HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A hearing is set for Monday morning in the legal fight involving Pretty Prairie Wind and landowners in opposition to the proposed wind farm in southern Reno County.
Pretty Prairie Wind and NextEra Energy are challenging the validity of signatures gathered on protest petitions. That forced county commissioners to have the unanimous approval of a conditional use permit for the project. The vote ended up 2-1.
Reno County Counselor Joe O’Sullivan says the legality of the petitions won’t be heard in court Monday. Instead, Judge Tim Chambers will hear arguments from a group of citizens who want to intervene in support of the landowners.
Which way that decision goes could have an effect on Pretty Prairie Wind’s next legal option. The option is a filing by Pretty Prairie Wind for a summary judgment with the court to simply declare the protest petitions invalid. That in turn, would remove the unanimous vote of the County Commission and the permit would be granted. If that were to happen O’Sullivan sees that decision going all the way to the Supreme Court.
The hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. at the Reno County Courthouse.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Police Department received a report of a male subject in the area of 35th Avenue and King Street around 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
The incident occurred when the subject startled a student getting off a school bus. The subject, described as a black male of average height and average build, is not believed to be known by residents in the immediate area.
Police say statements from several residents indicate the subject may have been going door to door attempting to sell a product or service. Other than possibly peddling door to door without a peddler’s permit issued through the City of Hutchinson, there is no direct evidence indicating the subject committed any criminal offenses or had any harmful intent in the community.
However, police would still like to identify the subject to ensure the safety of residents.
The police department is asking any residents who had direct contact with a subject going door to door within the last week soliciting sales to call Detective Paul Sack at 620-694-2822 to pass on any information that may be relevant.
Authorities are also asking residents who live in the area to check their video recording doorbells or other external home surveillance systems to see if the subject may have been captured on video Thursday afternoon between 3 and 4.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Yesway convenience stores got a chance to give back to the community on Thursday. The store chain teamed up with Dr. Pepper, Good Sports and Let’s Play for a Day of Play program involving the Hutchinson YMCA.
During the event more than $120-thousand worth of sporting equipment was donated to the cause. The children in the Y’s childcare program got a chance to enjoy the weather and have a day full of activities. Each child got to take home some goodies after the event. Yesway also donated snacks and many took time to volunteer for the cause.
Day of Play is an annual event designed to encourage children and parents to turn off the television and play together, especially outdoors.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A western wear business in McPherson is expanding into Hutchinson. A5 Western, located on N Main in McPherson, announced that they are coming to Hutchinson.
The store will be located at 116 N Main and will offer western wear as well as industrial type clothing and protective footwear.
The store plans to open on Tuesday, Oct. 1st. A5 has been in business in McPherson for eight years and recently expanded its store size at that location.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Housing Commission heard from a group of landlords regarding the proposed rental inspection program during Wednesday’s meeting. The commission continues to work on revamping the program.
The program would change from a registration format to a licensing one. The change would give the city the ability to better enforce property standards. Planning Director Ryan Hvitlok says most of the landlords want to make sure the parameters of the program are clear. “They brought up some good points about wanting to make sure that if we go down this licensing route that there’s clear policy and clear line of what happens if there is a license action where a license is suspended or revoked,” Hvitlok said.
One area that has always been a complaint from landlords is policing of property standards by the city instead of letting them self-police their properties. Hvitlok says most landlords want to go back to a complaint-based system that was removed by the City Council due to fear of retaliation from landlords against tenants. “They feel that with the city inspector driving around and if he sees issues he has the power to write those issues up,” Hvitlok said. “They feel it’s infringing on their rights. If you look at why the City Council did away with the complaint base (notification), that was the reason. They also thought it wasn’t effective because the worst of the worst were not really getting taken care of.”
Hvitlok says the matter now goes before the City Council. “We’ll go to City Council next Tuesday for their review,” Hvitlok said. “It’s not a public hearing, but I would anticipate that the council will probably solicit public comment at that point and then direct staff to put a bow on this and bring it back to them sometime in October,” Hvitlok said.
The next meeting of the Hutchinson City Council is Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 9 a.m. in the Hutchinson city offices.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 announced Thursday that parent-teacher conferences are approaching.
Elementary conferences are by appointment with teachers. Those conferences will be after school on Wednesday, Oct. 2, and Thursday, Oct 3.
At Hutchinson Middle School and Hutchinson High School, no appointments are needed. Hutchinson Middle School conferences will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, on both HMS campuses while HHS conferences will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Salthawk Activity Center on Oct. 3.
While classes will be on regular schedules Monday through Wednesday, there will be no classes for students on Thursday and Friday.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in some area manufacturing facilities, your chance is coming. Superior Boiler will open its doors to the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Manufacturing Day, Oct. 4. The nationwide Manufacturing Day celebration aims to inspire the next generation of manufacturers.
Those who visit Superior Boiler Works on Manufacturing Day will see a brief presentation about the history of Superior Boiler and its mark on the boiler industry, along with the technology used in the industry.
