HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kroger posted a strong second quarter as it released its earnings report Thursday.

The parent company of Dillons reported total earnings of $0.44 per share compared with $0.41 per share in the same quarter last year.

Profits also increased to end the first half of 2019 at $559 million compared with $549 million in 2018. Total sales were $28.2 billion compared to $28.0 billion last year.

Another positive during the quarter was the sell-off of an unused warehouse that had been on the market for some time.

Kroger used that gain to contribute to the company pension plan, helping stabilize associates’ future benefits.

Updated Sept. 11 at 5:19 p.m.

RENO COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Reno County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a car driven by 55-year-old Mary Rosenberger, of Medicine Lodge, was westbound on K-96 at Halstead Road.

The Ford rear-ended a semi that had slowed to make a right turn onto Halstead Road.

Rosenberger was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi driver, 56-year-old Mark Bridges, of Garden City, was not injured. Rosenberger was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

YODER, Kan. — One person was killed in a car/semi accident late Wednesday morning near Yoder.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says both vehicles were westbound when the semi slowed to make a right turn at Halstead Road. The car hit the semi from behind.

A woman was in the car. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Reno County 911. The driver of the semi was not injured. No names have been released. The accident closed off the westbound lanes of K-96 for several hours while the scene was cleared.

The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The quarterly earnings session comes to a close when Kroger announces its second-quarter earnings before the bell on Thursday.

The parent company of Dillons is expected to earn $0.41 a share on $28.42 billion in revenue.

First-quarter net earnings were $772 million, or $0.95 per diluted share. Adjusted net earnings were $586 million, or $0.72 per diluted share.

Total company sales for the quarter were $37.3 billion. The numbers will further reflect the recent sell-off of the company’s convenience store business that included all area Kwik Shops.

Kroger operates nearly 2,800 supermarkets in the United States under various local names.

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has issued a boil water advisory for Rural Water District No. 1 in Kingman County.

KDHE officials issued the advisory because of a loss of pressure from a water line break. Failure to maintain adequate pressure may result in a loss of chlorine residuals and bacterial contamination.

The KDHE says persons under the advisory should follow the usual precautions. Boil water for one minute before drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water. Dispose of ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic ice maker.

Residents in the advisory area should also disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces for at least one minute in clean tap water and unscented household bleach. Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled, but supervision of children is necessary while bathing so that water is not ingested. Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians.

The KDHE will issue a rescind order following testing at a certified laboratory.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The HutchCC Board of Trustees will take action on a new master agreement with the faculty during Thursday’s monthly meeting. Under the new agreement, faculty and staff will see a base increase of $1,200 over the previous year for new faculty only and a 3.1% increase for current faculty.

The board will also take action on a proposed raise for classified and administrative staff. The increase will be 3.1%, or $1,000, whichever is greater, along with a benefit increase.

The board will also take action on an amendment to the shared facilities contract with Hutchinson USD 308. The amendments center around the use of both Gowans Stadium for football and track events and the USD 308 Complex, which is used by both the college and high school for soccer.

Finally, the board will take action on bids for the student dining facility expansion with the staff recommending the low bids from Harman Huffman Construction at $5,252,300.

Thursday’s meeting of the HutchCC Board of Trustees begins at 7 p.m. at the Shears Technology Center on campus.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. —The Kansas State Fair is all about tradition. Margaret Doornbos certainly was a part of that tradition and had been a regular participant. For years the 100-year-old Butler County resident would enter hand-painted china that won ribbons on a regular basis. She also had entries in this year’s fair although she never got a chance to take in the event. Doornbos was in the hospital when the fair started. She died on Sunday.

Doornbos was well known at the fair as she won awards for her work often with her china, but also with a quilt that she made over a period of years. Too sick to come to the fair, her entries were brought in by the family.

Doornbos won an award this year for her china painting -a porcelain cutting board- and a second award for her quilt entry. Anna Margaret Haines was born on Thursday, December 19, 1918, west of Rosalia, Kansas. Margaret graduated from El Dorado High School in 1936 then attended and graduated from El Dorado Junior College.

She began her teaching career after passing the state test in 1939. She married Robert Doornbos in 1941 and was married until his death in 1997. She began painting china in 1970 and started quilting four years later. She continued to be active in both and continued to work at the Coutts Art Museum in El Dorado until she was 90.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Planning Director Ryan Hvitlok is optimistic a new rental inspection program that will be discussed by the housing commission and the city council will help with the rental property issues in the city.

The two sides are meeting Tuesday morning. The major change in the proposal has the city going from a registration permit to a rental licensing system. “Almost every other city, if not every city that we’ve looked at actually, has a license instead of an actual registration,” Hvitlok said. “The benefit of having a license is that it is actually something that could be revoked through enforcement action . . . versus a registration, there’s really not any teeth with that.”

The proposed ordinance requires all rental units in the city to be licensed. Renting an unlicensed unit is a violation of city code and a Class C misdemeanor. Hvitlok says he hopes the licensing method will be an incentive to landlords to keep up their property since they can get a discount on the license. “In order to rent a unit in the city, you will have to be licensed. The inspection piece is an optional thing and it’s incentivized,” Hvitlok said. “But that still does not mean that if the city gets a complaint from a tenant or a landlord that we would have the power to go in and do an inspection.”

Hvitlok says he still sees some tweaking on the proposal, but hopes the city and commission can come together on the new program soon. Tuesday’s meeting begins at 8 a.m. at the Fire Command Training Center on East 4th Avenue.