Hutchinson

A group that organizes flights for World War II veterans to Washington D.C. is grounded. Central Prairie Honor Flights flew the veterans from central Kansas to the Nation's capital. The trips give the few vets that remain a chance to visit the national memorial built in their honor. The Great Bend based organization was formed in 2008, and flew more than a thousand World War II veterans. The group was recently told it's losing it's affiliation with the national Honor Flight organization based in Ohio.

(HUTCHINSON, Kan.) They have all the makings of your average bike. But there's something about the two wheelers, sitting on downtown Hutchinson corners, that's very different. "I think just having the bikes available to people, on a regular basis, is just a really interesting idea and I wanted to try it out," explains Jennifer Randall.  She and other area artists are turning donated bikes into one-of-a-kind community vehicles. The concept is pretty basic, bikes will be in racks throughout Hutchinson.

A Hutchinson man is in critical condition after crashing his car early Wednesday morning.  Hutch police say the man crashed into a tree at 19th and Main around 2:00 am. Initially, the man was taken to a hospital in Hutchinson, but was later airlifted to another hospital in Wichita. Police believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.  They are still investigating.

The Hutchinson school board has named Jan Strecker as interim superintendent. Strecker will serve in the position for the 2010-2011 school year. She retired from the district as an assistant superintendent after the 2008-2009 school year. Strecker temporarily fills the position left vacant by Superintendent David Flowers. Flowers is leaving Hutchinson to take the top job in the West Fargo, ND, school district. The Kansas Association of School Boards will work with the Hutchinson district to find a permanent replacement for Flowers during the next school year.

by Michael Schwanke (HUTCHINSON, Kan.) Neighbors surrounding a Hutchinson home say they've had enough. "It's very smelly. The odor coming through there was just unreal," says Donna Wilson who lives next door to the home on East Sixth "The electricity has been cut off since about April," says Sawana Shipley who bought the foreclosed home. Through a dirty basement window, if you look hard enough, you can see the problem.  It's a freezer that's been turned off for months.

January 17th, 2001 is a day Colleen Bugglen will never forget. “I was in a daze. I saw the ceiling falling down. I don't recall hearing the explosion. I recall looking up and it was all in black and white,” says Bugglen who was working at the Décor Wedding and Party Supplies store in downtown Hutchinson. “I believe I was knocked out because when I came to I was throwing stuff off of me. It was unbelievable. You thought you were in a dream….this doesn't happen to you.” Next door to Colleen was Devon Hayes at Woody's Furniture.

Hutc hinson Regional Mecial Center says it's gearing up for the future. The center Thursday announced plans for a five million dollar renovation and expansion of the emergency department. It will expand from ten beds to 20..and will include two major trauma rooms, and 14 private treatment rooms. Those who work in the center say the expansion will be especially helpful during the busiest times in the evenings. Nursing director Joyoce Radke tells us  "Most of the time we have patients in the waiting room, which we would love to not have them have to wait in the waiting room it's very hard on people.

A crash near the town of Zenith kills a Reno County man. courtesy: Terry Spradley/St. John News Map - Zenith, Kansas The crash happened just before one o'clock Wednesday afternoon on Highway 50. A semi truck and a pickup carrying a motorcycle and hauling a small trailer collided. courtesy: Terry Spradley/St. John News Twenty-three year-old Jeremy Bowley from Hutchinson died in the wreck.

A Hutchinson man was hit by a car after trying to cross the street.  The accident happened around 12:30 Tuesday near 17th and Lorraine. Doug Engle was air lifted to a Wichita hospital for possible head and shoulder injuries. Hutchinson police say Engle was walking across the street when an SUV hit him.  Brian Bonebright was driving the vehicle.  Police say the cause of the accident is under investigation, but alcohol was not involved

     There's Sam, Dean and Cass--three lovable little dogs found discarded along a dirt road like a pile of trash.      Reno County deputies found them out in the country west of Hutchinson.  The pups were packed into a roach-infested plastic crate, waiting for someone to rescue them.    The animal shelter director it's clear the dogs were not out there for more than a few hours, and that's a good thing.  They could only survive in that container for so long with temps warming up and no food.  But now they're playful, happy and healthy, not to mention lucky to be alive.

