HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The lawsuit filed by NextEra Energy and numerous landowners now has a hearing date.

Reno County Judge Tim Chambers set a Sept. 30 hearing over the legality of the protest petitions associated with a proposed wind farm.

NextEra Energy and Pretty Prairie Wind, LLC., claim in their lawsuit that some of the petitions are not valid because of the method in which they were acquired. The lawsuit says the petitions should be dismissed. They are seeking a summary judgment on that issue. If Judge Tim Chambers finds they are invalid, the case would go to the Kansas Court of Appeals on that issue alone, according to County Counselor Joe O’Sullivan.

Landowners within the area of the proposed wind farm managed to force a super vote of the Reno County Commission, meaning all three had to be in favor of granting the permit.

The landowners motion to intervene in the lawsuit in an effort to keep the protest petition documents valid will also be considered. They want the decision of the county commission upheld. They worry that, if the protest petitions deemed valid were to be made invalid, the two commissioners who voted in favor could then grant the conditional use permit.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Fairgoers have a chance to win an exclusive Kansas Lottery swag bag. All it takes is three steps.

First, snap a fun photo or video, then find and use the Kansas Lottery Snapchat filter. You must be on the fairgrounds to access the filter.

Share the photo on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag: KSLotteryStateFair.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 33-year-old man was taken to the hospital with possible injuries after a one-vehicle rollover accident in South Hutchinson.

Scott Rieman was driving in the 400 block of East F when the accident occurred around 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

A Pretty Prairie woman reported to the Reno County Sheriff’s Office that she struck a deer in the 2900 block of East Parallel Road late Saturday night.

Stacey Wheat declined to be checked out by EMS at the scene, but later went to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center complaining of chest pains.

The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission will have a couple of items to consider when it meets Tuesday morning.

One is an agreement with the Kansas Department of Transportation to develop a local road safety plan. The commission will utilize Kirkham Michael and Associates to provide professional engineering services at an estimated cost of $50,000. The federal government will pay $45,000 of that cost with the county paying the rest.

This would be done for all major collector and paved routes in the county. This is required in order to be considered for KDOT project funding.

Commissioners will also consider a special use permit for Dale Lehman for a manufacturing facility and retail sales facility at the intersection of McNew Road and K-96.

In 2006, he applied for a zoning permit to construct a house and shed, but there was no mention of the intent to begin manufacturing accessory structures on the property. He has been adding to the facility over the years. This past spring, Lehman approached county planners about adding a retail establishment on a parcel of land he recently purchased. The land is adjacent to the manufacturing facility. He is now seeking the special use permit for that facility.

The commission will consider these items Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Reno County Courthouse.

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence for a 32-year-old Pratt County man convicted of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Dashaun Howling challenged his conviction by attacking the district court’s admission of videotaped testimony of the child, testimony about that interview and the sufficiency of the evidence. But, the state high court ruled in favor of the district court’s decision to admit the evidence. The court rejected Howling’s argument that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the conviction.

He was originally charged with rape and aggravated criminal sodomy based on allegations made by his then 4-year-old daughter. It happened when the child spent the night with Howling on June 20, 2015.

A jury found him guilty of the sodomy count, but not guilty of the rape charge.

He’s serving the life sentence out of state, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections website.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Next week, the Reno County Commission will meet with the search firm it hired. Commissioners also want to visit with local residents.

The Austin Peters Group will hold a citizen invite session at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, in the Reno County Commission chambers.

This session is open to citizens who wish to talk about qualities they are seeking in a county administrator.

The county is in the process of finding a replacement for Gary Meagher, who will retire at the end of his contract later this year.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair gets underway Friday in Hutchinson and General Manager Robin Jennison will have his first fair as the manager. So, are they ready for the 10-day event?

“I think we are,” Jennison said. “You know I was here for the entirety of the fair last year, I didn’t have any responsibility. We have so many people that have been here so long, to watch the fair come together over the last four days, it’s really kind of miraculous because everyone knows what they’re supposed to do, know where they’re supposed to be and it works pretty good.”

Although the expense is there for vendors to get a space on the fairgrounds for this event, Jennison says they make a lot of money over those 10 days of the fair.

“They do, they get a lot of traffic, some people sell things right on the fairgrounds, some — like the cabinet makers — get sales throughout the year,” Jennison said. “It gets them in front of more people than anything else they can go to.”

Jennison also talked about the new app that will help fairgoers find things they are looking for while visiting the fair.

“It is really good. I was up at the Iowa State Fair, our app works a lot better than theirs,” Jennison said. “You can see every food vendor on the app, you can see the entirety of their menu. We laid ours over Google Maps, which Iowa did not do. You hit that and Google Maps comes up and it will walk you to whatever food vendor or building on the fairgrounds that you want to go to.”

For more information on the fair and events during the 10 days, or for information on the state fair app, visit www.kansasstatefair.com.

Updated Sept. 6 at 7:23 a.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Texas man involved in a fatal accident in Reno County in April of 2017 was bound over for trial a second time after a preliminary hearing Thursday.

Benjamin Buzzini was charged with alternate counts of involuntary manslaughter and a count of second-degree murder. However, Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen last year found there was insufficient evidence that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs for one of the manslaughter charges. The state didn’t agree with the judge’s decision to drop one of the charges and refiled the case. Reno County District Judge Joe McCarville found probable cause for the case to go to trial on all three counts.

The charges come after emergency personnel were dispatched to the 2100 block of south K-96 Highway around 1:45 a.m. on April 25, 2017, for a single-vehicle fatality accident. Buzzini was driving and his passenger, Stephanie Futral, was killed. Buzzini was badly injured.

He will be arraigned next month.

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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A Texas man involved in a fatal accident in Reno County during April of 2017, will face a preliminary hearing for a second time after the state dropped the initial charges, but refiled the case.

Benjamin Buzzini was charged with alternate counts of involuntary manslaughter and a count of second-degree murder. However, Magistrate Judge Cheryl Allen last year found there was insufficient evidence that he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. She did find that excessive speed was certainly a factor. Data from the Event Data Recorder showed the vehicle going 151 mph just before the crash. The gas pedal was pushed all the way to the floor.

The state didn’t agree with the judge’s decision to drop one of the charges, so they refiled the case and a preliminary hearing will occur before Reno County District Judge Joe McCarville.

The charges come after emergency responders were dispatched to the 2100 block of South K-96 Highway around 1:45 a.m. on April 25, 2017, for a single-vehicle fatality accident.

Buzzini was allegedly driving northbound and left the road for an unknown reason. His 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled several times before coming to rest in the Kutter’s Furniture parking lot. He was ejected from the vehicle and was taken to Wesley Medical Center with serious injuries.

His female passenger, Stephanie Futral from Wichita, sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither occupant was wearing a seat belt.