HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council will take action on the new rental inspection program during Tuesday’s agenda session.

The city is proposing a licensing fee structure with incentives rather than the current permit fee. The Housing Commission has denied a recommendation on the proposal. That came during a meeting on Oct. 19 on a 4-2 vote.

“There were still some concerns from the housing commissioners that is this really going to solve any of the problems,” Planning Director Ryan Hvitlok said. “We also had two new slots filled on the commission so that changed the vote a little.” Several other members of the commission were absent, which also skewed the numbers, according to Hvitlok.

Hvitlok says the reason this has drawn so much attention is that most landlords in Hutchinson are not used to this kind of program, which is usually seen as routine business by owners of larger apartment complexes in metro areas.

“If you look at where the majority of rental licenses programs are in Kansas, they are in the K.C. metro area. They tend to be the larger landlords and it’s more of an expectation. They just see it as a part of doing business,” Hvitlok said. “We have a lot more individual landlords. These are generally local people that have put some money into the community to try and invest. So for them, I think it is a bit of a cultural shock.”

Hvitlok says that, while this program may not be the full answer, he feels that the council is wanting to keep the ball moving forward when it comes to better rental housing.

“Obviously we’ve made some good progress on it (condition of rental housing) with the international property maintenance code, but also the rental registration program,” Hvitlok noted. “I think that is the concern with some of the Housing Commission and (what) City Council members have voiced is they really don’t want to lose that momentum and kind of start going back to where we were 10 years ago.”

Tuesday’s City Council meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Hutchinson city offices.

HARVEY COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of a Sunday afternoon grass fire in Harvey County.

The fire in the 3800 block of North Sand Hill Road northeast of Burrton burned about 300 to 400 acres of land, according to a media release.

The spread of the fire was stopped, and there are no injuries or damage to homes reported at this time.

Responders will be on site throughout the night to monitor for potential hot spots.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two people have been arrested in connection with the phony $100 bills that have been passed around. Authorities took Brian Conrad into custody Tuesday on suspicion of distributing counterfeit money. He is currently free on bond.

The second person arrested was Cody Langley. Langley was arrested Wednesday and is being held on suspicion of three counts of distributing counterfeit money and several drug possession charges. He is being held without bond at this time.

Several of the $100 bills were passed at the two South Hutchinson liquor stores and others have been passed in Hutchinson. The two subjects were identified and arrested. Two other cases were reported in Hutchinson, including one at Cox cable.

Authorities warn that more of these counterfeit bills could still be around and warn businesses to be aware of the currency they receive.

[ By ROD ZOOK ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two Hutchinson police officers had a special request for new Police Chief Jeff Hooper. With help from Cause for Paws in Hutchinson, the request became a reality.

Officers James Sanders and Cory Schmidt man the two K9 units with the department. Their partners are Tank, a German Shepherd, and Nika, a Belgian Malinois. Sanders and Schmidt became interested in becoming K9 officers through two different avenues.

“Growing up in Newton, Kansas, I saw their K9 unit and it’s just something that always appealed to me,” Schmidt said. For Sanders, he found his love for working dogs and their service in the military. “My first experience with K9s would have been in the Marine Corps,” Sanders said. “I spent about 12 years doing combat arms, so I had the opportunity to see dogs work. It always interested me.”

The two dogs were specially trained overseas and then brought to the U.S. for their final training in the way the police department wanted. While each department has a different need for a K9 unit, the way the dogs are trained has changed in the past 20 years.

“It used to be back in the ‘90s that you wanted the meanest, baddest dog that would just rip your arm off and there’s really no need for that,” Schmidt said. “Dogs have their primal instincts. If your dog’s trained to bite on command, all you have to do is say that word and it’ll flip that switch.”

Schmidt and Sanders say the dog’s ability to do its job and interact with the public were two major factors in their decisions to bring Tank and Nika onto the force. They wanted to be certain the dogs could be in the public eye. The dogs are with the officers 24-7 and are not only their partner on the job, they are also at home — that includes family members and other dogs. But it’s not that cut and dried.

“She’s a pet, but we don’t get to treat her just like any pet. There’s a fine balance there,” Schmidt said. “She gets to have her interaction time with our actual pet dogs, but it’s just not 24-7.”

