Hays

• The City of Hays is investigating whether a prescribed burn on city-owned property sparked the 1,000-acre Arkansas River Fire in Edwards County. Emergency crews stopped the blaze's forward progress Thursday night, and no injuries or structural losses have been reported. →
• Sen. Jerry Moran announced federal funding for the renovation of a rural advanced manufacturing innovation lab at Fort Hays Tech Northwest to support student career preparation. →
• Local organizations in Hays are raising $350,000 to install a new weather radar to fill a coverage gap that currently leaves Ellis County with limited low-altitude storm data. →
• Ellis County Jail Reports 24 Arrests April 13-20 →
• Expect some early morning fog and a few passing showers, followed by a partly sunny afternoon with a high near 66 and a steady breeze out of the northwest.

🌾 Kansas

• A severe weather system swept Kansas from Sunday into Monday, producing tornadoes, large hail up to golf-ball size and structural damage across central, eastern and southeastern parts of the state, with multiple tornado touchdowns reported in Labette and Montgomery counties and no injuries confirmed. →

• Insurance brokerage Lockton Cos. unveiled plans for a $765.7 million headquarters development called Hallbrook North in Leawood, featuring a headquarters tower, child-care facility, retail and restaurant space, with construction expected to begin this summer. →

• A new AI lab at Fort Hays State University is dramatically cutting research time for students, reducing projects that once took a month to just days and allowing one student to process more than 700,000 images in seven to eight hours instead of two to three days. →

• Lightning struck and destroyed a 93-foot animatronic sauropod at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby during severe weather Saturday night, leaving only the metal skeleton intact after Derby firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to other exhibits. →

• Kansas Democratic governor candidates Sens. Cindy Holscher and Ethan Corson clashed Sunday over CoreCivic-linked campaign contributions and party establishment ties during a forum in Shawnee, though both staked out nearly identical positions on minimum wage, voting access and reproductive health care. →

🇺🇸 US

• A gunman opened fire outside the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, exchanging shots with authorities before being subdued by the Secret Service; suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, faces charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault of a federal officer. →

• President Trump canceled a planned trip by senior negotiators to Islamabad on Saturday, saying Iran's written proposals fell short of U.S. demands on enriched uranium and control of the Strait of Hormuz. →

• S&P 500 companies are on pace to report year-over-year earnings-per-share growth exceeding 13 percent in the first quarter, the sixth consecutive quarter above that threshold, despite weak consumer sentiment and high oil prices. →

• A study published in Nature Medicine links the herbicide picloram to rising colorectal cancer rates in adults under 50, with U.S. counties using more of the chemical showing higher incidence even after controlling for income and other pesticides. →

• Kenya's Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon on Sunday in 1:59:30, breaking the world record and becoming the first runner to go sub-two hours in a record-eligible marathon; Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also finished under two hours at 1:59:41. →

Weather

April 27, 1861: President Lincoln Suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus

President Abraham Lincoln authorized General Winfield Scott to suspend the writ of habeas corpus along key military transport routes in Maryland, allowing the Union army to detain suspected Confederate sympathizers without immediate judicial review. The move sparked an intense constitutional clash, as Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that only Congress—not the president—could suspend habeas corpus, a position later essentially affirmed by the Supreme Court. Lincoln’s decision left a lasting legacy in American law and politics, becoming a central case study in how far executive power may stretch in wartime and how civil liberties can be curtailed in the name of national security.

Found a mistake? Have a news tip or feedback to share? Contact our newsroom using the button below: