🌾 Kansas

• Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation Thursday banning cell phone and personal electronic device use during school hours at Kansas public and accredited private schools, requiring students to turn off and securely store devices with exceptions for medical needs. →

• The Kansas Senate voted 31-9 Thursday to send legislation to the governor prohibiting handheld mobile phone use while driving in school and construction zones, drawing opposition over concerns about pretextual stops and discriminatory enforcement. →

• The Kansas Senate passed legislation 31-9 requiring county sheriffs to enforce ICE detainers and barring sanctuary policies, with the state covering legal costs, sending the substitute bill back to the House. →

• Nearly 80% of roughly 2,000 respondents in a University of Kansas straw poll voted no confidence in Chancellor Doug Girod and CFO Jeff DeWitt amid concerns over finances, transparency and using general funds to cover a projected $15 million athletics deficit. →

• No. 4-seeded Kansas opens NCAA tournament play Friday night against No. 13-seeded California Baptist at 8:45 p.m. Central on CBS in San Diego. →

🇺🇸 US

• The Pentagon has sent the White House a request for $200 billion in additional funding for the war with Iran, a figure certain to draw scrutiny from Congress. →

• The U.S. and its allies have escalated operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, deploying A-10 Warthog attack jets and Apache helicopters to strike Iranian naval vessels and shoot down drones threatening the waterway. →

• A record 7.7 million borrowers had defaulted on $181 billion in federal student loans by the end of last year, with another three million at least three months behind on payments, according to recently released Education Department data. →

• Tesla plans to begin shipping mass-produced Semi trucks from its Nevada Gigafactory this summer after years of delays, with analysts projecting 5,000 to 15,000 deliveries in 2026. →

• The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved Nexstar's $6.2 billion purchase of rival local broadcaster Tegna, saying the deal will help counter the growing leverage of national programmers. →

Weather

March 20 1854: Republican Party founded

In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party meet to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. The Whig Party, which was formed in 1834 to oppose the “tyranny” of President Andrew Jackson, had shown itself incapable of coping with the national crisis over slavery.

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