MANHATTAN, Kan. — Several advisory boards that advise the Kansas Department of Agriculture will meet on Thursday, Sept. 12, at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. The meetings are open to the public.

They include the Kansas Board of Agriculture and will meet from 9 a.m. to noon in the Encampment Building: Kansas Farm Service Activity Room.

The Kansas Board of Animal Health/Kansas Pet Animal Advisory Board will meet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Prairie Pavilion Beef Offices.

The Kansas Marketing Advisory Board will have a meeting from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Kansas State Fair Office board room.

The State Conservation Commission will also meet. That meeting will be from 9 a.m. to noon in Cottonwood Court in the upstairs meeting room.

Individuals who have questions about any of the meetings should contact the Kansas Department of Agriculture at 785-564-6700 for more information.

Persons who require special accommodations must make their needs known at least two days before the meeting.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County District Judge Trish Rose denied a request of a 36-year-old Hutchinson man to represent himself during any hearing in a habeas corpus civil filing. Todd Lloyd also sought to have Judge Rose recuse herself which was also denied.

Lloyd is serving over 18 years in prison in a kidnapping case, as well as other convictions.

Todd Lloyd is serving time for holding his girlfriend at knife-point, but also threatening the lives of two Hutchinson Police officers during a court hearing on the kidnapping case.

Lloyd was found guilty for threatening Sgt. Josh Radloff and Sgt. Eric Buller after a bench trial. Both officers worked the kidnapping case. Lloyd looked directly at the officers after the verdict and threatened to kill them if he ever got out of jail.

He was arrested on April 23, 2014, when he came close to being shot by both Hutchinson officers during the altercation with his girlfriend. He eventually threw the knife down and after a brief struggle, was taken into custody.

A habeas corpus motion is filed when a defendant has exhausted all appeals in his case. Lloyd will have another hearing on Oct. 4.

He’s currently serving his sentence at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – One of the sure signs the Kansas State Fair is close is the work going on now on the fairgrounds.

North American Midway already has one ride up. It’s called the Bullet Train, a roller-coaster type ride. The rest of the midway rides should arrive early next week and crews will be working to make sure the rides are up in time for the fair which starts on Sept. 6.

The North American Midway is the largest traveling amusement park in the world.

Midway wristbands are $30.00 and allow unlimited rides on the following days — Sept. 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15.

As a comparison, ride sheets with 20 tickets are $20.00 and most rides take two to four tickets, except on Dillons Dollar Day, when all rides are just one ticket.

Ride tickets can be purchased from the ticket office at 2000 N. Poplar or online at www.kansasstatefair.com, for $20 through Sept 5 and $25 beginning Sept 6 . A voucher for ride sheets can be purchased at any Dillons Store.

SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Collins Bus Corp. Thursday donated 10,000 bumper stickers in support of Stop on Red, Kids Ahead, a school bus safety campaign.

The bumper stickers will be disseminated to Kansas school districts by the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE).

Collins Bus is a bus manufacturing company based in South Hutchinson.

Chris Hiebert, vice president/general manager of Collins Bus, presented the bumper stickers to Keith Dreiling, director of KSDE’s School Bus Safety Unit. Ben Jones, a Kansas State Board of Education member representing district seven, also attended the presentation.

“The Kansas State Department of Education wishes to thank Collins Bus, with the support of Lowen Color Graphics, for the donation of the 10,000 bumper stickers,” said Dreiling. “These bumper stickers support our new campaign, “Stop on Red, Kids Ahead.”

The bumper stickers will be given to districts throughout the state at upcoming KSDE meetings as a way to promote the Stop on Red, Kids Ahead campaign, which was created to bring awareness to the Kansas school bus stop arm law.

“We are honored to help out with this program to get the word out on stop arm violations,” Hiebert said. “Hopefully this helps to keep the kids even safer while riding the bus.”

In April 2019, Kansas bus drivers reported 1,040 stop arm violations. The data was collected during the Kansas One-Day Stop Arm Violation Count. There were 220 districts and 3,300 buses that participated in this year’s Kansas survey. In April 2018, 214 districts and 3,347 buses participated and reported 1,030 violations. There were 691 violations reported by 188 districts (2,527 buses) in April 2017.

“So often in the news, we focus on buildings and the security of our physical sites, but we also need to address the safety of our students on our school buses,” said Ben Jones, a Kansas State Board of Education member who attended the presentation. “The amount of stop arm violations in just one day is unacceptable, and it is ripe for a student-vehicle accident. We must do better to remind motorists to stop when the arm extends and the red lights flash.”

The Stop on Red, Kids Ahead campaign includes news releases, social media reminders, posters for schools, safety flyers, informational handouts and bumper stickers.

For more information about the campaign, go to https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Fiscal-and-Administrative-Services/School-Finance/School-Bus-Safety/Stop-On-Red-Kids-Ahead-Campaign.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 39-year-old man serving time in prison on other charges waived his right to a preliminary hearing in a case from June.

Abram Roth faces trial for possession of methamphetamine, criminal possession of a firearm and personal use drug paraphernalia. That arrest came on June 18.

He is serving a nearly 3-year sentence for burglary.

He was convicted for taking $786.41 from Whispers Video on Sept. 16, 2017.

Roth will be arraigned on the new case Sept. 3.

