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This edition of That Podcast in Hutch brings in one of my closest friends and somewhat frequent guest Tyler Kershner.
Tyler has a history of doing extraordinary things, such as riding his bicycle more than 200 miles in a day, fasting for extended periods of time, or in this case - walking 50 miles in a single day.
He got the idea from President Teddy Roosevelt, who believed that officers under his command should be able to walk 50 miles in a 24 hour period. In that test of physical endurance the officers could break that walk up over any part of 24 hours. Tyler decided he wanted to do it straight through - walking 50 miles in one outing, with only small breaks during the day.
He chose Hutchinson, and during his trek around town he learned a lot about the community - and about himself.
I think you’ll find this episode intriguing - and will appreciate some of his insights and takeaways from his one-day adventure.
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This week’s episode of That Podcast in Hutch centers on the work of the United Way of Reno County and two dynamic people who help lead the organization - Executive Director Lacey Mills and Director of Community Impact, Valerie Taylor.
We visit about the United Way’s ongoing fundraising campaign - which is a critical part of supporting our non-profit community in Hutchinson. The United Way is an important resource to help these on-the-ground agencies do the work needed to improve the lives of residents in Hutchinson, which in turn improves our community.
Additionally, we talk about the United Way’s work on ALICE - which is an acronym for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed. For too many families in our community, working isn’t enough to get by. These families are working hard, but the wages aren’t moving them to a place of sustainability. There are so many factors that work against people - and our conversation helps illustrate some of those challenges.
I do want to say that I had some terrible technical challenges during recording - all due to my lack of experience with some relatively new equipment we’re using in the studio. But Christopher does miracles to make it all work out pretty well.
I hope you enjoy this episode of That Podcast In Hutch.
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Producer Christopher takes over the podcast! he takes the recording equipment on the road and sets up at Sandhills Brewing during the launch of Jasons Prost for Probst Oktoberfest to ask attendees why they love Hutch.
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This one is going to hurt.
In this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, my friend Brandy Sheahan Harris talks about the loss of her son, Sebastian, to a fentanyl overdose.
Sebastian passed away on April 15, 2022. He was 21 years old.
Brandy tells us about her son, moving us through his young life and lets us see, through a mother’s eyes, Sebastian’s life. She also walks us through his struggles with addiction, and the hole his death has left in her family’s lives.
I’ve known Brandy for a number of years. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child. Yet she has shown an incredible amount of resolve and courage in the years since Sebastian’s death.
Anytime I’ve asked Brandy to travel to Topeka to testify on legislation related to fentanyl deaths, she has helped without hesitation. She testified in front of Senate and House Committees and did numerous television interviews - all things that I know were far outside of her comfort zone.
I spent nearly 3 years talking with other legislators about the need to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips. It finally happened in 2023 and I was proud to lead that effort in the legislature. But it wouldn’t have happened without people like Brandy - who had the courage to speak through their loss.
In 2024, we followed that by passing a Good Samaritan law, which allows people to call for medical aid during an overdose without fear of arrest or prosecution.
This one is going to hurt.
But I think it’s important to hear it.
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I was visiting with my producer Christopher Acker about our 3-part series on addiction, alcoholism, and sobriety earlier this week. We got some remarkable feedback on the series, and I’m really thankful for the people who took time to reach out to share how the episodes had touched them.
As we started talking about the upcoming episodes - including this week’s show - Christopher pointed out that even though it wasn’t labeled as part of the series on addiction, it was still very much related. I hadn’t considered that, but he was absolutely right.
Luci Hernandez, or Lucky Luci, tells her story of destruction, demolition, and rebuilding - both in the house she’s rehabbing into a home, and in her life that today looks a lot different than she had imagined when she first moved to Kansas.
I first heard Luci’s story this June during Talk 20 at the Hutchinson Public Library. If you haven’t attended Talk 20 before, you’ve been missing out. At its core, Talk 20 is a way to show us the lives of neighbors - particularly those neighbors who might not ever tell their stories to a broad segment of the community.
Luci told her story about moving to Kansas with a plan for the future, only to watch it all fall away from her. She had to figure out what she might do next, and from the remnants of the life she had imagined, she began to rebuild her home, and herself.
Her story is one of resilience and hope, and I think you’ll find, as Christopher pointed out, that it’s very much a story of recovery.
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In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses.
To conclude our series on alcohol and sobriety, I visit with Seth Dewey, who works as a Health Educator at the Reno County Health Department. He has done incredible work to educate and inform our community about substance misuse. While Seth often speaks about various drugs, we talked in this episode about the parallels with alcohol abuse - which still remains one of the most abused drugs in Reno County.
You'll have the chance to learn a great deal from Seth in this episode.
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Jason and Producer Chris head out to Third Thursday to hear from you! We heard from folks about their pets, their summer, or anything else they wanted to share.
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In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses.
In this episode, I visit with Mike and Cammie Rumback. They share their story about dealing with alcoholism - Mike as an alcoholic and Cammie as a wife and mother trying to navigate life with someone addicted to alcohol.
