Hays

• The Hays USD 489 Board of Education debated a high school grade intervention program called Boost during a handbook reading. →
• The City of Hays will begin construction to add safety enhancements to the crosswalk near the West 37th Street roundabout on Vine Street. →
• Ellis County Jail Reports 26 Arrests Over July 13-20 →
• It's going to be a beautiful, sunny Tuesday here in Hays, with a high near 95°F and a light breeze out of the northeast.

🌾 Kansas

• Kansas's three Democratic gubernatorial candidates clashed over the state's Chiefs stadium financing deal during a televised primary debate ahead of the Aug. 4 primary. →

• Kansas's new "Halo Act," which bars people from coming within 25 feet of working officers, is facing First Amendment scrutiny after video showed officers using it to push back bystanders filming ICE activity. →

• The Kansas Water Office opened a new round of its State Water Infrastructure Grant Program, expanded under House Bill 2462, as officials also hold public meetings through Aug. 27 on the state's long-range water plan. →

• County commissions across Kansas, including in Ellis, Finney and Sedgwick counties, are making key decisions shaping the state's growing solar farm buildout. →

• Kansas soybeans improved to 72% good-to-excellent condition in the USDA's latest crop report as the state's winter wheat harvest wrapped up with highly uneven yields. →

🇺🇸 US

• President Trump signed an executive order July 20 tightening sourcing requirements and limiting waivers for foreign-sourced critical materials used by the U.S. military. →

• A federal judge granted final approval July 20 to Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors and publishers over pirated works used in AI training. →

• The House Intelligence Committee advanced the fiscal 2027 Intelligence Authorization Act on July 20, boosting funding for frontier AI access and creating a chief AI officer post. →

• A study published Friday in Science Advances found the Chicxulub asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was a rare carbonaceous chondrite that formed beyond Jupiter's orbit. →

• Yemen's Houthis declared an immediate maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20, threatening to target ships carrying Saudi oil exports through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. →

Weather

JULY 21, 1865: WILD BILL HICKOK KILLS DAVE TUTT IN FIRST QUICK-DRAW WESTERN SHOOTOUT

Wild Bill Hickok and Dave Tutt faced each other in Springfield, Missouri’s town square in what is widely regarded as the first classic Western quick-draw duel. Hickok, honoring the era’s informal “code of the West,” fatally shot Tutt after warning him not to come closer, and was later acquitted of manslaughter.