HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The search for a new President for the Hutchinson/ Reno County Chamber of Commerce is now down to two finalists. Search committee chair Alan Fee says both are great candidates.

Fee could not disclose the names of the two finalists, but did tell hutchpost.com that both bring a very high level of proven economic development talent with them. Both will be brought in for final interviews in the next 7-10 days. This will include meeting Chamber staff and key members of the Hutch Rising Campaign, which recently raised more than $1.7 million for economic development.

Fee stressed the importance of finding a new leader who can deliver on bringing new business and industry to the area and bring new ideas to Hutchinson and Reno County.

The committee used a search firm and conducted initial interviews with five candidates before narrowing the list down to the two finalists.

 

NOBLE COUNTY — Two area women died in an accident just before 2 a.m. Wednesday in Noble County, Oklahoma.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a van driven by 22-year-old Ryan Fulcher of South Hutchinson was westbound on U.S. 412, about seven miles northeast of Perry, when the van left the road and hit the trailer of a semi that was parked on the westbound shoulder.

Two passengers, 20-year-old Laura Beth Ratley of South Hutchinson and 21-year-old Rebecca Fulcher of McPherson, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Ryan Fulcher and a third passenger, 24-year-old Leah Ratley of South Hutchinson, were transported to Stillwater Medical Center for treatment of injuries.

The driver of the semi, 26-year-old Dhafer M. Awad of Scottsdale, Arizona, was not injured.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan.  — The Hutchinson Mall is losing another major business.

A week after Payless ShoeSource was rumored to be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the announcement came Wednesday that a large number of stores will close, including the one in the Hutchinson Mall. The closing comes two weeks after JCPenney announced it was leaving the Mall as part of an overall cost-cutting move.

The Topeka-based retailer said it will be closing nearly 400 stores as part of the reorganization. It has over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries and was founded in 1956.

Payless plans to reduce its debt by almost 50 percent, lower how much it pays in interest and line up funds. The company says some of its lenders have agreed to make up to $385 million available to keep the stores running.

The company released a  list of stores to be closed Wednesday morning.

Stores in Great Bend, Liberal and Emporia are included on the list.

Daniel Friesen            Jerrod Riemer             Tammy Stanfill

BUHLER, Kan. — IdeaTek Equity Group Tuesday announced the purchase of Art Studio Signs, a provider for nearly 30 years of signs and electronic billboards in Hutchinson and the surrounding area. The business, now known as IdeaTek Media, will operate out of IdeaTek headquarters in Buhler and will partner with longtime owner Tammy Stanfill to expand the company.

Founded in 1986 by Stanfill, Art Studio Signs began as a provider of sand carved wood signs and transitioned into signage of all types before adopting a focus on digital billboards. Stanfill ran the operation with her husband, Steve, until his untimely death in 2015.

“It was always Steve’s dream to build a digital billboard network across the U.S., and he played a large part in the growth of the industry in Wichita,” Stanfill said. “After his passing, I decided it was time to partner with IdeaTek to grow and improve upon the network.”

IdeaTek Telcom staff will take over the day-to-day operations of the sign company. “Steve and Tammy were really forward thinking in how they evolved their operation with changing technology. Tammy’s expertise along with the additional staffing and capital that IdeaTek offers will allow us to take a successful business and make it even better,” IdeaTek CEO Jerrod Reimer noted.

Current sign locations include the busy intersections of 30th and Plum, 11th and Lorraine and 17th and Lorraine in Hutchinson, as well as U.S. Highway 81 and 63rd in Haysville and a five-story billboard off Interstate Highway 35 next to the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane.

Plans are underway to add a new billboard at the intersection of 30th and Lorraine in Hutchinson. “We’ll be installing a state-of-the-art digital billboard at this location with the sharpest high definition sign on the market, and it will have the wow factor,” Daniel Friesen, IdeaTek Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, said. “It’s our goal to upgrade all our current billboards to the latest technology in the next few years.”

Those interested in ad placement on the billboards can contact (888) 520-SIGN or (620) 500-SIGN. Learn more at www.ideatekmedia.com.

PAWNEE COUNTY — A Kansas man was charged with an alleged rape case on Monday in Pawnee County.