This is a story that's more common than I think we realize, and I appreciated the Rumbacks for opening up about something so painful and personal.
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In this series of That Podcast in Hutch, we're taking a look at the use of alcohol and sobriety through several different lenses.
In this episode, I visit with former District Court Judge and Kansas Representative Steven Becker. He shares the story of his struggle with alcoholism, his time in treatment, and how those moments changed his outlook on life.
I think you'll enjoy hearing this story, and this perspective, from Steve. He is open and vulnerable and honest about a difficult time in his life.
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This episode of That Podcast in Hutch reaches back a way - to about a year ago when former Hutchinson resident Slade Templeton dropped into the studio while visiting family, in the country from his home in Bern, Switzerland.
Slade is an eclectic mix of interests and skills. He’s the author of horror books - his latest being Truth of the Shadows, which is described as “dark and spiraling journey into the abyss,” by the president of the Horror Writers Association.
But his literary work is just the start. He’s a musician and record producer, as well as a designer and creator of Haunted Miniatures - offering spooky miniatures for dollhouse makers.
In my conversation with Slade, we go back in time to his early years in Hutchinson. Along the way we touch on his experience with substance misuse, feelings of not quite finding your place in the world, and mental health crisis. But also about how he found his passion and place by embracing his true self.
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We're excited to launch our next season of That Podcast In Hutch!
For this episode, we go back in time to 2022 - and the time that Sandhills Brewing had to sell an unimaginable amount of food in a ridiculous amount of time to keep its liquor license.
Thankfully, our guest Pippin Williamson, was able to marshal his staff and the community to save this unique Hutchinson brewery from the reach of an antiquated 1980s law that requires any place that sells alcohol to make 30 percent of its sales from food.
That effort a year ago led to an upcoming vote to remove what's known as the Food Rule from Reno County. This change would allow any business that wants to sell alcohol to operate as it sees fit - without the need to stand up a full scale restaurant in a place that's not a restaurant at all. Think breweries, on-site crafting shops, ax throwing, and a number of other local businesses.
Pippin and I revisit some of the events of a year ago, and walk back to the present day - and the need to update Reno County law to meet the realities of today.
If you've wondered what all those "Vote for Beer Freedom" signs are about - you can learn all about it on this episode of That Podcast in Hutch.
Also - Here are some important dates.
Last day to register to Vote - October 17
First Day Advance ballots go out in the mail - Oct. 18
First Day for early voting at the Reno County Annex - Oct. 23
Can vote 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon-Fri until Nov. 5. Can vote early 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 6
Election Day is Nov. 7
Voting open to all Reno County residents.
Go to https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/voterview/ to check your registration and find your polling location.
If you want to read a more complete history of liquor laws in Kansas - follow this link.
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In this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I visit with my friends from Beyond Barriers - formerly known as Prairie Independent Living Resource Center.
Erica Rivera, Kelly Miller, and Emerald - a black lab service dog - join me to talk about what it means to live life with a disability - but more importantly what it means to live life independently.
One of the things that really stood out to me about this episode was our conversation about how having a disability isn't what we might normally consider. As we all move through life, our health conditions change. A disability can affect any of us at any time in our life - be it through an accident, a health concern, or simply through aging.
But organizations like Beyond Barriers serve to help anyone with a disability secure the tools and resources needed to live life on their own terms. And as you listen to this episode, you'll learn how important it is for everyone to have what they need to live life on their own terms.
To learn more about Beyond Barriers, visit https://www.beyondbarriersks.com/
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In this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I am interviewing my Mom.
Every Christmas, my Mom brings up the story of the Fisher Price Happy Apple - my one and only Christmas present when I was just 11 months old. It's part of the lore of our family - that we were so incredibly poor the first year of my life, we couldn't afford a proper Christmas Tree or a proper Christmas at all. But my parents managed to scrape together enough cash to buy this one simple toy. By my Mom's account, I loved it and played with it constantly.
But over the years, this Happy Apple has become a sort of symbol, and a reminder. And my Mom is very clear that of all the possessions she has (which isn't a whole lot) this toy is the most cherished. It's the one I'm duty-bound to keep after her death. And it's the one I'm supposed to think about as a way to remember our family's past.
So I asked my Mom to talk about that period of time, and why this simple toy has meant so much to her over the years. She didn't stop there, and decided to tell a few other stories, too. Mostly about me.
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This week's episode of That Podcast in Hutch features Marla McKee and Anthony Frischenmeyer with Circles of Hope.
According to its website, Circles of Hope "gathers people who are motivated to move out of poverty and matches them with middle-income and high-income volunteers who can support and encourage them on their journey."
But as you'll hear in this conversation, Circles does much more than that. It expands understanding - between families in poverty and middle income families. And through those shared experiences and understanding, they learn from one another.
Additionally, families have multiple training sessions, or "conversations" as Anthony prefers to call them, that help families develop the skills they'll learn as they move out of poverty and into stability, and middle class life.
