HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hundreds of career and technical education (CTE) students from high schools and colleges across the state will be descending upon Hutchinson next week to showcase their skills. The future workforce of Kansas will be on display at the SkillsUSA Kansas championship competitions to be held in Hutchinson, Kan., on April 18-20.
Hutchinson Community College, in conjunction with the Hutchinson Career and Technical Education Academy, the Kansas State Fairgrounds, the Atrium Hotel and the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a number of contests in which students demonstrate their skills in career areas including manufacturing, transportation, construction, hospitality and human services.
“Hutchinson Community College is excited to have the opportunity to help exhibit the talents of these students,” Janet Hamilton, HutchCC Department 2 Co-chair, said. “Not only is it an opportunity for these students to demonstrate their skills, but for the community and, specifically, the college, to showcase the outstanding facilities and faculty at Hutchinson Community College.”
During the competition, students will work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations such as mechatronics, architectural and technical drafting, precision machining, automotive service, collision repair, masonry, cabinet making, first aid/CPR, medical math and terminology, and in welding. All contests are run with the help of industry experts, trade associations and labor organizations, and test competencies are set by professional industry standards.
The winners will go on to compete in the national SkillsUSA Championships this June in Louisville, Ky.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Fire Department responded yesterday afternoon to the 5200 Block of East 56th for a reported brush fire.
This was a controlled burn of about 10 acres that was set around 10 a.m. The reporting party then advised the burn had gotten out of control at the time of the fire call, which was around 3:30 p.m. They were fearful the fire would jump into the Sand Hills State Park area.
Hutchinson Fire Department initially responded with four units. As the first arriving unit made the initial report, the fire had jumped 56th, so additional units were called in for a total of 12, including a tender from Buhler Fire.
Units were able to contain the fire that jumped the road, then began extinguishing the perimeter of the remaining fire. Several large trees in the area had been overcome by the fire front and, with the assistance of local arborists, were cut down to prevent any further spot fires.
Crews spent approximately five hours on scene, with no injuries reported.
TOPEKA, Kan. — Westar Energy welcomed local leaders and landowners Monday to break ground and celebrate as construction began on the 280 megawatt Western Plains Wind Farm near Spearville.
“We are committed to modernizing the power supply that serves our customers, and wind
energy has an important role. We believe that using a variety of generation sources – traditional
fossil fuel plants, nuclear, and renewable wind and solar – all working together is the best way to keep energy prices low, make sure electricity is there when our customers need it and care for the environment,” John Bridson, senior vice president, generation and marketing, told the crowd of about 75 people.
Westar, in collaboration with Infinity Wind Power, will develop Western Plains Wind
Farm in Ford County, which will bring Westar’s renewable energy total to more than 1,700
megawatts when it’s online early next year.
Westar selected turbines from Siemens, key components of which will be assembled in the Siemens facility in Hutchinson.
Mortensen Construction will build the wind farm. Representatives from Infinity, Siemens and Mortenson also welcomed the crowd.
The Western Plains Wind Farm will stimulate economic development in Ford County through land lease royalties paid to local landowners and payments to local and county government, expected to be about $75 million during the first 20 years of operation. Additionally, this project creates more than 200 construction jobs, followed by about three dozen permanent jobs, and involving $435 million capital investment.
Monday crash in Saline County- photo Saline Co. Sheriff
SALINE COUNTY- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just after 6:30 a.m. on Monday in Saline County.
A 2013 Chevy pickup driven by Jason Hope, 29, Smith Center, and pulling a flatbed gooseneck trailer was southbound on Interstate 135 near Mulberry Bridge.
The driver fell asleep at the wheel, according to Saline County Under Sheriff Roger Soldan.
The pickup traveled through the median and hit a bridge rail.
Hope was transported to the hospital in Salina.
The pickup, owned by Concrete Storage of McPherson, was heavily damaged.
Hope was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to Soldan.
INMAN, Kan. — An Inman man was killed in a car/motorcycle accident near Inman Sunday afternoon.
