HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two local businesses are relocating to the downtown area. 

Ag Trax and PDS Med will move out of their offices at 1632 E 23rd and into the downtown at 10 South Main. The companies and their employees will occupy the upper floors of the building. AgTrax creates a diverse array of Agribusiness accounting software for customers of all sizes. Both are part of Integrated Solutions Group.

“We’re excited for this move, as it provides our two organizations with a more open office space environment that is reflective of our business culture and growth – while also supporting the rejuvenation of Hutchinson’s downtown district,” AgTrax President, Gayle Lewis said.&nbsp;

PDS Med develops integrated physician practice solutions and provides revenue cycle management services.&nbsp;

“This is a unique opportunity to enhance our corporate collaboration dynamic,” PDS Med President, Greg Newcomer said.

AgTrax celebrates 25 years in business in 2021, serving customers throughout the United States and Canada. PDS Med celebrates 48 years in business in 2021, serving customers across the United States. The two companies employ nearly 70 workers combined.

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<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614963408938.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Two local businesses are relocating to the downtown area. Ag Trax and PDS Med will move out of their offices at 1632 E 23rd and into the downtown at 10 South Main. The companies and their employees will occupy the upper floors of the building. AgTrax creates a diverse array of Agribusiness accounting software for customers of all sizes. Both are part of Integrated Solutions Group.“We’re excited for this move, as it provides our two organizations with a more open office space environment that is reflective of our business culture and growth – while also supporting the rejuvenation of Hutchinson’s downtown district,” AgTrax President, Gayle Lewis said.&nbsp;PDS Med develops integrated physician practice solutions and provides revenue cycle management services.&nbsp;“This is a unique opportunity to enhance our corporate collaboration dynamic,” PDS Med President, Greg Newcomer said.AgTrax celebrates 25 years in business in 2021, serving customers throughout the United States and Canada. PDS Med celebrates 48 years in business in 2021, serving customers across the United States. The two companies employ nearly 70 workers combined.
<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK
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download the Hutch Post mobile app. 
<a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK
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sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.

AG Trax and PDS Med moving to downtown


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Horizons Mental Health Center was one of only six community mental health centers in Kansas selected as recipients of an expansion grant from the federal government to create new programs and achieve Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic status.

"One of the criteria of a CCBHC is access to care," said Horizons CEO Mike Garrett. "We went to walk in access. You don't have to have an appointment to come in for an intake, you can just walk in and we'll see you, in January of 2011. We've been doing that for over 10 years, but that's one of the criteria to be a CCBHC that some community mental health centers across the nation haven't established yet."

Right now, the federal government is offering these grants as a carrot. The question is, in the long run, will they use the lack of going to this continuum of care as a stick to limit funding? Garrett doesn't know that.

"I would hope that community mental health centers, behavioral health clinics all over the nation would see the value of moving into this model of care," Garrett said. "It is so dynamic. It is so transformative that it really does help us serve people in communities better. I know that there's a sweeping trend with this. I think that's one of the reasons that we have such a huge data reporting responsibility to SAMHSA so they can prove to Congress the value and benefit."

Between all the new programs the grant will allow and the expansion of current offerings, Garrett expects to hire more people in the coming months.

"We have 15 new positions that will be funded through this grant," said Garrett. "They are surrounding the co-responder program and the crisis stabilization services, because that will be a 24-7 operation."

Horizons is still deciding on where to put the 24-7 facility and what needs it will have, but progress should be made on that in the first half of 2021.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587129819284.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Horizons Mental Health Center was one of only six community mental health centers in Kansas selected as recipients of an expansion grant from the federal government to create new programs and achieve Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic status."One of the criteria of a CCBHC is access to care," said Horizons CEO Mike Garrett. "We went to walk in access. You don't have to have an appointment to come in for an intake, you can just walk in and we'll see you, in January of 2011. We've been doing that for over 10 years, but that's one of the criteria to be a CCBHC that some community mental health centers across the nation haven't established yet."Right now, the federal government is offering these grants as a carrot. The question is, in the long run, will they use the lack of going to this continuum of care as a stick to limit funding? Garrett doesn't know that."I would hope that community mental health centers, behavioral health clinics all over the nation would see the value of moving into this model of care," Garrett said. "It is so dynamic. It is so transformative that it really does help us serve people in communities better. I know that there's a sweeping trend with this. I think that's one of the reasons that we have such a huge data reporting responsibility to SAMHSA so they can prove to Congress the value and benefit."Between all the new programs the grant will allow and the expansion of current offerings, Garrett expects to hire more people in the coming months."We have 15 new positions that will be funded through this grant," said Garrett. "They are surrounding the co-responder program and the crisis stabilization services, because that will be a 24-7 operation."Horizons is still deciding on where to put the 24-7 facility and what needs it will have, but progress should be made on that in the first half of 2021.

Horizons will use federal grant to expand


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;The Polar Plunge in Hutchinson this year will likely not be nearly as cold.

"We did have some changes with the Hutchinson event," said Mitch Guthrie with Special Olympics Kansas. "We're just giving people a little bit more of a chance to sign up. The event that was scheduled for this Saturday, we went ahead and rescheduled for May 20th."

The Law Enforcement Torch Run event that it will now coincide with started here in Kansas.

"We're celebrating our 40th anniversary of the Law Enforcement Torch Run," Guthrie said. "That's a fundraiser for Special Olympics by law enforcement officers around the state of Kansas. That whole movement started here in Kansas 40 years ago. Since its inception, it's made close to $80 million for Special Olympic athletes worldwide."

Those events will now be a part of Third Thursday in May. The traditional statewide track meet for Special Olympics also will be changing.

"What we're looking at doing there is something similar to what we've done, just on a smaller scale," Guthrie said. "Our summer games is typically that first weekend of June and we'll have it just at a regional level in some fashion this year."

Details on all the events will be available at <a href="https://ksso.org/">ksso.org</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582577283657.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. —&nbsp;The Polar Plunge in Hutchinson this year will likely not be nearly as cold."We did have some changes with the Hutchinson event," said Mitch Guthrie with Special Olympics Kansas. "We're just giving people a little bit more of a chance to sign up. The event that was scheduled for this Saturday, we went ahead and rescheduled for May 20th."The Law Enforcement Torch Run event that it will now coincide with started here in Kansas."We're celebrating our 40th anniversary of the Law Enforcement Torch Run," Guthrie said. "That's a fundraiser for Special Olympics by law enforcement officers around the state of Kansas. That whole movement started here in Kansas 40 years ago. Since its inception, it's made close to $80 million for Special Olympic athletes worldwide."Those events will now be a part of Third Thursday in May. The traditional statewide track meet for Special Olympics also will be changing."What we're looking at doing there is something similar to what we've done, just on a smaller scale," Guthrie said. "Our summer games is typically that first weekend of June and we'll have it just at a regional level in some fashion this year."Details on all the events will be available at <a href="https://ksso.org/">ksso.org</a>.

Hutchinson Polar Plunge moves to May

Reno County, Kansas – March 5, 2021 –&nbsp;The Reno County Health Department was recently awarded national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Established in 2007, PHAB is the nonprofit organization that administers the national accreditation program, which aims to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation.

“We are so pleased to be recognized by PHAB," said Karla Nichols, Reno County Health Director. “The accreditation process has taken over four years, but to be awarded this honor during the current health environment really shows the commitment of our staff and the strength of our programs.”

The national accreditation program, which receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance. The accreditation lasts for 5 years, upon which time the Health Department must apply for reaccreditation.

"The value of becoming nationally accredited through PHAB extends far beyond the interior walls of the health department," said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. "People living and working in communities served by these health departments can be assured that their health department is strong and has the capacity to protect and promote their health. Just going through the accreditation process itself helps health departments pinpoint the areas that are critical to improving the work they do for their communities."

