HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Last month, JCPenney announced another round of store closings, and today it was announced that the Hutchinson Store would be one of five in Kansas that will cease operations.

The closing is part of a plan to shutter 138 stores across the country. The closing of the Hutchinson Mall store is a hit to what has been a very positive upswing in tenants at the facility since its purchase by Rockstep Capital.

Along with Hutchinson, stores will close in Chanute, Great Bend, Lawrence and Winfield.

JCPenney says the closures are a part of a continuing effort to advance sustainable growth and long-term profitability.

Approximately 5,000 positions will be affected by nationwide closures.

Most stores will close in June. The liquidation process will begin on April 17.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — An Iowa company has purchased a number of Hutchinson Pic Quik stores.

In a deal that was finalized late Thursday afternoon, Pic Quik owner Dan Fast told hutchpost.com that the stores have been sold to Yesway company.

Dan and Deb Fast have owned Pic Quik since 1982, taking over the chain from Ed and Vickie Fitzgerald, who started the chain of stores 51 years ago.  The Fitzgeralds started the stores from the old Fitzgerald Market at 8th and Plum.

Yesway has 31 stores in Iowa and is a full-service convenience store that is community oriented. 

In an interview with hutchpost.com on Tuesday, Dan Fast stated that they had been talking with Yesway for about nine months after family members decided they did not want to continue with the family business.

Fast wanted to stress that this affects five stores, including the two on East 4th, the two stores on East and West 30th,  and the store at 11th and Severance, but the store at 800 S. Main will continue as Pic Quik

Yesway is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Yesway plans to acquire, improve and rebrand 500 convenience stores in selected regions of the United States over the next several years. For more information on Yesway, please visit the company’s website at www.yesway.com.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The state has filed another motion in the case against a 22-year-old man arrested back on June 21, 2016, after a fire and explosion at the Plaza Towers building in downtown Hutchinson

Chase Coble is charged with three counts of aggravated arson and two counts of criminal use of explosives. The first three counts are level three felonies with a maximum sentence on each count of over 20 years in prison.

The state is seeking to introduce evidence relating to internet conversations he had with an unidentified individual, claiming to be from Minnesota, regarding his expertise in chemistry for the purpose of making loud fireworks. The state believes this is admissible based on its relevancy to this case or to establish the defendant’s knowledge.

District Attorney Keith Schroeder also mentions in his motion an incident back on Feb. 9 where, in Salina while working at a local convenience store, he mentioned to a co-worker that he was building a bomb at his Salina home. At first, the co-worker thought he was joking, but later Coble told him he had been investigated by the FBI for domestic terrorism after blowing up his kitchen here in Hutchinson. He invited the co-worker to his home to see the device. That co-worker called Salina Police. That led to a search on the residence, but no explosives were found. They did find a small amount of marijuana, that according to Salina Post.

The case here in Hutchinson starts with Coble experimenting with plastic and chemicals, which apparently got out of hand. Police say he had the chemicals to make black powder to use in explosives, but he claims he wasn’t doing that, saying he was trying to bond metals and plastic components. He says the chemicals spilled and flashed, causing a fire. This occurred in his 12th story apartment, causing damage to that apartment, but also setting off the sprinkler system, causing damage in other apartments. The state contends this wasn’t the first time. They say, on at least three occasions, he had been mixing the chemicals, causing fires in his apartment.

No mention has been made as to when a hearing will be held to hear these motions, but the defense was granted a delay of the trial. We’ll keep you informed.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Seven members of the Hutchinson Fire Department took time to answer

questions from the media regarding last week’s fire. The stories they told showed why this fire was one of the most dangerous and hard-to-contain fires in recent memory.

Craig Rothe, Bryan Goble, Danny Chambers, David Goering, Dalton Black,  Ernie Young and Troy Mueller told of a fire that was more intense and fast moving than some of them had ever seen. At one point the fire was estimated to be moving at more than 20 miles per hour.