The McPherson County Sheriff’s Office reports that 16-year-old Raine Reitsma of Inman was going eastbound on Commanche Road when he failed to yield at a stop sign and was hit by a southbound motorcycle ridden by 62-year-old Steven Goering. Reitsma then left the scene of the accident. Goering was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.
Reitsma was later located in McPherson. The investigation has been turned over to the McPherson County Attorney’s Office where charges could be filed in the case.
HARVEY COUNTY — After two homeowners threatened employees during meter replacement work recently in Reno County, law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are alerting residents that, starting Monday, Westar Energy will be replacing more electric meters.
Workers will begin work in the southwest part of the county and the northeast part of the City of Newton, according to a social media report.
Everyone’s meter will get changed out. The changing of the meters will just take a few minutes, but there will be a short period of time when you will not have electric power to your house. The installers will knock on your door to let you know they are there to change the meter out.
They will be wearing vests and hard hats with identification of “Oasis working for Westar.”
Their work trucks will have signs on them saying the same thing. They will provide you with information about the meter being changed out and recommend that you shut off electronic appliances when they change out the meters.
They will be informing the Sheriff’s Office each day to let them know where they will be working.
Kerry Getz, 62, Hutchinson, was charged by the state with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing reckless bodily harm and criminal damage to property for an incident on March 17 involving the switching of an electric meter.
And a 66-year-old man arrested on March 22 after he allegedly held a Westar Energy employee against his will is charged as well. Marc Miller is charged with one count of aggravated assault and a misdemeanor count of criminal restraint.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Thursday released a preliminary report of the Amtrak passenger train that derailed near Cimarron just after midnight on March 14.
According to the report, The Los Angeles-to-Chicago train was operating on BNSF Railway track; it included two locomotives and 10 cars. The last four cars derailed on their sides, and two other cars derailed upright.
There were 130 passengers and 14 crew members; 28 injured passengers were taken to area hospitals. Amtrak and BNSF estimated their damages were more than $1.4 million.
It was dark at the time of the accident with a 10-mile visibility. The temperature was 42˚F with light wind, clear skies.
NTSB investigators observed that the railroad ties and tracks at mile post 373.07 were out of their normal positions and established the point of derailment as 25 feet beyond this location.
The forward-facing video from the lead locomotive showed abnormal track immediately before the derailment.
Perpendicular impression of tire tracks on north side of BNSF main track.-NTSB Photo
At the scene, investigators found fresh damage to the north ends of the ties at MP 373.07 and fresh tire tracks perpendicular to the railroad tracks. They also found a small amount of flaked corn, a type of cattle feed.
Investigators traced the tire tracks to a feed lot owned by Cimarron Crossing Feeders, LLC, where the tread on a 2004 Kenworth International truck matched the tire track impressions at the scene. The truck hauls flaked corn and distributes it to feed bins.
Investigators observed damage to the truck’s front bumper. The front bumper’s left and right mounting brackets were broken; the fracture faces were clean and had no sign of oxidation—indicating a recent break. Investigators examined the tire treads of the vehicle and matched it with the tire track patterns observed at MP 373.07.
This accident occurred on the BNSF, La Junta Division. The maximum authorized speed on this section of track is 60 mph for passenger trains and 40 mph for freight trains. Based on the NTSB’s preliminary review of the train’s event recorder data, the train was traveling at 60 mph when the emergency brakes were applied.
Parties to the investigation are the Federal Railroad Administration; Amtrak; BNSF; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division; International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers; Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and the Gray County Sheriff’s Office.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on wildfires burning in Kansas and Oklahoma …all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Kansas authorities say wildfires in several Kansas counties have been largely contained.
The Kansas Adjutant General’s office said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the fires in the northeast Kansas counties of Wabaunsee, Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie are for the most part contained. The office says crews continue to monitor small smoldering patches in the region.
The office also says a grass fire in Morton County in southwest Kansas has been contained with the exception of hot spots.
The grassfire in northern Oklahoma is also no longer threatening Comanche County, Kansas.
The adjutant general’s office also says the State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka has returned to normal operations but is maintaining contact with local officials in the affected counties.
11:45 a.m.
More than 18 square miles of rangeland has burned in the latest Kansas wildfires.
