Manhattan

• Commissioners are asking Governor Laura Kelly to veto a $5 million proviso that could force the state into a closed-bid contract with Motorola, potentially costing taxpayers millions and affecting local communication systems. →
• Riley County police are investigating an 87-year-old man for allegedly attempting to run over a 56-year-old woman with his truck. The Wednesday morning incident in Manhattan is being treated as an aggravated assault. →
• The county has reached the halfway point of its recruitment goal for the 'Make My Move' program, which incentivizes remote workers to relocate to the community. →
• The Board of County Commissioners will move its regular meetings back to the modernized downtown chambers following the completion of a remodeling project. →
• Manhattan High School students surpassed their set expectations during a recent blood drive event. →
• Manhattan High School German teacher Elke Lorenz, recently named Kansas World Language Association Teacher of the Year, will retire at the end of the school year. →
• A Wednesday night fire destroyed a detached garage in Manhattan, resulting in an estimated $80,000 in damage to the structure and its contents. Firefighters contained the blaze within 15 minutes, and no injuries were reported. →
• Expect a warm, breezy day with highs near 75, but keep an umbrella handy as thunderstorms move into the Little Apple this afternoon.

🌾 Kansas

• Groundwater levels in parts of the Kansas High Plains Aquifer rose an average of two and a half feet in 2025, marking the first increase in years, according to the Kansas Geological Survey. →

• Three children and two adults were killed Thursday in a two-vehicle crash on K-156 between Jetmore and Hanston in Hodgeman County, with none of the occupants wearing safety restraints. →

• U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall said he hopes the United States does not send ground troops to Iran as the conflict stretches into a second month. →

• The Unified Government of Wyandotte County, voted 9-0 Thursday to enter a public-private agreement with Santa Fe Grocers LLC to reopen the former MERC Co+op grocery store in downtown KCK, a neighborhood classified as a food desert since the co-op closed Dec. 30. →

• Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced the launch of the Industrial Renovation for Opportunity and New Economic Development pilot program, offering $200,000 in grants to help rural Kansas communities revitalize underused industrial and manufacturing buildings. →

🇺🇸 US

• Oil tankers and container ships have been bottled up in the Persian Gulf since the U.S. and Israel launched war on Iran more than a month ago, with only a handful of vessels per day crossing the Strait of Hormuz compared to more than 100 before the conflict. →

• The U.S. military struck the B1 Bridge linking Tehran to Karaj in two separate bombing runs Thursday, killing eight people and partially destroying the structure as part of an effort to sever military resupply routes. →

• Trump signals a ground raid to seize Iran's highly enriched uranium is off the table, telling Tehran in his national address that any attempt to move the deeply buried material would trigger U.S. missile strikes instead. →

• NASA's Orion capsule completed a trans-lunar injection burn Thursday, sending four astronauts on a path around the moon for the first time since 1972. →

• President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday after months of private frustration over her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, naming deputy Todd Blanche as interim replacement. →

Weather

April 3 1973: First handheld mobile phone call marks breakthrough in wireless communication

A Motorola engineer placed the first known call from a handheld cell phone using the 2.2‑pound DynaTAC prototype. Although this brick-sized device would not reach the market for another decade—and then cost about $4,000—it proved that truly portable, personal mobile communication was possible.

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