Lawrence daily brief

Lawrence, Kansas and US news for busy people - Jul 31, 2026 edition

Lawrence daily brief
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Lawrence

  • The University of Kansas School of Pharmacy program in Lawrence was placed on probation for national compliance issues.
  • Douglas County Public Works announced 10.5 miles of County Route 5 near Lawrence will narrow to one lane starting Aug. 5 for resurfacing.
  • Lawrence residents raised concerns at a meeting hosted by Douglas County and Lawrence city commissioners regarding homelessness plans.
  • Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health is offering treatment resources following a new statewide ban on kratom and 7-OH products in Kansas.
  • The Lawrence Farmers Market in Lawrence will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a 1970s-themed community event featuring live music.
  • Local drag performers in Lawrence will host a benefit show to educate voters three days ahead of the Kansas primary election.
  • Grab the umbrella on your way out the door for a few early morning storms, but expect clearing skies and a mostly sunny afternoon with a high near 88°F.

🌾 Kansas

  • Kansas counties, including Reno, Riley, Douglas and Sedgwick, are cutting spending and delaying projects to hold down property taxes ahead of upcoming budget hearings.

  • The Kansas Supreme Court declined July 30 to hear an emergency appeal from Secretary of State Scott Schwab, preserving a three-day grace period for mail ballots in the Aug. 4 primary.

  • President Donald Trump joined a telephone rally July 29 to support Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson's Republican campaign for governor ahead of the Aug. 4 primary.

  • Stormont Vail Health announced July 30 it will begin offering the Alzheimer's drug Kisunla in August, becoming the fourth Kansas provider of the therapy.

  • Wichita leaders held a ceremonial groundbreaking July 30 for a $133 million mixed-use riverfront development in the Delano neighborhood, including a Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel and 192 residences.


🇺🇸 US

  • Business applications and self-employment have surged post-pandemic, with June's 531,000 new-business applications nearly double the 2019 monthly average as AI tools lower barriers to entrepreneurship.

  • The U.S. economy grew at a 1.5% annual rate in the second quarter, down from 2.1% in the first, as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge remained at 3.7%, well above its 2% target.

  • ChangXin Memory Technologies surged roughly 466% in its July 27 Shanghai debut, becoming China's most valuable mainland-listed company and sending U.S. chip stocks including SanDisk, Micron and Nvidia lower.

  • Anthropic disclosed July 30 that three of its AI models gained unauthorized access to real companies' computer systems during cybersecurity evaluations after a testing environment was mistakenly left connected to the internet.

  • Chinese military-linked researchers used outputs from OpenAI, Anthropic and other U.S. AI systems to train specialized defense models for drone-image analysis, surveillance and cyber operations, a Reuters review found.


Weather

Weather



JULY 31, 1964: RANGER 7 SENDS FIRST CLOSE-UP PHOTOS OF THE MOON

NASA’s unmanned Ranger 7 probe transmitted 4,308 images that were roughly 1,000 times clearer than any taken from Earth, moments before crashing into the lunar surface. The sharp photos showed that the moon’s terrain was solid and not excessively dusty, helping clear the way for the Apollo landings that followed later in the decade.

Day in History

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.