HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Just days after reports surfaced that Casey’s General Stores placed a bid for Kroger’s C-Store sector, a British convenience store operator, EG Group, is buying the convenience store unit for $2.15 billion as it expands into the U.S.

Kroger and other grocery store operators have been facing tougher competition from companies including Walmart and Amazon. The Cincinnati company has been considering a sale of its convenience store operations since October. EG won out over Casey’s and 7-Eleven for the chain of stores, which includes all Kwik Shops.

Mike Schlotman, Kroger’s executive vice president and chief financial officer commented:
“One of the most important considerations in our decision-making process was to enable continued operations to ensure minimal disruption to our associates. We are very pleased the EG Group plans to establish their North American headquarters in Cincinnati. EG Group is a recognized international petrol forecourt convenience operator and they have a commercial model which clearly looks to enhance the consumer offer by working with leading retail brands customers know and trust.

This transaction is good for our associates across the country and for our headquarter city of Cincinnati. Throughout the process we were impressed with the EG Group’s professionalism, investment commitment and more importantly their understanding of the US convenience retail market. We now look forward to working with them closely to ensure a smooth transition for associates.”

EG Group expects to close the purchase of the Kroger’s business unit early this year. The acquisition includes 784 stores in 18 states, employing 11,000 workers, and includes 66 franchises.

All stores will remain under the Kwik Shop banner and the leadership of Kwik Shop will stay in tact according to Kroger Spokesperson Sheila Lowery. The fuel centers located at Dillon’s Stores including the Marketplace in Hutchinson will stay under the Dillon’s banner and fuel rewards will also remain at those facilities although no decision has been made on if the program will still be available at Kwik Shops.

Mohsin Issa, EG Group Founder and co-CEO expressed: “This is an exciting time for EG Group, the entry into the U.S. market presents a fantastic opportunity to deliver a successful retail offer to consumers across the various states. We have had much success across Europe and we firmly believe the Kroger assets present a fantastic foundation to overlay our retail experience and know-how in the U.S. We are committed to investing in the Kroger network, partnering with leading retail brands and working with the exceptional management team and associates transferring across to deliver a comprehensive retail offer.”

Kroger plans to use proceeds from the sale to buy back stock and pay down debt.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas’ new governor, Dr. Jeff Colyer, was in town Saturday where he visited with a good crowd at Allie’s Deli in Downtown Hutchinson about his plans for the state.

He earlier announced a number of personnel changes for the senior staff of cabinet and sub-cabinet agencies. Colyer also announced several changes to his governor’s office staff.

He told the gathering that there will be other changes as well. He told Hutch Post that he will bring a new level of energy as governor and wants to focus on growing the state and bringing jobs, which would be welcomed by many, including residents of Hutchinson.

He has been touring the state with stops in Salina, McPherson, Hutchinson and Garden City.

As for moving into the Governor’s Mansion, he admits that hasn’t happened yet, saying he hasn’t had time to even pack. He says he and his wife may share their time between the mansion and his current house, at least in the short-term.

Although he says more changes in his administration and cabinet may be coming, some changes have been made already. Larry Campbell, an Olathe Rep. for District 26, joined the Budget Office as Chief Budget Officer. The position will allow his office to increase its focus on performance-based budgeting. Campbell’s position as K-12 budget chair will be an asset to the Colyer Administration as it works with the legislature to find a workable solution to the education funding issue that will take center stage this session. He said Saturday that he wants to see results for the dollars spent and improving graduation rates.

Shawn Sullivan, who had served as Budget Director, has been named Chief Operating Officer, where he will handle complex issues that touch multiple agencies, such as Medicaid eligibility. Colyer said Saturday that he wants to run things like a business. He added that he also wants to end the bickering and divisiveness in Topeka, unlike what we see with the partisan attacks and bickering by both sides in Washington. He says we can disagree, but says the two sides can be civil with each other while doing it.

Other changes to his cabinet include the departure of Phil Whitmer, who is leaving the Office of Information Technology, and Donna Shelite, who will step in as Interim Chief Information Technology Officer.

Colyer wants to address a joint session of the legislature this coming week, possibly Wednesday. Full details have not been released, but could include an online stream. Details will be made available upon the official announcement.

