HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Police were dispatched to 502 Coronado Monday in reference to a male threatening a Cox Communications employee with a firearm.
When officers attempted to speak with the suspect, he retreated and barricaded himself inside his residence.
The Hutchinson/Reno County Emergency Response Team was brought to the scene. Negotiators attempted to contact the suspect, but were unsuccessful. Different tactics were used and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident.
Gregory A. Kallaus, 53, was arrested for felony interference, criminal possession of a firearm, aggravated assault and criminal threat.
Police officials say this is an ongoing investigation.
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Officials are working a standoff near Coronado and Monroe.
According to Lt. Dustin Loepp, a Cox employee was confronted by a man with a shotgun. The man is still inside his house with the gun. The Cox employee was able to get away. The employee is safe and being taken care of by officials. The standoff began around 2:30 p.m.
The Emergency Response Team is on the scene.
Officials have much of the surrounding area blocked off.
More information will be released as it is made available.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There was a great turnout for the annual Reno County Toy Run Sunday with warm conditions and sunny skies.
Photo courtesy of the Reno County Toy Run.
Officials say 558 motorcycles, most with two riders, participated in the ride up Main Street to 30th, then east to K-61, south to Lorraine and eventually to the Moose Lodge at 1st and Lorraine.
Officials say 1,170 toys and 135-plus bicycles were donated.
During the chili feed at the Toy Run, 163 bowls of chili were served at the Moose Lodge.
Officials have yet to count up all of the money raised, but say it is looking real promising. “The community really stepped up to help us this year,” Alan Turner with the Toy Run said.
MEDORA, Kan — A Buhler School teacher was killed in a car/ semi accident this morning near Medora.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says 46-year-old Jory Konrade on Inman was going south on K-61 when he lost control of his car. The vehicle traveled through the median and hit a northbound semi driven by 44-year-old Shawn Hallbauer.
Konrade who was a teacher and coach at Prairie Hills Middle School was pronounced dead at the scene. Hallbauer was not injured in the crash.
The accident happened around 7:40 a.m. near Medora or about ten miles north of Hutchinson.
MEDORA, Kan. — The Buhler school district has identified the victim of a car-semi crash as Jory Konrade. He was a teacher and football coach at Prairie Hills Middle School.
The district sent a statement announcing that Konrade died as a result of a crash on K-61 near Medora.
The statement to students read:
“There are times it is necessary to communicate news that is painful for all of us. During those times, we must be prepared to support each other as we deal with the many feelings that we begin to experience. It is with great sorrow that I inform you that Mr. Konrade has been involved in an accident and has passed away.”
“Death can be difficult for us to understand, especially when it is sudden. We will all begin to feel different emotions: shock, sadness, confusion, even some anger. What is most important is that we care for and support each other.”
The statement also noted that counselors would be on-site for any student that needs to talk.
Information about the cause of the accident still has not been released.
MEDORA, Kan. — At least one person is dead after an accident on K-61 near Medora. According to 911 dispatch, the accident involved a semi and pickup.
The Kansas Highway Patrol is diverting traffic onto 85th at this time because of the accident.
Officials ask that residents avoid the area if at all possible. The accident was reported around 7:40 a.m.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — On a week when many in the United States will focus on an abundance of food, some students at Hutchinson Middle School – 7, will examine how hunger impacts their community. Students at the middle school will work on a project that looks at how the community might impact hunger.
In social studies, Mitch Bringle’s students will focus on each hunger throughout the ages. Students will look at a timeline about how hunger has popped up throughout major times in our history. Students, in turn, will be asked to create their own timelines on how hunger has affected history.
Lori Meis’ math students will be looking at the numbers. Meis will look at the numbers, break down the data, and then have students crunch the numbers.
The math teacher also is spearheading a food drive in which the whole school will participate. The food will be donated to a Reno County agency. However, before it is donated, the food will be used to calculate how much food would it take to end hunger in Reno county, along with various other questions related to this donated food making a difference throughout the community.
Other projects in the school include Mary Rains’ English class, who will discuss the big questions and analyze informational sources to help students do so. Students will use critical thinking skills to really discuss questions related to hunger. Also, Shandi Webster’s science class will help students write the recipe for ending hunger by assembling the ingredients of hope through a visual recipe or an actual family recipe.
The project is a partnership with Students Rebuild, a program of the Bezos Family Foundation. For every recipe that is submitted, a financial donation to a community-based organization will be made by the foundation.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The area has seen a lot of wildfires over the past week, including a large blaze that kept fire crews on their toes most of the day Saturday. That brought up the question by the Hutchinson City Council to Fire Chief Steve Beer as to why the aerial spray plane that is housed at the airport was not used. While the plane has gathered much hoopla and praise, Beer says it’s not anything he would consider using in this area.
