Manhattan

• The Riley County Commission approved a $1.98 million contract with Bayer Construction Co. for a new wastewater lagoon facility serving University Park. →
• The Riley County Commission expressed alarm regarding pending state legislation that could impact local property tax regulations and county revenue. →
• Riley County and the city of Manhattan are initiating a formal condemnation process to secure a construction easement for the Stottle Sewer Benefit District after a property owner refused to donate access. →
• Riley County is planning to replace 90 servers and pivot to a new backend system after software licensing costs more than doubled from $16,000 to $38,000. →
• Vice Chair John Ford met with federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to secure support for Fort Riley infrastructure and other rural development needs. →
• Commissioners are demanding an explanation from KDOT after a U.S. 24 corridor study was unexpectedly shortened, despite the county's financial contribution to the full project. →
• The Riley County Attorney’s Office achieved guilty verdicts in over 90 percent of its 26 trials this past year, including major murder and sexual assault cases. →
• It’s going to be a beautiful, sunny day with a high near 72 and light westerlies, so grab your sunglasses and enjoy the afternoon.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas House passed a multi-year state budget on a 68-53 vote Friday, along with a property tax relief bill and an overhaul of the STAR bond financing program, though the Senate is pursuing a competing property tax approach through a constitutional amendment that would cap annual assessed value growth at 3 percent. →

• Two transgender Kansas residents filed a lawsuit in Douglas County District Court challenging SB 244, a new law that immediately invalidated their driver's licenses and prohibits transgender people from using government restrooms matching their gender identity. →

• Leavenworth city commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to advance CoreCivic's special use permit to reopen its dormant private prison as an immigration detention center, moving the application to a second consideration on March 10. →

• The Trump administration officially removed the lesser prairie chicken from the federal endangered and threatened species list, shifting conservation responsibility to private landowners across the bird's five-state range. →

• Four faculty members at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University were named recipients of the 2026 Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Achievement Awards, the state higher education system's most prestigious recognition for scholarly excellence. →

🇺🇸 US

• Vice President JD Vance said Thursday military strikes against Iran remain under consideration but would not draw the U.S. into prolonged conflict, as nuclear talks in Geneva ended with Iran's counterproposal falling short of U.S. demands to destroy facilities and surrender enriched uranium. →

• Netflix withdrew Thursday from its bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, positioning Paramount Skydance chairman David Ellison to take control of CNN. →

• The Trump administration announced it would pause nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota until the state addresses fraud, with Gov. Tim Walz calling the move retribution against blue states. →

• Block announced it would lay off 40% of its workforce — more than 4,000 employees — citing AI transformation, with CEO Jack Dorsey predicting most companies will reach the same conclusion within a year. →

• Anthropic said it would not comply with the Defense Department's Friday deadline to allow military use of its AI technology for all lawful purposes, risking designation as a "supply chain risk" that would require Pentagon contractors to certify they do not use Claude. →

Weather

February 27 1860: Mathew Brady photographs presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln sat for his first portraits with renowned photographer Mathew Brady, including a now-famous beardless image taken just before his Cooper Union address in New York City. Widely circulated in publications like Harper’s Bazaar, the photograph and Lincoln’s forceful speech against the expansion of slavery helped galvanize Northern support and bolster his presidential candidacy.

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