HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Planning Commission voted 4-3 against recommending a conditional use permit for NextEra Wind Energy to build a wind farm in the southeast part of Reno County.
Spencer Jenkins of NextEra speaks to the planning commission.
The sticking point was over setback distance. Some ideas included a mile from the property line to 2,000 feet from the foundation of a non-participating landowner.
After the vote to deny recommending the conditional use permit, the planning commission voted 4-3 to send the recommendation to the Reno County Commission for consideration. The commission can go against this recommendation, agree with it and deny the conditional use permit, or send it back to the planning commission for further consideration or study.
The vote comes as NextEra officials said they were dropping five sites for wind turbines and bringing the total proposed to 83. The other five sites would be reserved as alternate sites.
The company wanted to begin construction this summer and be operational in December.
Whether that will happen now is up to the three Reno County commissioners.
Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 79. Light and variable wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.
Quiet weather expected through Thursday, but south winds pick up in speed Friday 15-30 mph. North winds will follow on Saturday #kswxpic.twitter.com/esHoj2HUcc
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Laura Kelly is creating an advisory committee that aims to ensure every person in Kansas is counted in the 2020 Census.
The governor signed an executive order Tuesday that charged the committee with sparking public engagement in Kansas ahead of the official count.
This morning, through Executive Order, I launched an initiative to make every Kansan count. I established the Kansas Complete Count Committee (CCC) to ensure that every Kansan is represented in the 2020 Census. pic.twitter.com/ktdm7ZZAGd
The Census dictates the amount of federal funding for 55 federal programs in Kansas. It also determines the number of U.S. House members representing the state and the redrawing of boundaries for Kansas legislative districts.
Kelly appointed Brian McClendon, a University of Kansas professor and former executive at Google, to co-chair the committee along with Dodge City Commissioner Joyce Warshaw.
Kansas stands to lose about $1,539 in federal funds annually for 10 years for every person not counted in the Census.
HAYS – The TMP-Marian baseball team split a doubleheader with Russell/Victoria Tuesday in Hays.
Aaron Breit postgame interview
Game 1: Russell/Victoria 9, TMP 7
TMP committed eight errors and Monarchs pitchers combined to walk eight and the Russell/Victoria Broncos rallied for a four-run deficit as they earned a 9-7 win in game one.
The Broncos jumped out to an early lead scoring two runs in the top of the first inning but the Monarchs answered back with two of their own in the bottom of the first.
Brady Kreutzer’s RBI triple got the Monarchs on the board and then Kreutzer stole home after Carson Jacobs was picked off first to tie the game at two.
In the third inning TMP pushed across two more runs on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Eston Brown to take a 4-2 lead.
The Broncos tied the game with two runs in the top of the fourth before the Monarchs plated three runs in their half of the inning.
TMP recorded three straight singles to load the bases and then Jace Wentling singled to give the Monarchs a 5-4 lead. Two batters later Carson Jacobs singled home the second run of the inning for TMP and Eston Brown added his second sacrifice fly of the game to put TMP up 7-4. But the lead wouldn’t last.
Russell/Victoria scored two runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 7-6 and the took the lead with two more in the sixth inning.
TMP outfielders committed back-to-back errors to open the frame and then Kirk Huser drove a double to center field that scored two runs to give the Broncos the 8-7 lead. They added one more in the seventh to pick up the 9-7 win.
Brendon Burhle earned the win in relief for Russell/Victoria. He allowed three runs over five innings while striking out two.
TMP’s Mason Robbins suffered the loss in relief. He allowed three runs, just one earned on four hits in two and a third innings.
The win for Russell/Victoria snapped a seven-game win streak by the Monarchs over the Broncos.
Game one highlights
Game 2: TMP 11, Russell/Victoria 1
In game two the Monarchs used a six-run inning and Colby Dreiling allowed just one unearned run as the Monarchs earned an 11-1 win in five innings.
Russell scored the game’s first run on an error by center fielder Carson Jacobs and threatened to put up a big number in the first quarter, recording three of their five hits in the first frame but Dreiling was able to work around traffic and limit the Broncos to just one run.
After a slow start TMP’s offense really got going in the second inning scoring two runs in the frame, taking advantage of three straight singles to open the inning and two straight Broncos errors that resulted in TMP runs.
TMP added two more in the third inning when Jace Wentling scored on an error by the center fielder Walker Braun and then three pitches Brady Kreutzer score the second run of the inning on a wild pitch.
The Monarchs blew the game wide open in the fourth inning, scoring six runs to take a 10-1 lead.
Ethan Atherton got the inning started with a leadoff single, after a balk and a wild pitch he would come in to scored on a throwing error by the left fielder Caden Oberle.
