Lawrence

• A new state provision directs that student walkout time not count as instructional time and proposes docking a superintendent's pay for each day a protest occurs. →
• The Lawrence Affordable Housing Advisory Board restricted rental project eligibility to those averaging 60 percent of the area median income to prioritize deeply affordable units. →
• The city commission unanimously approved a preliminary plat for a 122-lot subdivision south of I-70, which includes plans to preserve over nine acres of environmentally sensitive land. →
• A proposed ordinance undergoing legal review would mandate public art funding from the city's capital plan or municipal bond funding, formalizing existing resolutions into law. →
• City officials identified the pending transit sales tax as a significant financial hurdle for climate goals as the commission weighs expensive trade-offs between infrastructure and sustainability. →
• The city reduced the Sustainability Office’s operating budget from $35,000 to $4,000 for 2026, leading the advisory board to demand restored funding and protection for staff positions. →
• District Attorney Dakota Loomis secured a new coordinator position to restart a compensation fund that will offer up to $500 in relief to property crime victims. →
• The Lawrence Affordable Housing Advisory Board approved reducing affordable units at the 9 Del Lofts II project from 29 to 26 but ordered developer Flint Hills Holding Group to refund a proportional $46,551 in taxpayer subsidies. →
• The district recognized four students for their high-level achievements in the national art competition. →
• Keep an umbrella handy today as scattered storms move through between sunny breaks, with breezy conditions and a warm high of 82.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas Legislature passed House Bill 2043 early Saturday, April 11, capping annual spending increases by local governments at 3% or the inflation rate, whichever is lower. With lawmakers not reconvening until Jan. 11, 2027, they cannot override a potential veto by Gov. Laura Kelly. →

• The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday named Jake Steel as the state's next commissioner of education, with seven of 10 board members voting in favor and Steel assuming the role June 1. →

• The Kansas City Council's Finance Committee on Tuesday approved a plan to contribute up to $600 million in city funding toward a new downtown Royals stadium at Washington Square Park. →

• The Kansas Legislature on April 9 overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes on five bills that collectively shift power away from executive-branch agencies, local governments and outside legal counsel and toward the statehouse. →

• Gov. Laura Kelly on April 9 signed bipartisan legislation that permanently updates eligibility thresholds for the state's Children's Health Insurance Program, adjusting the household income threshold to 250% of the current federal poverty level. →

🇺🇸 US

• U.S. Central Command said it had completely stopped all commercial trade to and from Iranian ports less than 36 hours after implementing a naval blockade, while the Pentagon sends thousands of additional troops to the region as a fragile ceasefire set to expire April 22 holds. →

• Maine legislators have passed the first statewide data center construction ban in the United States, with the bill now heading to the governor's desk as public opinion turns sharply against the facilities. →

• Voters in South Hadley, Massachusetts, decisively rejected a steep property tax hike by a 65 percent to 34 percent margin in a preview of financial pressures expected to hit municipalities nationwide. →

• The average federal tax refund issued to early filers this year climbed more than 10 percent over last year, reaching $3,462, largely because of the Republican tax law that increased the standard deduction and created new deductions for tip income, overtime pay and certain car loan interest. →

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his country's forces captured a Russian position using only unmanned ground robotic systems and aerial drones, with no infantry involvement and no Ukrainian casualties — a first in the war. →

Weather

APRIL 16, 1972: APOLLO 16 DEPARTS FOR MOON

Apollo 16 lifted off from Cape Canaveral on a 238,000-mile journey, the fifth U.S. mission to land astronauts on the lunar surface. Command module pilot Thomas K. Mattingly stayed in orbit while John W. Young and Charles M. Duke later spent nearly three days exploring the moon and collecting over 200 pounds of rock samples.

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