Public health departments are on the front lines of communities’ efforts to protect and promote health and prevent disease and injury. The Reno County Health Department provides services aimed at promoting healthy behaviors; preventing diseases and injuries; ensuring access to safe food, water, clean air, and life-saving immunizations; and preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. For more information on the Reno County Health Department’s services, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.renogov.org/239/Health-Department" target="_blank">www.renogov.org/239/Health-Department</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/5/1589983765832.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Reno County, Kansas – March 5, 2021 –&nbsp;The Reno County Health Department was recently awarded national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Established in 2007, PHAB is the nonprofit organization that administers the national accreditation program, which aims to advance and transform public health practice by championing performance improvement, strong infrastructure, and innovation.“We are so pleased to be recognized by PHAB," said Karla Nichols, Reno County Health Director. “The accreditation process has taken over four years, but to be awarded this honor during the current health environment really shows the commitment of our staff and the strength of our programs.”The national accreditation program, which receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nation’s governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance. The accreditation lasts for 5 years, upon which time the Health Department must apply for reaccreditation."The value of becoming nationally accredited through PHAB extends far beyond the interior walls of the health department," said PHAB President and CEO Paul Kuehnert, DNP, RN, FAAN. "People living and working in communities served by these health departments can be assured that their health department is strong and has the capacity to protect and promote their health. Just going through the accreditation process itself helps health departments pinpoint the areas that are critical to improving the work they do for their communities."Public health departments are on the front lines of communities’ efforts to protect and promote health and prevent disease and injury. The Reno County Health Department provides services aimed at promoting healthy behaviors; preventing diseases and injuries; ensuring access to safe food, water, clean air, and life-saving immunizations; and preparing for and responding to public health emergencies. For more information on the Reno County Health Department’s services, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.renogov.org/239/Health-Department" target="_blank">www.renogov.org/239/Health-Department</a>

Reno County Health Department nationally accredited

While things like tornadoes, flash floods and lightning are the deadliest aspects of severe weather, they all pale by comparison financially when it comes to hail. Each year, insured losses range from 8 to 14 billion dollars. Add in uninsured losses and it is probably almost double that!

As you can imagine, a lot of research is going into hail to try and mitigate as much of that loss as possible. For large fields of wheat, corn and soybeans there isn't much you can do, but better shingles, car ports, glass and body materials can reduce the number to businesses, houses and cars. One of the big research projects is being done by the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS). They have been studying the size, shape, density and hardness of hail across the country since 2012 and are gaining new insight into things that can be done to reduce losses. You may have seen or may encounter some of their field research "chase vans" in the central plains over the last several years (yes, it is possible to get paid to chase storms for large, wealthy companies!). All of their research into hail and other insurance-loss-causing episodes have led to a non-profit website to help homes and businesses prepare for severe weather. <a href="https://disastersafety.org/" target="_blank">DisasterSafety.org&nbsp;</a>is the result of their efforts so far.

Of course, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) has been and will continue researching hail detection, warning and mitigation. Their latest findings can be found at: <a href="https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/research/hail/">NSSL Research: Hail (noaa.gov)</a>

Can you see hail on the radar? Absolutely!

One of the most revolutionary things to come from NSSL research is the implementation of dual polarization radar (called dual pol for short). When you polarize a radar beam into its vertical and horizontal components, it becomes extremely good at differentiating between heavy rain and hailstones. Before dual pol, there were tools that could be used to feel pretty confident that a dark red or purple area on a radar was hail vs. heavy rain, but dual pol makes it a certainty. Why? It all boils down to the shape of a raindrop. Believe it or not, raindrops are NOT tear-shaped like they are almost always depicted (there is a good reason they are depicted that way, but that is for another blog). As raindrops fall, they actually look more like a donut with the hole not fully punched out or a hamburger patty that you have made a dent on both sides in the center to prevent shrinkage while cooking. This means that raindrops are ALWAYS wider than they are tall. Rather significantly so. Hailstones, on the other hand, while almost never perfectly round tumble as they fall, so to a radar beam, they always appear perfectly round! Thus, if you look at the horizontal rays coming back to a radar vs the vertical rays, the horizontal rays will be significantly stronger than the vertical rays in rain, but exactly equal in hail. Pretty ingenious! Meteorologists use this to tell exactly where the rain is turning over to hail at the height of the radar beam. In the image above, the red near Searcy, AR indicates the hail.

It is hard to get your mind around how much money is lost when a 160 acre field of wheat is mowed off by wind-driven hail. Just to give you an idea, all of those square "sections" of land that you see in the country, a mile on each side, are 640 acres. These sections also exist in "newer" portions of cities like Wichita. For example, an area bounded by Central, Tyler, 13th and Ridge is the exact same size as one of those country sections (all of those streets used to be country dirt roads!). So a quarter of that (like the land that Northwest High sits on) is 160 acres. A good field of wheat yields about 60 bushels of wheat per acre. The current price of wheat at an elevator is about $6.51 a bushel. Thus 6.51 x 60 x 160 = $62,496! Now, think about how wide and long a swath of hail under a Kansas thunderstorm can be and the miles and miles of wheat fields you drive past and you can see how this gets very expensive very fast!

One of the most used and most controversial methods of hail mitigation is cloud seeding. While cloud seeding is proven and evident in simple weather situations such as fog suppression over a runway or "hole punching" in a stratus layer of clouds, it becomes much less observable and easy to measure in a system as complex as a supercell thunderstorm. One of the hardest things to know is "would x have happened anyway" with or without seeding? The evidence is strong enough, and the financial losses are large enough that many counties, municipalities and states in the high plains of the US and Canada pay millions of dollars a year, which, even if it reduces hail loss by 1% more than pays for itself. More research is and will be done on just how effective it is, but for now its all we've got, so it will continue to be used. (This, of course, has implications for storm chasers, but that is for another blog.)

So, when the sky grows dark this spring and a thunderstorm moves through without a tornado that "only" produces hail and flooding, remember how many dollars are being lost that would have been fed into the Kansas economy!

