HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The 106th “great Kansas get-together” is upon us. The Kansas State Fair begins its 10-day run Friday in Hutchinson.

It has been a good run up to the start of the fair with high ticket sales and very good turnout by vendors and exhibitors.

Activities get underway at 9 a.m. with various performances. The opening ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in Gottschalk Park.

The free entertainment in Gottschalk Park this year will be the Timberworks Lumberjack show. Of course, there will be lots of entertainment at the Lake Talbott Stage and hypnotist Ron Diamond is back again this year.

The grandstand entertainment for the first night of the fair is KC and the Sunshine Band starting at 7:30 with the evening capped off by the LaserForce Light Show at 9:30.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — With the Hutchinson City Council’s action to keep the Rental Inspection and Registration program in place for another year, the ball is now in the Housing Commission’s court to address how to make rentals in the city better.

The council has asked the commission to come up with a plan that can be enforced and hold both landlords and tenants accountable. Commission Chair Tony Findlay says, right now, it is about gathering as much information from both sides as possible:

 

 

The council was divided on the issue of the rental program, which also caused a lot of discussion among the commission. Despite the mixed feelings about the program, Findlay says there isn’t any division on the issue:

 

The Housing Commission will hold its next meeting on Sept. 26.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council gave approval to keep the Rental Registration and Inspection program during Tuesday’s agenda session. But it won’t come without some major changes to the program.

The program, which has always been unpopular with landlords, was the topic of much discussion by the Housing Commission recently. The commission originally stated last month that it didn’t want the program to continue. However, the commission did a sudden turn-about last week and recommended that the program continue. Obviously there were many comments on both sides of the program.

Landlord Fran Weber was against keeping the program in place, saying that the program is not fair to them because tenants can retaliate against them if they are evicted:

 

Kelly-Anne Lanham, who is on the housing commission and a realtor, was much in favor of keeping the program in place and said more needs to be done to help both landlords and tenants keep property in compliance:

 

Lanham gave a few examples of what should be done to help the rental situation in Hutchinson:

 

Councilwoman Jade Piros de Carvalho originally voted to do away with the program, then rescinded the motion. After more discussion, the council voted to keep the program in place while waiving fees to landlords. Council members also insisted that the Housing Commission come up with a better plan than is currently in place. Piros de Carvalho also had this to say to a group of landlords:

 

In the end, the council decided by a vote of 5-0 to keep the program in place.

PRATT COUNTY —A Labor Day weekend storm brought over 6 inches of rain and flooding to some areas of Pratt County.  Many homes and businesses are now cleaning up.

The Pratt Community Center, 619 N. Main, was opened as a temporary shelter. Although water is receding, many roads are still closed or impassable, according to Pratt County Emergency Management.  Schools in USD are in session Tuesday with a one hour delay.

Ninnescah river by Pratt, Ks. Out of its banks and trying to wash this road out. Local custom cutter Randy Goldens shop is there where that flex platform is and his shop is probably 2ft under water right now #kswx pic.twitter.com/EqZrlNTXvQ

— Denton Clark (@DentonClark17) September 3, 2018

More rain is expected and a flood warning remains in effect for Pratt County until Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — After more than a year of planning and effort from a very talented client of TECH, a ceremony was held to dedicate a large mural that adorns the corner of 2nd and Main.

Lowen Corporation completed the install of a rainbow colored lion on the southwest corner of the building. While many were in awe of the vibrant colors and the “life” that the lion was starting to bring to the corner, many had questions about the project — who was behind it, why was it going up, were there more coming?

In early 2018, Bob and Ann Bush, owners of City Beverage, approached TECH about their vision for a community art project they had been talking about for a couple of years. Bob Bush comments on how it got its start:

 

 

For Ann Bush, the completion of the project highlights their love of art and support for TECH:

 

The painting of The Rainbow Lion was created by Jerimiah Tolbert and caught the eye of the Bush’s right away. After a lot of work and great cooperation between the parties involved, the mural went up over a three-day period.

The project was privately funded by the Bush family, who has provided the funds for maintenance on the mural for the next five years.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Dillons property at 30th & Plum has been sold to a company that has plans to tear the building down, according to Jason West with Genzada Pharmaceutical in Sterling.

He says they went into negotiations for the property and came to an agreeable price.

The company is owned by West and his father, Gene Zaid. Although they’re in the preliminary stage at this point, West says the plan — as it stands now — is to demolish the Dillons building and build a new three- to four-story office building and laboratory in that space.

They hope to close on the property in the next 30 days, according to West.

They are also building a facility in Sterling for a sister company called Hyatt Life Sciences.

According to the company’s website, they’re pursuing the isolation and syntheses of a number of ingredients found in nature with the goal of creating patent compounds with the potential to treat certain cancers.

HUTCHINSON Kan. — Although no specifics were given, a spokesperson with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says they are looking at options for dealing with a small Reno County mobile home park that is still under a boil water advisory.

The state placed the Western Acres Mobile Home Park near Yaggy Field under the advisory Aug. 8 after those responsible failed to provide the KDHE well test samples. The park is required to provide two samples to the state agency each month. The KDHE says it is exploring enforcement options against the park and will take the appropriate action as soon as possible.

Under the advisory, residents need to boil water for one minute before drinking or food preparation, or use bottled water; dispose ice cubes and do not use ice from a household automatic ice maker; and disinfect dishes and other food contact surfaces by immersion for at least one minute in clean tap water that contains one teaspoon of unscented household bleach per gallon of water.

Water used for bathing does not generally need to be boiled. Supervision of children is necessary while bathing so water is not ingested. Persons with cuts or severe rashes may wish to consult their physicians.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Health Department is investigating a possible outbreak of pertussis or “whooping cough” as it is known.

Currently, five cases of pertussis have been reported and are still under investigation. Other possible cases are also being investigated at this time.

Pertussis is a highly-contagious respiratory infection that often causes serious problems and can be fatal in infants less than one year of age. Symptoms in adults and older children can be less severe. Symptoms generally appear four to 21 days after exposure to pertussis. Pertussis usually starts out with cold or flu-like symptoms including a runny nose, sneezing, fever, and cough that last 1-2 weeks. Symptoms worsen over time and the cough generally gets more severe.

Coughing spells in the next stages of pertussis can be followed by the “whoop” sound that is made when trying to inhale during or after a severe coughing spell. Person’s lips may also turn blue or they may vomit after a coughing spell.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges individuals that suspect they have pertussis to limit contact with unvaccinated children and see a physician as soon as possible. Please make sure your family’s vaccinations are up to date.

Protection against pertussis from the childhood vaccine “DTaP” decreases over time. Older children and adults, including pregnant women, should get a pertussis booster shot called “Tdap” to protect themselves and infants near or around them. If you need the Tdap vaccine, contact your doctor or call the Reno County Health Department at 620-694-2900.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Tuesday’s Reno County Commission meeting could be busy with a whole slate of agenda items.

The most controversial would have to be the decision regarding the increase of overtime pay for Reno County sheriff’s employees. This comes after Commissioner Dan Deming was concerned about the amount of overtime pay last year.

He noted that overtime last year totaled $687,648 and that it hasn’t substantially changed over the past four budget years. He doesn’t foresee it coming down this year.

He’s proposing that the threshold be raised by one hour over the next four years starting next year. That would mean employees of the department would have to work 84 hours before any overtime would kick in by 2022. It’s currently at 80 hours.

Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson opposes any change and says it could drive some deputies to quit because they’re often called to duty during their off hours for a variety of reasons.

This issue is just one of several items on the agenda Tuesday when the commission meets at 9 a.m. in the Reno County Courthouse.