Hays

• The Kansas Department of Agriculture banned Hays residents from using private wells for daytime lawn watering from June 1 to Sept. 30. →
• The Ellis County Commission reviewed a contribution agreement for a proposed solar development southwest of Hays that pays $1.1 million. →
• The Ellis County Commission approved a $1,839,900 contract to renovate the Ellis County Law Enforcement Center in Hays. →
• The Hays City Commission on Thursday will discuss fireworks rules, infrastructure bids, and local tax incentives. →
• The Hays Police Department is deploying extra patrols from May 17 to June 1 for the nationwide Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign. →
• Expect a partly sunny and breezy Wednesday in Hays with a high near 66°F and just a slight chance of a passing shower.

🌾 Kansas

• Vice President JD Vance rallied in Kansas City Tuesday, praising Missouri's Republican-drawn redistricting map targeting Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's seat and promoting the Trump administration's manufacturing agenda. →

• The Kansas Secretary of State's Office has launched Esper software statewide to replace a decades-old paper-based rulemaking system, completing the first-ever overhaul of the state's regulatory process. →

• No Labels Kansas notified Secretary of State Scott Schwab's office Friday that it is terminating its status as a recognized political party, with affected voter registrations to be moved to unaffiliated. →

• A U.S. Air Force Beechcraft T-6A Texan II trainer landed gear-up at McConnell Air Force Base on Tuesday after failed landing attempts at Hutchinson Regional Airport, with both pilots uninjured. →

• Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was ordered Tuesday to serve 30 days in jail after testing positive for marijuana in violation of probation terms stemming from a 2024 Dallas highway crash. →

🇺🇸 US

• Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein defeated seven-term Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky's Republican primary, 55% to 45%, after Trump targeted Massie for repeatedly defecting from his agenda. →

• Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the May 26 Republican Senate runoff, raising GOP concerns that a Paxton nomination could jeopardize the party's 53-47 Senate majority. →

• The Senate voted 50-47 to advance a war powers resolution limiting Trump's ability to strike Iran without congressional approval, with Sen. Bill Cassidy casting the decisive vote days after losing his Louisiana primary. →

• The CFTC is investigating more than $800 million in oil futures trades executed minutes before Trump announced a pause on Iran strikes March 23, with at least five firms posting gains of $5 million or more on the moves. →

• The U.S. and Israel planned to install former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's new leader, but the scheme collapsed on the first day of the conflict when an Israeli strike intended to free him from house arrest instead injured him. →

Weather

MAY 20, 1862: PRESIDENT LINCOLN SIGNS HOMESTEAD ACT OPENING THE GREAT PLAINS TO SETTLERS

The Homestead Act granted 160 acres of federal land to eligible settlers who agreed to live on and improve the property, accelerating migration into the Great Plains. In what is now Kansas, it spurred a wave of small farms and townsites, reshaping the state’s economy, politics and landscape. By 1900, homesteaders and speculators together had claimed tens of millions of acres, anchoring Kansas’s long-term identity as an agricultural state.

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