Many told of how, at times, things were moving so fast that tough decisions had to be made regarding the protection of homes and buildings. In some instances, the homes survived, much to their surprise, others they had to watch as they burned with no hope of saving them.

Rothe recalled being trapped in a long driveway of a home and turning to one of his crew who had been with the department for six months, and asked him if he was scared? The fireman replied “yes” to which Rothe responded “so am I,” his comments made to let the firefighter know the gravity of the situation.

Young told of getting out of his truck to protect a structure then getting back into the truck and feeling heat inside the vehicle. He looked down to find two large embers sitting in his lap. He also recalled being so involved in the fire that he forgot to put his helmet on.

The group also took time to express their thanks for all of the outside agencies that helped put out the fire. Many from outside Hutchinson said they will take the experience back with them to their stations to use as training if they have to face such a situation again. They also commented to local fireman how tough it was to fight the fire with the soft sand and the brush that is unique to the sandhills area.

Most of all, they wanted to thank those that have thanked and supported them over the past week.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It was in December that Kroger announced that it was asking for voluntary buyouts to 2,000 non store employees. At the time the company had a March deadline for those employees wishing to accept that offer.

With the deadline past, Kroger says that around 1,300 employees including some from Dillon’s have accepted the offer. Dillon’s Spokesperson Sheila Lowery says she did not have the exact figures for the area, but did confirm the number of Kroger employees that took the offer.

At the time of the December offer, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullin said that the announcement was made to reduce costs in areas not affecting the customer experience, such as in stores.

Bill Kirk of RBC Capital noted after the offer was made that if the number of employees that take the offer is lower than expected, layoffs could be the next step. No word has come out as to what direction Kroger will take at this time.

Kroger employed about 431,000 workers in the US at the end of 2016.

 

HAVEN, Kan. — When the Haven USD 312 School Board began discussions on how to address declining enrollments at the Partridge and Yoder Elementary Schools, the three options were to close one of the schools, split the students into the two schools by grade or simply leave things as they are.

It was the last option that the board went with during last night’s agenda session. Superintendent Clark Wedel says the schools will stay open and run as they currently are for the foreseeable future. He did say that, at some point, the matter will probably come back before the board again. The decision came after months of discussion about the future of the two schools.

Wedel also tells Eagle Media that a special meeting will be held to discuss what direction the district needs to take in dealing with enrollment and budget issues in the future.

Also last night, the board got an update on the continued construction as part of the $12 million bond issue. Wedel says the new gymnasium will be finished in the next week or so and will be in full use. The district is also preparing for another project to deal with some heating and air conditioning matters.

 

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Board of Directors for United Way of Reno County announced Monday the promotion of Lisa Gleason to Executive Director of United Way of Reno County.

“As a board, we are very excited to have Lisa lead our United Way. She brings to the organization a wealth of knowledge about our community and a passion to help others. We will see good things happening with the United Way under Lisa’s guidance.” Steve Rempel, Board Chair.

Lisa Gleason has grown up in Hutchinson and has a passion for helping develop our community into the best place to live, work and play.  Lisa worked for Dillard’s, Inc. for 23 years with the last 12 years in the role of store manager.  She transitioned from retail to health care and created the Guest/Patient Relations Department at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. She did this for 5 years before she was asked to step into the role of Director of Community Impact for United Way of Reno County. In this role, Lisa has worked with community partners to bring more focus and synergy to resolving community-level education, financial stability and health issues. A community of connected individuals, all people, united and working together for the benefit of all, is at the heart of where her focus is.

Lisa’s community involvement has included serving on the following boards; Reno County Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Reno County, Hospice and Homecare of Reno County, Wesley Towers, Our Redeemer Lutheran, Rotary, Leadership Reno County Alumni Association as well as currently serving on the Housing Commission.

