HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Animal Shelter has too many cats and kittens.

Until the shelter can get down to a manageable number, all cats and kittens are $20. All cats are spayed/neutered and have all age-appropriate vaccines. Normally, the shelter charges $100 for a kitten and $50 for an adult cat.

The sale runs until the end of the day on Monday, July 15.

For more information, contact the animal shelter at 620-694-1924 or go to www.hutchinsonanimalservices.com.

HAVEN, Kan. — The Haven School Board will set a date for its public hearing on the 2020 budget during Monday’s regular meeting.

If all goes as planned, the district will hold the hearing Aug. 13. Superintendent Clark Wedel is asking the board to hold the line on the mill levy at 60.7 mills. Wedel says the budget will be challenged by the continued decline in enrollment and increasing expenses.

Also tonight, the board will go into executive session to discuss negotiations with the district’s teachers. The two sides are apart when it comes to a base pay increase for the faculty. The teachers have asked for $4,014 while the district has offered $2,014. The teachers have not given a counteroffer to the district. Both sides are scheduled to meet again next week.

Tonight’s meeting of the Haven School Board begins at 6 p.m. at the school district offices in Haven.

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Two area companies joined the Kansas Department of Agriculture in hosting two State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) Grant trade missions to Kyiv, Ukraine, for the AGRO 2019 expo.

Shield Ag equipment of Hutchinson and Moridge Company of Moundridge were part of a trade mission designed to introduce their products to an international audience.

“The STEP Grant was designed to help small businesses expand their exports. We’ve been fortunate in Kansas to have received the STEP grant to help Kansas farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses to explore new markets or increase the value of export sales in existing markets,” Suzanne Ryan-Numrich, international trade director at KDA, said.

The trade missions were sponsored by KDA and funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration using a STEP grant in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Commerce.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture is dedicated to providing an environment that enhances and encourages economic growth of the agriculture industry and the Kansas economy including the further development and expansion of marketing opportunities for agricultural goods and services around the globe.

The KDA is offering an upcoming opportunity for Kansas farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses to participate in a livestock genetic trade mission to Uruguay this fall from Sept. 10-16. Interested parties should contact Ryan-Numrich at 785-564-6704.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two road projects will get underway in Hutchinson starting Monday that will slow traffic in some areas.

Starting Monday, crews will begin a paving project on East 30th from Waldron to K-61. This will reduce traffic down to one lane in each direction and some driveways may be closed off for a period of time.

Starting Wednesday, the work will move to South Main from Avenue C to Carey Park. Work will include a thin pavement overlay and restriping of the street. The work will also limit areas down to one lane of traffic in each direction.

This is the project that was the center of much discussion by the City Council over a proposal from Councilman Steve Dechant to reconfigure the road to two lanes instead of four. After nearly three hours of discussion, the council was at an impasse. The street will stay as it is.

TOPEKA, Kan. — First District Congressman Roger Marshall toured several immigrant detention sites in the McAllen, Texas, area. He says the trip re-solidified his support for President Donald Trump’s border wall proposal.

His assessment differs from the one reached by Democrats who this week visited separate facilities in the El Paso area.

A report released Tuesday by Department of Homeland Security Acting Inspector General Jennifer Costello raised concerns of overcrowding at some of the same McAllen area facilities Marshall visited.

Marshall traveled to Texas as a member of the “Doc Caucus,” a group of Republican doctors in Congress. He has said he might run for U.S. Senate.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — All eight students from Hutchinson Community College who attended the National SkillsUSA Contest in Louisville, Kentucky, June 24-28 earned top ten finishes in their respective competitions, including a national runner-up.

Ethan Williams of Arlington and Ryan Gawanda of McPherson finished runner-up in the College Division for Robots and Automation. The competition challenged two-person teams to demonstrate the operation of a five-axis servo-robot along with a set of sensors and motorized devices to resolve a simulated production process problem.

Teams set up and demonstrated the operation of a robotic work cell from a word problem. Contestants were required to create a flow chart and sequence of operation. Teams were also judged on efficiency, speed and teamwork.

Other area students also fared well at the competition. Isaac Hoffman (Hutchinson) in HVAC – High School Division, Adam Weldon (Kingman) in Industrial Motor Control – High School Division, and Shidarian Fonfield (Hutchinson) competing in the Masonry contest. The team of Alan Terrazas (South Hutchinson) and Emerald Brown (Abilene) participated in the in Mechatronics competition – College Division, and Emily Gerhardt in Computer Programming – College Division.

SkillsUSA serves more than 360,000 students and instructors annually. This includes 20,365 instructors who join as professional members. Including alumni, SkillsUSA membership totals over 400,000. SkillsUSA has served more than 13.5 million annual members cumulatively since 1965.

HUTCHINSON — With flat revenues and increasing expenses, it is expected to be another tough budget process for the city of Hutchinson.

City Manager John Deardoff said the 2020 budget calls for a 1 mill increase from last year. Putting a further crimp in the process is a decrease in the city’s valuation from $310 million to $307 million.

The budget calls for an average pay increase for employees of 3.5 percent, depending on where the employee is on the pay scale. It also proposes more than $14 million in capital improvements.

The proposed general fund budget is $35,307,335, compared to just more than $35 million last year. There is a budget gap of about $481,000 that the council will have to deal with to avoid a mill levy increase.

The council will meet over the next several weeks to discuss the budget and where any additions or cuts can be made.

The city hopes to have the budget in place within the next six to eight weeks.