“I got some personal phone calls about why the airplane wasn’t deployed,” Beer said. “The general public thinks that’s owned by the Hutchinson Fire Department and that’s one misperception that’s out there since it’s based out of Hutchinson.”
The aerial S-2 tanker sits in a hangar at the Hutchinson Airport.
With small farms and residences scattered around the area, Beer says the plane is of little use in fighting fires. Plus it’s expensive, costing $4,000 per hour. Beer notes that, while the plane was welcome, it was put here and made available with little advanced planning.
“There’s no standard operating procedure in place yet with this thing. We have this plane here and it might work great out in western Kansas where there’s no homes and all of these other buildings,” Beer stressed. “But when we have what we have here, which is a true urban interface wildfire situation where we have 10 acres and a brand new house, when a plane comes in and dumps this water, it can knock down trees. If it hits a pickup, it can actually roll a pickup.”
Beer says there have been instances out west where water bombing has killed firefighters. Without a plan of operation and no communication available, he’s not about to endanger his fire crews using the airplane.
“Until we get a standard operating procedure, I’m not going to risk my men and women on the front lines because it’s just a very dangerous operation just dumping water out of the sky.”
During the wildfires three years ago, helicopters were used to fight the fire. Beer says that’s different because the helicopters can place the water where it is needed while hovering over a selected site.
Beer says he plans to meet with the Kansas Forest Service this week to discuss if the plane has the potential to benefit the area during a wildfire.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hit with a blizzard of objections, the Nickerson USD 309 School Board tabled any discussion on what to do with some of its athletic facilities during Monday’s meeting.
The board wanted to discuss the issues surrounding the track and football field. That led to several estimates being submitted, including a new softball field and other improvements. One of the estimates totaled more than $1.5 million.
Superintendent Jeanie Stroh stressed to the crowd that these were not bids, just estimates, and that the board was not planning to take any action during the meeting. Still, the agenda item brought a full house to the school district offices strongly objecting to any capital outlay being used for athletic facilities, especially in light of the recently failed bond issue.
“The bond stressed critical high needs, limited space and safety concerns,” Amber Rohling said. “To have this bond fail and then turn around two weeks later and read an article that $1.5 million for athletics was being proposed for a counsel vote really shocked me.” The article that was referred to came from Hutch Post: (https://www.hutchpost.com/usd-309-to-discuss-athletic-complex-monday). The article did not say action would be taken during the meeting — a point emphasized by Board President Dan Schweizer.
“I set the agenda along with Jeanie (Stroh), the superintendent,” Schweizer said. “The last meeting (before the election) it came up that we needed to address the track. And it was told to us that the football field needed some attention, and before you do something to the track, you need to do something to the football field.”
Schweizer said the condition of the track has been discussed for two years and that the district has canceled its invitational track meet for next year because of the condition of the facilities. Schweizer says, had the bond passed, this probably would not have been an issue and admitted, while the condition of the track has long been discussed, bringing it up right after the bond issue was bad timing.
In the end, the matter was tabled until after the new year. While discussion of the track was tabled, discussion then turned to two other needs in the district. One was the science area at the high school. The board was in consensus to have Superintendent Stroh look for cost estimates for the science rooms renovation that was part of the failed bond issue. The board wants to see if capital outlay can be used to renovate the rooms so that work can start much sooner than if they tried to make it part of another bond issue. The hope is to get the rooms done for next school year. Stroh said she should have some numbers no later than the January meeting.
The other issue was better security at the high school and better door locks for all of the district’s schools. The board was also in consensus to have Stroh look for cost estimates for that proposal.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Salvation Army of Hutchinson kicked off its annual Red Kettle campaign for the Christmas season.
A ribbon cutting by the Chamber was held and followed by a short ceremony where the first coins were dropped into the kettle to kick off the annual fundraiser.
Capt. Paul James says the need is there again this year for many.
“We’re seeing more and more people come through our door and many of them are at their wits’ end,” James said. “We’re grateful that we can meet their needs . . . so we can bring hope into their lives.”
New this year are some high tech ways people can make a donation at the kettle site.
“We have what is called Kettle Pay, but it includes Apple Pay, Google Pay and Bump,” James said. “You put your phone up by it and it will send you a message and you can make a donation.”
James hopes that it will attract more donations from those who don’t normally carry cash with them.
“Many of us don’t have change in our pockets, we don’t carry cash, so this is a way we can do that,” James said.