Roth has prior convictions for possession of drugs, unlawful manufacturing, violating the offender registration act, theft, possession of marijuana, forgery and burglary. These crimes occurred in Reno, Harvey and Johnson counties.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas Wheat will once again host a special tribute to the wheat industry in the Pride of Kansas Building during the Kansas State Fair. This year, they will be celebrating the National Festival of Breads (NFOB), which is sponsored biennially by the Kansas Wheat Commission, King Arthur Flour and Red Star Yeast.

The Kansas Wheat booth will celebrate the success of the June 2019 event in Manhattan, which included a Kansas farm tour for the eight contest finalists from all around the nation, baking workshops and demonstrations, bread sculpture displays and much more. More than 3,500 people from at least 29 states and five countries attended the event that showcased Kansas wheat and the farmers that produced it.

The 2019 Kansas Wheat Recipe Book is also hot off the presses, making its debut at the state fair booth. The annual recipe book, a staple in kitchens statewide, features finalist recipes developed by bakers from across the country.

Kristin Hoffman, known by her blogger pseudonym Baker Bettie, was an NFOB finalist and is a Hutchinson native. She will be on hand to talk about all things bread at the Kansas Wheat booth on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Hoffman is a professional chef who operates BakerBettie.com — a food blog, cooking and baking resource, and online baking school.

Other exhibits around the fair include the market wheat show, 4-H Wheat Variety Plot Display Awards, Kansas wheat photography contest and Kansas Wheat Bread Sculpture Contest.

Kansas Wheat representatives will man the Agriland exhibit on Saturday, Sept. 14. Fairgoers will have the chance to ride in a virtual combine, sift grain between their fingers, milk Blossom — the mechanical dairy cow — learn about livestock feed rations and walk through the soil tunnel trailer for an under-the-scenes look at Kansas soils.

MCPHERSON, Kan. – An initiative introduced by McPherson College and McPherson Hospital with a focus on community health sets out to become a new model for community health care in rural areas. It features a new enhanced health science degree at the college with a wide variety of hands-on educational opportunities, thanks to a partnership with the hospital.

Working together toward healthier communities is the goal of the partnership. The partnership will provide opportunities for student learning and community outreach with the intent to create a new model for rural community health in Kansas. There is more to a healthy community than just treating people who are sick, explained McPherson College President Michael Schneider.

“We are looking at this from a holistic, patient-centered approach to health care in rural communities,” President Schneider said. “In small communities, you need to be resourceful uncovering ways to build a healthy community. It includes everything from mentoring at-risk youth to making sure our elderly citizens are safe when they return home from a hospital stay. It also includes solving our challenges to provide good mental health support and treatment for all. This partnership will put our students out in the community working with support from McPherson Hospital to solve these challenges.”

The new degree and partnership was announced Thursday at McPherson College where Rep. Roger Marshall, M.D., spoke about the importance of working together to support rural health.

“Health care, like many industries in Kansas, struggles to find qualified employees,” said U.S. Congressman Marshall. “I served as an OBGYN for more than 25 years and understand the need to find and retain hardworking, qualified medical staff. Partnerships and educational opportunities like the one announced today are an important step in meeting the health care needs of all Kansans and creating educational opportunities for those who want to live and work in rural America.”

The joint initiative aligns the college and hospital to provide students access to its facility resources and people for internships, field experiences, observation and clinicals.

Last year, the college conducted an environmental analysis that included community focus groups with more than 60 area health professionals and community leaders participating. The research uncovered opportunities for developing an enhanced health science degree focused on health careers as well as support for a college and hospital partnership.

Kansas is among states with the highest number of rural hospitals and greatest shortage of health care professionals of all types, according to the National Rural Health Association. Additionally, according to the Kansas Hospital Association, more than 25 percent of the state’s population lives in rural areas.

Curriculum for the new degree will be offered beginning in the fall of 2020. The degree is designed for students who want to study in the field of health care while participating in outstanding internship opportunities which allow them to give back to the community. For more information about the community health degree program, contact the McPherson College admissions at admiss@mcpherson.edu.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Kansas Senator, Dr. Ed Berger announced on Facebook that he has officially filed for reelection. He did this on Aug. 27 while he was in Topeka for the Bob Bethel KanCare Oversight committee meeting.

The 73-year-old Senator says he’s looking forward to continuing to serve the residents of the 34th District which covers Reno County and parts of Kingman County.

This announcement comes after he fell and fractured vertebrae while vacationing in Colorado earlier this summer.

He was first elected to the Kansas chamber in 2016 after retiring as President of Hutchinson Community College in 2014.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The jury in the rape case involving a Hutchinson man found him not guilty of rape, but guilty of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Nathan Allen Crum was accused of sexually assaulting a local woman while they watched a movie at his home. Crum admitted they had sex, but claims it was consensual. The sodomy incident occurred Aug. 17, 2018.

With the verdict, Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers set sentencing for Oct. 11.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The jury trial for a Hutchinson man charged with rape and aggravated criminal sodomy is underway in Reno County District Court.

Nathan Allen Crum is accused of sexually assaulting a local woman while they watched a movie at his home. Crum admitted they had sex, but claims it was consensual. The alleged crimes occurred on Aug. 17, 2018.

The case is being heard in front of Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers.