Lawrence

• Debris tore a rubber bladder at Bowersock Dam in Lawrence, dropping Kansas River water levels by six feet near the city water plant. →
• A Douglas County judge sentenced a Lawrence man to two life prison terms for a 2022 double murder and attempted murder of police officers. →
• The Douglas County Commission backed a proposed tax increment financing district in Eudora for a $153.6 million K-10 commercial project. →
• Lawrence is creating a public database of city-owned undeveloped land to comply with a new Kansas housing law requiring it by Oct. 1. →
• The Lawrence Affordable Housing Advisory Board authorized study on converting the former Traffic Control Building into housing units. →
• INVESTIGATION: Unused Kansas Department of Agriculture web subdomains were hijacked by bad actors to promote online gambling and pornographic content. →
• It's going to be a scorcher in Lawrence today with plenty of sunshine, a high near 99°F, and heat index values climbing as high as 110.

🌾 Kansas

• The Hays City Commission unanimously approved a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District and industrial revenue bonds to help the developer convert the former Lincoln Elementary School into 26 apartments and build seven fourplexes, part of a $6.35 million project advancing 54 housing units. →

• Shawnee County commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday to block final action on new data center applications until Feb. 17, 2027, as Topeka and Ottawa impose their own moratoriums and deadlines on large-scale data center projects. →

• The U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday that about 63% of Kansas is in at least moderate drought, with severe to extreme conditions spreading into southwestern Kansas during a critical period for crop development. →

• Cattle futures fell Thursday, with October live cattle closing at $220.05 and September feeder cattle at $337.20, even as retail beef prices remain up about 12% over the past year amid tight supplies from herd reductions. →

• Russian strikes hit Ukraine's Izmail port on the Danube early Thursday, compounding damage from Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Novorossiysk terminal and threatening Black Sea grain export routes. →

🇺🇸 US

• The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,798.99 Thursday after wholesale prices were flat in July, easing expectations of a September Fed rate hike. →

• President Trump announced tiered tariffs Thursday on imported drones, up to 100% on larger militarily sensitive models, citing national security concerns over Chinese dominance of the market. →

• The U.S. carried out three executions in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama on Thursday, the first time three states executed prisoners on the same day since 2010. →

• China's booming car exports are straining global shipping capacity, with vehicle-carrier charter rates up 65% this year as automakers compete for scarce ships. →

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the U.S. Navy could sustain its blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely as officials bet tanker flows can keep oil prices below $90 a barrel. →

Weather

AUGUST 14, 1935: FDR SIGNS SOCIAL SECURITY ACT

On this day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, creating a federal system of unemployment insurance, old-age pensions and aid for vulnerable Americans during the Great Depression. The landmark New Deal law established a permanent social safety net that still provides income support to retirees, disabled workers and survivors today.

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.