TMP would follow that up with three straight walks to load the bases for Kreutzer who singled in a pair of runs. An error by the third baseman Kaden Rome allowed Wentling, who walked to score and then two batters later Rome committed his second error of the inning that allowed Kreutzer to come in from third to put the Monarchs up 10-1.
In the fifth inning the Monarchs got the first two runners on and following a fielder’s choice Tyson Dinkel drop in the game ending run on a bloop single to center that gave the Monarchs the 11-1 win in five innings.
Dreiling allowed just one unearned run on five hits, while striking out one in five innings for the win.
Cooper Windholz allowed seven total runs, four earned, on five hits in three and a third innings of work and suffered the loss.
TMP is 9-3 on the season and will host Salina Sacred Heart on Monday.
Russll/Victoria is 6-6 and will travel to Ellinwood on Friday.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Jalen Beeks took over from opener Ryne Stanek in the second and struck out seven in 4 2/3 shutout innings, Mike Zunino homered for the second straight game and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Kansas City 5-2 Tuesday night, sending the Royals to their fifth straight loss.
Homer Bailey (2-2) failed in his attempt to win three straight starts for the first time in five years, getting taken out after Tampa Bay’s first four batters reached in the second inning.
Zunino had three of Tampa Bay’s seven hits and drove in two runs.
AL East-leading Tampa Bay clinched its seventh series win in eight series and extended its winning streak against the Royals to 10 games. Kansas City is an AL-worst 7-17.
Beeks (1-0) allowed two hits and two walks, retiring eight straight in one stretch.
Emilio Pagan struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save in two nights, the first two saves of his major league career, completing a six-hitter.
Bailey (2-2) gave up four runs, three hits and four walks in one inning-plus, his ERA rising to 5.63. Bailey, who went 1-14 last year, was coming off his first consecutive winning starts since July 2017.
Joey Wendle hit a two-run single in the first, ending an 0-for-16 start.
Zunino hit an RBI single in the second, when Jake Newberry entered with the bases loaded and allowed Brandon Lowe’s run-scoring single and Yandy Diaz’s sacrifice fly that boosted the Rays’ lead to 4-0. Zunino homered off Tim Hill in the sixth.
Martin Maldonado hit his first homer for the Royals, a seventh-inning drive off Austin Pruitt, who threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: 3B Hunter Dozier did not play, a day after leaving a game due to back spasms. … LHP Brian Flynn (sprained left elbow) is to start an injury rehabilitation assignment Wednesday at Triple-A Omaha.
Rays: 1B Ji-Man Choi was placed on the restricted list because of a personal matter.
UP NEXT
LHP Blake Snell (2-1) will make his first start in 10 days for the Rays in the finale of a nine-game homestand. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner missed a start after fracturing his right fourth toe attempting to move a decorative display in a bathroom on April 14. RHP Jakob Junis (1-2) starts the finale of the Royals’ 10-game trip.
MCPHERSON — Police in McPherson arrested two men and took two children into protective custody Monday. The officers found the men traveling in a car with two young children, drugs and a firearm.
Officers stopped the car around 2 p.m. in the 300 block of West Euclid for illegal window tint. Officers identified the driver of the car as 27-year-old Nathaniel Beagle. The passenger was 31-year-old Aaron B. Anderson. Two children, ages 4 and 6, were also in the car. The McPherson Sheriff’s Office K-9 alerted officers to the existence of drugs in the car.
Officers searched the car and found over one pound of methamphetamine, 36 grams of marijuana, various narcotic pills and a handgun.
The two men face numerous charges, including possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school or day care.
RENO COUNTY — Five people were injured in an accident just after 4p.m. Tuesday in Reno County.
Photo courtesy Reno Co. Sheriff
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1996 Dodge Ram driven by Brent David Crawley, 25, Newton, was westbound on U.S. 50 at Woodberry Road three miles west of Burrton.
The driver attempted to pass two vehicles and struck a 2005 Jeep Commander driven by Dimas-Martinez, Jose De Jesus Dimas-Martinez, 36, Newton, head-on
Crawley was transported to Wesley Medical Center. Dimas-Martinez and Jesus Aaron Felix-Alvarado, 51 and Carlos Arellano Diaz, 33, both of Newton were transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Crawley was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP
SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a burglary and have made an arrest.
Shepherd -photo Sedgwick Co.
Just after 6a.m. Tuesday police responded to an alarm at Barney’s Discount Drug in the 3100 Block of West Central in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.
At the scene, officers found forced entry into the building through a metal door. They also found property from the business stacked by the door. While police were investigating, a suspect later identified as Mark Shepherd, 40, Wichita, exited the business.
Police took him into custody without incident. He was booked into the Sedgwick County jail on requested charges of burglary, theft, criminal damage to property and drug violations, according to Davidson.