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614597771044.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>MARK BOGNERKSStorm.InfoWhile things like tornadoes, flash floods and lightning are the deadliest aspects of severe weather, they all pale by comparison financially when it comes to hail. Each year, insured losses range from 8 to 14 billion dollars. Add in uninsured losses and it is probably almost double that!<h2>Research into Hail Mitigation</h2>As you can imagine, a lot of research is going into hail to try and mitigate as much of that loss as possible. For large fields of wheat, corn and soybeans there isn't much you can do, but better shingles, car ports, glass and body materials can reduce the number to businesses, houses and cars. One of the big research projects is being done by the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS). They have been studying the size, shape, density and hardness of hail across the country since 2012 and are gaining new insight into things that can be done to reduce losses. You may have seen or may encounter some of their field research "chase vans" in the central plains over the last several years (yes, it is possible to get paid to chase storms for large, wealthy companies!). All of their research into hail and other insurance-loss-causing episodes have led to a non-profit website to help homes and businesses prepare for severe weather. <a href="https://disastersafety.org/" target="_blank">DisasterSafety.org&nbsp;</a>is the result of their efforts so far.Of course, the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) has been and will continue researching hail detection, warning and mitigation. Their latest findings can be found at: <a href="https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/research/hail/">NSSL Research: Hail (noaa.gov)</a><figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614944095874.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Can you see hail on the radar? Absolutely!</h2>One of the most revolutionary things to come from NSSL research is the implementation of dual polarization radar (called dual pol for short). When you polarize a radar beam into its vertical and horizontal components, it becomes extremely good at differentiating between heavy rain and hailstones. Before dual pol, there were tools that could be used to feel pretty confident that a dark red or purple area on a radar was hail vs. heavy rain, but dual pol makes it a certainty. Why? It all boils down to the shape of a raindrop. Believe it or not, raindrops are NOT tear-shaped like they are almost always depicted (there is a good reason they are depicted that way, but that is for another blog). As raindrops fall, they actually look more like a donut with the hole not fully punched out or a hamburger patty that you have made a dent on both sides in the center to prevent shrinkage while cooking. This means that raindrops are ALWAYS wider than they are tall. Rather significantly so. Hailstones, on the other hand, while almost never perfectly round tumble as they fall, so to a radar beam, they always appear perfectly round! Thus, if you look at the horizontal rays coming back to a radar vs the vertical rays, the horizontal rays will be significantly stronger than the vertical rays in rain, but exactly equal in hail. Pretty ingenious! Meteorologists use this to tell exactly where the rain is turning over to hail at the height of the radar beam. In the image above, the red near Searcy, AR indicates the hail.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614944136905.jpeg" alt="Photo Credit: Pexels.com" />
 <figcaption>Photo Credit: Pexels.com</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Turning back to crop loss..</h2>It is hard to get your mind around how much money is lost when a 160 acre field of wheat is mowed off by wind-driven hail. Just to give you an idea, all of those square "sections" of land that you see in the country, a mile on each side, are 640 acres. These sections also exist in "newer" portions of cities like Wichita. For example, an area bounded by Central, Tyler, 13th and Ridge is the exact same size as one of those country sections (all of those streets used to be country dirt roads!). So a quarter of that (like the land that Northwest High sits on) is 160 acres. A good field of wheat yields about 60 bushels of wheat per acre. The current price of wheat at an elevator is about $6.51 a bushel. Thus 6.51 x 60 x 160 = $62,496! Now, think about how wide and long a swath of hail under a Kansas thunderstorm can be and the miles and miles of wheat fields you drive past and you can see how this gets very expensive very fast!<div><iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bU4z8ZiX_eA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>One of the most used and most controversial methods of hail mitigation is cloud seeding. While cloud seeding is proven and evident in simple weather situations such as fog suppression over a runway or "hole punching" in a stratus layer of clouds, it becomes much less observable and easy to measure in a system as complex as a supercell thunderstorm. One of the hardest things to know is "would x have happened anyway" with or without seeding? The evidence is strong enough, and the financial losses are large enough that many counties, municipalities and states in the high plains of the US and Canada pay millions of dollars a year, which, even if it reduces hail loss by 1% more than pays for itself. More research is and will be done on just how effective it is, but for now its all we've got, so it will continue to be used. (This, of course, has implications for storm chasers, but that is for another blog.)So, when the sky grows dark this spring and a thunderstorm moves through without a tornado that "only" produces hail and flooding, remember how many dollars are being lost that would have been fed into the Kansas economy!<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614944215773.png" alt="hail_Size_Chart SWAW" />
 <figcaption>hail_Size_Chart SWAW</figcaption>
 </figure>

Aware 2021: The consistent economic damage outperformer of all weather hazards


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
The overall COVID-19 case count in Reno County is at 99 as of Thursday. The death count among Reno County residents is at 138. The last time we were below a hundred active cases overall was September 16. 

Out of 7,715 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 7,478 recoveries. There are 8 clusters still being monitored. The long-term care facility cluster type is down to just three active cases.

No Reno County residents are in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. The last time Reno County went this long without a COVID-19 hospitalization was last summer.

The Positive Test Rate rolling average is at 7.0%, which leaves schools in the yellow for gating criteria for another week.

Drive-thru testing is currently available at the Kansas Cosmosphere at 1100 N Plum in Hutchinson.

The site is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To make an appointment, please visit <a href="https://www.gogettested.com/">www.gogettested.com</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1612523117297.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
The overall COVID-19 case count in Reno County is at 99 as of Thursday. The death count among Reno County residents is at 138. The last time we were below a hundred active cases overall was September 16. Out of 7,715 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 7,478 recoveries. There are 8 clusters still being monitored. The long-term care facility cluster type is down to just three active cases.No Reno County residents are in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. The last time Reno County went this long without a COVID-19 hospitalization was last summer.The Positive Test Rate rolling average is at 7.0%, which leaves schools in the yellow for gating criteria for another week.Drive-thru testing is currently available at the Kansas Cosmosphere at 1100 N Plum in Hutchinson.The site is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To make an appointment, please visit <a href="https://www.gogettested.com/">www.gogettested.com</a>.

Case count below 100 for first time in months, still zero in hospital

WICHITA, KAN. –&nbsp;Gage H. Clausen, 21, of Cheney, Kansas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), Interstate Communication of a Threat.&nbsp; Clausen previously communicated a threat via the internet on the life of a juvenile, according to the United States Attorney's office.

“Gage Clausen threatened serious bodily harm against another person via the Internet,” said&nbsp;Acting&nbsp;U.S. Attorney&nbsp;Duston Slinkard. “His&nbsp;plea of guilty Thursday should send a message that,&nbsp;you cannot&nbsp;hide&nbsp;behind a computer keyboard and make threats against another person with impunity.&nbsp;These&nbsp;threats&nbsp;are&nbsp;taken seriously,&nbsp;they&nbsp;are&nbsp;investigated and&nbsp;people are&nbsp;held accountable.”

Google has several App Engines, none of which are located in the State of Kansas.&nbsp; These engines are located in Iowa, South Carolina, Virginia, Oregon, California, Utah, and Nevada.&nbsp; In order for Clausen’s communication to be received by the victim, the communication would have traveled through one of these engines, thus Clausen’s communication traveled in interstate commerce before reaching the victim.

&nbsp;Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, 2021 at 2:30, before U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes.&nbsp;

WICHITA, KAN. – The FBI investigated a social media threat involving a Kansas man.

As a result of the investigation, Gage H. Clausen, 20, Cheney, Kan., is charged with one count of making a threat via interstate communications, according to the United State's Attorney.&nbsp; The crime is alleged to have occurred June 27, in Cheney, Kansas.

Clausen is alleged to have used social media to send a threat to a 15-year-old student at Derby School. The threat was couched in racist language and referred to the victim as a “filthy farm animal.”

&nbsp;If convicted, Clausen could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1559617734930.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA, KAN. –&nbsp;Gage H. Clausen, 21, of Cheney, Kansas, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), Interstate Communication of a Threat.&nbsp; Clausen previously communicated a threat via the internet on the life of a juvenile, according to the United States Attorney's office.“Gage Clausen threatened serious bodily harm against another person via the Internet,” said&nbsp;Acting&nbsp;U.S. Attorney&nbsp;Duston Slinkard. “His&nbsp;plea of guilty Thursday should send a message that,&nbsp;you cannot&nbsp;hide&nbsp;behind a computer keyboard and make threats against another person with impunity.&nbsp;These&nbsp;threats&nbsp;are&nbsp;taken seriously,&nbsp;they&nbsp;are&nbsp;investigated and&nbsp;people are&nbsp;held accountable.”Google has several App Engines, none of which are located in the State of Kansas.&nbsp; These engines are located in Iowa, South Carolina, Virginia, Oregon, California, Utah, and Nevada.&nbsp; In order for Clausen’s communication to be received by the victim, the communication would have traveled through one of these engines, thus Clausen’s communication traveled in interstate commerce before reaching the victim.&nbsp;Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, 2021 at 2:30, before U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes.&nbsp;------------WICHITA, KAN. – The FBI investigated a social media threat involving a Kansas man.As a result of the investigation, Gage H. Clausen, 20, Cheney, Kan., is charged with one count of making a threat via interstate communications, according to the United State's Attorney.&nbsp; The crime is alleged to have occurred June 27, in Cheney, Kansas.Clausen is alleged to have used social media to send a threat to a 15-year-old student at Derby School. The threat was couched in racist language and referred to the victim as a “filthy farm animal.”&nbsp;If convicted, Clausen could face up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Man from Cheney admits using social media to threaten teen

LANGDON,
Kan. —For the second year in a row, Fairfield USD #310 has captured the Commissioner’s Award with Highest Distinction, the highest honor awarded by the Kansas State Department of Education. Fairfield was awarded this honor for its students' sustained Post Secondary success over a five year period, or in other words, the percentage of students who go on to finish some type of secondary training. It could be college or gaining certification in a technical field.&nbsp;

“Fairfield USD 310 Post Secondary Effectiveness was outperforming by two standard deviations, or about 25% higher, said Kansas Commissioner of Education Randy Watson to the USD #310 Board of Education on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. This award, calculated after the 2020 school year, is only being awarded to four districts across the entire state of Kansas. Dr. Watson also presented Fairfield with a Bronze Star Award for exceeding the state average in Post Secondary success. Also presenting the award was Kansas State Board of Education member Ben Jones of Sterling.&nbsp;

Based on each district’s attendance rate, mobility of students, poverty level, and the number of years consistently in poverty, every district has its own established predicted rate of success. Scoring above that rate takes concentrated effort and attention to the needs of students. “Scoring two standard deviations above that rate is a really big deal,” commented Commissioner Watson. “It means you are doing remarkably better than those risk factors would indicate,” he said.

