HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas State Fair officials are eagerly awaiting the March 7 hearing that could be an ultimate game-changer. In that hearing, the Senate Committee will decide if a bill that would allow the fair to collect the sales tax it generates should advance to the Senate floor. The revenue, collected from all fair and non-fair activities, would be deposited in the fair’s capital improvements fund. A House version of the bill already passed through committee with recommended approval.

Legislators came up with the proposal at the urging of the fair as a way to generate needed capital for maintenance and improvements to the grounds. The money would replace what is a $300,000 yearly infusion of cash that the state is supposed to put into the fair’s capital improvement fund, but rarely does. The state is about $1.6 million behind in that fund.

The fair hopes that the sales tax will generate an average of $200,000 per year. With the fairgrounds hosting the 10-day event in September and other shows, including the Kansas Jr. Livestock show, the new legislation could be a healthy financial shot in the arm. State Fair Interim GM Bob Moeder says his staff will be in Topeka ready to push for passage of the bill.

If the committee makes the recommendation to move on the bill, it will go to the Senate floor for action.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Siemens Gamesa reported during its Capital Markets Day forecast that it plans to make major changes to the onshore product line by reducing the number and type of wind turbines. What this means for the plant in Hutchinson is a new turbine to go with two models still manufactured.

The company, which has existed less than a year after the merger between the two wind giants, plans to eliminate the newer direct-drive platform from its onshore market and go back to the more tried-and-true geared drive.

The company now plans to offer just two product lines of onshore systems with just nine variants, compared to 25.  It will also begin production on a new 4.2 MW onshore turbine in the next year and reduce the number of offshore products to a single 7 MW direct-drive unit. Plans are in place to introduce an even larger 8 MW turbine for the offshore market. The new onshore platform will be built in Hutchinson along with the current 3.4-132 and the 2.7-129 turbines.

A statement from Siemens Games regarding the Hutchinson facility read as follows. ” For specific impact to Hutchinson, we announced a new addition to our 2.X product platform, the SG 2.7-129, which will be manufactured in Hutchinson and Fort Madison. Combined with the SG 3.4-132 and SG 4.2-145 wind turbines, these products can address all of the diverse needs of the U.S. market. As previously announced, we have been retooling both facilities to accommodate these product lines”.

The plan also includes a series of measures that will unlock $2.5 billion of cost reductions. The elimination of more than 6,000 jobs — as previously announced, with 150 taken from Hutchinson — is included in the cost reduction.

The company’s technology strategy is premised on “one segment, one technology,” which means consolidating geared technology in the onshore segment and direct-drive technology in the offshore arena.

Siemens Gamesa says the wind power sector expects huge growth in the coming years and predicts the onshore market will grow 5 percent until 2020. The offshore market is expected to grow 13 percent to 2025.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair got another boost from a local legislator in a proposed bill to let the fair collect the sales tax revenue it generates. Interim GM Bob Moeder talked about the support that came last week from Senator Ed Berger:

Moeder says the money would be used for capital projects and give the fair some bonding authority:

The legislation would also ease some of the state’s financial commitment to the fair, which is supposed to be about $300,000 a year. The state is roughly $1.6 million behind in that commitment.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Despite a statewide effort to curb homelessness in Kansas, the number of homeless people is beginning to rise again, including here in Reno County.

According to Shara Gonzales with New Beginnings, the agency had a total of 66 people in its three homeless housing facilities on the night of Jan. 23 during what is called the “Point in Time Count.” The number does not include the Domestic Violence shelter. Of the 66 homeless: 54 were adults, 12 were children and 16 of the 66 were disabled.

Gonzales expressed some frustration because her efforts to gather statewide and area numbers proved unfruitful.

“Last year we went to extensive effort to collect as much data as possible and submitted it in hopes of a turnaround statewide,” Gonzales said. “Nothing was ever returned to us, either by the state or the Federal Government.”

From the data she was able to gather, Gonzales feels the numbers are increasing despite a 10-year effort to get more people help.

Last year there were around 55 homeless residents in the New Beginnings shelters.

PRATT— Officials with the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s office continue to investigate the cause of the fatal January 25 fire in Pratt.

Five people died as a result of the fire at a home in the 200 Block of Austin. Charee Eggleson, 23,  suffered burns and was flown from Pratt to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. She died January 27.

Her four children, the youngest a baby, died after being trapped in the home’s basement. Several other adults survived the fire.

The State Fire Marshal’s investigative team is still following information and awaiting lab results before making an official determination on the cause of the fire, according to a media release from the State.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Because Amtrak made headlines for two train accidents officials say would have been avoided with the use of GPS technology, BNSF has applied for a special exclusion — known at Positive Train Control — in two areas served by Amtrak’s SW Chief, which runs through Kansas, including Hutchinson.

Positive Train Control, or PTC, uses GPS to advise train crews when there is a track problem or a switch that is out of line. It also alerts engineers to speed restrictions and will disable the train if those advisories or warnings are ignored. However, major railroads like BNSF are also allowed to file exemptions from this rule on their main lines.

Two sections of BNSF’s main line that are a part of this request include a segment running from Lawrence to Emporia, and then another from La Junta, Colorado, all the way to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The exclusion is allowed if a Class 1 railroad runs less than 15 million gross tons of freight on the line each year and fewer than four passenger trains per day.

BNSF says the lines are on the main routes, but have either few or no trains running the line — other than Amtrak. The PTC is in place through Hutchinson and BNSF says it hopes to have the federally mandated system fully operational in Kansas this year.

Five people were killed in December when an Amtrak train derailed on a curve and plunged onto an interstate highway in Washington State. Just this week, two Amtrak crewmen were killed when their train ran into a CSX freight train. In both cases, PTC would have — or in the latest case, should have — stopped the passenger train.