This year’s goal is $230,000 with $60,000 of that coming from the red kettles each Christmas. To sign up to ring bells this Christmas season, visit registertoring.com.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Fire Department responded to the 3300 block of 95th for a grass fire. According to HFD, all units are on the scene. Crews are battling strong northerly winds this afternoon. It is the second wildfire in as many days. There is no word yet on any damage or evacuations at this time.
Yesterday, firefighters battled a large fire that started in the 5200 block of East 4th Avenue. The fire spread quickly and passed 17th Avenue before being brought under control. Crews worked to save several homes in the East 17th Avenue area, but an out building was lost in the fire. It is not known if there were any injuries. More than 30 fire units were called on Saturday to help fight the fire.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Mark Buckley always liked toys. He especially likes trains. It’s the centerpiece of his shop at the Toy Depot.
Toy Depot owner Mark Buckley stands in front of his Lionel train display. He has collected more than 3,000 pieces of the O scale brand.
The store can take anyone back in time with board games, toys and — of course — trains.
“When I retired, I wanted to sell toys at antique malls and the flea market,” Buckley recalled. “And we had a friend who owned this building and they said we’d like to sell.”
What has transpired is a store that is truly unique. Old board games line one side of the store. There are thousands of Hot Wheels still in the packages, many types of Tonka trucks and O, N and HO scale trains and merchandise. Buckley said he had no trouble filling the store once it opened.
“All through my life, I enjoyed toys, but we were poor and couldn’t afford anything. So we got one toy a year,” Buckley said. “When I turned 30, I decided I was going to buy all of the toys I had as a child, then I wanted to buy all the toys my friends had and then I wanted to buy all the toys I always wanted.”
The store not only sells toys, but also buys toys and trains from those looking to sell. The clientele comes from all over the nation. One of his clients comes from New York. On the day of this interview, Buckley had customers from Liberal, Denver, Oklahoma City and Kansas City.
A Lionel display has buttons visitors can push to make parts of the display go into motion.
While the toy collection is second-to-none, it is the Lionel train collection that leaves the young and old amazed. They stare into the glass cases full of locomotives and cars. In the middle of the area, a train layout lets customers interact by pushing various buttons that operate it.
“I have a true passion for Lionel. I’ve loved it since I was four,” Buckley said. “I used to carry TV Guides . . . so I’d take my money and go to Jim’s Hardware and I would put a dollar a week down against a train car until I got it paid off.”
Buckley said his friends eventually started selling him their train sets and the collection continued to grow. It now numbers about 3,500 locomotives and cars.
Buckley says it’s the memories the store generates that makes it special, noting it’s a love of watching people enjoying what you’ve done. Most of the memories surround the board games. Nearly everything you can think of is in there.
The Hot Wheels collection is rivaled by few.
“Parents or grandparents will come in and buy a board game. It’s got to be the right box, the right color. It has to be exactly what they remember in their youth,” Buckley stressed. “Then they take it and show it to their grandchildren. People say board games are dead, they’re far from it. We sell hundreds of them every year.”
The store is rare, there are just 14 like it in the world, according to Buckley. He says as much as he enjoys selling toys and trains, he likes the reaction he gets from those who visit.
“I do it because of the love. It’s so much fun to have people come in here and smile,” Buckley said. “It’s a different business because when people walk in the door, they’re happy. When they walk through the store, they’re happy, whether they buy something or not.”
The store not only has an impressive collection of trains, but also toy trucks, such as Tonka and Tootsietoy. It also has board games that take customers back in time.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The dry fall weather is making for some high fire danger in Reno County. Several wildfires have already been reported in the past week. With no rain in the forecast and windy conditions, the problem could persist for a while. The problems this fall are connected to the wet spring and early summer flooding.
“Typically our season starts in January, but comes to a heightened time around March,” Hutchinson Fire Chief Steve Beer said. “With the vast amount of rain that we had earlier in the year, all of that vegetation just took off. Now with fall . . . everything had dried out with no rain.”
With the dry, windy conditions, homeowners in the areas north of Hutchinson should reassess actions they’ve taken to protect their homes.
“Just check around the perimeter of the house and the landscaping,” Beer said. “Maintain the vegetation around the house. If you have perennials, make sure you cut them down.”
After the wildfires three years ago, the fire department came up with a list of things property owners can do to see if their home is at risk during wildfire season.
“We actually do have a list here of a risk management assessment plan that a homeowner can do and rate their home and give themselves a score,” Beer said. “They’re going to see if they are a low risk, moderate risk, high risk or extreme risk for their property.”
Based on that score, the fire department can then offer recommendations on what homeowners can do to better protect their property and buildings. The wildfire season is usually during the spring months, but with the extra high vegetation and dry conditions, the next few months may also be very active.
