🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas Legislature has overwhelmingly approved new regulations on pharmacy benefit managers, sending a bill to Gov. Laura Kelly that bans spread pricing and requires equal reimbursement rates for independent pharmacies. →

• The Kansas Legislature marked the 50th day of the 2026 session Wednesday with late-session negotiations stalling as both chambers appointed new conferees to resolve differences on high-profile measures including housing voucher requirements, juvenile detention limits and sex offender school bans. →

• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory Wednesday for central and eastern Kansas as prescribed burning continues across the Flint Hills. →

• The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday it will temporarily allow nationwide sales of E15 gasoline, a move aimed at tamping down fuel prices that have surged since the start of the Iran war. →

• The Kansas Senate adopted a conference committee report Wednesday in a 23-17 vote restricting municipalities from limiting short-term rentals during the summer of 2026 ahead of the FIFA World Cup. →

🇺🇸 US

• A federal jury awarded $6 million against Meta and YouTube for addictive design features that harmed a young woman, applying a legal strategy modeled on Big Tobacco cases and sidestepping Section 230 protections. →

• Iran rejected a U.S. cease-fire proposal and demanded an end to attacks, recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, financial reparations and guarantees against future aggression. →

• Iran sent a letter to International Maritime Organization members declaring non-hostile ships may pass through the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Tehran, with the IRGC extracting fees from at least two vessels at Larak Island. →

• First lady Melania Trump appeared at the White House with Figure 3, a humanoid AI-powered robot, to promote integrating robotics into children's education before an audience of international first spouses. →

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation to halt new data center construction until national safeguards are established to protect workers, consumers and the environment. →

Weather

March 26 1945: Fighting on Iwo Jima ends, island declared “secure”

The Battle of Iwo Jima was a brutal U.S. assault on a heavily fortified Japanese island that cost about 6,800 American lives and 19,000 wounded, while nearly all of the roughly 21,000 Japanese defenders were killed. Securing the island gave the U.S. a crucial airbase within fighter range of Japan, allowing emergency landings for damaged B‑29 bombers and supporting the broader island‑hopping strategy to tighten pressure on the Japanese home islands.

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