UPDATE 3:40 p.m.  Editor’s note: The original version of this story incorrectly reported details of the accident.

MCPHERSON COUNTY — A Kansas man died in an accident just before 3:30 a.m. Thursday in McPherson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage driven by David L. Chamberlain Jr., 51, Haven, was southbound on Interstate 135 just south of Navajo Road.

The vehicle rear-ended a 1989 Rockwood Motorhome driven by Kenneth R. Shriver, 27, Wichita. The Mitsubishi then entered the west ditch, traveled through a KDOT fence and caught fire.

Chamberlain was pronounced dead at the scene.

Shriver was not injured. Chamberlain was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There could be another player in the bid for the potential sale of Kroger’s C-Store business.

Casey’s General Stores has submitted an initial bid for Kroger’s convenience store business, according to news reports. Casey’s and 7-Eleven are said to be interested in the Kroger stores, which includes Kwik Shop.

The Ankeny, Iowa-based convenience store operator has been under pressure from activist investor JCP Investment Management to explore strategic alternatives, including a potential sale. Purchasing Kroger’s C-store business could quell the pressure to sell. If the deal were to go through, it would bring Casey’s back to the area. Casey’s had a store in South Hutchinson until it closed in July of 2013.

Kroger announced in October that it was exploring strategic alternatives for its convenience-store business, operating 784 stores across 18 states.

Casey’s General Stores operates more than 2,000 convenience stores in 15 Midwestern states. Approximately 57 percent of its stores are in small towns with populations of under 5,000, while 17 percent of its stores are in communities with populations greater than 20,000.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — If your Valentine is an Apollo-era space enthusiast who loves wine, then the Cosmosphere has the perfect gift idea. It’s a boutique wine called Moonwalker, which features a beautiful label signed by three of the five living astronauts who walked on the moon.

Moonwalker wine is made available through the joint effort of the Cosmosphere and Holman Cellars. A limited supply of 1.5 liter and 750 ml bottles are autographed by Charlie Duke and Alan Bean. Digitized signatures of Harrison Schmitt, Charlie Duke and Alan Bean are available on 1.5 L and 750 ml bottles as well. Engraved signatures are available on labels of 9 L, 6 L and 3 L bottles.

The bottles will carry significance as the Cosmosphere begins the 50th anniversaries of the Apollo moon missions starting with Apollo 8 in December of this year and running to Apollo 17, which will have flown 50 years ago in December of 2022.

The wine is a 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from a barrel donated exclusively to the Cosmosphere by Holman Cellars, a small, family-run micro winery in Napa Valley. A portion of the profits are donated back to the Cosmosphere.

Bottles carry a price tag between $120 and nearly $1,500 for hand-signed bottles.

Pricing and availability can be found at holmancellars.com/moonwalker. Sales are first come, first served, with allocation of just one bottle per person of the 1.5 L and three bottles per person of standard-sized 750 ml bottles. Hand-signed 750 ml and 1.5 L bottles are authorized by each signer, as well as the Cosmosphere, and will be sold one bottle per person until sold out.

For more information, contact Mimi Meredith at the Cosmosphere at 620-665-9339.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The historic consoles used by NASA flight controllers to manage the first missions to land astronauts on the moon arrived at the Cosmosphere SpaceWorks facility in Hutchinson Monday morning.

The consoles are in Hutchinson for a full restoration that will last through the spring. The $5 million restoration will return Mission Operations Control Room-2 inside the Mission Control Center to how it looked at the time of Apollo 11, the first mission to land humans on the moon.

“The Mission Operations Control Room at the Johnson Space Center is the cathedral of manned space exploration” Cosmosphere CEO Jim Remar said. ”So for us to be involved in the restoration is an incredible honor.”

Space Center Houston, the visitor center for Johnson Space Center, together with NASA, Texas Historical Commission and the National Park Service are overseeing the project, with the goal of having it ready in time for the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing next year. The Park Service gave its approval for the restoration in 2017 given the room’s status as a National Historic Landmark since 1985.

“This will be a complete and accurate historical restoration,” Sandra Tetley, historic preservation officer and real property officer at Johnson Space Center, said. “It will not be a fix-it-up. Everything will be preserved and accurate, from buttons, button labels, lighting — everything will be completely accurate.”

