Hutchinson

• The Reno County Commission unanimously scheduled a public hearing to establish a STAR bond district for the 620-acre Salt Lick Golf and Hunting Resort, which will feature 45 holes of golf and 200 lodging units. →
• Commissioners unanimously approved economic development funds for LUXE Kansas LLC to offset high construction costs and increase local housing stock. →
• Reno County EMS has begun operating out of a new station in Hutchinson and will host public open houses for facilities in Hutchinson and Arlington in late April. →
• City council members engaged in a debate regarding a potential temporary ban on new data center developments within the city. →
• Nickerson High School was recognized by the Kansas Board of Regents for its efforts in helping students navigate college applications, FAFSA completion, and postsecondary planning. →
• The Hutchinson Community Foundation appointed Jon Richardson as its new board chair and added retired judge Patricia Macke Dick, physician John Fan, and agriculture executive Darrell Pankratz to its board of directors. →
• Derby swept a Tuesday doubleheader against Hutchinson, cruising to a 14-1 run-rule victory before securing a 7-4 win in the nightcap. The Panthers improved to 8-2 overall while the winless Salthawks dropped to 0-10 on the season. →
• The Kansas Volleyball Association has named its 2026 all-star rosters, featuring local standouts Emerson Waldren of Buhler and Delaney Childs of Nickerson. These top athletes will compete in the KVA annual all-star match on June 6 at Washburn University’s Whiting Fieldhouse. →
• Midway Motors has acquired Allen Samuels Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM in Hutchinson, ensuring the dealership remains locally owned while expanding vehicle inventory and service capacity. This transition aims to preserve area jobs and enhance the customer experience through more competitive pricing and faster turnaround times. →
• It’s going to be a beautiful, mostly sunny day in Hutchinson with a high near 81, though you’ll want to watch out for those gusty south winds and a stray afternoon shower.

🌾 Kansas

• Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Senate Substitute for House Bill 2745 on Wednesday, rejecting the Republican-backed measure that would have created a protest petition process allowing voters to block local property tax increases exceeding inflation-adjusted revenue, and proposed a three-part alternative including a one-time $250 vehicle registration credit. →

• Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed 15 bills Wednesday, including measures that would have eliminated mail-in voting for many Kansans, restricted online voter registration, created what she called a backdoor private school voucher program, and undone 2016 juvenile justice reforms. →

• Gov. Laura Kelly signed House Bill 2513, a multi-year state budget covering fiscal years 2026 through 2029, but criticized the Republican-led Legislature for cutting school mental health services while boosting lawmakers' salaries by 4% and giving state employees in prisons and mental health facilities just a 1% raise. →

• A warm, dry winter and spring have Kansas wheat farmers bracing for a diminished crop and the earliest harvest ever at some operations, with fields roughly six weeks from cutting after little snow, a warmer-than-average March and the return of drought conditions statewide. →

• Kansans are already paying more for helium as the Iran conflict chokes off roughly a third of the global supply, disrupting Kansas hospitals, manufacturers and aircraft industry operations that rely on helium for MRI machines, surgical equipment and leak checking. →

🇺🇸 US

• The two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire faced immediate strain as Iran accused Washington of violations and moved to consolidate control over the Strait of Hormuz, limiting crossings to roughly a dozen ships per day. →

• China used its economic and diplomatic leverage to push Iran toward accepting the two-week ceasefire in the final hours before the deal was announced, according to three Iranian officials. →

• The U.S. fertility rate dropped to 53.1 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2025, extending two decades of decline, according to data released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics. →

• Chinese state hackers used Anthropic's AI to breach ~30 organizations with minimal human involvement — the first known AI-driven cyberattack — but the same tools are now arming defenders to catch long-hidden vulnerabilities, turning cybersecurity into a race over who finds the flaws first. →

• The U.S. labor-force participation rate slipped to 61.9 percent in March, its lowest level since 1977 outside the pandemic, driven by retiring baby boomers and the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. →

Weather

April 9, 1959: NASA Introduces America’s First Astronauts

NASA presented the original seven Mercury astronauts—Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard and Slayton—to the American public. Their selection marked the United States’ first concrete step toward manned spaceflight in the escalating Cold War “space race” with the Soviet Union.

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