Lisa is married to Lee Gleason. They have three children, Christopher, Brent and Kati and three grandchildren.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There was a posting on the Sheriff Department’s Facebook page that the fire at the Highlands may be suspicious in nature.

We talked with Steve Lutz, who heads the Reno County Sheriff’s Detective Bureau, and he told us that they look at every incident as suspicious until they can prove otherwise, but added that they have no substantial leads to follow suggesting the fire was intentionally set. He says they will look at every possible cause, but, so far, they have nothing to go on. However, they are continuing the investigation and that can change.

Lutz says they are also looking at someone tossing a cigarette out along 82nd. Whether that was intentional remains to be seen.

Per the local disaster declaration, open burning is not allowed in the area.

We’ll continue to follow the investigation and let you know if something changes.

Officials also reminded residents that had a question about their insurance coverage or were having an issue with their insurance company to contact the Consumer Assistance Hotline is 1-800-432-2484 or you can visit www.ksinsurance.org.

————–

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — As of 3 p.m. Thursday, officials began allowing families displaced by the fires back into the evacuation zone north of Hutchinson. Only residents of that area will be allowed in.

According to Sheriff Randy Henderson, those individuals needed to check in at two locations, 82nd and Plum and 69th and Lorraine. From 3 to 6 p.m, they were required to have identification, however, if some left too quickly when the fires broke out where they didn’t take their ID, he says they would work through that.

He says the fires are now contained and, as of 6 p.m, all the check points have been eliminated and things north of Hutchinson will get back to normal.

Henderson says they met with the families who lost their homes, that occurred at 12:30 p.m. Thursday and then those who had damage at 1:15 p.m.

Sheriff Henderson says even though the check points have been eliminated, they’ll still have patrols in the area.

They did up the number of homes destroyed to 10 with 11 reports of other damage including out buildings, vehicles and farm implements. They say they are still contacting residents of damages to their property.

Residents can call 211 which is the information hotline to United Way. Also, you can make financial donations on 211 with 100% coming back to the local area.

If you have questions, you can also call the temporary Emergency Operations Center at 844-834-3659.

RENO COUNTY — Authorities say two grass fires have burned almost 6,000 acres in central Kansas, but no injuries have been reported.

State officials say crews were using two helicopters Monday to dump water on the fires, which are 80 to 90 percent contained. The National Weather Service says dry, shifting winds, with gusts of up to 60 mph will complicate the firefight in Reno, Rice and McPherson counties.

The Jupiter Hills fire consumed about 1200 acres, and is 80 percent contained. It is estimated nearly 2700 acres have been burned in the Highlands area in Reno and Rice counties.

Deputy state emergency operations center manager Devan Tucking says the fires are 80 to 90 percent contained Monday after crews spent the weekend fighting them. The National Weather Service says the firefight in Reno, Rice and McPherson counties will be complicated by dry, shifting winds, with gusts of up to 60 mph.

Tucking says about 300 people were allowed to return to their homes after an area north of Hutchinson that included a golf course was threatened by a fire that burned about 4,800 acres.

There were a few homes in the Highlands area that suffered minor damage, and one home that had heavier damage and that family was displaced. There were three outbuildings destroyed in the Jupiter Hills fire, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a state of disaster emergency.

-The AP contributed to this report.

——–

RENO COUNTY — Two task forces monitored the fire in the Highlands area near Hutchinson overnight.

Just after 9 p.m., residents in the area were allowed to return to their homes, according to the Reno County Sheriff’s Department.

Residents were advised to use a garden hose to put out any embers that come into yards and not call 911 every time a glow is spotted. If there is an open active flame currently threatening a structure, then call 911.

It is estimated 1200 acres have been burned in the other Reno County fire in Jupiter Hills Fire. It is 80 percent contained.

All roads, except 69th Avenue from Old K-61 to Mayfield and 56th Avenue from Old K-61 to the dead end have been opened.

The county has declared a state of emergency which will help bring in state resources to help.
Critical fire weather conditions will continue the next few days.