Lori Hutchinson was covering Bill Clinton's 1994 Topeka visit when she went into labor

Viewers got a surprise as KTKA-TV covered then-President Bill Clinton's visit to Topeka 30 years ago Sunday.

News director Marty Matthews suddenly appeared on camera sitting in anchorwoman Lori Hutchinson's chair to announce there would be another arrival besides the president.

Hutchinson then gave birth at 5:57 p.m. that day — April 7, 1994 — to 8-pound, 13-ounce Matthew "Matt" Hutchinson, the oldest of her three children with her husband, Doug Hutchinson.

Mother and son now work at Washburn University, where Lori Hutchinson is executive director of strategic communications and marketing while Matt Hutchinson is associate athletic director/director of development.

The two posed together for photos Tuesday in the loft apartment where Matt Hutchinson lives in downtown Topeka.

Why was President Clinton in Topeka?

Matt Hutchinson was born on a Thursday, at a time when his mother wasn't due to give birth for another five days.

Meanwhile, Clinton was visiting Topeka while trying unsuccessfully to gain support for his proposed health care plan. He landed in Air Force One at Forbes Field, where he spoke in an aircraft hangar before about 4,500 people.

Those present for that talk included Doug Hutchinson, who was an assistant coach for Coach Bob Chipman's 1987 Washburn basketball team, which won the national NAIA Championship.

Clinton next answered questions from selected members of the public at the studio for WIBW-TV Channel 13, then took part in a forum with about 150 small business owners at Topeka Foundry and Iron Works, 300 S.W. Jackson.

'A wild day'

Kent Cornish, who was then-KTKA's general manager and is now retired, remembers the date of Matt Hutchison's birth as being "a wild day."

Lori Hutchinson had warned Cornish that morning that her baby could come "any day," he recalled Tuesday.

That morning, Cornish said, KTKA interrupted its regular programming from time to time to provide coverage of Clinton's visit to Topeka.

Hutchinson would give updates while appearing on camera from the station's studio near S.E. 1st and Monroe, he said. KTKA would then cut away to show a reporter covering the proceedings at Forbes, Cornish said.

'It's coming'

Then Lori Hutchinson's water broke, she recalled Tuesday.

As Clinton continued to speak at Forbes and Hutchinson's labor pains came increasingly close together, she realized she need to go to a hospital.

Cornish recalled Hutchinson's approaching and telling him: "It's coming. I've got to go."

She suggested they take her car, which included a "baby bag" containing anything they might need, Cornish said.

He said he drove Hutchinson to Stormont Vail, then stayed with her as she checked in.

'Will she name the baby Bill?'

KTKA employees tried to contact Doug Hutchinson at Forbes, Cornish said.

But Doug Hutchinson found himself stuck there because security wouldn't let him leave, he said.

After waiting out a traffic jam at Forbes, Doug Hutchinson made it to Stormont Vail in time to be present for the birth of his son, the next day's Capital-Journal said.

"Will she name the baby Bill?" asked a subhead in the article involved.

That article quoted Lori Hutchinson as saying, "Someone said we should name him Clint."

'Kind of a cool deal'

Clinton's motorcade passed by the KTKA office as it was leaving Topeka that day, Cornish recalled.

"We all stood out there and watched it drive by," he said.

Lori and Doug Hutchinson subsequently got a letter signed by Clinton congratulating them on their son's birth, she said.

The story of Matt Hutchinson's birth is "kind of a cool deal," he told The Capital-Journal on Tuesday.

What's Matt Hutchinson doing today?

Matt Hutchinson played basketball for Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees and is working on a doctorate. He also teaches at Rockhurst as an adjunct professor.

Matt Hutchison, who is single with no children, was named a Topeka's Top 20 Under 40 honoree in 2023.

He serves on the boards for the 20/30 Club of Topeka, Topeka Area Sports Commission, Shawnee County Crime Stoppers and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Topeka.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lori Hutchinson was covering Clinton's Topeka visit when labor started