The two officers also stressed that, while they are certainly great dogs, they are probably not the best house pets.

“It’s a good working dog, but probably not the dog you’re going to want as a house pet and, unfortunately, a lot of people are finding this out the hard way,” Sanders said. “They see these stories about these Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds and it looks cool to them. So they go out and they spend this money on this phenomenal dog, but what they don’t realize, it needs to be worked. So if you think you’re going to go out and buy one of these dogs and it’s going to be your lap dog, really what it’s going to do is tear apart your couch. They are designed to work.”

Tank and Nika are in constant training to keep their skills honed. Whether it’s at home or someplace around the city, it’s a never-ending process.

“We want to keep them on their heels so they give the best effort possible,” Schmidt noted. “We use Carey Park a lot to make it more difficult for tracking and stuff.” The dogs are trained in buildings, cars and open spaces where many different situations exist.

The dogs would not have been possible if not for donations made by Cause for Paws in Hutchinson. The funds not only provide for the dogs, but the equipment necessary to have them on patrol. That includes special K9 vehicles with special environmental controls to keep the dogs safe and housed. The dogs were funded through the memory of longtime Cause for Paws board member Charles Buckaloo.

“It’s pricey. You have to have specialized vehicles for these dogs and they can be very expensive. You’re looking at over $60,000 for a vehicle,” Sanders said. “You have the dog price, the training price — and they continue on training — and veterinarian care and so forth.”

The dogs are trained to detect narcotics and have earned their pay in the first year on the force. Between the two units, more than 90 arrests have been made. That includes 385 grams of meth, 92 grams of marijuana, 21 grams of cocaine and 10 grams of heroin. They’ve also made two arrests for felons in possession of a firearm.

The officers say they get kind of a mixed reaction when the dogs find drugs, noting it’s hard for anyone to hate a dog. They also say they get excited when their dogs have success at their job. “It’s like your kid hitting a home run,” Schmidt said.

Updated Oct. 28 at 11:20 a.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A portion of the Hutchinson Correctional Facility was evacuated Monday morning after a gas line break. According to Prison Spokesperson Jordan Bell, a maintenance crew was repairing a water main break when they struck an adjacent gas line.

The Hutchinson Fire Department responded and helped monitor the area to make sure gas hadn’t collected in any buildings.

The incident forced the prison to evacuate the east yard, which is mostly a maintenance area. A few inmates were working in the area at the time, but most of the evacuees were staff.  The break did not affect the cell block area of the prison, although the facility is without hot water.

The were no injuries reported. The evacuation lasted only a short time until the area was secured.

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Updated Oct. 28 at 9:52 a.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Fire crews are still at the prison monitoring the area of the gas line break. Any evacuations are over and entry into the buildings is being allowed at the discretion of the prison.

The fire department is on standby at the prison while the area of the break is secured. No injuries have been reported.  There’s no word on who was evacuated during the incident or where on the prison grounds the break occurred.

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Original Story

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Fire Department has responded to the Hutchinson Correctional Facility for a gas leak.

According to Reno County 911, a work crew hit a gas line just before 9:30 a.m.

That area of the prison has been cleared. No other details are available and there are no reports of injuries at this time.

MCPHERSON COUNTY —Crews were on the scene of a fire at the city landfill north of McPherson Sunday, according to a social media report from the McPherson Fire Department.

The fire had toxic substances in the smoke and a plume model from the National Weather Service has indicated the City of McPherson would be directly affected.

All residents are encouraged to go inside, close all windows and doors, stay tuned to Radio/TV/Social Media for further updates.

Late Sunday, the fire department reported fire suppression operations were halted at the landfill. Air quality monitoring has been deployed on the north side of McPherson city limits. As of 2 am they have not detected anything out of normal ranges. We will continue to monitor the air quality throughout the night and into Monday morning.

They also encouraged residents to utilize 911 for emergencies only.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The company leasing Cottonwood Hills Golf Club says it is suspending operations of the course until a new owner can be found.

Park Partners, LLC, issued a news release saying it will no longer lease the course from Apex Bank of Camden, Tennessee. The bank has been in ownership of the course off and on for several years after buying it in foreclosure. Park Partners, which is located in Wichita, had been leasing the course since 2016 but said business restraints have forced the company to close the course effective immediately.

