Manhattan

• Design work is moving forward for the second phase of a decade-long, $25 million project to replace aging water infrastructure and improve system redundancy for the west side of the city. →
• The Tatarax Homeowners Association is petitioning the Riley County Commission to reclaim a long-vacant lot to develop a neighborhood park for local families. The request follows a failed 2022 attempt due to administrative hurdles regarding the association's nonprofit status. →
• New rules starting April 14 limit speakers to three minutes, establish a 30-minute total cap for open public comment, and end remote participation except for reasonable accommodations. →
• Riley County is negotiating a new contract with Pawnee Mental Health Services to maintain inmate care after a critical grant expired. →
• City public works and parks crews have cleared 140 tons of yard waste so far, with cleanup operations expected to conclude early next week. →
• An adults-only evening featuring mini-golf, exhibits, and a cash bar is scheduled for April 16 at the discovery center. →
• The Kansas Honey Producers Association will host an open apiary session on April 18, allowing registered participants to learn about hive life. →
• It’s going to be a beautiful, mostly sunny day in the Little Apple with a high of 88, though you'll want to watch out for those gusty southwest winds reaching up to 35 mph.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas Legislature overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes on 17 of 24 bills before adjourning Friday, including measures on immigration enforcement, abortion provider liability, and legislative oversight of agency rulemaking. →

• A Kansas property tax relief bill died Friday after Republican House leaders declined to attempt an override of Gov. Laura Kelly's veto, letting the deadline expire without a vote. →

• An effort to expand Kansas' private-school scholarship program is dead for the year after Republican legislative leaders opted not to challenge Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of House Bill 2468. →

• Unauthorized immigrants in Kansas will not face a sweeping ban on state and local public benefits after Republican lawmakers walked away from Senate Bill 254, allowing the Senate to adjourn April 10 without attempting to override Gov. Laura Kelly's veto. →

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its first Class VI underground injection permit in Kansas, authorizing PureField Carbon Capture to store carbon dioxide deep underground near Russell. →

🇺🇸 US

• President Trump announced a U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after overnight negotiations with Iran collapsed, threatening a two-week ceasefire and sending oil prices above $100 a barrel. →

• Trump's Hormuz blockade targets China's oil supply as Beijing imports 1.38 million barrels per day from Iran and depends on the strait for 45% of its oil imports ahead of May summit talks. →

• The expiration of federal pandemic relief funding is forcing municipalities nationwide toward sharp service cuts or steep tax increases as healthcare costs surge and state aid declines. →

• NASA's Artemis II crew splashed down off California after completing a historic lunar flyby that carried humans farther from Earth than any previous spaceflight. →

• The AI boom is exhausting global computing capacity, triggering service outages, product cancellations and GPU rental price increases of 48% in two months. →

Weather

APRIL 13 1970: APOLLO 13 OXYGEN TANK EXPLODES

An oxygen tank on the Apollo 13 spacecraft exploded about 200,000 miles from Earth, crippling the mission and forcing NASA to abort its planned lunar landing. Astronauts James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise instead focused on survival as mission control devised emergency procedures that helped them safely return to Earth four days later.

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