The&nbsp; Commissioner’s Award of Highest Distinction represents a community-wide accomplishment. Superintendent Betsy McKinney said, “This has only been possible because of the combined efforts of families, students, teachers, school employees, and community members. We have all worked together to help our students&nbsp; achieve their post-secondary goals. Right at the heart of this is a dedicated staff who truly cares about our students.” This award covers a five year period, so FHS graduates as far back as 2014 are included in the data.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614942064660.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>LANGDON,
Kan. —For the second year in a row, Fairfield USD #310 has captured the Commissioner’s Award with Highest Distinction, the highest honor awarded by the Kansas State Department of Education. Fairfield was awarded this honor for its students' sustained Post Secondary success over a five year period, or in other words, the percentage of students who go on to finish some type of secondary training. It could be college or gaining certification in a technical field.&nbsp;“Fairfield USD 310 Post Secondary Effectiveness was outperforming by two standard deviations, or about 25% higher, said Kansas Commissioner of Education Randy Watson to the USD #310 Board of Education on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. This award, calculated after the 2020 school year, is only being awarded to four districts across the entire state of Kansas. Dr. Watson also presented Fairfield with a Bronze Star Award for exceeding the state average in Post Secondary success. Also presenting the award was Kansas State Board of Education member Ben Jones of Sterling.&nbsp;Based on each district’s attendance rate, mobility of students, poverty level, and the number of years consistently in poverty, every district has its own established predicted rate of success. Scoring above that rate takes concentrated effort and attention to the needs of students. “Scoring two standard deviations above that rate is a really big deal,” commented Commissioner Watson. “It means you are doing remarkably better than those risk factors would indicate,” he said.The&nbsp; Commissioner’s Award of Highest Distinction represents a community-wide accomplishment. Superintendent Betsy McKinney said, “This has only been possible because of the combined efforts of families, students, teachers, school employees, and community members. We have all worked together to help our students&nbsp; achieve their post-secondary goals. Right at the heart of this is a dedicated staff who truly cares about our students.” This award covers a five year period, so FHS graduates as far back as 2014 are included in the data.

Fairfield USD 310 wins Commissioner's Award for second straight year

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 will offer the ACT test to all juniors who applied for it on Tuesday, March 9, at Hutchinson High School. Because of the resources needed for the test, no other HHS students will be in class on Tuesday. All other schools will be on a regular schedule.

At HHS, 246 juniors signed up for the test. Juniors taking the test should arrive at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. The test will take three hours and three minutes. Test subjects will be English, math, reading and science.

All Kansas high school juniors are eligible to sign up for the ACT test. The ACT test gauges a student's readiness for success in the first year of college. The test provides standardized data on student achievement and readiness.

<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile&nbsp;app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/11/1574794748723.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 will offer the ACT test to all juniors who applied for it on Tuesday, March 9, at Hutchinson High School. Because of the resources needed for the test, no other HHS students will be in class on Tuesday. All other schools will be on a regular schedule.At HHS, 246 juniors signed up for the test. Juniors taking the test should arrive at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. The test will take three hours and three minutes. Test subjects will be English, math, reading and science.All Kansas high school juniors are eligible to sign up for the ACT test. The ACT test gauges a student's readiness for success in the first year of college. The test provides standardized data on student achievement and readiness.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile&nbsp;app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

ACT testing for HHS students is March 9

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The level of the Equus Beds aquifer fell system-wide in 2020. That’s according to the numbers from the Groundwater Management District in Halstead.&nbsp;

“It looks like we’re down about two feet on average across the district,” General Manager Tim Boese said. “Of course that varies from maybe some slight rises to larger declines of three or four feet.”

Boese says the drop could have been caused by a dry growing season and the lack of rain in the fall months.

“I think it was dry, particularly during the growing season . . . I think the irrigation use was probably going to be up some,” Boese said. “We really didn’t get the timely rainfalls when we needed them.”

Still, the fall off is not alarming to Boese, who says that, in most areas, the rise and fall of the aquifer has been cyclical. He gave an example of a well they test regularly.

“This particular well, we do measure it and it was down about three and a half to four feet,” Boese said. “But long term, going back to 1957, it’s within a couple of feet of where it started in 1957.”&nbsp;

Boese says, unless things get really dry, he doesn’t foresee any water or well problems for farmers or rural residents.

<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/1/1611765385820.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ROD ZOOKHutch PostHUTCHINSON, Kan. — The level of the Equus Beds aquifer fell system-wide in 2020. That’s according to the numbers from the Groundwater Management District in Halstead.&nbsp;“It looks like we’re down about two feet on average across the district,” General Manager Tim Boese said. “Of course that varies from maybe some slight rises to larger declines of three or four feet.”Boese says the drop could have been caused by a dry growing season and the lack of rain in the fall months.“I think it was dry, particularly during the growing season . . . I think the irrigation use was probably going to be up some,” Boese said. “We really didn’t get the timely rainfalls when we needed them.”Still, the fall off is not alarming to Boese, who says that, in most areas, the rise and fall of the aquifer has been cyclical. He gave an example of a well they test regularly.“This particular well, we do measure it and it was down about three and a half to four feet,” Boese said. “But long term, going back to 1957, it’s within a couple of feet of where it started in 1957.”&nbsp;Boese says, unless things get really dry, he doesn’t foresee any water or well problems for farmers or rural residents.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;

Water levels for Equus Beds fall in 2020

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Quivira Wildlife Refuge says the usual spring migration of whooping cranes could begin by the end of March.&nbsp;

“We’ve had a lot of birds come in the last couple of weeks, back from the south,” Mike Oldham, Wildlife Refuge Manager for Quivira, said. “They got caught during this colder weather, so they hung around . . . but no whoopers yet.”

Oldham says that, while none of the rare birds have made their way to Quivira yet, it has still been a very busy stop over for birds this winter.

“I think we’ve held between five and seven thousand sandhill cranes on Quivira all winter long, which is kind of unheard of,'' Oldham said. “The good thing is we’re starting to see species coming back from the south and I would really fully suspect that we’re going to have whoopers coming back maybe later on this month.”

The population of the endangered birds continues to grow. When Oldham came to Quivira, the whooping crane population was around 350 birds. While no count was conducted due to COVID, the 2019 count showed the bird population had grown to 505.

Most, if not all, of the cranes' nesting takes place in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada during the summer before they make their fall migration through Kansas.

<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/12/1609095459523.jpg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ROD ZOOKHutch PostHUTCHINSON, Kan. — Quivira Wildlife Refuge says the usual spring migration of whooping cranes could begin by the end of March.&nbsp;“We’ve had a lot of birds come in the last couple of weeks, back from the south,” Mike Oldham, Wildlife Refuge Manager for Quivira, said. “They got caught during this colder weather, so they hung around . . . but no whoopers yet.”Oldham says that, while none of the rare birds have made their way to Quivira yet, it has still been a very busy stop over for birds this winter.“I think we’ve held between five and seven thousand sandhill cranes on Quivira all winter long, which is kind of unheard of,'' Oldham said. “The good thing is we’re starting to see species coming back from the south and I would really fully suspect that we’re going to have whoopers coming back maybe later on this month.”The population of the endangered birds continues to grow. When Oldham came to Quivira, the whooping crane population was around 350 birds. While no count was conducted due to COVID, the 2019 count showed the bird population had grown to 505.Most, if not all, of the cranes' nesting takes place in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada during the summer before they make their fall migration through Kansas.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lots of birds at Quivira, but no whoopers yet


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Lisa Radi with the Delos V. Smith Senior Citizens Center at 101 West 1st Avenue is planning for that facility to reopen in a few weeks.

