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The Hutchinson Iris Club’s annual show will be held this Saturday.

This year’s theme, “You Can Jive In 2025,” spotlights the work of the local non-profit organization.

The club’s publicity director, Adrienne Moore Baxter, said in a press release that the show is “a lovely outing for Mother’s Day weekend.”

The show will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1602 North Main Street. Admission is free.

The Hutchinson Iris Club's annual show will be held this Saturday. This year's theme, "You Can Jive In 2025," spotlights the work of the local non-profit organization. The club's publicity director, Adrienne Moore Baxter, said in a press release that the show is "a lovely outing

By Dan Deming

The most lasting and perhaps important part of Thursday night’s latest Hutchinson Community Concert may be the potential for firing up the C.C. crowd to oppose tearing down Memorial Hall, something a majority of the city council and city manager currently seem inclined to favor.

The city council is holding a listening session Thursday evening, May 8th, at the old historic but increasingly costly building to maintain, and is seeking public input.  

C.C. enthusiasts helped kill past efforts to scrap the hall, and if they and other opponents get organized and make their opinions heard, it may be difficult for city hall to carry out what appears to be a mission of destruction in an election year. It could cost taxpayers well over two million dollars if one of the alternatives, opening up Cow Creek under the hall for an expanded Avenue A Park, turns out to be the council’s will.

The amazingly low price of buying into six community concerts for $60 makes every show a bargain, even if an event, like the “Sail On”/Beach Boys Tribute, had a lot of music, 15 to 20 percent lacking the real B.B. sounds, which admittedly aren’t the easiest to duplicate.  Attendance was announced as “about 900,” and by far, it was the best turnout this season.  Virtually every main floor seat was taken, and there’s little doubt that most of those turning out liked what they heard. 

While the back-of-stage lighting was attractive, the pre-recorded narrative, including comments from the real Beach Boys, wasn’t the easiest to understand, audio-wise, and could have been greatly enhanced with a visual and sound display.  Overall, the music was acceptable to good, but in my estimation, the after-intermission show opened with at least a “semi” slaughter on five of six familiar but not well-done songs.  Memorial Hall music always sounds better on the main floor, especially for those with any type of audio impairment.  

None of this seemed to bother most people in the audience, especially as they sang along and clapped to hits such as “Help Me Rhonda” and “The Sloop John B,” both of which were well done.

The concert season closes Monday evening, May 5th, with Alliance Brass and another opportunity to get ticket holders who cling to Memorial Hall like a 5-year-old with ice cream to get inspired for expressing their feelings about saving the building from that planned wrecking ball.

By Dan Deming The most lasting and perhaps important part of Thursday night's latest Hutchinson Community Concert may be the potential for firing up the C.C. crowd to oppose tearing down Memorial Hall, something a majority of the city council and city manager currently seem inclined

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By John Mesh The Andale High School girls and boys swept the team titles at Friday’s 13-school Salthawk Invitational, which took place at Gowans Stadium. The Andale girls scored 134 points and the Andale boys tallied 129. The Hutchinson High School girls placed 10th with 30 points and

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The Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s track team won the Region 6 outdoor track and field championship for the first time since 2013. (Photo courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports/Hutchinson CC Sports Information). By John Mesh The Hutchinson Blue Dragons captured the men’s team title at the Region 6

The former Atrium site on May 3, 2025 CREDIT GINA LONG/THE HUTCHINSON TRIBUNE

By Gina Long

While driving south on Lorraine Street near where the Atrium used to stand, I decided to pull off the road and take photos.

The Atrium demolition was completed some months ago, and it looks like every speck of plaster and cement has been removed. The former parking lot entrance on 14th Avenue just south of Auto Zone is now truncated and roped off. Beyond that is a flat expanse that is not barren. It resembles a spring wheat field with smaller, narrower furrows and more tightly packed. Green shoots tentatively peep out between tight rows.

The scene is shocking for anyone whose last view was this past October, when the City of Hutchinson stepped in and demolished the decrepit property. The shame of an ugly, hulking, crumbling property along the busy K-61 corridor is gone.