Though the overall control room is being returned to its Apollo 11 appearance, the consoles will be configured to how they looked during the fourth moon landing in July 1971. The Apollo 15 mission included the first use of the lunar roving vehicle (lunar rover) and began the extended exploration of the moon.

SpaceWorks will carefully take apart the more than half-century old consoles in order to bring them back to life.

First used for NASA’s Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and retired after STS-53, the 52nd space shuttle mission in December 1992, the consoles’ electronics are largely no longer serviceable. As such, the displays and some of the other visible elements will be augmented with modern components in order to create the appearance that the consoles are operational.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas State Fair officials have announced the first act for the Nex-Tech Wireless® Grandstand. Trace Adkins is the first act secured for the fair, which runs Sept. 7-16, in Hutchinson.

Tickets for the Trace Adkins concert go on sale, online only, Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. at www.kansasstatefair.com. Unless otherwise noted, Grandstand tickets include gate admission when purchased through Aug. 20, 2018.

Adkins will perform on Friday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets at $65.00 – $35.00 and $25.00.

Adkins’ trademark baritone has powered countless hits to the top of the charts. The three-time Grammy-nominated member of the Grand Ole Opry is a TV personality, actor, author, and spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project and the American Red Cross, for whom he raised more than $1.5 million as winner of NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.

In recent years, Adkins has performed for our service men and women across 11 USO Tours, with his 12th scheduled for spring 2017. In his 2007 autobiography, A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck, he recounted his rise to fame, brushes with death and battles with personal demons. Adkins has played a tough-as-nails biker in The Lincoln Lawyer (starring Matthew McConaughey), a desperate father in Deepwater Horizon (starring Mark Wahlberg) and a wise oracle of a tattoo artist in the family-friendly film Moms’ Night Out (starring Patricia Heaton, Sean Astin, Sarah Drew).

For more information, you can visit his website www.traceadkins.com. He is also on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @TraceAdkins.

Kansas State Fair Fan Club

Want to buy your tickets before everyone else? Those who join the Fair Fan Club have the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert before the public on-sale date. In addition, Fan Club members receive advance notification of upcoming concert announcements and other great benefits. Memberships are on sale now.

Gold Level Memberships are $100 per fair and include the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert before the public on-sale date, one coupon book with over $500 worth of savings and Fan Club parking right across the street from the Nex-Tech Wireless® Grandstand. One parking pass per membership for each concert purchased. Diamond Level memberships are $75 per fair and include the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert before the public on-sale date, one coupon book with over $500 worth of savings and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/FAIRFAN. Fair Fan Club members can purchase concert tickets first, starting at 9 a.m. Jan. 31 through Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. For more information on joining the club, visit https://bit.ly/FAIRFAN.

PRATT, Kan. (AP) — Hospital officials say the mother of four children who all died in a house fire in Pratt has died.

Officials with St. Francis Hospital in Wichita confirmed that Charee Eggleston was taken off life support Saturday and died soon after.

Eggleston suffered burns and was flown Thursday morning from Pratt to St. Francis Hospital. Her children, the youngest a baby, died after being trapped in the home’s basement. Several other adults survived the fire.

Authorities have not announced the cause of the fire. The state fire marshal launched an investigation the day of the fire.

Pratt is about 80 miles (128.74 kilometers) west of Wichita.

PRATT, Kan. (AP) — A hospital official says a mother whose four children were killed in a southern Kansas house fire is in critical condition.

Cheree Eggleston suffered burns and was flown Thursday morning from the town of Pratt to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. Her children, the youngest a baby, died after being trapped in the home’s basement. Besides the mother, three other adults in the home survived.

Pratt police Detective Jeff Ward says the cause of the fire is unknown. A state fire marshal is on scene investigating.

Pratt is about 80 miles (128.74 kilometers) west of Wichita.

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PRATT COUNTY — Officials remain on the scene of a deadly Thursday morning house fire near the intersection of 2^nd and Austin in Pratt, according to the city law enforcement center.

Four children died in the fire, according to Pratt police Detective Jeff Ward.

The children’s mother, Charee Eggleston, was transported to a Wichita hospital for treatment of severe burns.

The children, ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years, were trapped in the basement of the home.

Friends of the family have established an online fundraiser to assist the family.