I've long been a fan of Circles of Hope and its work in our community. They are combating poverty at every level - but most importantly, they are doing it one family at a time, with compassion and love.
Go here to check out the group's Facebook page.
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In this week's episode of That Podcast in Hutch, guest host Jackson Swearer returns again for a follow-up interview with That Guy in Hutch, Jason Probst.
Earlier this year, I sat down with Jason for a two-part conversation about his life up until he joined the legislature. A lot of people seemed to enjoy those podcasts, and asked me if I would consider interviewing Jason again. What we have for you today is Part 3.
This time, we pick up where the conversation left off, and discuss Jason's experience representing the 102nd House District since 2017. I asked him about life in the legislature, how the process of passing laws really works, how he has built relationships with different people during his time in Topeka, and more. We even talked about Teddy Roosevelt!
Jason has an uncanny ability to explain complex issues in a way most people can understand. He is also more willing than most legislators to pull back the curtain and reveal to his constituents how things really work in Topeka. I always find our conversations enlightening, and I hope that listeners will too.
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This week on That Podcast in Hutch, Tyler and I come together for another episode of What's the Big Idea.
This time, we explore a little more deeply the big idea of whether consumer plastics such as water and soda bottles, could be repurposed for use as filament in an at-home 3D printer. We speculate, and then pull in an answer from someone who actually understands the properties of this material far better than we do.
Like we said at the outset, this experiment has always been about the big ideas - and whether we have to accept as final the things we think have been told are impossible
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For this episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I decided to publish a recent event I hosted, that featured Chris Courtwright.
For 35 years, Chris was the chief economist with the Kansas Legislative Research Department. In that role, he helped inform legislators about the consequences of changes to tax and spending policies through his research and staffing of the taxation and appropriations committees.
He also worked with the Consensus Revenue Estimating group - a group of various industry experts who gather twice a year to calculate the next year's economic conditions, and the amount of expected state revenue. The work of the CRE is by statute what the governor must base a budget on, and it's what legislators rely on as they deliberate spending decisions.
In this presentation, Chris goes through a good history of tax policy in Kansas, and he points out how changes in one area of taxation often lead to increases in other areas. He also throws in some very interesting history - including a reference to a Reno County lawyer who later became Governor and an Appellate Court Judge.
If you want to follow along with his slideshow, you can access that here.
If you'd rather watch the presentation on video, I've uploaded it to Youtube
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This election season, there has been a lot of chatter about education. Much of it centered around the idea that there's a lot going on behind the imposing walls of a child's school that parents aren't aware of, or involved in. And in that general conversation, there are few buzzwords that have been more thrown about than a three-letter acronym - SEL, which stands for Social and Emotional Learning.
In this episode, I sit down with Melissa Evans, who is the Assistant Principal at Hutchinson Middle School - 7th grade. Melissa takes a deep dive with me into what SEL is, how it helps students, and how it's really nothing to be worried about. You'll learn that SEL is the relatively new formal name for a concept that has been used in education for quite some time - and that it's not being taught by some sinister cabal that's hoping to indoctrinate children. In fact, its use was requested after input from the Kansas business community, which told educators that they required a workforce that was more emotionally mature, and prepared to handle the rigors of daily work.
This episode ranks among my favorites. Melissa does a fantastic job of demystifying not only SEL, but the relationships between students and teachers, and teachers and parents. If you have any sort of interest in education and the students in it - or if you've been curious, worried, concerned, or even alarmed by the idea of SEL - you will not want to miss this episode.
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This week's episode of That Podcast in Hutch features Hailee Black - and the secret lives of teenagers. Well, maybe not secret as much as mysterious or misunderstood.
Hailee is a soon-to-be 18 year old senior at Hutchinson High School. I first met her last legislative session when she travelled to Topeka with a group of JAG-K students. Hailee explains more about JAG in the podcast - but it's a fantastic program that helps prepare students for many aspects of adult life. It stands for Jobs for America's Graduates. I encourage you to learn more about this program - it's a great tool and addition for our students.
We also talk about some of the stressors, issues, ideas, and misconceptions about today's teenagers. And I will warn you that some of the conversation is frank, pointed, opinionated, and even a little dark. I wanted to hear and learn about this perspective, and I think the best way to do that is to ask questions, and listen. So while I didn't know what Hailee might say, or even what questions I would ask, I did want her to have the freedom to answer my questions honestly, and in her own words.
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In this week's episode of That Podcast in Hutch, I visit with Sgt. Wesley Vaughn with the Hutchinson Police Department.
Wesley has been a friend of mine for quite some time, and I've always enjoyed our conversations. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience in a variety of areas. And everytime we visit, I leave feeling better informed, with a deeper understanding of our community, and the challenges faced by members of law enforcement.
Plus, he's just a lot of fun to talk with.
I encourage you to listen with intention to this episode. I think we cover some important topics - from the changes in law enforcement over the years, to the unique challenges encountered by a person of color who has built a career as a police officer serving our community.
You'll also get some interesting and useful insights about gardening, as well as chicken and rabbit husbandry!
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