Hays

• The Hays City Commission authorized up to $4 million in bond sales to fund infrastructure for Tallgrass Phase 4 and the Exit 161 project. →
• During municipal budget discussions, the Hays City Commission focused on finding ways to reduce spending and lower taxes for residents. →
• The Hays City Commission approved a $254,640 contract with Mayer Specialty Services for 2026 sanitary sewer repairs. →
• Lower-than-expected bids on the 2026 sewer project will save the City of Hays over $95,000, allowing for 35 additional patch repairs. →
• We're looking at a beautiful, mostly sunny Friday ahead in Hays with a comfortable high of 87°F and just a light breeze out of the northeast.

🌾 Kansas

• Beale Infrastructure's $3 billion data center campus in De Soto has grown from four buildings totaling 1.14 million square feet to nearly 2.9 million square feet across 300 acres, with the first phase due by 2028. →

• The U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to about 86.7 million head, its smallest size since 1951, pushing May ground beef prices to roughly $6.75 a pound and steak to $12.80 a pound. →

• The NCAA announced Wichita will host Opening Round games of the Division I men's basketball tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena in 2027 and 2028. →

• The Kansas Republican Party's requirement that candidates pay to join Thursday's gubernatorial debate left only three of seven primary contenders—Scott Schwab, Philip Sarnecki and Charlotte O'Hara—participating at WIBW's studios. →

• Reigning champion Argentina rallied from a deficit to beat Egypt 3-2 on July 7, advancing to a World Cup quarterfinal against Switzerland at Kansas City Stadium on July 11. →

🇺🇸 US

• The U.S. military struck approximately 90 targets in Iran on July 9, prompting Iranian retaliatory missile and drone attacks on U.S.-linked bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. →

• NOAA said July 9 that El Niño has strengthened, assigning an 81% probability to a very strong event from October through December 2026 that could rank among the largest since 1950. →

• Texas began disbursing funds to nearly 73,000 Texas Education Freedom Accounts on July 1, allowing families to spend $10,000 to $30,000 per student on private-school tuition, Bible studies and AI-taught courses. →

• SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on July 9 using first-stage booster B1067 for a record 36th time, delivering 29 Starlink satellites to orbit before landing on a droneship. →

• The New York Times, New York Daily News and other publishers asked a federal Manhattan court on July 9 to sanction OpenAI for allegedly misrepresenting its ability to search ChatGPT logs for their copyrighted material. →

Weather

JULY 10, 1832: ANDREW JACKSON VETOES RE-CHARTER OF THE SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES

President Andrew Jackson blocked the renewal of America’s central bank because he believed it favored wealthy financiers and big cities over farmers, workers and Western settlers. By attacking what he called a “monster bank,” Jackson cast himself as champion of the “common man” against distant economic elites, turning the fight into the defining issue of his re-election campaign. His victory—shutting down the bank and moving federal money into friendly state “pet banks”—helped inspire a lasting style of populist politics where leaders claim to defend ordinary people against powerful institutions, a pattern echoed throughout US history in arguments over Wall Street, the Federal Reserve and “rigged” economic systems. This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our AI policy.