"We are planning on reopening on Monday, April 5," Radi said. "We are picking up some of the activities that we were not previously doing because of COVID. We're going to take some extra precautions."

That will include wearing masks and instructing attendees on frequent handwashing with sanitizer.

"We waited until April 5 to give the opportunity for our participants age 65 and older down here to get the vaccine and to have it be effective. That's one of the reasons we decided to wait until April 5."

The Center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Their phone number is (620) 662-0111.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1605269494476.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Lisa Radi with the Delos V. Smith Senior Citizens Center at 101 West 1st Avenue is planning for that facility to reopen in a few weeks."We are planning on reopening on Monday, April 5," Radi said. "We are picking up some of the activities that we were not previously doing because of COVID. We're going to take some extra precautions."That will include wearing masks and instructing attendees on frequent handwashing with sanitizer."We waited until April 5 to give the opportunity for our participants age 65 and older down here to get the vaccine and to have it be effective. That's one of the reasons we decided to wait until April 5."The Center will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Their phone number is (620) 662-0111.

Delos V. Smith Senior Citizen Center to reopen April 5

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Police took a Hutchinson man into custody Wednesday evening on drug distribution charges stemming from a search of his home last month.

Maurice Miles Jr. was taken into custody on a warrant for drug possession and paraphernalia charges. He was also arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting.

The Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant on Miles' residence at 724 W. 1st on Feb. 23. Miles was not at home, but the DEU found drugs and paraphernalia along with photocopied currency. Authorities arrested Richard Warren, Sean Clark, Anthoney Everhart and John Nelson at the residence.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Miles is being held on a bond of $100,000. Formal charges should be filed in the coming days.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595361520035.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Police took a Hutchinson man into custody Wednesday evening on drug distribution charges stemming from a search of his home last month.Maurice Miles Jr. was taken into custody on a warrant for drug possession and paraphernalia charges. He was also arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting.The Drug Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant on Miles' residence at 724 W. 1st on Feb. 23. Miles was not at home, but the DEU found drugs and paraphernalia along with photocopied currency. Authorities arrested Richard Warren, Sean Clark, Anthoney Everhart and John Nelson at the residence.&nbsp;&nbsp;Miles is being held on a bond of $100,000. Formal charges should be filed in the coming days.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile&nbsp;app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Police arrest 5th in drug distribution case

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (March 4, 2021) – Hutchinson Clinic is excited to share they have received a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Tomorrow, March 5, the Clinic is hosting a vaccine clinic to distribute the supply to those in the community ages 65 and up.

Individuals who are 65+ and wish to receive their first round of the COVID-19 vaccine should call 620-669-2500 to schedule an appointment during the Clinic’s operating hours. The appointments are first come, first serve.

The supply includes both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Note that if you are currently scheduled to receive a vaccine by another provider or Reno County Health Department, please keep that appointment to allow others access.

Distribution will take place at the 2101 N. Waldron location in the 2107 Building. Please make sure to wear your mask! 

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614873603072.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. (March 4, 2021) – Hutchinson Clinic is excited to share they have received a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Tomorrow, March 5, the Clinic is hosting a vaccine clinic to distribute the supply to those in the community ages 65 and up.Individuals who are 65+ and wish to receive their first round of the COVID-19 vaccine should call 620-669-2500 to schedule an appointment during the Clinic’s operating hours. The appointments are first come, first serve.The supply includes both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Note that if you are currently scheduled to receive a vaccine by another provider or Reno County Health Department, please keep that appointment to allow others access.Distribution will take place at the 2101 N. Waldron location in the 2107 Building. Please make sure to wear your mask!

Hutchinson Clinic holding COVID-19 vaccination event Friday

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kroger closed out the earnings session with a strong fourth quarter report released before the bell Thursday.

Total sales for the parent company of Dillons totaled $30.7 billion compared $28.9 billion in 2019. The company had to pay out $989 million to its pension fund which drove its operating margin to a $158 million loss for the quarter. Without the one time charge the company saw a profit of $837 million.

"I am incredibly humbled by the strength of our associates and what we continue to accomplish together. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we will continue to serve them as we have since the beginning of the pandemic, through our leadership in food and as a health partner, providing COVID-19 testing and vaccines,” said CEO Rodney McMullen.

"Kroger continued to grow market share during the quarter. Our ability to meet our customers' evolving needs is a testament to our deep competitive moats, disciplined investments in our increasingly robust digital capabilities, as well as our associates' relentless focus on our customers. We finished fiscal year 2020 with strong sales and earnings, as heightened demand for fresh, convenient food and meal solutions across modalities, including in store, pick up and home delivery, continued throughout the fourth quarter.

"Supported by our strong performance and cash position, we were pleased to commit more than $2.5 billion to safeguard the environment our associates and customers work and shop in and to reward associates, including nearly $1 billion to better secure pensions."

For the year the grocery giant saw total sales for the year of $132 billion compared with $122 billion in 2019.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/3/1584040619502.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kroger closed out the earnings session with a strong fourth quarter report released before the bell Thursday.Total sales for the parent company of Dillons totaled $30.7 billion compared $28.9 billion in 2019. The company had to pay out $989 million to its pension fund which drove its operating margin to a $158 million loss for the quarter. Without the one time charge the company saw a profit of $837 million."I am incredibly humbled by the strength of our associates and what we continue to accomplish together. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we will continue to serve them as we have since the beginning of the pandemic, through our leadership in food and as a health partner, providing COVID-19 testing and vaccines,” said CEO Rodney McMullen."Kroger continued to grow market share during the quarter. Our ability to meet our customers' evolving needs is a testament to our deep competitive moats, disciplined investments in our increasingly robust digital capabilities, as well as our associates' relentless focus on our customers. We finished fiscal year 2020 with strong sales and earnings, as heightened demand for fresh, convenient food and meal solutions across modalities, including in store, pick up and home delivery, continued throughout the fourth quarter."Supported by our strong performance and cash position, we were pleased to commit more than $2.5 billion to safeguard the environment our associates and customers work and shop in and to reward associates, including nearly $1 billion to better secure pensions."For the year the grocery giant saw total sales for the year of $132 billion compared with $122 billion in 2019.

Kroger releases 4Q report


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — Hutchinson Police Chief Jeff Hooper gave a report to the City Council this week on the park patrol.

"We started the park patrol, security patrol, basically January 1," Hooper said. "In January, just the park patrol units themselves spent about 56 hours in the parks. Over 20 of those hours were specifically in Orchard Park. Only one issue was discovered in Orchard Park and it was a pickup truck driving recklessly in the area and park patrol called for a police unit to respond and they did and we were able to get that person stopped."

Last month, they weren't up there as much.

"In February, those hours were basically cut in half because of the cold spell that we had," Hooper said. "We spent a little over 20 hours in our parks during the month of February. We did have one incident up at Orchard Park specifically with about a dozen cars parked up there, but they weren't doing anything. They were just kind of hanging out, talking. You know that we've had that car group that's been up there."

The hard part is striking the balance between figuring out what could result in potential damage or problems and what is acceptable activity among groups, because you want the public to be able to use the park, as long as they don't abuse it.

"We patrol the parks a minimum of four hours a night Sunday through Thursday with one person and one patrol," Hooper said. "On Fridays and Saturday nights we expand those hours to anywhere between 6 and 8 hours we have two patrols out during those times."

Hooper said they would evaluate if they need to expand the hours as the weather warms up. This is separate from any work done in the parks by police themselves.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1600185708110.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>
By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — Hutchinson Police Chief Jeff Hooper gave a report to the City Council this week on the park patrol."We started the park patrol, security patrol, basically January 1," Hooper said. "In January, just the park patrol units themselves spent about 56 hours in the parks. Over 20 of those hours were specifically in Orchard Park. Only one issue was discovered in Orchard Park and it was a pickup truck driving recklessly in the area and park patrol called for a police unit to respond and they did and we were able to get that person stopped."Last month, they weren't up there as much."In February, those hours were basically cut in half because of the cold spell that we had," Hooper said. "We spent a little over 20 hours in our parks during the month of February. We did have one incident up at Orchard Park specifically with about a dozen cars parked up there, but they weren't doing anything. They were just kind of hanging out, talking. You know that we've had that car group that's been up there."The hard part is striking the balance between figuring out what could result in potential damage or problems and what is acceptable activity among groups, because you want the public to be able to use the park, as long as they don't abuse it."We patrol the parks a minimum of four hours a night Sunday through Thursday with one person and one patrol," Hooper said. "On Fridays and Saturday nights we expand those hours to anywhere between 6 and 8 hours we have two patrols out during those times."Hooper said they would evaluate if they need to expand the hours as the weather warms up. This is separate from any work done in the parks by police themselves.

Hooper: Park patrol off to good start

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Driven by pleas from desperate local officials, Kansas legislators on Wednesday quickly created a state low-interest loan program to help cities cover spikes in costs associated with providing heat and electricity to their residents during last month’s intense cold snap.

Lawmakers sent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/supp_note_sb88_01_0000.pdf" target="_blank">a bill</a>&nbsp;that would allow the state to loan out $100 million of its idle funds immediately to cities that operate their own electric and natural gas utilities, to cover “extraordinary” energy costs last month. Cities would have up to 10 years to pay off the loans.

The bill was introduced Tuesday, had a hearing, cleared a House committee Wednesday morning and passed the House less than two hours later,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/vote_view/je_20210303113520_567345/" target="_blank">124-0.</a>&nbsp;The Senate approved it,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/vote_view/je_20210303155357_970568/" target="_blank">37-1,</a>&nbsp;in the afternoon, and Kelly promised to sign it immediately.

“This loan program is very important to our cities,” Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference. “It gives them the immediate relief they need to avoid dire financial decisions while we pursue other, long-term solutions.”

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/www.apnews.com/ca8d4314b7f7d7d763325b79d4963305" target="_blank">Subzero temperatures</a>&nbsp;in mid-February led to a big spike in demand for natural gas, and other problems, such as freezing equipment, made gas hard to obtain, causing prices to jump. That left dozens of cities in Kansas with big energy bills that are coming due, and advocates of the bill said some could face bankruptcy without help.

The city of Denison, with about 190 residents 40 miles north of Topeka, has been billed about $241,000 for gas in February, when its bill last year was about $4,100, City Clerk Yvonne Hamer told the House committee&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_37_testimony.html" target="_blank">in written testimony.&nbsp;</a>She said that without help, the city will “go under” after 134 years.

“Now I am fearful that I will have to close my doors if the city has to pass on the outrageous gas prices which were incurred in February,” Samantha Correll, who purchased the Finer Than A Frog Hair Bar &amp; Grill in Denison, said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_38_testimony.html" target="_blank">in a statement</a>&nbsp;to the committee.

Lawmakers were concentrating first on helping cities operating their own utilities because they’ve already received one round of bills from the cold snap and have another round coming due. Kimberly Gencur Svaty, a lobbyist for municipal utilities, said many of those cities tapped out available funds to cover the first round.

Fifty-three cities provide natural gas to their residents for heat, and 118 operate their own electric utilities — some of which also use natural gas to generate power. Svaty said within a week, gas prices spiked at as much as 200 times what cities had been paying.

She said cities operating their own utilities face “an immediate financial crisis” because Great Depression-era laws aimed at stabilizing their finances greatly limit their ability to borrow money. Without help, she and other supporters said, those cities face imposing huge, short-term increases in customers’ bills, when loans would allow them to “smooth out” the extra costs over time.

Svaty also said that if cities can’t pay their gas bills, they risk being excluded from the market, which would leave some of them unable to supply their residents.

“This is something you can do right here right now that will literally make a difference in the lives of people in the next week to 10 days,” Svaty said.

In Argonia, a town of around 500 people about 50 miles southwest of Wichita, the city expects a bill of more than $500,000 from February when its typical monthly cost is $9,000, according to City Clerk Tara Pierce.

“This extreme cost could break us,” she said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_32_testimony.html" target="_blank">in testimony</a>&nbsp;to the House committee.

In the House, Democratic Rep. Henry Helgerson, of Wichita, worried that the state would be on the hook if a city defaulted on a loan but voted for the bill.

The only no vote in either chamber came from freshman Republican Sen. Alicia Straub, of Ellinwood. She said allowing cities to take out low-interest loans is “acknowledging that somehow the consumer was at fault for this.”

“I don’t feel that the consumer is at fault, and I don’t feel that the consumer should have to pay this in any way,” she said.

But Chris Komarek, the city administrator in Straub’s central Kansas hometown of 2,100 residents, had urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying in written testimony that it was “huge to the survival of communities across the state of Kansas.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/3/1614869274133.png" alt="“This loan program is very important to our cities,” Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference Wednesday.&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>“This loan program is very important to our cities,” Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference Wednesday.&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Driven by pleas from desperate local officials, Kansas legislators on Wednesday quickly created a state low-interest loan program to help cities cover spikes in costs associated with providing heat and electricity to their residents during last month’s intense cold snap.Lawmakers sent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/documents/supp_note_sb88_01_0000.pdf" target="_blank">a bill</a>&nbsp;that would allow the state to loan out $100 million of its idle funds immediately to cities that operate their own electric and natural gas utilities, to cover “extraordinary” energy costs last month. Cities would have up to 10 years to pay off the loans.The bill was introduced Tuesday, had a hearing, cleared a House committee Wednesday morning and passed the House less than two hours later,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/vote_view/je_20210303113520_567345/" target="_blank">124-0.</a>&nbsp;The Senate approved it,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/vote_view/je_20210303155357_970568/" target="_blank">37-1,</a>&nbsp;in the afternoon, and Kelly promised to sign it immediately.“This loan program is very important to our cities,” Kelly said during a Statehouse news conference. “It gives them the immediate relief they need to avoid dire financial decisions while we pursue other, long-term solutions.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/2/1613863213415.jpg" alt="" />
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 </figure><a href="https://apnews.com/article/www.apnews.com/ca8d4314b7f7d7d763325b79d4963305" target="_blank">Subzero temperatures</a>&nbsp;in mid-February led to a big spike in demand for natural gas, and other problems, such as freezing equipment, made gas hard to obtain, causing prices to jump. That left dozens of cities in Kansas with big energy bills that are coming due, and advocates of the bill said some could face bankruptcy without help.The city of Denison, with about 190 residents 40 miles north of Topeka, has been billed about $241,000 for gas in February, when its bill last year was about $4,100, City Clerk Yvonne Hamer told the House committee&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_37_testimony.html" target="_blank">in written testimony.&nbsp;</a>She said that without help, the city will “go under” after 134 years.“Now I am fearful that I will have to close my doors if the city has to pass on the outrageous gas prices which were incurred in February,” Samantha Correll, who purchased the Finer Than A Frog Hair Bar &amp; Grill in Denison, said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_38_testimony.html" target="_blank">in a statement</a>&nbsp;to the committee.Lawmakers were concentrating first on helping cities operating their own utilities because they’ve already received one round of bills from the cold snap and have another round coming due. Kimberly Gencur Svaty, a lobbyist for municipal utilities, said many of those cities tapped out available funds to cover the first round.Fifty-three cities provide natural gas to their residents for heat, and 118 operate their own electric utilities — some of which also use natural gas to generate power. Svaty said within a week, gas prices spiked at as much as 200 times what cities had been paying.She said cities operating their own utilities face “an immediate financial crisis” because Great Depression-era laws aimed at stabilizing their finances greatly limit their ability to borrow money. Without help, she and other supporters said, those cities face imposing huge, short-term increases in customers’ bills, when loans would allow them to “smooth out” the extra costs over time.Svaty also said that if cities can’t pay their gas bills, they risk being excluded from the market, which would leave some of them unable to supply their residents.“This is something you can do right here right now that will literally make a difference in the lives of people in the next week to 10 days,” Svaty said.In Argonia, a town of around 500 people about 50 miles southwest of Wichita, the city expects a bill of more than $500,000 from February when its typical monthly cost is $9,000, according to City Clerk Tara Pierce.“This extreme cost could break us,” she said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/committees/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1/misc_documents/download_testimony/ctte_h_financial_institutions_and_rural_developm_1_20210303_32_testimony.html" target="_blank">in testimony</a>&nbsp;to the House committee.In the House, Democratic Rep. Henry Helgerson, of Wichita, worried that the state would be on the hook if a city defaulted on a loan but voted for the bill.The only no vote in either chamber came from freshman Republican Sen. Alicia Straub, of Ellinwood. She said allowing cities to take out low-interest loans is “acknowledging that somehow the consumer was at fault for this.”“I don’t feel that the consumer is at fault, and I don’t feel that the consumer should have to pay this in any way,” she said.But Chris Komarek, the city administrator in Straub’s central Kansas hometown of 2,100 residents, had urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying in written testimony that it was “huge to the survival of communities across the state of Kansas.”____

