there is some lag time before it’s at full strength:

 

Some people wait to get their flu shot later because they believe that if they get it too early, it won’t be effective through the whole season. Baldetti says that’s not the case:

 

Flu shots are available at most pharmacies, the health department and of course from you’re own doctor.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 37-year-old woman was arrested early Sunday after police discovered a sellers quantity of drugs.

Kamee M. Freer was arrested in the 900 block of East 17th for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell within 1000′ of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, personal use drug paraphernalia and no tax stamp.

The arrest came just before 4 a.m.