James Thomas, 58, Hutchinson, appeared in custody Monday afternoon before a Pawnee County Judge.
The US Marshall Service arrested him at his home on March 30, 2017, without incident.

He is being held in the Ford County Detention Center in lieu of a $100,000 bond.

Judge Cowell advised the defendant that the alleged crime occurred in Pawnee County on or about Nov. 27, 2013.

The Complaint was filed by the Pawnee County Attorney Office on March 27, 2017. The charge is a Severity Level 1 Person Felony and carries a presumptive prison sentence between 147 and 653 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections, depending on the defendant’s criminal history.

A Preliminary Hearing has been scheduled for May 1, 2017.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Mark your calendars for this year’s Nex-Tech Wireless® Grandstand lineup. That includes Loverboy & Survivor, TobyMac and Old Dominion with Special Guest RaeLynn.

Grandstand tickets go on sale April 7 at 8 a.m. and can be purchased at the Kansas State Fair Ticket Office by calling 800-362-3247 or at www.KansasStateFair.com. Unless otherwise noted, Grandstand tickets include gate admission when purchased through Aug. 20.

Loverboy & Survivor – Friday, Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $75/$45/$30*

For more than 30 years, Loverboy has been “Working for the Weekend,” delighting audiences around the world. With their trademark red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high-energy live shows, Loverboy has sold more than 10 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the four-million-selling “Get Lucky,” and a trio of double-platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s “Keep It Up” and 1985’s “Lovin’ Every Minute of It.” Their string of hits includes such arena rock staples as “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “This Could Be the Night,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “Heaven in Your Eyes,” “Turn Me Loose,” “When It’s Over,” “Queen of the Broken Hearts,” and rock anthem “Working for the Weekend.”

Vocalist Mike Reno was introduced to local guitar hot shot Paul Dean, both veterans of several bands, and formed Loverboy in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy still includes original members Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums, with Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve (a former member of Dean and Frenette’s pre-Loverboy band Streetheart), who replaced the late Scott Smith on bass and continues a healthy touring schedule around the world.

Survivor

Legendary rock band Survivor is embarking on their next chapter with a new member who has seemingly given new life to one of rock ‘n’ roll’s preeminent bands. With 22-year-old Nashville resident Cameron Barton assuming lead vocalist duties, the group will take their trademark arena rock sound to their loyal and devoted fan base.

Survivor released their first album in 1980 on Scotti Brothers Records. Their first Top-40 on the Hot 100 came the next year with “Poor Man’s Son.” Their big break would come in 1982 when the band was asked by Sylvester Stallone to provide the theme song for “Rocky III.” That single, “Eye of The Tiger,” hit No. 1 – staying there for seven weeks, winning a GRAMMY® for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and a People’s Choice Award. It also received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. The band’s “Vital Signs” record was another huge success thanks to the Billboard Top-20 hits “I Can’t Hold Back”, “High on You” and “The Search Is Over”.

For more information on Loverboy & Survivor, please visit www.loverboyband.com, and  www.survivorband.com.

TobyMac – Wednesday, Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $60/$35/$25*

With over 11 million units in career sales and six GRAMMY® awards, TobyMac shows no signs of slowing down as he delivers a deeply personal record that celebrates the richness that comes from collaboration, diversity and vulnerability.

Drawing directly from his faith and personal experience, “This is Not a Test” is an essential reminder that we only have one shot at life.

For Toby, making every moment count is about more than just saying it out loud. Whether he’s at home with his wife and five children, mentoring new artists, recording in the studio or on the road with his band Diverse City, Toby’s heart for collaboration is rooted in his belief that no matter where we’ve come from, we are better together than we are alone.

The power of collaboration and power of diversity is poured out in every facet of this 13-track record produced by Toby, David Garcia, Chris Stevens and Brian Fowler. The perfect blend of rock, pop, hip-hop and soul, “This Is Not A Test,” the follow-up to his No. 1 Billboard debut “Eye On It.”

For more information on TobyMac, please visit www.tobymac.com.

