Hutchinson

• The Reno County Commission approved selling $5.4 million in general obligation bonds for road upgrades supporting a new Evergy plant. →
• The Reno County Commission tabled eminent domain action for the McNew Road and Mills Avenue project to pursue voluntary settlements. →
• The Reno County Commission allocated $100,000 for Greater Hutch in 2027 while trimming the county economic development fund by $25,000. →
• The Reno County Commission reduced StartUp Hutch's funding allocation to $90,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. →
• The Hutchinson Police Department will host the seventh annual Bridgebuilders BBQ on July 30 at Carey Park in Hutchinson. →
• Kansas State Fair officials enacted a policy requiring dogs on the Hutchinson fairgrounds to be kept on leashes at all times. →
• Expect an early morning storm chance before turning mostly sunny and hot in Hutchinson today, with a high near 97°F and heat index values reaching up to 105.

🌾 Kansas

• Kansas primary turnout for the Aug. 4 election is running significantly higher than typical, driven by a proposed constitutional amendment on electing state Supreme Court justices, Secretary of State Scott Schwab said. →

• Evergy's planned 705-megawatt McNew Generating Station in Reno County has driven four county commission decisions since June 10 on bond financing, data-center regulations and eminent domain, according to a Citizen Journal review. →

• A battery fire broke out early Wednesday at Panasonic Energy's electric-vehicle battery plant in De Soto, marking the second such incident at the facility since May, though no injuries were reported. →

• Long-term drought in western Kansas will likely persist into early fall, raising wildfire risk and straining crops and water supplies, federal forecasters said Wednesday. →

• Chiefs President Mark Donovan said the team has discussed hosting the 2033, 2034 and 2035 Super Bowls at its planned domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, set to open in 2031. →

🇺🇸 US

• Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times Wednesday during Senate-subpoenaed testimony, prompting Chairman Rand Paul to schedule an Aug. 5 vote on holding him in contempt. →

• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said July 28 it will end the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration after 2026, clearing the way for Medicare drug plan premiums to rise sharply next year. →

• The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday despite an unusually large three-vote dissent favoring an increase, sending the Dow down 1,153 points as Microsoft's cloud growth and Meta's rising AI costs drove opposite stock reactions after hours. →

• Major AI companies split over federal policy as one open letter backed wider access to open-weight models while a second, signed by more than 1,100 employees, called for tools to enable a coordinated slowdown if AI development outpaces human control. →

• The U.S. launched a "heavy wave" of strikes against Iranian military targets late July 29 after Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Gulf, all of which were intercepted. →

Weather

JULY 30, 1965: LBJ SIGNS MEDICARE INTO LAW

At a ceremony in the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid as amendments to the Social Security Act. The new Medicare program initially provided hospital and medical insurance to Americans 65 and older, later expanding to cover certain disabled people and those with end-stage kidney disease.

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