By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post 

The Regis Salon at Big Creek Crossing in Hays has closed.

James Younger, Big Creek property manager, said the salon chain was purchased by The Beautiful Group in October. Shortly after the purchase, The Beautiful Group announced it would close the Hays salon.

Big Creek is currently looking for a new tenant for the space, which will likely be a local salon.

Younger said the space is priced competitively and he has head “heavy” interest in the location.

Hays Post attempted to contact Regis, but the local number had been disconnected.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays school board will meet in a special session at 7 a.m. Thursday to vote on new copier bid.

The board had a lengthy discussion about the bid at a meeting May 21 but did not approve the bid.

The discussion revolved around the number of copiers used by the district and the number of copies made by the district annually.

Administration is recommending a low bid from Sumner One for a five-year contract for $52,221. This is $12,994 less than the district’s last contract.

The district is making about 5 million copies annually. That is about 2 million copies less than several years ago. The district has made a push to eliminate the use of printers and printed materials from the remaining printers in the district as the printers are more costly to operate than copiers, Superintendent John Thissen said.

The district is also urging staff to send orders for printed materials to the copy center at the administration center. The large copy units produce copies cheaper than the smaller copiers at schools. There are two large units at the copy center and 21 other smaller units throughout the district.

The district kept some printers because it needed to have a secure means of printing confidential IEPs. However, the new copier system will allow staff to hold printed materials in the copier queues and then print the material with the swipe of their staff badges. This will allow the district to maintain the confidentiality of these documents.

The new contract will allow the district to further decrease the number of copies made and in turn the amount of the contract by 10 percent per year for each year of the contract.

Board member Greg Schwartz said he thought the district needs to further reduce the number of copies, the number of copiers and work toward a paperless system.

Schwartz said he would feel more comfortable if the contract was for a shorter term.

However, Tracy Kaiser, director of finance, said a shorter contract would cost the district more.

Board member Mandy Fox said if copiers were less accessible it might decrease use at the building level.

Board president Lance Bickle said he thought the district was moving in the right direction in terms of reducing copies, but thought the district could be more aggressive.

The company the administration is recommending also offers a software package that tracks the number of copies made by individuals users. Thissen said by tracking copies, the district hopes it further could work with staff to reduce copies.

Board members said they favored contracting with Sumner One for this tracking software, but it was unclear from the bid sheet whether the bid included the software package. Several board members said they wished to know if the bid included the tracking software before they approved it.

The district’s current copier contract ends at the end of June. If the board does nothing, the company with the current contract will pull all the copiers in the district by June 30. At minimum, that would put a halt to work at the copy center, which is busy during the summer preparing materials for the next school year.

The board is also set to consider IDEA VI-B application assurances and certifications, an Early Childhood Connections one-time funding request and ECC COLA grant.

ELLIS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating the theft of a restored 1972 Chevy pickup.

The truck reported stolen May 25 from a garage in the 5600 Block of North Solomon Road in Saline County, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.

Authorities located the truck on Tuesday in Hays. There was no damage and the keys were inside the vehicle, according to Soldan. The truck with an estimated value of $20,000 was returned to the owner.

Lightning is being blamed for a tank battery fire that occurred Tuesday northwest of Hays.

According to Ellis County Fire Chief Darin Myers, just after 5 p.m. fire crews were called to the 2700 block of Yocemento for tank batteries on fire.

Myers said individuals close to the scene reported the fire started from a lightning strike.

He also said after evaluating the scene speaking with the owner, it was determined that the fire was too dangerous for firefighters to approach and put the fire out.

There were approximately 15 different tanks involved in the fire causing multiple explosions throughout the evening. The fire was contained to the tank batteries inside the protective berm.

Fire crews stayed on scene for several hours to monitor the fire and Ellis County Sheriff deputies also kept an eye on it overnight, according to Myers.

Fourteen firefighters responded to the scene from Ellis and Hays.

Ellis County Director of Public Works Bill Ring said Wednesday morning that the column of smoke, combined with the storm moving through the area, prompted several reports of a tornado. Smoke could be seen as far away as Norton, he added.