Hays

• The Ellis County Commission to review a nearly flat 2027 budget after making $600,000 in cuts to public works, wage increases, and reserves. →
• The Hays City Commission will review an economic incentive package for a 54-unit housing project at the former Lincoln Elementary School. →
• The Hays City Commission will consider an ordinance to hire a private collection agency to recover $30,787 in unpaid utility debts. →
• Ellis County Jail Reports 21 Arrests Over Past Week →
• Expect a mostly sunny Tuesday in Hays with a comfortable high near 85°F and a light northeast breeze.

🌾 Kansas

• Kansans vote Tuesday on a constitutional amendment to replace the state's Supreme Court merit-selection system with statewide elections starting in 2028. →

• The Finney County Commission approved a 10-year property-tax exemption for Empirical Foods' $400 million beef-processing project expected to create 270 jobs. →

• Kansas cropland values rose 2.9% to $3,540 per acre in 2026 as U.S. cropland topped $6,000 per acre for the first time, according to USDA data. →

• The FAA certified Boeing's 737 MAX 7 on Monday after years of delays, with Southwest Airlines holding most of the roughly 289 orders. →

• Kansas cities including Goodland, Garden City and Russell broke Dust Bowl-era and other heat records Sunday amid a statewide heat wave. →

🇺🇸 US

• Michigan, Kansas and Missouri voters head to the polls Tuesday in primaries that will set key November matchups, including a Democratic Senate race in Michigan between Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed. →

• The Senate voted 89-4 Monday to advance a bipartisan stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through Dec. 11 and avert a shutdown before the midterms. →

• ICE took more than 46,000 people into custody in July, a record for the second Trump administration, as the agency expands enforcement at major U.S. airports. →

• OpenAI said an internal version of its upcoming Astra model produced solutions to 10 math and computer science problems that had remained unsolved for at least a decade. →

• U.S. stocks hit records Monday as Amazon's market value topped $3 trillion for the first time and oil prices fell more than 6% on eased Iran tensions. →

Weather

AUGUST 4, 1790: ALEXANDER HAMILTON CREATES COAST GUARD TO INTERCEPT SMUGGLERS

Alexander Hamilton persuaded the first U.S. Congress to fund a fleet of swift “revenue cutters” to patrol ports from Massachusetts to Georgia, intercept smugglers and enforce tariff laws. In a young nation without an income tax, these vessels became a crucial tool to secure customs revenue and stabilize the federal government’s post–Revolutionary War finances.

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.