Kansas daily brief
Kansas and US news for busy people - Jan 27, 2026 edition
🌾Kansas
- Property Tax Amendment: Kansas lawmakers introduced a constitutional amendment to cut residential property tax assessment rates from 11.5% to 9%, requiring two-thirds legislative approval and voter consent in November.
- Federal Shooting Investigation: Senator Jerry Moran demanded a full investigation after Border Patrol agents killed a second person this month during an altercation in Minneapolis, calling for transparency and accountability.
- Cybersecurity Partnership: Senator Roger Marshall announced a collaboration between Kansas community colleges and the National Guard to create pathways for training cybersecurity professionals amid surging workforce demand.
- Kansas's literacy director urged lawmakers to merge two separate reading programs into one comprehensive plan, as current efforts remain fragmented despite 55% of students reading at limited or basic levels.
- Legislation requiring clergy to report suspected child abuse returned for its fourth year after failing three times in the House, supported by survivors whose abuse went unreported because priests weren't mandatory reporters.
Greg Loving
🇺🇸 US
• Federal agents partially withdrawing from Minnesota after ICE fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse filming their activities—the second U.S. citizen killed by immigration authorities in Minneapolis within two weeks.
• Democrats threaten government shutdown by demanding removal of DHS funding from spending bill after Pretti's video-recorded killing, with shutdown set for Saturday if no deal reached.
• Medicare insurer stocks plunge 9-12% after Trump administration proposes nearly flat payment increase for 2027, far below expectations, while eliminating a lucrative billing practice.
• Social media giants face Big Tobacco-style trial starting Tuesday, with thousands of lawsuits alleging platforms knowingly designed addictive products that harmed millions of young Americans.
• Iran protest crackdown death toll may exceed 10,000 (some estimates reach 36,000), surpassing Tiananmen Square, as USS Lincoln arrives in Middle East amid potential military action considerations.
Greg Loving
Weather
January 27 1785: Georgia incorporates the first state university, University of Georgia
Public universities in America grew from a handful of late‑18th‑century state schools into a nationwide system that expanded rapidly after the Civil War. The biggest surge came with the Morrill Land‑Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890 and then again after World War II, when the GI Bill and later federal aid massively increased enrollment and led many states to build large public university systems. Most modern public universities — especially the big state “flagships” and regional campuses people think of today — were founded or greatly expanded in the late 19th and especially the 20th century, with major growth waves from roughly the 1860s–1910s and then the 1940s–1970s.