Manhattan

• City commissioners discussed increasing the Street Maintenance Sales Tax to 0.5% to generate $8 million annually for neighborhood and arterial road repairs. →
• Declining purchasing power from federal and state gas taxes has forced the city to rely on local sales taxes for 80% of its street maintenance funding. →
• A new report shows the city's street network has an average score of 60 out of 100, with residential roads lagging behind at 54. →
• Police are investigating whether a coordinated group is responsible for seven recent vehicle thefts, five of which targeted 2018-2020 Kia models. →
• A local task force has successfully secured grant funding to provide dedicated case management for individuals experiencing homelessness in the community. →
• Despite launching a fundraising campaign to remodel group homes, Big Lakes is struggling with significant staff vacancies and a long statewide waiting list for services. →
• The Discovery Center will hold a partnered workshop on March 28 for adults and children to build take-home wooden birdhouses. →
• Expect a bright and sunny day with a high near 91, though stay mindful of those southwest winds gusting up to 25 mph.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas legislature sent more than a dozen bills to Governor Kelly's desk following marathon conference committee negotiations. →

• The Kansas Senate passed Senate Bill 254 on a 22-18 vote to bar undocumented immigrants from receiving state or local public benefits, with opposition from Democrats and some moderate Republicans concerned about administrative burdens. →

• U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., introduced bipartisan legislation to provide zero-interest loans for rural hospital construction and renovation through the USDA's Community Facilities Direct Loan Program. →

• The Kansas House voted 119-3 to create a program offering stipends and loan forgiveness to law students and attorneys who agree to practice in rural Kansas communities facing attorney shortages. →

• Wichita State fell 83-79 to Tulsa in the NIT quarterfinals, ending the Shockers' season after making just two of 19 three-point attempts. →

🇺🇸 US

• Brent crude fell 4.7% to below $100 a barrel as Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan push for U.S.-Iran talks by Thursday, though the two sides remain far apart on core demands. →

• The Pentagon has ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to the Middle East, adding to nearly 7,000 additional ground troops dispatched since the conflict began. →

• The NTSB says the fire truck that struck an Air Canada jet at LaGuardia Airport lacked a transponder and only two controllers were on duty handling roles normally split among more staff. →

• The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 22 to 27 climbed to 5.6% at the end of last year, exceeding the overall national rate of 4.2%. →

• AI companies have pledged roughly $265 million for super PACs ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with the first major test case in a Manhattan congressional primary. →

Weather

March 25 1957: Europe’s Common Market founded in major step toward economic unity

Europe’s Common Market, created in 1957 by six Western European states to remove internal trade barriers and coordinate key economic policies, gradually deepened and expanded into today’s European Union, with a single market, shared institutions and, for many members, a common currency. On a purchasing-power-parity (PPP) basis, the EU’s economic output is still somewhat smaller than that of the United States and China, but all three remain broadly comparable in overall scale, making them peer continental markets that dominate global economic weight.

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