After snapping some photos, I pondered the stark contrast with the former Landmark Hotel building. I drove over there and snapped a few pictures.

That historic building, too, fell on hard times. A local owner neglected it and sold it to Wichita-based landlords who refused to board over broken windows. During a windstorm, several huge panes crashed around the building, temporarily closing the busy 5th Avenue and Main Street corner.

The Landmark will not be torn down and carted off piece by piece. A local investor has purchased the historic building and is remodeling it into mixed-use retail and downtown apartment space. The reborn Landmark is scheduled to open a year from now.

I did not drive by Memorial Hall because I will be there during Monday’s Community Concert performance. I love the acoustics and nostalgic feel, the parkade flooring and the ghosts of ordinary citizens, celebrities, and luminaries who have crossed its threshold.

Hutchinson is grappling with another problem that has been quietly ignored for decades. The situation is not urgent because the building is not an active danger to its surroundings, but we have finally reached the end of quietly ignoring it, and then handing it off to the next generation of city elected officials.

Everyone loves Memorial Hall until they discover that the city loses around $90,000 each year running it. It is not used five months out of the year because it needs air conditioning. Losing the building, however, would mean losing affordable public-use rental space. Larger groups, such as the Community Concert Association, would need space for over one thousand audience members with sufficient room for performers, equipment, and good acoustics.

My least favorite proposal is to build another city park in that area, which sees the sprawling George Pyle Park to its east and Grasshopper and Avenue A Parks to its west. With that much green space, the city could put up fencing and raise a revenue-generating flock of goats.

What the community wants to avoid is another landlord with empty promises, looking for a tax write-off. Should the city decide to put Memorial Hall in the hands of a private investor, let’s hope it’s a Laura Meyer-Dick, with deep ties to the community and the commitment and vision for a better downtown. We must diligently guard against another out-of-state, uncaring and irresponsible slumlord whose neglect and greed has been toppled, dismantled, hauled off and plowed under.

There are no easy solutions and we must begin the difficult conversations now. The public discussion about Memorial Hall’s future will take place this Thursday, May 8, in the building at 101 South Walnut Street. The discussion begins at 6 p.m., and I encourage all interested community members to attend.

The former Atrium site on May 3, 2025 CREDIT GINA LONG/THE HUTCHINSON TRIBUNE By Gina Long While driving south on Lorraine Street near where the Atrium used to stand, I decided to pull off the road and take photos. The Atrium demolition was completed some months ago, and

CAPTION: Michael Glenn, left, after winning KSHAA Forensics 2A State in Extemporaneous Speech with his coach, Mrs. Karin Neal.

By Michael Glenn

It only took me until the last week that I am a high schooler, but I won a state championship.

Now you may ask yourselves, “What could Michael do outside of work that he has time to win a championship for?”

And that would be a good question. I don’t know the answer to it. But what I do know is after waking up at 5:30 a.m. and getting back to Hutch at 9:00 p.m., it surely wasn’t easy.

I took first place in Extemporaneous Speech, a “draw” event in forensics. What that means is I give a new speech every time I perform. I draw a topic out of an envelope, usually about politics, government, business, environment, etc., and then get 30 minutes to prepare a five to seven-minute speech.

I did not expect to get first place, let alone last until the final round. I had spent much more time on my Original Oration, a persuasive speech that is memorized and 10 minutes long.

When I wrote about why speech and debate are so important for high schoolers, I told you I would share my oration with you about legalizing cannabis. I think it’s really fun and entertaining, as well as a piece that makes you question our current laws. I’ve annotated the speech (check for the parentheses) to give you an idea of how I would perform it.


