HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Nearly 14 years ago, Lubbers expanded its dealership to Hutchinson. Based out of Cheney for over 25 years, the car dealers added extra locations in Hutchinson and Andover. While the Andover location has now been closed for a few years, the Hutchinson dealership closed its doors at the end of June.

Technology is partly to blame for the closing. Today’s car shopper looks at unlimited resources online before making a decision. This is a change from the car-buyer-of-the-past who drove from lot to lot looking at different vehicles. All those cars and trucks are now just one click away.

Because so much shopping can be done in the preliminary phase of car buying, Lubbers Hutch decided to relocate the lot back to Cheney. The employees from the Hutchinson store have also relocated to the Cheney dealership.

Currently, shoppers can still access the Lubbers Hutch website and click a link to shop the cars available in Cheney.

RENO COUNTY – Officials are working to determine the cause of a Tuesday afternoon house fire in rural Reno County.

The blaze reported just before 1 p.m. at a residence in the 100 Block of West Avenue C in Sylvia was quickly contained, according to a social media report from the Reno County fire district 6. Crews from District 4, 6, and 7 responded to fight the fire.

There were no injuries reported. The home was a total loss.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Commissioners will discuss a request from the District Attorney’s office to make a part-time administrative assistant’s position full time during Wednesday’s agenda session. D.A. Keith Schroeder says the change is needed to keep up with the backlog of casework in the office.

The Board will also take action on the future of the Woodberry bridge between 30th and 43rd Avenues. The bridge was recently declared unsafe and the span over the Little Arkansas River was closed. While the bridge sees little traffic, farmers in the area have expressed concern over the ability to access farm fields on each side of the river. The closing of the bridge is part of a continued position taken by Public Works to close many of the rural bridges that see little traffic instead of replacing them.

The meeting of the Reno County Commission begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Reno County Courthouse.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Eagle Media Center at 825 N. Main, home of My 93.1, Country 102.9 and KWBW 1450 AM and 98.5 FM, was struck by lightning late Thursday evening.

All three stations are off the air.

Engineers are working to get these stations back on the air as soon as possible.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There was a presentation of a $50,000 check to the March of Dimes at the Reno County Annex Thursday morning presented by Amerigroup, which works with KanCare in Kansas.

Frank Clepper, President of Amerigroup, was in Hutchinson to present the check along with Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and other state officials.

Prematurity is the #1 killer of babies in the U.S., and babies born even a few weeks early have higher rates of illness and hospitalization compared to full-term newborns. March of Dimes received a $50,000 Amerigroup Foundation grant to help prevent premature birth and improve the health of moms and babies.

In addition to the toll on families, economic costs for prematurity are estimated at more than $26 billion annually by the National Academy of Medicine.

The Amerigroup Foundation grant supports the Kansas March of Dimes Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait Community Program to prevent preterm birth. Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait® is an initiative that encourages healthy, full-term births through education of women and healthcare providers, quality-improvement initiatives, awareness activities and community partnerships. The Kansas Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait® collaborative is implemented in five counties, serving 500 women before, during and after pregnancy.. Local partners implement evidence-based clinical interventions and education strategies for patients, providers and the public to prevent preterm births in Kansas. These interventions include smoking cessation, progesterone therapy for high-risk pregnant women, prenatal education, and innovative approaches to optimize appropriate birth spacing for improved outcomes.

The $50,000 grant to the March of Dimes is part of Amerigroup Foundation’s ongoing commitment to addressing health disparities and improving public health in Kansas Through its Healthy Generations program, the Amerigroup Foundation is working to address some of the nation’s most complex health issues, among them, reducing the incidence of low birth weight babies and engaging mothers in prenatal care.

“This partnership is a great example of what the private sector and non-profit organizations are doing to help Kansans and positively impact our state,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer. “Amerigroup Foundation has proven it is invested in our state and working towards improving outcomes for all Kansans.”

This helps moms gain access to “Becoming a Mom” classes. These classes are for all moms and moms-to-be in Reno County.

The classes are held in the basement of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center and a few of the mothers who have gone through these classes were on hand this morning to witness the announcement.

If you want more information on these classes, you can contact the Reno County Health Department at 694-2900.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council will take action on putting the ¼ cent sales tax on the ballot once again.

The ballot question will ask voters to extend the long-running tax for another five years, to 2024. The tax has been in place in the city since 1994 and has been extended by voters three times.

The revenue is split four ways with 47 percent going to street and sidewalk work, 33 percent to the Cosmosphere, 15 percent for property tax relief and the remaining five percent goes to Strataca.

Both museums stressed the need for the tax, noting that both generate a large amount of tax revenue as tourist attractions. The city council also noted that the fund makes up about 30 percent of its street budget. With the state-mandated tax lid, the sales tax may have extra importance as the city is trying to keep up with street maintenance.

The matter will be taken up by the City Council during its meeting, which will be on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Hutchinson city offices.

WICHITA, Kan. — Officials at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport are inviting the public in welcoming home military veterans as they return from Washington, D.C., on the 50th Kansas Honor Flight.

The flight lands at 11:40 a.m. Friday and they encourage everyone to arrive early.

A free park-and-ride shuttle service starts at 10 a.m. at Slumberland Furniture.

Make a sign, bring your friends and family, and meet officials at the baggage claim area to celebrate local heroes.

Kansas Honor Flights has a mission of sending Kansas veterans to visit their War Memorials in Washington, D.C., before it’s too late for them to go.