Lawrence

• Lawrence USD 497 completed 10 summer capital projects totaling $8.5 million, including high school tracks and new high-efficiency chillers. →
• Lawrence USD 497 faces $73.9 million in deferred maintenance across 23 aging properties, school officials reported to the board. →
• The Lawrence USD 497 preschool program is at full capacity with a waitlist despite adding seven new classrooms this fall. →
• Lawrence USD 497 leaders urged the public to oppose a proposed Kansas tech policy that could mandate opt-in parental consent. →
• Nearly 500 Lawrence second graders received free bicycles and helmets from the Steve Tilford Foundation and Lawrence Schools Foundation. →
• A new solar array at Woodlawn Elementary in Lawrence produced over 3 megawatt-hours of energy in its first month of operation. →
• The Bureau of Indian Education confirmed Alex Red Corn as the permanent president of Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. →
• Expect mostly cloudy skies today with a high near 82°F, breezy conditions, and a developing chance for showers and thunderstorms by the afternoon.

🌾 Kansas

• U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall's lawyers sent Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton a cease-and-desist letter Sept. 28 demanding he pull a campaign ad about medical debt, calling it defamatory. →

• Fort Hays State University will close the Sternberg Museum of Natural History to the public Dec. 18 to save about $850,000 annually amid state funding cuts, President Tisa Mason announced Sept. 28. →

• The Overland Park City Council unanimously approved Black & Veatch's new world headquarters and a surrounding redevelopment project, valued between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion, on Sept. 28. →

• The Legislature's Joint Committee on State Building Construction asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to seek financial or in-kind support from Topeka and Shawnee County for its planned $80 million headquarters. →

• Flood watches covering much of Kansas were issued Sept. 28 as remnants of Pacific Hurricane Polo threaten to dump heavy rain and stall wheat planting through Oct. 1. →

🇺🇸 US

• Regulators finalized new fuel-economy rules Monday, cutting the fleetwide mileage target to 34.9 mpg by model year 2031, down from roughly 50.4 mpg under the prior 2024 standard. →

• Crews in North Bergen, New Jersey, activated the first tunnel-boring machine Monday for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project, marking the first new rail tunnel construction under the river since 1910. →

• The FAA said Monday it will delay certification of Boeing's 737 Max 10 over a software flaw affecting automated vertical navigation, sending Boeing shares down about 7%. →

• SpaceX's Starship reached Earth orbit for the first time Monday during its 14th test flight, successfully deploying all 26 Starlink V3 satellites before splashing down in the Pacific. →

• President Trump announced Monday that Mesabi Metallics plans to build a $15 billion steel complex in Lee County, Iowa, which the White House called the largest steel plant in American history. →

Weather

SEPTEMBER 29, 1982: CYANIDE-LACED TYLENOL KILLS SEVEN

The 1982 cyanide-laced Tylenol poisonings shattered public trust in over-the-counter medicines and triggered one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history. Johnson & Johnson’s response—rapid withdrawal of product, clear public communication and cooperation with investigators—became a benchmark case study in crisis management. The tragedy also pushed businesses in every consumer category to adopt tamper-evident packaging, stronger supply-chain controls and more proactive product safety practices that still define modern brand responsibility.

This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our AI policy.