Like a rolling stone(r)

(Sung, like Bob Dylan) “For the times, they are a-changin’!” Bob Dylan’s 1964 anthem “The Times, they are a-changin’” took the world by storm as Dylan’s break-out album challenged racial inequality still lingering in American society at the time. Dylan performed the song at folk festivals and live crowds where participants would join in during the chorus, hoping to have the audience join in the fight for equality. Through all of this, the United States was undergoing a radical change in music taste and culture. Teenagers were tired of music from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and with Elvis Presley in Hollywood rather than the recording studio, Americans were ready for a time change. In 1964, The Beatles released “Please Please Me” which took America by storm, the same year as Dylan’s protest anthem. While publishing different musical genres, both of these up-and-coming musicians had an underlying similarity: they both smoked cannabis. Cannabis was made an illegal drug in the United States in 1937, and had established a black market by the 1960s. Today, cannabis remains illegal in the state of Kansas, although all states that surround our own have legalized the drug in some fashion. The United States should federally legalize recreational cannabis. First, we will look at the effects cannabis had on two different musicians, Bob Dylan and the Beatles, and second, we will look at the negative effects criminalization has had on our nation and state.

When asked, “Who is the greatest songwriter in American history?” Bob Dylan enters the conversation, penning over 40 albums through a 60-year music career. In fact, “Rolling Stone” magazine published “The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time” and put Dylan at number one. Dylan, originally named Robert Zimmerman, dropped out of college and moved to New York, meeting his musical hero, Woody Guthrie. It is unknown when Dylan began smoking weed, but the drug became synonymous with his image and style. PlayBoy magazine interviewed Dylan and asked him about his drug use in 1966. While he said people should avoid hard drugs he considered dangerous, (Quote said in a hilarious Bob Dylan accent, eyes squinted, looking in the distance at nothing in particular) “But opium and hash and pot…they just bend your mind a little. I think everybody’s mind should be bent once in a while.” Dylan, in the lyrics for his song, “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” the opening track on his acclaimed album, Blonde on Blonde, simply put, “Everybody must get stoned.”

(Sung in Bob Dylan voice, miming holding a joint in right hand) “Everybody must get stoned,” Dylan said as he passed the joint to The Beatles in a 1964 meeting with the Fab Four in New York. The quintessential story of Bob Dylan giving The Beatles their first cannabis experience has eroded itself into the history books and is often asked by TV show hosts and interviewers to this day to the remaining two Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Dylan incorrectly assumed the lyrics of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” as “I get high, I get high” instead of “I can’t hide, I can’t hide,” and lit up with the Fab Four. After the first smoke, The Beatles underwent a major musical change. In 1965, The Beatles slowly began to write more psychedelic and less traditional rock-and-roll music, releasing “Rubber Soul” in 1965 and “Revolver,” the first true psychedelic album in modern history, one year later in 1966. In fact, “Rubber Soul” album spent eight weeks at No.1 in the UK and six weeks at No.1 in the US, and was still in the US Top 20 when the group returned to Abbey Road studios in April ’66 to begin recording material for their next new album. Far Out Magazine wrote that The Beatles began to write a more mellow style of music and depart from the style of rock that made them famous, “in a simpler sense, they were also courting edginess much more keenly. Whether it was the weed or simply growing maturity, they ditched pop formulas and started to do what they wanted; which, fittingly, was to ‘experiment’ with sound.” The Beatles experimented with their sounds in recording studios, never returning to a stage as a band after 1966, and releasing their final album, Let it Be, in 1970. Fast forward to 1972. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were charged with possession of cannabis in London in 1972, which caused President Richard Nixon to begin a deportation campaign for both singers. The campaign was wildly unsuccessful, with even Bob Dylan writing to Nixon to keep the singing pair in the United States. (Once again, done in a Bob Dylan accent) “Hurray for John & Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country’s got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!” The next year in 1973, Paul McCartney was working on his latest album when BAM, McCartney was charged with possession and cultivation of cannabis. On his farm, McCartney was arrested after police found Paul was growing his own weed. In his defense, McCartney said that (Done in a “extraordinarily good” Paul McCartney impression) “Cannabis is less harmful than rum punch, whiskey, nicotine and glue, all of which are perfectly legal. I don’t think I was doing anyone any harm whatsoever.”