Old Dominion with Special Guest RaeLynn– Friday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m. – Tickets $75/$45/$25*

Proving that they are not your average country band, Old Dominion blends old-fashioned country charm, lyrical wit and rock n’ roll grit into radio-friendly, hook-heavy pop nuggets. Old Dominion has emerged as one of the hottest breaking bands in country music, fusing clever lyrics and an infectious sound. Old Dominion recently joined the performance lineup for the 52ndAcademy of Country Music Awards™ in Las Vegas in April.

The band released their first full-length album “Meat and Candy,” which was recently named RIAA-certified GOLD and called “deceptively smart, occasionally cheeky, stellar debut,” by Entertainment Weekly.

Old Dominion released their platinum two-week No.1 “Break Up With Him” and RIAA-certified Gold hit “Snapback” prior to their third single “Song For Another Time,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard and MediaBase in December 2016. In 2016, the band was named ACM New Group of the Year, ACCA Breakthrough Group of the Year, AIMP Songwriter Artist of the Year and Music Row Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Old Dominion consists of lead singer Matthew Ramsey, lead guitarist Brad Tursi, multi-instrumentalist Trevor Rosen, bassist Geoff Sprung and drummer Whit Sellers.

RaeLynn

Singer/songwriter RaeLynn released her Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville debut single “Love Triangle” to radio on August 1 to rave reviews. The heartbreaking and emotionally raw video was released exclusively to www.PEOPLE.com and CMT and is striking a visceral reaction at radio and with fans across the country.

RaeLynn has been one of the highest selling female country artists, alongside industry heavyweights Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, with her songs selling nearly 960,000 total digital copies and being streamed over 60 million times.

Her gold-certified hit single, “God Made Girls” was nominated for a 2016 Radio Disney Music Award for Favorite Country Song and she also received her first Academy of Country Music Award nomination for New Female Vocalist of the Year in 2016. Other hits include “For A Boy,” “Always Sing,” “Boyfriend,” and “Kissin’ Frogs.”

For more information on Old Dominion and RaeLynn, please visit ww.olddominionband.com. and www.raelynn.com.

Want to buy your tickets before everyone else? Join the Fair Fan Club to purchase tickets prior to the public on-sale date. In addition, Fan Club members receive advance notification of concert announcements. Memberships are on sale now and can be purchased online; by phone at 800-362-3247 or 620-669-3600; or at the Administration Building on the Fairgrounds. Fair Fan Club members can purchase concert tickets first, starting at 8 a.m. on April 4. For more information on joining the club, visit https://bit.ly/FAIRFAN. 

Gold Level Memberships are $100 per fair and include the opportunity to purchase up to six tickets to each concert prior to 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 prior to the public on-sale date, one coupon book with over $500 worth of savings

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Number of oil and gas wells in Reno County fell sharply in 2016 after setting some of the best numbers in more than 20 years in 2015.

The number of producing oil wells in the county fell from 394 in 2015, to 381 last year. That number is the lowest number of wells since at least 1995, according to data supplied by the USGS.

Production also fell to just under 692,000 barrels compared to the 1,045,839 barrels in 2015, which was the most since 1995.

The number operating gas wells in the county fell sharply from 148 in 2015 to just 103 last year. Production fell from 2.04 million MCF to 1.23 million MCF.

In Kansas, oil production fell by 17 percent in 2016 while natural gas production dropped 14 percent.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Kansas State Fair gave approval for a plan to let the city run a portion of the hike and bike trail through the fairgrounds during its board meeting today.

Under the plan, the trail will run into the fairgrounds between the two sunflower buildings and continue through the grounds until it reaches the midway, before heading off toward what is now gate eight, where it will exit onto Plum.

The project would be funded through a federal grant and the fairgrounds would have total control over the entryways. If all goes as planned, the trail would be finished in the summer of 2018.

Also today, the board continued its discussion into the Fair’s master plan. One of six concepts has been given a consensus by the board, which would call for a new equine events facility, a new small grandstand for dirt events, a new gate halfway between current gates 8 and 9, and the elimination of the race track, which would give way to the equine barn and a permanent grandstand stage for concerts.

It also calls for major renovations to other buildings that are needed. The last major renovations to the fairgrounds were completed in the late 1990s.