Lawrence

• A recent survey showed lower satisfaction levels among younger and lower-income residents, alongside a notable gender gap regarding perceptions of downtown safety. →
• The Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved a taxpayer-funded pilot program to provide legal representation for tenants facing eviction, including a directive to collect data on landlord experiences. →
• County officials are exploring the implementation of remote court options for eviction hearings to improve participation rates for tenants with work or childcare conflicts. →
• Ongoing structural changes within the Economic Development Corporation and Lawrence Chamber of Commerce are expected to influence the county's upcoming July budget deliberations. →
• The Metropolitan Planning Organization approved funding and project plans for infrastructure programs across Douglas County as part of the Transportation 2050 long-range plan. →
• Topeka-based food truck El Zócalo is expanding its popular birria business to Lawrence with a second truck managed by the owners' college-student daughter. →
• Artist Dave Loewenstein will donate labor to paint a mural representing identity and diversity on the exterior of the Lawrence Jewish Community Congregation. →
• The Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission is investigating the use of digital projections and wheat paste posters on downtown buildings to display photography of global soccer culture. →
• Artists Lizzy Arnold and Tim Hossler will use a $3,000 budget to create and distribute custom soccer scarves featuring local imagery as part of the city's 2026 art programming. →
• Keep an umbrella handy today for scattered showers and thunderstorms through the afternoon, with breezy conditions and a high near 73.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas City Royals unveiled plans for a $1.9 billion downtown ballpark at Crown Center, requiring $600 million from Kansas City taxpayers, hundreds of millions from the state, and at least $800 million from the team. →

• At least three Kansas schools were evacuated Wednesday after bomb threats, including Wichita's Southeast High School, Hutchinson's Central Christian School, and Buhler USD 313's Union Valley Elementary, with no devices found. →

• Kansas State University plant pathologist Kelsey Andersen Onofre is urging wheat growers to scout fields for stripe, leaf, and stem rust as the spring disease window opens and the crop breaks dormancy. →

• Great Bend High School revived Community Service Day Wednesday with 900 students and staff completing 36 projects across the city, resuming a tradition last held in 2019. →

• Local groups in Hays are working to install a $350,000 weather radar near the airport to fill an 80-mile gap that leaves Ellis County with limited low-altitude storm data, with $50,000 raised and two of three grants secured. →

🇺🇸 US

• A U.S. Navy destroyer is escorting an Iranian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after Iranian forces seized two cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, straining a cease-fire President Trump extended Tuesday. →

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Navy Secretary John Phelan on Wednesday after months of infighting over shipbuilding reform and attempts to bypass the chain of command. →

• Republicans fear President Trump's push last summer to redraw congressional district lines has backfired after Virginia voters approved an aggressive Democratic gerrymander and California adopted a favorable redistricting map. →

• Dem-aligned House Majority PAC reserved $272 million in television and digital advertising for November's midterms, targeting Republican-held seats from Miami to Phoenix as Democrats aim to capitalize on Trump's declining approval ratings. →

• Chinese manufacturers are moving beyond low-cost goods into advanced industries including electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries, threatening producers across developed economies with massive scale and government subsidies. →

Weather

APRIL 23, 1985: NEW COKE DEBUTS IN A MARKETING DISASTER

Coca-Cola replaced its 99-year-old formula with a sweeter “New Coke” to fend off Pepsi, but loyal customers revolted, flooding the company with thousands of angry calls and letters. Just 79 days later, the company restored the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic, and New Coke became a symbol of high-profile product flops.

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