And McCartney was right. Cannabis is safer to consume than many other drugs that are allowed in the United States, such as alcohol and tobacco. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol-related deaths kill 178,000 people a year. Tobacco-related deaths kill 480,000 people a year. Cannabis-related deaths kill 0 people a year. In a 2006 research study conducted by the American Scientist magazine, it takes consuming approximately 10 times the effective amount of alcohol to prove fatal, where the effective amount is two drinks. That means that someone, on a given night, would have to drink 20 standard drinks to consume enough alcohol to kill them. To die from cannabis, one would have to consume 1,000 times the effective dose to overdose, which is impossible to consume. In fact, Yale University researched the health benefits and risks of using cannabis and found out that “Cannabis has been shown to have many beneficial and therapeutic effects on both physical and mental health. However, people may be hesitant to seek medical cannabis treatment due to fear of legal repercussions if cannabis is illegal. Legalization can allow more people to enjoy better health outcomes. It can also promote the safer use of cannabis by educating the public on appropriate cannabis use and providing quality control measures for cannabis products.” Yale also argues that cannabis legalization could have improvements on the environment through industrial hemp production and for racial equity amongst Americans, as African Americans are charged for possession of cannabis at a 5.1:1 rate compared to white people, even though studies have shown that the use of cannabis remains equal amongst racial groups. Legalizing cannabis will also save lives. Since cannabis is still federally illegal, there remains a black market where cannabis can be “cut” or adulterated with other substances that can be fatal, including fentanyl and cocaine. According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “Taking cannabis out of that particular space is a great idea. You’re taking it out of the illegal market and giving it to legitimate businesses where there is going to be oversight and testing of products, so you know what you’re getting. And these products undergo quality control and are labeled.” Even for those that have no interest in using cannabis, there are numerous benefits that cannabis legalization would provide everyone. For example, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the state has made $2.8 billion in ten years of cannabis legalization from cannabis taxes alone. The marijuana tax cash fund, which receives the largest share of cannabis-related revenue, must be used for health care, health education, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and law enforcement. State lawmakers decided exactly how it’s spent.  Since 2019, Missouri’s legal medical marijuana has brought in $85.2 million, whose funds go to help veterans, public defenders and drug treatment programs. 

Bob Dylan and The Beatles have individually claimed their seats in music royalty, each within their own genres, fields and albums. Based on their personal, well-documented experiences with cannabis, along with numerous studies that have debunked myths and highlighted the benefits of legalization, it’s time for the federal government to take action. Call your local representatives and senators to encourage them to support cannabis legalization. Get involved with campaigns to legalize cannabis, such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Cannabis has currently been decriminalized or legalized in 39 out of the 50 states in the United States, and (Sung) “The Times, they are, a changin’!” for equity in the law. 


Forensics has been one of my favorite high school activities that I’ve been able to share with my best friends. My current friends, older and my age, have all stemmed from forensics and theatre. Without those activities, I would be a completely different person.

I’m grateful for my forensics coaches, Mrs. Karin Neal and Mr. Isaac Miller. Something interesting is that Mrs. Neal coached Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller, an alumnus of Trinity, was the last competitor to win a state championship in 2019.

It only took six years, but I’m glad to say we brought three more home Saturday.

Three more? My best friend, Mary Newboles, took home two state championships, a first for her as well. She won the Poetry and Serious Solo Acting categories.

With forensics complete, I have very little of high school left. There’s three days this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for finals, and then we’re done besides graduation on Sunday. I’m trying to cherish the moments but they are moving too fast! Nevertheless, next Sunday I will no longer be a student but a graduate of Trinity, the place I’ve been blessed at calling home these six years.