Kansas to loan up to $100M to cities with huge energy costs


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
The overall COVID-19 case count in Reno County is at 107 as of Wednesday. The death count among Reno County residents is at 138. 

Out of 7,715 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 7,470 recoveries. There are 14 clusters still being monitored. The long-term care facility cluster type is down to just eight active cases.

No Reno County residents are in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. In fact, the seven-day total on new admissions looking back to February 24 is also at 0. The last time that happened before this was looking back to September.

The site is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To make an appointment, please visit www.gogettested.com.

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HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
The overall COVID-19 case count in Reno County is at 107 as of Wednesday. The death count among Reno County residents is at 138. Out of 7,715 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 7,470 recoveries. There are 14 clusters still being monitored. The long-term care facility cluster type is down to just eight active cases.No Reno County residents are in the hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday afternoon. In fact, the seven-day total on new admissions looking back to February 24 is also at 0. The last time that happened before this was looking back to September.Drive-thru testing is currently available at the Kansas Cosmosphere at 1100 N Plum in Hutchinson.The site is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. To make an appointment, please visit www.gogettested.com.

Case count at 107 as of Wednesday, seven-day hospital admissions also at zero

Reno County seniors need to sign up for their COVID-19 shots and what exactly is a derecho? That and more from Hutch Post.

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 </figure>Reno County seniors need to sign up for their COVID-19 shots and what exactly is a derecho? That and more from Hutch Post.<div><iframe title="March 4, 2021 Morning News" height="122" width="100%" style="border: none;" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/media/player/6rbxt-fc9992?from=pb6admin&download=1&version=1&auto=0&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Helvetica&skin=1&pfauth=&btn-skin=107"></iframe></div>

March 4, 2021 Morning News


HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Reno County Commissioner Ron Sellers wants to see just a few more shots completed before he's ready to change the county's mask ordinance.

"Hospitalizations are way, way down," Sellers said. "Cases are down. We're getting to the point that more and more people are vaccinated. I feel like, personally, when we get our essential workers vaccinated, which is the group that they're working on at this present time, we'll probably be in a position to lift the mask ordinance."

Sellers recognizes he's not the only one making the decision, though.

"My fellow commissioners are probably wanting it lifted a couple weeks earlier than I would vote for," Sellers said. "At our county commission, there's three commissioners and it takes two votes. If you have two votes, that's what's probably going to happen."

The commission will take up the issue March 30.

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By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch
Post
HUTCHINSON,
Kan. — 
Reno County Commissioner Ron Sellers wants to see just a few more shots completed before he's ready to change the county's mask ordinance."Hospitalizations are way, way down," Sellers said. "Cases are down. We're getting to the point that more and more people are vaccinated. I feel like, personally, when we get our essential workers vaccinated, which is the group that they're working on at this present time, we'll probably be in a position to lift the mask ordinance."Sellers recognizes he's not the only one making the decision, though."My fellow commissioners are probably wanting it lifted a couple weeks earlier than I would vote for," Sellers said. "At our county commission, there's three commissioners and it takes two votes. If you have two votes, that's what's probably going to happen."The commission will take up the issue March 30.

Sellers: Mask mandate likely to be lifted later in the month

Monday, August 10, 2020 started as just another "normal" Monday for the folks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Amidst the daily hustle and bustle, the corn was nearing full maturity, and students were preparing to start socially distanced classes at the height of a global pandemic.

Nick Stewart, a meteorologist for Iowa's News Now in Cedar Rapids, watched the weather late Sunday evening into Monday morning. A complex of storms developed in eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota and had made its way to the Missouri River by the early hours of Monday morning. Stewart was awakened by his weather radio 20 minutes before his alarm was scheduled to go off, confirming what he already knew.

"I didn't even have to look at the radar, I knew the complex survived," Stewart said. "Looking out the window seeing it was bright and sunny in Cedar Rapids, I knew we were going to have big problems later that day."

During the late morning, Stewart and his photographer headed out in the station's chase vehicle to intercept the storm in the far western portion of their viewing area.

"As we're driving west, it didn't seem anything more extreme than we've chased in the past," Stewart said. "It wasn't until it moved into our far western county where we had a measured wind gust of 106 mph. So then, it became 'we're not talking 80-90, now we're talking 90-100.'"

Stewart says once they got out into the open, they tried to position themselves in the most open position possible to stay away from flying debris.

As the winds hit Stewart's position, about 20 minutes west of Cedar Falls, they quickly ramped up. Before they had to quit broadcasting to preserve the camera equipment inside the vehicle, Stewart's chase vehicle had two windows blown out.

"I took my jacket off and I was holding it up to one of the windows, trying to keep out as much water as possible," Stewart said. "I thought this might last five, ten minutes -- even derechos, they don't last that long -- we were talking wind gusts of 70-90 mph for more than 45 minutes. Finally, at one point, the wind calms down, I put my hands in my face to catch my breath and they were warm to the touch. I looked down and they were covered in blood. Shards of glass were cutting my hand for 45 minutes."

Stewart measured 99 mph winds at their location before they shut down the equipment and estimates at the height of the storm, winds were near 130 mph. Winds of 126 mph were reported a handful of miles from where he and his photographer rode out the storm and says the winds pushed their vehicle up the road six to eight inches. The National Weather Service estimated winds gusted to 140 mph in the southwest portion of Cedar Rapids.

The event was enough to give Stewart, a seasoned chaser who tracks tornadoes and severe weather across the Plains during the spring, nightmares.

"Being somebody who loves weather, I have never had nightmares about the weather," Stewart said. "But for about a week after the storm, this howling sound that was almost like someone yelling or screaming at you, it had a deafening, high-pitched moan to it, that sound would play in almost every dream I had at night. It's a sound I'll never forget, a horrible, horrible sound."

Once the storm cleared, the humanitarian crisis began to unfold. With the pandemic continuing, authorities were telling people who had been apart, to live together in areas where no ventilation existed.

Stewart says the event was largely unknown to the rest of the country for days due to other news events, which slowed the delivery of resources to the area.

"We were almost on our own for a few days after the event," Stewart said. "People were trying to do what they had to do."

The one thing Stewart says helped the area the most was the slower hurricane season at the time of the derecho.

"If this happened a few weeks later, we would have been dealing with power outage issues probably for much, much longer," Stewart said. "We had [electrical] contractors coming in from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, places that were badly hit a few weeks later."

The remainder of August was dry and unseasonably cool for the area, a big help to those who needed to repair their roofs.

In light of not only the derecho last August but the incredible cold of last month, Stewart stresses the public is extremely vulnerable to high-impact weather events. He recommends having a two-week supply of food, water, and medications -- the standard disaster supply kit. A generator is not a bad investment in times of severe wind storms, ice storms, or unexpected power outages. During the downtime, take a look around your yard for things that could be a problem, such as old trees.

Most importantly, make sure your insurance coverage is up-to-date, and you have enough coverage for your home and its contents. If you're renting, renter's insurance is vital since insurance will cover most losses.