HAYS, Kan. – The Fort Hays State softball team swept Central Christian (Kan.) College in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Tiger Stadium. FHSU took the games by scores of 4-1 and 7-1, moving to 22-21 overall on the season. The losses drop Central Christian to 15-32 overall.
Game 1: Fort Hays State 4, Central Christian 1
Fort Hays State took game one of the doubleheader, scoring two runs in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the sixth. Central Christian pushed its only run of the game across in the sixth to cut the FHSU lead to 3-1 before FHSU tacked on the insurance run in the bottom half of the inning.
Grace Philop started the scoring for the Tigers in the third with a two-RBI triple to the right-center field gap. It scored Terran Caldwell and Katie Adler. The lead reached three in the fourth when Bailey Boxberger and Elise Capra led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. Following her RBI in the fourth, Capra singled to lead off the sixth and came in to score on a Lily Sale RBI single.
Megan Jamison threw the first six innings for FHSU, allowing six hits and one run. She moved to 2-0 on the season with the win. Jamison pitched to one batter in the seventh before handing the ball to Michaelanne Nelson, who picked up her first save of the season by getting the final three outs with one strikeout.
Game 2: Fort Hays State 7, Central Christian 1
Central Christian took its only lead of the day with a run in the first inning, but Fort Hays State quickly took control of the game with three runs in the bottom of the first and then three more in the second. FHSU added its final run in the sixth inning.
Fort Hays State immediately loaded the bases in the first inning with its first three batters and the first run came in to score when Bailey Boxberger was hit by a pitch. Elise Capra followed with an RBI single and then Sierra Rodriguez picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
In the second, Sara Breckbill gave the Tigers a sacrifice fly RBI before Boxberger drove in two runs with a single through the right side. Breckbill picked up another RBI in the sixth with her second sacrifice fly of the game.
Sierra Rodriguez pitched the first three innings of the game, allowing one run on five hits with one strikeout. Hailey Chapman relieved her for the final four innings. Chapman gave up one hit and struck out three, moving to 11-11 on the season with the win.
Tiger Notes
-Elise Capra, Bailey Boxberger, Katie Adler, and Grace Philop all recorded at least 3 hits in the doubleheader.
-Bailey Boxberger had a team-high three RBIs on the day.
-All four Tiger pitchers threw in the doubleheader, holding CCC to a .226 batting average on the day.
-Fort Hays State is now 15-2 this year when scoring at least five runs in a game.
-Fort Hays State is 13-5 at home this season.
Up Next
Fort Hays State heads to Newman University on Wednesday (Apr. 24) before returning home for a big MIAA doubleheader with Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday (Apr. 27) at Tiger Stadium in Hays. First pitch at Newman in Wichita is set for 3 pm.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas government website designed to nab child support evaders has been taken down after it caught only one man in a year.
Image courtesy Kansas DCF
Kansas Department for Children and Families spokesman Mike Deines says the Child Support Evaders website “had little to no traffic and was not an effective tool.” He says it’s important not to make detection efforts public because that helps evaders.
Former Gov. Jeff Colyer announced the website in April 2018 as the state struggled to improve child support collections. It listed people who owed more than $5,000 in late child support and included the person’s name, mug shot, the amount owed and where they were last seen.
Similar online photo name-and-shame campaigns have been undertaken in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after skeletal remains were found.
Authorities on the scene near where skeletal remains were found -photo courtesy WIBW TV
On Monday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office was called to a wooded area north of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism regional office at 300 SW Wanamaker Road, according to Undersheriff Phil Blume
A citizen claimed to have found skeletal remains in the dense woods.
The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Coroner’s Office, was able to confirm that the skeletal remains are human, according to Deputy Shayna Anderson. Authorities are currently working with the Washburn University Forensic Anthropology Recovery Unit to excavate the site.
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SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating after skeletal remains were found.
On Monday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office was called to a wooded area north of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism regional office at 300 SW Wanamaker Road, according to Undersheriff Phil Blume
A citizen claimed to have found skeletal remains in the dense woods. The Sheriff’s Office responded and with the assistance of the Shawnee County Coroner’s Office, located and removed the skeletal remains in question. Due to darkness and heavy vegetation the search was postponed until daylight.
The property and immediate area in question is private property and access is being denied, according to Louderback
It is important for a thorough search of the area to be completed. Authorities don’t known how long that will take.
Darrin Willard Hearn, 33, passed away April 21, 2019, at his home in Great Bend. He was born February 12, 1986, to Dennis and Charlene (Bobeck) Hearn.
A lifetime Great Bend resident, Dennis was a vendor for 7 Up.
Survivors include, his stepfather, James Woods; his brother, Derrick W. Hearn; an aunt, Kathy Henry; and two cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dennis Hearn and Charlene Bobeck.
There will be no visitation as cremation has taken place.
Memorials are suggested to the Darrin Hearn Funeral Expense Fund, in care of Bryant Funeral Home.
