🌾 Kansas

• Kansas wheat producers will soon wrap up one of the most variable harvests in years, with yields ranging from 7 to 35 bushels per acre due to drought, a spring freeze and wheat streak mosaic virus, tracking pre-harvest forecasts of roughly 214–218 million bushels statewide. →

• Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sued Aetna in Shawnee County District Court June 24, alleging the insurer misappropriated state employee health plan funds through cross-plan offsetting, a practice federal courts have found violates ERISA. →

• Boeing closed its $4.7 billion acquisition of Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems on July 1, reuniting the planemaker with the supplier it spun off in 2005 and bringing roughly 15,000 workers into Boeing. →

• Wichita-area hospitals treated at least 44 fireworks injuries over the Independence Day weekend, while a Sunday-night apartment fire sparked by fireworks caused an estimated $200,000 in damage and displaced several residents. →

• A Douglas County judge ruled July 6 that Carrody Buchhorn was wrongfully convicted in a 2018 infant death case, granting her a certificate of innocence and ordering the state to pay approximately $368,000 plus attorney fees under Kansas' mistaken-conviction compensation law. →

🇺🇸 US

• NATO leaders opened a two-day summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026, with President Trump attending despite months of feuding with allies and planning a sideline meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to discuss ending the war with Russia. →

• China fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the open Pacific Ocean on July 6, 2026, drawing condemnation from the U.S. and protests from Australia and New Zealand, who said the missile landed inside a treaty-designated nuclear-free zone. →

• A preliminary hearing opened July 6, 2026, in Utah for Tyler James Robinson, 23, accused of fatally shooting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, as prosecutors announced they will seek the death penalty. →

• Russia's July 6 missile and drone barrage on Kyiv killed at least 26 people after Ukraine exhausted its Patriot PAC-3 interceptors, while Ukrainian drones simultaneously struck Russia's largest oil refinery in Omsk, nearly 2,500 kilometers from the border. →

• Belgium eliminated host-nation United States from the 2026 World Cup with a 4-1 victory on July 6, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring twice as Belgium advanced to face Spain in the quarterfinals. →

Weather

JULY 7 1930: PRELIMINARY WORK BEGINS ON HOOVER DAM

Preliminary construction on the Hoover Dam site started on July 7, 1930, launching one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in U.S. history. Built on the Colorado River, the dam would tame destructive floods, power rapidly growing cities, and make large-scale irrigation possible across the arid Southwest. This single project helped unlock the modern American West, supplying water and electricity that enabled new industries, booming populations, and a more integrated regional economy.