Finally, Stewart emphasizes the importance of having multiple ways to receive severe thunderstorm, tornado, or flash flood warnings during an event. He says the storm knocked out weather radio transmission to the Cedar Rapids area 10 minutes before the storm hit.

The August 10, 2020 derecho tracked 770 miles in 14 hours and was the costliest severe thunderstorm in United States history, totaling at least 11 billion dollars. Power was knocked out to 585,000 customers in Iowa (nearly two million people). 20 percent of Iowa's cropland -- corn and soybeans -- were damaged in the storm. In Cedar Rapids, the storm destroyed 65-70 percent of the trees, and public works crews cleaned up nearly three million cubic yards of debris.

The storm killed four people, and hundreds more were injured.

<figure>
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 </figure>MATT HARDINGKSStorm.InfoMonday, August 10, 2020 started as just another "normal" Monday for the folks in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Amidst the daily hustle and bustle, the corn was nearing full maturity, and students were preparing to start socially distanced classes at the height of a global pandemic.Nick Stewart, a meteorologist for Iowa's News Now in Cedar Rapids, watched the weather late Sunday evening into Monday morning. A complex of storms developed in eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota and had made its way to the Missouri River by the early hours of Monday morning. Stewart was awakened by his weather radio 20 minutes before his alarm was scheduled to go off, confirming what he already knew."I didn't even have to look at the radar, I knew the complex survived," Stewart said. "Looking out the window seeing it was bright and sunny in Cedar Rapids, I knew we were going to have big problems later that day."During the late morning, Stewart and his photographer headed out in the station's chase vehicle to intercept the storm in the far western portion of their viewing area."As we're driving west, it didn't seem anything more extreme than we've chased in the past," Stewart said. "It wasn't until it moved into our far western county where we had a measured wind gust of 106 mph. So then, it became 'we're not talking 80-90, now we're talking 90-100.'"Stewart says once they got out into the open, they tried to position themselves in the most open position possible to stay away from flying debris.As the winds hit Stewart's position, about 20 minutes west of Cedar Falls, they quickly ramped up. Before they had to quit broadcasting to preserve the camera equipment inside the vehicle, Stewart's chase vehicle had two windows blown out."I took my jacket off and I was holding it up to one of the windows, trying to keep out as much water as possible," Stewart said. "I thought this might last five, ten minutes -- even derechos, they don't last that long -- we were talking wind gusts of 70-90 mph for more than 45 minutes. Finally, at one point, the wind calms down, I put my hands in my face to catch my breath and they were warm to the touch. I looked down and they were covered in blood. Shards of glass were cutting my hand for 45 minutes."Stewart measured 99 mph winds at their location before they shut down the equipment and estimates at the height of the storm, winds were near 130 mph. Winds of 126 mph were reported a handful of miles from where he and his photographer rode out the storm and says the winds pushed their vehicle up the road six to eight inches. The National Weather Service estimated winds gusted to 140 mph in the southwest portion of Cedar Rapids.The event was enough to give Stewart, a seasoned chaser who tracks tornadoes and severe weather across the Plains during the spring, nightmares."Being somebody who loves weather, I have never had nightmares about the weather," Stewart said. "But for about a week after the storm, this howling sound that was almost like someone yelling or screaming at you, it had a deafening, high-pitched moan to it, that sound would play in almost every dream I had at night. It's a sound I'll never forget, a horrible, horrible sound."Once the storm cleared, the humanitarian crisis began to unfold. With the pandemic continuing, authorities were telling people who had been apart, to live together in areas where no ventilation existed.Stewart says the event was largely unknown to the rest of the country for days due to other news events, which slowed the delivery of resources to the area."We were almost on our own for a few days after the event," Stewart said. "People were trying to do what they had to do."The one thing Stewart says helped the area the most was the slower hurricane season at the time of the derecho."If this happened a few weeks later, we would have been dealing with power outage issues probably for much, much longer," Stewart said. "We had [electrical] contractors coming in from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, places that were badly hit a few weeks later."The remainder of August was dry and unseasonably cool for the area, a big help to those who needed to repair their roofs.In light of not only the derecho last August but the incredible cold of last month, Stewart stresses the public is extremely vulnerable to high-impact weather events. He recommends having a two-week supply of food, water, and medications -- the standard disaster supply kit. A generator is not a bad investment in times of severe wind storms, ice storms, or unexpected power outages. During the downtime, take a look around your yard for things that could be a problem, such as old trees.Most importantly, make sure your insurance coverage is up-to-date, and you have enough coverage for your home and its contents. If you're renting, renter's insurance is vital since insurance will cover most losses.Finally, Stewart emphasizes the importance of having multiple ways to receive severe thunderstorm, tornado, or flash flood warnings during an event. He says the storm knocked out weather radio transmission to the Cedar Rapids area 10 minutes before the storm hit.The August 10, 2020 derecho tracked 770 miles in 14 hours and was the costliest severe thunderstorm in United States history, totaling at least 11 billion dollars. Power was knocked out to 585,000 customers in Iowa (nearly two million people). 20 percent of Iowa's cropland -- corn and soybeans -- were damaged in the storm. In Cedar Rapids, the storm destroyed 65-70 percent of the trees, and public works crews cleaned up nearly three million cubic yards of debris.The storm killed four people, and hundreds more were injured.

Aware 2021: The 2020 Iowa Derecho and What Kansans Can Take From the Event

PLEASANTVIEW, Kan. — Spring is not too far off, but now is the time to get your garden ready for the summer growing season. Jason French with Stutzman’s Greenhouse says it's time to get your garden ready.

“Vegetable garden-wise, you’re getting the soil prepared and things like that,” French said. “Some of those cooler seeds we could start seeding. Spinach lettuce, radishes, peas and things along that line.”

French says, as far as your lawn goes, it’s time to treat your lawn for weeds.

“This is the perfect time to do it. If you have a fescue lawn, which will green up early and stay green later, you can put the lawn prevention on with the fertilizer,” French said. “If you were to have Bermuda grass or some of the warm season grasses, you can put on that same pre-emergent but without the fertilizer.”

French says that you should be able to plant most of your garden by the end of the month.

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 </figure>By ROD ZOOKHutch PostPLEASANTVIEW, Kan. — Spring is not too far off, but now is the time to get your garden ready for the summer growing season. Jason French with Stutzman’s Greenhouse says it's time to get your garden ready.“Vegetable garden-wise, you’re getting the soil prepared and things like that,” French said. “Some of those cooler seeds we could start seeding. Spinach lettuce, radishes, peas and things along that line.”French says, as far as your lawn goes, it’s time to treat your lawn for weeds.“This is the perfect time to do it. If you have a fescue lawn, which will green up early and stay green later, you can put the lawn prevention on with the fertilizer,” French said. “If you were to have Bermuda grass or some of the warm season grasses, you can put on that same pre-emergent but without the fertilizer.”French says that you should be able to plant most of your garden by the end of the month.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;

Time to get gardening

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 may have its new Public Information Officer in place by the end of the month.

Executive Director of Human Resources Rick Kraus says they will be interviewing six possible candidates for the job via virtual meetings this week. The hope is to narrow that field down to two or three finalists and then conduct those interviews in-person next week.&nbsp;

Since there is just one meeting scheduled this month, Kraus says the district may entertain holding a short special meeting to take action for the person of choice.

That person would replace Ray Hemman, who is retiring at the end of June.

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 </figure>HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson USD 308 may have its new Public Information Officer in place by the end of the month.Executive Director of Human Resources Rick Kraus says they will be interviewing six possible candidates for the job via virtual meetings this week. The hope is to narrow that field down to two or three finalists and then conduct those interviews in-person next week.&nbsp;Since there is just one meeting scheduled this month, Kraus says the district may entertain holding a short special meeting to take action for the person of choice.That person would replace Ray Hemman, who is retiring at the end of June.<a href="https://hutchpost.com/download" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to download the Hutch Post mobile app. <a href="https://hutchpost.com/posts/5e73b532afae0f4d5f5d90ea" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a>&nbsp;to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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