🌾 Kansas

• Kansas political leaders split largely along party lines after President Trump announced U.S. strikes on Iran, with Republicans voicing support and Democrat Sharice Davids warning against wars without congressional authorization. →

• Kansas homeowners now pay 57% of all property taxes statewide — up from 38% in 1997 — as legislative exemptions for commercial and industrial property have shifted the tax burden onto residential owners. →

• A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck near Cowles, Nebraska, approximately three hours from Omaha on KS-NE border, with residents across the Omaha metro area reporting feeling the rumble. →

• No. 2 Arizona defeated No. 14 Kansas 84-61 to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 title, dropping Kansas to fifth place in the conference standings. →

• Kansas is observing Severe Weather Preparedness Week from March 2-6 with a statewide tornado drill set for Wednesday, March 4 at 10 a.m. →

🇺🇸 US

• The United States and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and decimated Iran's military leadership in a three-wave assault Saturday after the CIA tracked a high-level meeting at Tehran's National Security Council offices. →

• Three U.S. servicemembers were killed and five wounded in strikes against Iran that have killed more than 500 Iranians, while three U.S. F-15 fighters were mistakenly shot down over Kuwait by friendly forces with all crew surviving. →

• President Trump said the U.S. strike on Iran killed most potential successors to Khamenei, including members of a three-person interim leadership council formed under Iran's constitution. →

• Iranian drones struck Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil terminal, the world's largest export facility handling 6.5 million barrels daily, sending Brent crude futures up over 7 percent. →

• The Pentagon designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk and awarded a $200 million classified AI contract to OpenAI after Anthropic refused to allow its technology for autonomous weapons or surveillance of Americans. →

Weather

March 2 1836: Texas declares independence

The Texas Declaration of Independence was issued, during the Texas Revolution, as American settlers in Texas broke away from Mexico while Santa Anna’s army was besieging the Alamo. They were reacting to what they saw as the dictatorship of Santa Anna, limits on immigration from the U.S., and especially Mexico’s ban on slavery, which the new Texan constitution explicitly protected. For the public today, this moment matters because it shows how disputes over governance, rights and slavery shaped not just Texas, but the expansion of the United States and the coming conflicts over slavery nationwide.

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