The release went on to say that the lack of ownership commitment was a major reason to cease operations. “Without asset holder support, Park Partners LLC will no longer be able to maintain the necessary standard of the property and the business they expect.”

It is the third time Cottonwood Hills has been idled because of financial issues. The Nick Faldo-designed course opened in 2007 but closed soon after when developer Lane Neville could not find investors to fund the housing portion of the development.

The development was also hampered when Reno County was not willing to give concessions to Neville, fearing a repeat of the Paganica property, now known as the Highlands, which financially collapsed leaving the county holding the bill.

The course was then purchased by Drayton Aldritt of Wichita. With a Herculean effort, he opened the course and brought it back to playable conditions after it was idled for three years.

But the course quickly became the subject of much speculation when it was only open during the warmer months. The course was put up for sale. When there were no suitable offers, Aldritt took the listing off and the course eventually went back to the Tennessee bank. The bank has since put the course on the sale bill again with an asking price of $2,490,000.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The appointment of Reno County’s new sheriff is down to a formality. Once Gov. Laura Kelly appoints Darrian Campbell as the new sheriff, he will take over when current sheriff, Randy Henderson, retires at the end of the year.

After Campbell learned he had been selected, he says it was a nice feeling. “Well I guess it feels pretty good,” Campbell said. “Randy has done a lot for the agency, so it will be big shoes to fill. I have some ideas and I think I can bring some good leadership to the agency.”

Campbell says the reaction within the department has been good. “I think the reaction has been pretty decent. I think I had the support of a lot of people,” Campbell said.

He is the head of the patrol division of the department now and admits there are a lot of unknowns, saying he needs to become more informed on the workings of the detective and jail divisions. Campbell has a military background having served this country in the Middle East.

Campbell believes he has plenty to offer the agency, and the men and women who work there. He has worked to hone his skills that he hopes will filter down to them.

One of the areas that continues to be an issue in Hutchinson and the entire county is drugs. Capt. Campbell says that is something he will push his deputies to pursue. “I look forward to push people to do more engagements,” Campbell said. “I do believe that a lot of the narcotics that plague our communities is brought from out of county. I believe this because we haven’t processed a manufacturing lab in a long time.”

He says they need to get officers familiar with the Fourth Amendment on search and seizures laws. He says they need to work on the process of searches and seize narcotics that are being brought in from outside the county.

The Reno County Republican Party sent Capt. Campbell’s name to Gov. Laura Kelly. She will officially appoint him to fulfill the rest of Sheriff Henderson’s term. Sheriff Henderson retires Dec. 27.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — First District Congressman Roger Marshall unveiled his plan for affordable healthcare in Washington on Tuesday. The Chair of the Republican Study Committee’s Health Care Task Force said the program, called The RSC Healthcare Plan, will come in two phases. In an interview with Hutch Post, Marshall says it’s time to find a solution to healthcare.

“We all realize that healthcare is broken,” Marshall said. “And everywhere I go people are concerned about the cost of healthcare, they’re concerned that healthcare is a very personal item. So our solution is going to be centered around personalized healthcare.”

The plan is presented as an alternative to Democrat proposals that Marshall says forces Americans off their current insurance plans, including those with employer-employee coverage.

Specifically, the plan would protect Americans with pre-existing conditions and give citizens better control over their healthcare decisions and dollars, according to a news release from Marshall’s office. No other specifics were given in the proposal or where the measure will go in the House from here.

Marshall says the plan will be especially beneficial in rural areas. “I think the innovation, the telemedicine, are all connected to this,” Marshall said. “And driving down the cost of healthcare by giving patients more choices and patients more control, it’s going to help rural medicine just as much as urban America.”

While the measure is set to go, it looks like the measure won’t move far in a House that is at a standstill.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Fake $100 bills are still being handed out in the Hutchinson area.

The latest report came in just after 8 p.m. Saturday when an employee of a local business on East 30th received one.

An earlier incident was reported just before 7 p.m. on Oct. 17 when an employee of a local pizza place was given one. In that case, 29-year-old Joshua Cunningham was given notice to appear in court for theft.

Three cases have now been reported to police in the last couple of weeks.