Manhattan daily brief
Manhattan, Kansas and US news for busy people - Aug 26, 2026 edition
Manhattan
- The Riley County Police Department will host an expedited hiring event on Aug. 28 and 29 to fast-track recruitment and fill vacancies. →
- Riley County Emergency Management Director and Fire Chief Russel Stukey is retiring after six years ahead of his Kansas House campaign. →
- The Riley County Police Department introduced Officer Brian Swearingen as the new school resource officer for the school district. →
- USD 383 teachers completed 434 graduate credit hours through a Friends University partnership to advance on the salary schedule. →
- The USD 383 Board of Education recognized the retirement of longtime Manhattan High School teacher and coach Scott Mall. →
- The City of Manhattan plans a sub-$250 informational campaign with maps and cards ahead of the November street sales tax vote. →
- Expect early patchy fog to clear out for mostly sunny skies and a high near 90°F today.
🌾 Kansas
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The U.S. Department of Education reached a resolution agreement with Topeka Public Schools over parents' access to student records, while Olathe and Shawnee Mission schools rejected similar deals and could face court action or lost federal funding. →
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Newton residents challenged the city's 11 newly deployed Flock Safety license plate readers at an Aug. 25 public forum, citing concerns over out-of-state searches, data breaches and insufficient public input. →
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The Pittsburg City Commission voted unanimously Aug. 25 to reject a $42,420-a-year contract for AI-assisted downtown parking enforcement after residents and students objected on privacy and accuracy grounds. →
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A husband, wife and their 2-year-old son died early Aug. 24 in a house fire near Galesburg in rural Neosho County, and the state fire marshal is investigating the cause. →
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Kansas National Guard members arrived Aug. 25 to help clear storm debris in Kansas City, Kansas, after severe storms with near-70 mph winds left about 9,000 customers without power days later. →
🇺🇸 US
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Canada announced retaliatory tariffs Aug. 25 on about $20 billion in U.S. exports, some as high as 50%, after U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods took effect and the USMCA renewal talks collapsed. →
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Fifteen New York county sheriffs sued Aug. 25 to challenge the state's Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bans local law enforcement partnerships with ICE. →
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SpaceX and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced Aug. 25 plans for a up to $100 billion Starship launch campus, dubbed Starbase Louisiana, on roughly 125,000 to 130,000 acres of former Exxon marshland in Vermilion Parish. →
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Iranian missile and drone strikes have caused billions of dollars in damage to U.S. intelligence posts and surveillance equipment across the Middle East, unnamed officials told NBC News in a report published Aug. 25. →
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Dolly Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. →
Weather

AUGUST 26, 1939: FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL GAME IS TELEVISED
On this day, experimental TV station W2XBS in New York broadcast a Brooklyn Dodgers–Cincinnati Reds doubleheader from Ebbets Field, with Red Barber calling the action. Though only about 400 New York-area homes had television sets and the pictures were crude, the broadcast helped spark the growth of televised sports into a major industry.
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.