Ben Bauman, spokesman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office, says two homes, one mobile home and at least eight outbuildings were destroyed Tuesday. Residents of several rural communities were urged to leave their homes before the blazes were brought mostly under control.
No injuries have been reported.
In northern Kansas, fires burned about 6,000 acres in Geary County, about 600 acres in Wabaunsee County and more than 1,500 acres in Riley County. Another 3,800 acres burned in Morton County in extreme southwest Kansas.
The blazes come less than a month after a fire that started in Oklahoma and spread into Kansas, burning hundreds of square miles. Most of the damage was in Kansas’ Barber County.
9 a.m.
photo by Garry Berges, Geary Co Emergency Manager
Crews are fighting wildfires in northern Kansas, where forecasters are warning of dangerous fire conditions.
Riley County emergency management director Pat Collins says embers from an approximately 300-acre fire started by fence welders destroyed a mobile home. Collins says crews are also battling a 1,000-acre blaze and a third fire that has burned several hundred acres elsewhere in Riley County.
In nearby Geary County, a fire that burned 6,000 acres of mostly pastureland Tuesday is under control. Assistant Geary County emergency manager Curt Janke says no homes burned.
Crews also have been fighting wildfires in Morton County in the southwest of the state and Wabaunsee County in the north, while keeping an eye on a large Oklahoma blaze to make sure it doesn’t cross into Kansas.
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RILEY COUNTY -The fire outbreak in Northeast Kansas has been largely contained, according to local officials.
Wabaunsee County authorities report approximately 600 acres were burned near the town of Alma. The fire is 75 percent contained as of 10 p.m.
Local fire officials have released the mutual aid responders from nearby counties and continue to monitor flare-ups. One house and one outbuilding are reported destroyed.
Riley County officials report 400-500 acres burned in the vicinity of Marlatt and U.S. 24, where approximately 100-150 residents were evacuated from a mobile home park. One mobile home was destroyed by fire. A shelter was opened in Cico Park in Manhattan.
Geary County officials report approximately 6,000 acres burned. The fire is 95 percent contained. No structures were lost.
A large grassfire destroyed one home and seven to eight outbuildings in the community of Wilburton in Morton County. The fire burned approximately 3,800 acres and is 95 percent contained.
Due to a shift in prevailing winds, a grassfire in Oklahoma is no longer threatening Comanche County, Kansas.
Six wildfires occurred in Pottawatomie County, burning an unknown amount of acreage. One garage was damaged, but officials are not certain the damage was related to the wildfire.
RENO COUNTY, Kan. — Fire crews are battling several brush fires in the area this afternoon.
The largest is in Rice County where crews have been fighting a fire most of the afternoon. Two other fires are burning in Southern Reno County. The first is around Herren Road and Maple Grove, which is about two miles south of Pretty Prairie. The other is at K-61 and Lerado Road, which is about two miles east of Langdon.
So far there are no reports of any damage, but wind gusting in excess of 45 MPH is making things difficult for fire crews.
HUTCHINSON, Kan.— One lane on westbound US-50 is open to traffic following Monday’s platform, semi-trailer accident, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.
The vehicle was transporting an excavator and the boom of the equipment struck the bridge carrying Kansas 14 over US-50.
Two concrete girders were damaged underneath the bridge.
Emergency responders were present and KDOT crews cleared the debris and have been assessing the damage. A crane removed the damaged heavy equipment.
No injuries were reported and no significant structural damage occurred.
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Clean up continues and US-50, just west of the South Hutchinson interchange, is expected to be open again by tonight after a semi hauling a crane crashed into the K-14/96 overpass this morning.
According to Zach Oswald with the Kansas Department of Transportation, the impact damaged two concrete girders and forced the closure of both lanes of US-50 and the northbound lane of the the bridge itself. Motorists going west on US-50 can still use the interchange with K-14 going south, but the eastbound entrance ramp is closed.
The impact with the bridge knocked the loader off of the semi trailer and scattered debris over all four lanes of the highway. Oswald says there is no danger of the bridge collapsing, but crews are assessing the overall damage to the span.