CAPTION: Michael Glenn, left, after winning KSHAA Forensics 2A State in Extemporaneous Speech with his coach, Mrs. Karin Neal. By Michael Glenn It only took me until the last week that I am a high schooler, but I won a state championship. Now you may ask

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From left: Reno County Commissioners Richard Winger, Ron Hirst, Don Bogner, Randy Parks and Richard Vincent CREDIT SANDRA MILBURN/RENO COUNTY By Ainsley Trunkhill The two-year-long moratorium on solar energy, partnered with the ongoing discussions to regulate this renewable energy, has resulted in controversy and uncertainty across the

Former Astronaut Nicole Stott signs her book entitled ‘Back to Earth’ during her Fri., May 2, 2025, visit to the Cosmosphere CREDIT RICHARD SHANK

By Richard Shank


Retirement as a NASA Astronaut left Nicole Stott wondering how she might share her spaceflight experience with others. After some serious soul-searching, Stott co-founded an organization that connected space and the arts, and the world responded positively, even Russia.

On a Friday visit to Hutchinson for a tour of the Cosmosphere, with a stop at Disability Supports and The Clayworks, an organization involved in one of her notable projects.

Stott signed her book “Back to Earth” Friday evening before screening a 20-minute documentary entitled “Space for Art.”

Stott co-founded the Space Art Foundation, which she said is on a mission of Space, Art, and Healing. Her new endeavor has a Hutchinson connection.

“We are expanding our crew of ‘Artonauts—children creating art as a planetary community from hospitals, refugee centers, orphanages and schools around the world,” Stott said.

The Space Art Foundation is creating large-scale inspirational, space-themed art projects.

“This is raising awareness of our role as crewmates here on Spaceship Earth,” Stott said. “Our goal is to unite children to the healing power of art.”

Projects supported by the Space Art Foundation have spread to most nations in the world, including Russia. A number of children’s groups have built space-like suits out of fabric.

“Each suit is given a name,” Stott said.

Recently, clients of Disability Supports/The Clayworks in Hutchinson were part of a group creating a spacesuit named “Infinity” and displayed at the Friday evening event.

Space suit “Infinity,” created by Clayworks clients, on display at the Cosmposphere on Fri., May 2, 2025, as a project of the Space Art Foundation. Former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott co-founded the foundation CREDIT RICHARD SHANK

Stott said the suits used by astronauts flying in space are made from seven layers of materials. The children’s space suits are made from lightweight materials, and most can be folded up and placed inside an astronaut’s helmet.

“Several of the children’s suits were flown to the International Space Station, where astronauts were photographed wearing them,” Stott said. “I am hopeful ‘Infinity’ will one day be worn by an astronaut on the space station.”

“I am in awe of the families dealing with their children’s illnesses and who are involved in these art projects,” Stott said.

In a question-and-answer session following the documentary screening, Stott told how astronauts on the International Space Station work hard to stay in shape while in space, and spend two hours per day exercising.

“We experience some problems walking for a short period of time after flying in space,” Stott said. “While in space, we spend our time floating instead of walking.”

When asked about her favorite part of being an astronaut, Stott was quick to respond, “My favorite part is knowing that all of our work in space is about is about doing things to improve life on earth,” Stott said.

When asked how well she slept on the International Space Station, she replied, “I had the best sleep I have ever had in space. We sleep in sleeping bags that are tied to the ceiling. I never woke up and never moved until the alarm clock went off. It was amazing sleep.”

Stott can claim to have spent more than 103 days in space. Trivia buffs credit her with sending the first tweet from space in 2009. She resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Cosmosphere President and CEO Jim Remar said approximately 105,00 visitors from throughout the nation and world visit the Cosmosphere annually.

Visitors for the Friday evening event walked the corridors of this world-class attraction, and some seemed to marvel at one exhibit tracing the history of the Cosmosphere, which saw its origin in a poultry building on the Kansas State Fairgrounds where founder Patty Carey established a Planetarium.

“One attendee noted, “We have come a long way in 63 years.”

Former Astronaut Nicole Stott signs her book entitled ‘Back to Earth’ during her Fri., May 2, 2025, visit to the Cosmosphere CREDIT RICHARD SHANK By Richard Shank Retirement as a NASA Astronaut left Nicole Stott wondering how she might share her spaceflight experience with others. After some