Manhattan

• The City Commission approved a resolution supporting the $294 million 'Edge 3.0' development project, which proposes an indoor track, hotel, and research facilities using STAR bonds and tax increment financing. →
• Local business owners and city officials questioned the need for tax-subsidized lodging near Kansas State University, noting that local hotel occupancy rates are currently only around 50 percent. →
• The city will move forward with a $600,000 project to repair Fort Riley Boulevard using a $500,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation, ending a delay that began in 2010. →
• City commissioners approved a $300,000 increase for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Biosolids Upgrade due to discrepancies in equipment specifications and control system integration. →
• Manhattan resident Tyrell Harper was arrested for a violent Valentine's Day domestic attack that injured four victims, including a 7-year-old boy and a 2-month-old girl. He faces multiple felony charges including kidnapping and child endangerment and is currently held on a $75,000 bond. →
• Expect a cloudy day with a comfortable high of 74 and a light southeast breeze, cooling down to 50 degrees tonight.

🌾 Kansas

• Wildfires that swept out of the Oklahoma panhandle burned more than 150,000 acres across western Kansas, forcing evacuations in Clark, Comanche, Seward and Rawlins counties as multiple named fires continued burning Wednesday with elevated fire danger forecast through Thursday. →

• The Kansas Senate voted 31-9 Thursday to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of a bill defining biological sex for state law and restricting access to restrooms and locker rooms in government buildings. →

• The Kansas House passed a bill 75-48 Tuesday prohibiting students from using cellphones during school hours, sending the measure back to the Senate amid debate over state versus local control of classroom technology policies. →

• The Kansas House tax committee approved a bill capping annual city or county property tax revenue growth at 3 percent unless residents fail to collect signatures from 10 percent of presidential election voters to block the increase. →

• The worst flu season in 25 years is forcing Kansas school districts to cancel classes and flooding Wichita pharmacies with patients as the CDC estimated at least 9,300 flu-related deaths nationally through mid-January. →

🇺🇸 US

• Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Iran failed to meet core U.S. demands in Geneva nuclear negotiations, with Washington giving Tehran two weeks to close gaps as military action remains an option. →

• The White House on Tuesday rejected Democrats' latest offer on constraints for federal immigration officers, deepening the impasse that has left the Department of Homeland Security unfunded since Saturday. →

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday proposed a nearly 10% property tax increase as a "last resort" to close a projected $5.4 billion two-year budget deficit. →

• Stephen Colbert criticized CBS and the FCC on Monday after the network blocked his planned interview with Texas Democratic State Rep. James Talarico over equal-time rule concerns. →

• The U.S. presented seismic data Tuesday alleging China conducted a secret low-yield nuclear test in 2020, challenging Beijing's claims it has observed the international nuclear testing ban. →

Weather

February 18 2010: WikiLeaks publishes leaked documents

Chelsea Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, secretly downloaded and leaked hundreds of thousands of classified documents—starting with the “Reykjavik13” cable WikiLeaks published on February 18, 2010. The disclosures exposed previously hidden civilian casualties and alleged abuses in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, deeply embarrassing the U.S. government and its diplomatic corps. Depending on your perspective, Manning is either a courageous whistleblower who revealed grave misconduct or a traitor who recklessly endangered national security.

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