PRETTY PRAIRIE, Kan. — The American Red Cross will be having a blood drive in Pretty Prairie on Monday, July 1. The drive will be from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will be held at the Prairie Sunset Home at 601 East Main.

There will be free Red Cross t-shirts while they last. This is your chance to help the Red Cross save lives with your donation.

You can make reservations to give blood by calling 1-800-Red Cross, 1-800-733-2767 or visit www.redcrossblood.org and enter Pretty Prairie to schedule an appointment.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One of the suspects involved in the June 20 shooting that led to a six-hour standoff has been formally charged by the state.

Eighteen-year-old Tyson Samuels has been charged with aggravated battery for the wounding of Jacob Foley.

Samuels and Brendan Jones were at a home in the 300 block of West 8th and were apparently planning to fight with the victim. During the course of that fight, a handgun was pulled from a fanny pack, and Jones allegedly fired several shots. One of the bullets struck Foley in his left thigh. There were a number of others present at the time of the shooting.

Later in the morning, police got word that Jones was at a home in the 300 block of West 16th, where the standoff occurred. Samuels eventually surrendered, but Jones got to the door and began shooting at officers. Ten officers returned fire, striking Jones.

Jones was taken to a Wichita hospital for treatment of his wounds.

Samuels is also a suspect in an earlier aggravated robbery case from April 26. He is scheduled to return to court July 17.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The City of Hutchinson is looking at the possibility of revamping the striping on South Main during an upcoming maintenance project.

In the weeks after the Fourth of July, the surface will be improved and then re-striped. The city council is interested in exploring changing the way the section of Main Street from Avenue C to Carey Park is striped, and is seeking public input.

In a Facebook post, the city lists information and the options being considered.

Option one is to keep Main Street striping as it currently is, which means that two lanes will be maintained in each direction and angled parking will also be retained.

Option two would have Main Street from Avenue C to Carey Park re-striped similar to Avenue A from Main Street East to Lorraine. There would be a single lane of traffic in each direction with a center turn lane. In order to make Main Street open to bicycle traffic, bicycle lanes would be added outside of the traffic lanes and angled parking would be changed to parallel parking.

The city is asking for email or mail input to be received by next Tuesday. Residents can also offer opinions in person 9 a.m. Tuesday at the next city council meeting at City Hall, 125 E. Avenue B.

Comments can be sent by mail to Hutchinson City Manager John Deardoff, 125 E Avenue B, Hutchinson, Kansas 67502 or via email to john.deardoff@hutchgov.com.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A local man has been charged with a felony involving the touching of an 18-year-old, however, the crime occurred last year.

Joe Webster is charged with aggravated sexual battery for the incident that allegedly occurred on Sept. 30, 2018. The state says the crime may have occurred while Webster was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The charge is a level five person felony with a sentencing range of 2 ½ years to over 11 years in prison depending on his criminal history.

Webster will be back in court next month.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With all the recent rain and flooding, there is some concern about mosquitoes. The Reno County Health Department, in conjunction with Reno County Emergency Management, is considering whether to seek federal funds for mosquito abatement.

President Donald Trump granted a disaster declaration last week and Reno County was included.

Reno County Health Department Director Nick Baldetti says they are already coming into money issues. He says the federal money would help.

He says they consulted officials with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment last Friday and there is some concern that the mosquitoes could be carrying the West Nile virus.

The county has traps at various locations to catch mosquitoes. He talked about what they’ve seen with the latest catch.

“For the June 18 surveillance week, we had 3,675 mosquitoes captured in our traps,” Baldetti said. “Of those 3,675, 3,134 were of the Culex species, or the species known to carry West Nile virus.” He says they have not yet gotten viral testing from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment as to whether those mosquitoes are actually carrying the live viral bodies for West Nile virus.

The plan is to submit a letter requesting the funding and see if those funds could be used to help mitigate what they see as a potential issue through the summer months.

He says submitting the letter doesn’t mean they are committing to any activity and that it’s not a 100% reimbursement for any cost the county should have for mosquito abatement.

Emergency Management Director Adam Weishaar also recommended sending the letter for the funds. “We need to jump on this quickly,” Weishaar said.

What exactly they would do to help control the mosquito population wasn’t decided, but it could include spraying across the county. A crop dusting plane could be used.

HAVEN, Kan. — The city of Haven in Reno County will allow fireworks from July 1 through July 5. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. July 1 though July 3. They will extend the hours until midnight on July 4 and 5.

City officials say fireworks must be discharged on private property. Bottle rockets or any other rockets mounted on a stick or wire are illegal.

Officials also ask that residents clean up any trash or debris.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County District Judge Tim Chambers agreed Tuesday to continue the trial for a Hutchinson man charged with rape and aggravated criminal sodomy.

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 KBI was asked to do DNA testing of samples from the case. When testing, officials discovered two other DNA profiles that could help the defense. Judge Chambers noted he wants to make sure the trial is fair and agreed to continue the trial because of that reason. The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The state asked for and was granted 90 days for the KBI testing. The state also wants to ensure Crum receives a fair trial.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission made it official by passing a resolution for the decision to not grant a conditional use permit to the NextEra Energy wind farm project near Haven.

It was nearly two weeks ago when commissioners held a special meeting at the Fox Theatre and failed to get a supermajority vote for the conditional use permit for the wind farm project.

Commission Chair Bob Bush and Commissioner Ron Sellers voted in favor of the permit, while Commissioner Ron Hirst, who represents the area where the proposed wind farm was to be built, voted against it.

Hirst talked about his reasons for the no vote.

“We had to determine whether it improved the comprehensive plan and the zoning regulations,” Hirst said. “What it all boiled down to, my constituents in that area, the majority had relayed that they were against that. I found lots of situations relating to the comprehensive plan as well as zoning regulations that I felt didn’t justify the conditional use permit.”

Commissioners needed the unanimous vote because of the number of protest petitions presented to the county. 46% of the petitions were deemed valid. That number was well above the 20% needed.

What comes next is up to NextEra Energy. The company has 30 days to file any type of lawsuit over the county’s decision.

HUTCHINSON – The fundraiser conducted by the Friends of the Hutchinson Zoo has been more than successful. According to their Facebook, they have raised over $11,000, surpassing the group’s $10,000 goal.

Donations will be used to clean up, restore and rebuild parts of the zoo damaged by recent flooding. The zoo remains flooded, so an accurate assessment of the damages is unknown at this point. The water level is going down but painfully slow, according to the post.

Despite surpassing the goal, the group will continue to accept donations on their Facebook page and in person in the gift shop.

A date for the zoo’s reopening remains unknown.