The main road leading into Clearwater has a sinking problem and Sedgwick County wondered if it's dangerous.  Scientists studied the issue and found answers that surprised them. The problem area is along 135th Street just north of 87th Street South.  "We kind of wonder about it every now and then, especially when you see all them sinkholes.  Like up in Hutchinson, other places, people driving along and your car just falls through," said resident Darrel Snyder. Snyder isn't alone, Sedgwick County has also been wondering about the sinking because it's responsible for maintaining 135th Street.  "They just keep repairing it, but it doesn't get any better," said Snyder.

The spring storm has left its mark in Hutchinson.  The ice overnight coated trees, causing many limbs to snap off. The tree limbs landed on many cars, causing quite a bit of damage. Click here for Storm Shots In Hutchinson the ice brought down not just branches, but, at times, entire trees.  The ice is coating everything, thickly. "I hate scraping windows," said Hutchinson resident Amy Walden, cleaning off her car.  "It takes too much time, you have to get up earlier and it's just too cold.

As you head to work or school this morning, allow yourself extra time.  Roads are slick in many parts of Kansas. Click here for Map of Road Conditions The Wichita Public School District says buses will avoid elevated roadways because of the conditions.  That means buses may be running late. Several minor accidents have happened across Wichita. The Emergency Accident Reporting Plan is also in effect in Wichita.  If you are in an accident and no one is hurt and no drugs or alcohol are involved, go to a police substation or Quik Trip to pick up an accident reporting form.

It started with a simple question, 'Why not?'  Now a Hutchinson woman's question is connecting farmers, ranchers and other members of the agricultural world online. It's called FarmTime . "It's been a lot of fun, actually," said Angie Bergmeier. FarmTime is a social networking site specifically for farmers. "When I say farmers, I'm talking about ranchers, all the people in the agriculture world," said Bergmeier. After watching everyone connecting on Facebook and Twitter, Bergmeier came up with the idea for FarmTime because of what she was hearing from farmers around her. "They talked about how they used to go to the coffee shop and how they used to communicate all the time.  Well, they just don't have time to do that anymore," said Bergmeier.  "And I was just thinking, why not create a social network site for farmers?"

The third place game in the NJCAA Tournament went down to the wire. After trailing by a few buckets for most of the game Hutchinson was able to defeat Gulf Coast State 63-61. "Our kids showed a lot of toughness," head coach John Onitjes said. "We fought from behind the whole time. It was a great win for our ball club. We had a great season. " This was just one day after the Lady Dragons lost in the semi-finals to Trinity Valley. With under a minute left the game was tied.

A Hutchinson man has been arrested again just minutes after a Reno County judge dismissed charges. Dwight Jergens returned to court Friday morning in connection to charges of promoting prostitution. Judge Rose dismissed those charges, but Jergens was immediately arrested on a different warrant. His new charges include two counts of aggravated human trafficking, two counts of attempted aggravated human trafficking, one count aggravated criminal sodomy and one count of rape. Authorities said the human trafficking charges are in connection to Jergens' authority to control a person due to his bonding business.

A large military plane has been causing turbulence at a small Kansas airport. Several Eyewitness New viewers contacted the newsroom about a low-flying plane that would approach the airport, then fly by. Some people were even lucky enough to take pictures of the plane. Don Rogers caught the flight on camera. "We had the biggest bird coming down for a low approach, gear down, like they were going to land," he said. He said this went on for about 45 minutes. Click here to see photos of the E-4B The aircraft caused quite a scene.

Update : Hutchinson has been seeded 4th in the tournament, and will play on Tuesday, March 19 against the winner of the Howard/East Mississippi game, which will be played on Monday. Click here to see the complete Men's Bracket. Coffeyville was also awarded an at-large bid, and is hte #9 seed. The Ravens will play on Monday (March 18) at 8:30pm against Walters State. The Hutch Women's team also qualified for the National tournament, and will play in Salina on Wednesday, March 20 at 5:00pm.

Two people are in the hospital after a house catches fire in Hutchinson. Crews were called to the 1200 block of East 4th Avenue shortly after 5:00 Sunday evening. They found two people burned at the home. Hutchpost.com reports the men were adding gasoline to a wood burning stove in a shed near the home when the injuries happened. They were airlifted to a nearby hospital in critical condition.