WICHITA, Kan. — A 41-year-old Hutchinson man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Wichita. Shawn Richard Seburn is charged with one count of transporting child pornography through a Tumblr account via the internet. The crime allegedly occurred in August and September 2018 in Reno County.

If convicted, Seburn could face a sentence of no less than five years and no more than 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The FBI investigated.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A man who was once the police chief in Bushton in Rice County wants a felony charge in Reno County dismissed.

Brian Treaster is charged with stalking, violation of a protection from stalking order, two counts of harassment by telephone and two counts of disorderly conduct. The alleged crimes occurred on three dates: Feb. 27, April 11 and April 18 of this year.

The defense questions whether he was aware of the protection from stalking order at the time of the alleged stalking. The defense wants that felony charge dismissed.

Reno County District Judge Trish Rose has scheduled a hearing over the motion for Thursday morning.

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Transportation has announced approved bids for state highway construction and maintenance projects in the area. The letting took place Sept. 18 in Topeka.

In Reno County, workers will be doing some pavement marking on K-61 for 8.6 miles. RoadSafe Traffic Systems of El Dorado won the bid for $183,135.82.

In Kingman County, a bridge replacement over South Fork of the Ninnescah River on Southeast 80th Avenue near Murdock will be done by King Construction Company and subsidiaries for a cost of $991,506.50.

Also in Kingman County, concrete pavement, milling and overlay will be done from the K-14/K-42 junction, north 12.1 miles. The work will be done by Cornejo & Sons of Wichita for $2,245,359.63.

In Stafford County, workers will do a surface recycle on U.S. 281 from the U.S. 281/K-19 junction, north to the Stafford/Barton county line. Venture Corporation of Great Bend won that contract for $1,107,980.47.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It’s official: Westar Energy and KCP&L have merged to become Evergy. The company boasts its new name, new look and new website.

The company says the merger gives it the ability to provide greater savings while delivering safe, reliable and sustainable energy.

Evergy also notes that customers can manage their accounts the same way, using their same username and password as before.

Customers can do what they need to do — when and how they want to do it.

Officials say you will still see them working in local neighborhoods. Over the coming months, you may still see Westar referenced as the transition is made to Evergy.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce and the Young Professionals of Reno County held a Hutchinson City Council forum Tuesday evening.

Topics ranged from taxes, zoning issues, qualities and experience needed when looking for a new city manager, and whether dollar stores should be required to offer fresh foods.

One of the big items discussed was over regulation and zoning issues for businesses in the community. Hutchinson City Councilwoman Jade Piros De Carvalho says she formed the trades board to help address those issues. Some running for council for the first time were not aware this even existed. Piros De Carvalho talked about forming this board.

“You may know that I ran a task force about a year ago to look at our regulatory environment and see what we’re doing that makes it difficult for businesses to get up and running and thrive,” Piros De Carvalho said. “I have several contractors, trades people and people at large, business owners who gave input. Once we were done and had this list of criteria we needed to go through to become more business friendly, in a sense, we decided that work really couldn’t end. So that board continues today.”

When it comes to requiring dollar stores to have a percentage of their product line be fresh foods, such as vegetables, no one, even current council members, seemed to be in favor, but some current council members stated they would be watching what the planning commission decides.

“We should have limited government and I don’t believe we should regulate that,” Sara Bagwell, a candidate running for the at-large district seat, said.

“‘No,’ is the answer there. They have no business telling them what they can and cannot sell,” Joshua Naiman, candidate for the northeast district, said. He worries that some of the produce would be thrown away because it’s not selling. Lovella Kelley, who is also running for that seat, fired back that it could be donated to the soup kitchen or New Beginnings.

“This is a very delicate issue, it has tough issues that have to be made that will impact a lot of people at different socioeconomic levels,” Dave Inskeep, the incumbent for the at-large district, said. “On the one hand, I’m not a huge proponent of government regulation on the free market, but on the flip side, I know what Dollar General has done to other communities where smaller grocery stores have closed up.”

That issue could come before the council in the near future.

A small crowd attended last night’s event at Hutchinson Community College. Residents will have a chance to vote for the council on Nov. 5.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Another award has come to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. This time the American Heart Association presented a Quality Achievement Award to the Primary Stroke Center as a tribute to the hospital’s successful treatment of stroke patients.

Brie Pringle, Heart Walk development director for the AHA, said the organization is proud to recognize HRMC’s dedication to providing the highest quality care for all patients who sought treatment for stroke symptoms.

The award signifies that the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center Primary Stroke Center met achievement measures at 85% or higher and quality measures at 75% or higher for two consecutive years.

The award was a result of Hutch Regional’s participation in Get with the Guidelines, AHA’s quality improvement platform. Get with the Guidelines uses evidence-based science to determine best practice patient care. Hospitals are evaluated for patient care performance and outcomes, and are then able to benchmark performance and ensure appropriate care is given to each patient. Awards are earned based on maintaining strict adherence to all recommendations for care.

Ken Johnson, president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System, said the national designation is reaffirmation of the high quality of care provided by the hospital for stroke patients.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — When it was announced last week that the Luke Bryan Farm Tour concert was coming to the east parking lot of the Kansas State Fairgrounds, security was a concern. A request was made of local law enforcement to handle the event.

During his monthly report to the Reno County Commission Tuesday morning, Sheriff Randy Henderson commended the effort of HPD Capt. Marty Robertson, who managed to put together a team to handle it.

The sheriff says there were 32 officers who worked the event. That included officers from Hutchinson police, South Hutchinson police, the Reno County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

There were no major issues with the more than 8,000 people who attended the concert. There were a couple of fights and a number of intoxicated individuals, but that is about it.

Henderson says they had about 24 hours to put a plan together.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission received an update on the bid letting for three bridge rehabilitation projects and three bridge replacement projects.

One of the replacement projects is the bridge along 43rd, just east of old K-61. Don Brittain, superintendent with Public Works, says the real estate agreement is complete, however, they are still waiting on approval for the final plans.

“We should be hearing from them any time. They’re past their due date,” Brittain said. He hopes to hear from them this week.

The other bridge that would be included in the bond issue is the Nickerson Road bridge over the Arkansas River south of Nickerson. Because this bridge is included on a bond issue, he says that project is also on hold.

The cost for work on these two bridges is now estimated at $5,503,410. However, the county is seeking dollars for the 43rd Avenue bridge project.

The county could learn later this year if those dollars from the Kansas Department of Transportation will be coming.