HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The next round of quarterly earnings begins Thursday as Union Pacific kicks off the list with its second quarter report before the bell. It is expected to be a run of good financial news for companies with ties to Hutchinson and the surrounding area.

The nation’s largest railroad reported record earnings in the first quarter and expects more good news as the railroad continues to gain momentum from an improving economy.

According to Zacks Investment, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $1.94. The reported EPS for the same quarter last year was $1.45.

Arconic will follow Union Pacific in the earnings report parade on July 24. Siemens Gamesa will report on July 27.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council hopes to take the final few steps needed to put together the 2019 budget during a study session Thursday morning.

Thursday morning’s meeting will deal with stormwater, sewer and water fees. Last year, the city increased utility fees for the first time in several years and, at the time, placed incremental increases in the fees through the year 2022.

While the utility fee increases certainly got the attention of the public, the stormwater utility has received the most vocal objection. The effects of the fee hit the Kansas State Fair particularly hard, giving the fair a $50,000 yearly bill. Since then, the fair and the city have been working to come up with a solution to lessen some of that obligation.

Also Tuesday, the city will tie up some loose ends with the general fund and then get ready to set a public hearing for the final numbers sometime in August.

Thursday morning’s meeting begins at 8 a.m. in city hall.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The HutchCC Board of Trustees will hold its monthly meeting this evening. Since it is the first meeting of the new fiscal year, committee assignments will be doled out and the new college catalog will be approved for next year.

The board will also seek approval of the insurance policy for the school’s athletics and set a public hearing date for the budget.

If approved, the proposed budget would keep the mill levy the same as last year at 22.5 mills.

Thursday’s meeting of the HutchCC Board of Trustees meeting beings at 6 p.m. in the Justice Theater in the Shears Technology Center.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After a couple of meetings with little attendance, the Hutchinson City Council chambers were filled to capacity for the third evening meeting since starting a six-month experiment to hold one meeting in the evening. The agenda was filled with a number of proclamations, which brought a good turnout, but also an audience that had questions for the council concerning everything from the budget to city street projects. Mayor Steve Dechant was pleased with the turnout:

Dechant says the council will have to consider making the change permanent if the attendance continues to be strong:

The animal shelter was discussed. One person also asked if there were any plans to widen 17th Avenue to four lanes.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council presented four proclamations during Tuesday night’s meeting.

The first was for the annual Ulster Project. The event brings a combination of Protestant and Catholic teens from Northern Ireland to live with teens here in Hutchinson for a month. There was also a proclamation for the Emancipation Proclamation Day and one for National Parks Month.

Another proclamation was also handed out to recognize a neighborhood that is preparing to celebrate its centennial anniversary.

The Farmington Park area has been a staple of the city for many years. The Hutchinson Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative began working with the neighborhood in 2017. Shortly after choosing to highlight the neighborhood, the initiative found out the 100th birthday was coming Aug. 8.

The area has already made plans to celebrate the centennial with a block party Aug. 7.

The Hutchinson Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative is a collaborative approach to improve the marketability of neighborhoods in Hutchinson and make them attractive, better places to live.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Few who heard it can ever forget John F. Kennedy’s speech that announced the U.S. was going to the moon before the end of the 1960s.

But the space race started long before then, when Dwight Eisenhower was president. That’s the subject of Thursday’s Coffee at the Cosmo at the Cosmosphere. Tim Rives with the Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene talks about the start of the space race, which came with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik:

Rives says Eisenhower had to find a balance when it came to the U.S. involvement in the space program because there were actually two very different avenues that were being taken:

Despite the incredible fame and triumph that occurred with the United States landing on the moon in 1969, the former president was not all that supportive of the Apollo program:

As always, Coffee at the Cosmo begins at 9 a.m. and is free and open to the public.

HAVEN, Kan. — The Haven USD 312 School Board gave approval to reduce the asking price for the now vacant Partridge Elementary School during Monday’s meeting.

The school is empty after the district decided to close it at the end of last year due to declining enrollment. It was the second elementary school to close in the district. The district is left with two elementary schools, one in Haven and the other in Yoder.

According to Superintendent Clark Wedel, the board approved reducing the asking price from $400,000 to $300,000.

Wedel says there has been a little interest in the building, but no buyer is in the works at this time.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The future of the Hutchinson City Sculpture Walk program is sitting in unknown territory.

The city-financed program, which provided an avenue for artists to show their goods and provide decoration for downtown, is no longer funded by the city. Outgoing Assistant City Manager Meryl Dye, who has spearheaded the arts program since it started in 2012, is hoping the Hutchinson Arts Center will take over:

Dye says the city is drawing up a contract for the center to consider. Dye says she will also volunteer her time and efforts to keep the program going:

Patrick Calvillo of the Hutchinson Arts Center wants to make sure the center can take on the project. Before making any decision on the city’s proposal, Calvillo wants to ensure the other activities the center helps with are going strong.