HUTCHINSON, Kan. — About 50 schools will provide information to juniors and seniors in Reno County during the annual College Planning Conference next Monday. The conference will be from 9:15 a.m. to 10:55 a.m. in the Salthawk Activity Center.

Colleges will include community colleges, regents universities and private colleges, and universities primarily from Kansas. Military recruiters will also be on hand to talk about service opportunities.

In addition to Hutch High juniors and seniors, students from Buhler, Nickerson, Trinity, Haven, Pretty Prairie, Central Christian and Fairfield typically attend.

Students are free to visit with any representatives they want. No registration is required, but students can go to www.gotocollegefairs.com to register and get a bar code, which makes it easier to share demographic information with representatives.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A management forum will be held Thursday evening on the HutchCC campus and will feature a speech from Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff.

Deardoff was an assistant city manager in Hutchinson, but then left to become the city manager in Dodge City. At one time, he was also the city manager in Sterling.

He has been the city manager in Hutchinson since 2005 and plans to retire next year.

The speech Thursday will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Justice Theater in the Shears Technology Center on the Hutchinson Community College campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

TOPEKA, Kan. – A Hutchinson youth is a statewide winner of a poster contest announced by the Kansas Department of Transportation as part of the national safety campaign “Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day.”

For the poster contest, there were three winners including Von Woleslagel of Hutchinson. Each student was selected as a regional winner and will receive a bicycle donated by the Kansas Turnpike Authority and a helmet donated by Safe Kids Kansas during presentations at their schools.

A total of 434 Kansas kids ages 5 to 13 participated.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The director of Reno County Rcat talked with the Reno County Commission about low-floor buses — something new in the smaller transit buses. Barbara Lilyhorn explained the difference between a low-floor bus as compared to what the county is using now.

“A low-floor bus is simply designed so you would no longer have a hydraulic lift that would transport wheelchairs or those who use walkers up to the floor of the bus,” Lilyhorn said. “Everyone entering the bus would come through the same entry and it would be this low floor.”

She says communities cannot receive grant funding at this point, but says three entities in the state have been approached to maybe look at purchasing low-floor buses as part of a pilot project.

“KDOT is reluctant to bring those into the grant process until they get a few out in the state and have some actual use,” Lilyhorn said. “Rcat has been approached, so has Flint Hills Area Transportation and also the Sedgwick County Department of Aging is interested in doing this.”

She says there are some large buses that have the low floor. Smaller buses are now being made with the low floor as well.

She says if Rcat purchased this type of bus, she would have to make sure it would be covered by the budget. She also noted that this is not a done deal, but is something Rcat wants to look into in the future.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County sheriff’s sale for properties where owners are behind on taxes is coming Oct. 23.

Reno County Counselor Joe O’Sullivan told the Reno County Commission Tuesday that the owners of 57 properties have paid all or part of their taxes for a total of $284,860.

He also talked about two other significant properties that may pay taxes before the sale.

“One is over $60,000. It’s a restaurant in the community. There is not an ongoing business there at this time,” O’Sullivan said. “Another is a nice residence out east of town in a sub-division where the owner assured me that she would probably be paying that. That would bring in another $86,000 between those two.”

O’Sullivan says it appears they could bring in roughly $400,000 before the sale.

The sale will be at Memorial Hall with REIB auctioneering.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission approved a contract with Circle C Paving and Construction to mill, overlay and re-stripe parking lots at and near the courthouse. That includes the lot at the Reno County Health Department and the staff parking lot west of Reno County Youth Services.

The total cost is $85,000 and would come from the capital improvement fund. Officials say doing all of the lots at one time means less cost.

The work will start next Monday on the lot directly behind the courthouse.