Hays

• The Ellis County Commission authorized a maximum proposed 2027 general fund mill levy of 40.717 mills, up from 38.118 mills. →
• Ellis County's proposed 2027 budget drops more than $425,000 in oil and gas depletion revenue after auditors directed the county to eliminate the fund by next year. →
• Decreased oil and gas valuations will cause the Ellis County Fire District proposed mill levy to increase from 3.924 to 4.398 mills. →
• The Kansas Water Office praised Hays for its low per-capita water usage, highlighting its conservation efforts as a model for Kansas. →
• It’s going to be a sweltering one in Hays today under mostly sunny skies, so brace for dangerous heat as temperatures climb all the way to a high near 107°F.

🌾 Kansas

• Winfield, Kansas, police say Ronald H. Williams Sr. killed a woman and four children before fatally shooting himself Aug. 11 in a murder-suicide that ranks among the deadliest single crimes in modern Kansas history. →

• The Topeka City Council on Aug. 11 expanded its data center moratorium to cover city utility service for projects outside city limits, targeting a proposed Compass Datacenters development near Southwest 77th Street and Burlingame Road. →

• Marion, Kansas, and reporter Phyllis Zorn filed a motion Aug. 11 to dismiss her federal civil rights lawsuit after the city agreed to pay her $850,000 over the 2023 police raid on the Marion County Record. →

• Former KU chemical engineering professor Feng "Franklin" Tao filed a second federal lawsuit against the university July 21, alleging discrimination and retaliation tied to his prosecution under the DOJ's China Initiative. →

• Oak Park Mall LLC has submitted plans to redevelop the 89-acre Overland Park mall property into a mixed-use district with a 260-unit apartment complex, a 120-room hotel and a theater and conference center. →

🇺🇸 US

• Investors are shifting bets in the AI power race from power plant owners like Constellation Energy and Vistra toward equipment makers such as GE Vernova and Caterpillar, whose shares have surged this year. →

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces mounting political and legal setbacks, including a paused luxury home tax, even as he advances plans for city-owned grocery stores in Manhattan and the Bronx. →

• Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, setting up a November matchup with Trump-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany. →

• Intel raised $20 billion in its first public stock sale since 1971 to fund U.S. chip factories and its next-generation manufacturing process. →

• Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA draft, challenging the league's eligibility rules amid the debate over transgender participation in women's sports. →

Weather

AUGUST 12, 2000: RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SUBMARINE KURSK SINKS, KILLING 118 CREW

The Kursk, then the world’s largest attack submarine, suffered two explosions during naval war games in the Barents Sea and plunged to the seafloor with 118 sailors aboard. Russia initially rejected foreign rescue help and later raised the sub in a $100 million recovery operation, but the destroyed front hull left the exact cause of the disaster unresolved.

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.