Those who wish to tour the facility must make advance reservations by calling (620) 662-6693 by 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. Personal Protective Equipment, including safety glasses and hearing protection, will be required and provided. Persons planning to tour should not wear sandals, flip-flops or other open shoes.
Opening its doors gives manufacturers an opportunity to address the industry’s skilled labor shortage, connect with future generations, take charge of manufacturing’s public image and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the American industry.
Nationwide, Manufacturing Day is produced by the National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturing Institute.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Ten Kansas youth became the first recipients of the Kansas State Fair’s new youth livestock scholarship program. The scholarships are awarded for their efforts both inside and outside the show ring.
Started in 2000, the fair’s Grand Drive has turned into the state’s premier livestock competition. The event encompasses shows for cattle, sheep, hogs and goats. Kansas youth entered nearly 2,500 animals in 2019.
The Grand Drive Scholarship Endowment was established through Hutchinson Community Foundation in the summer of 2018 to award $1,000 scholarships to 10 secondary and post-secondary students.
This year’s winners were announced at the Grand Drive’s annual gala Sept. 7:
· Wesley Denton, Blue Rapids
· Taylor Dieball, Little River
· Kaci Foraker, Burrton
· Jenna Goertzmann, Gardner
· Chad Hibdon, Princeton
· Cale Hinrichsen, Westmoreland
· Eva Hinrichsen, Westmoreland
· JaelAnn Hoover, Abilene
· Taylor Nikkel, Maple Hill
· Rylee Schrock, Brookville
To be eligible, applicants must have been current or past exhibitors of the Kansas State Fair Grand Drive and either graduating from high school in 2020 or enrolling in a secondary education program for the 2019-2020 school year.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Since July of last year, three public forums have been held in the area regarding the seismic activity that has rattled the area. That included one Thursday evening at the Hutchinson Public Library where a group of panelists answered questions ranging from the cause of the tumblers to the possible effect on property values.
Rick Miller with the Kansas Geological Survey explains to the audience the science of earthquakes during a public forum held Thursday at the Hutchinson Public Library.
The latest activity in August resulted in more than 40 earthquakes over a week with two measuring above four on the Richter scale. The quakes are thought to be from an increase in deep injection well activity from increased oil and gas production in Oklahoma and southern Kansas. Rick Miller with the Kansas Geological Survey says they do have a little better understanding of what is happening in the Hutchinson area.
“What we think is going on is a whole sequence of faults, like taking a sheet cake and just cutting it up into pieces, all of those slices in the cake are faults and you have a whole series of faults laying side by side,” Miller said. “The earthquake cluster is about three miles long east and west and about two miles wide north and south.”
Miller says the area is too small to generate an earthquake as strong as we have experienced, so a number of these faults are moving simultaneously in the area.
While the stronger earthquakes have caused some superficial damage, engineer Brent Engelland says it is not significant and is confined to older, taller buildings in the city. “There were a number of cosmetic cracks in commercial buildings around town,” Engelland said. “The only thing that would border on structural with the magnitude four that we had were buildings that were already in disrepair.”
As far as predicting earthquakes, several websites have boasted that they accurately predicted the August earthquakes. Miller took time to address that. “There is no current scientific accepted methodology for predicting earthquakes,” Miller said. “I can tell you, based on the number (of quakes) we’ve had, that it would not be unreasonable to predict a four. I can do that. Can I tell you what day? No. Can I tell you what month? No. Can I tell you what year? No.”
Citizens have been concerned with what will happen to property values and what people new to Hutchinson are saying about the earthquakes. Cindy Rehlander with the Reno County Appraiser’s Office says realtors are getting questions from potential homebuyers.
“We’re not seeing anybody in Reno County balking or not wanting to buy a new house or upgrade their home,” Rehlander said. “A couple of the realtors did mention that it is a little bit of a concern. Someone coming in from Colorado or somewhere will question what is going on with the earthquakes.”
Engelland and Rehlander said they don’t expect valuations of property to fall nor insurance rates to increase with the activity. Engelland says people are a little bit hypersensitive to the quakes, but that should decrease with time.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson High School volleyball team is in action this evening. The Salthawks are on the road to play two matches in Great Bend starting at 5 p.m. The Buhler High School soccer team will be at home tonight for a match with Hays starting at 6:30.
Here is the rest of today’s area high school schedule:
Volleyball:
Hutchinson @ Great Bend — 5 p.m.
Soccer:
Buhler vs. Hays — 6:30 p.m.
Cross Country:
Hutchinson, Nickerson and Buhler @ McPherson Invitational — 4:30 p.m.
Central Christian, Haven and Trinity Catholic @ Marion Invitational — 4:30 p.m.
Tennis:
Buhler @ Salina Central — 3 p.m.
Nickerson and Trinity Catholic @ Hillsboro Invitational — 3 p.m.
