McPherson daily brief

McPherson, Kansas and US news for busy people - Aug 11, 2026 edition

McPherson daily brief
McPherson County Planning, Zoning and Environment Administrator Jon Kinsey briefs county commissioners Aug. 10 about a public hearing scheduled for that evening on proposed regulations for data centers and battery storage facilities. (Citizen Journal screenshot)

McPherson

  • McPherson County residents filled an Aug. 10 public hearing to oppose proposed zoning rules for data centers and energy storage.
  • A resident presented a 94-signature petition to the McPherson County Planning Board requesting a ban on rural data centers.
  • The McPherson County Planning Board will incorporate public feedback into its recommendations to the County Commission on proposed zoning rules for data centers and battery storage facilities in rural areas.
  • The McPherson County Sheriff is outsourcing inmates to outside facilities as the McPherson County Jail population reached 56.
  • The McPherson County Commission designated the Rural Messenger as the official county newspaper to save money on legal publications.
  • The Kansas Department of Transportation will temporarily close I-135 at 101st Street in Sedgwick County for a bridge redeck project.
  • It’s going to be a hot one in McPherson today with mostly sunny skies, breezy south-southwest winds, and a high near 104°F that will feel even hotter with heat index values reaching 106.

🌾 Kansas

  • The general election between Sen. Roger Marshall and the Rev. Adam Hamilton is projected to draw more than $50 million in combined spending, Kansas Reflector reported Monday.

  • The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry voted 10-11 along party lines to keep the five-year farm bill stalled in committee amid a SNAP funding dispute.

  • Kansas districts opened the 2026-27 school year by implementing storage and collection systems for the state's new all-day student cellphone ban under House Bill 2299.

  • Washburn University Institute of Technology opened its third campus Monday inside a former Kmart in North Topeka, two days before classes began.

  • Shawnee County residents asked the Planning Commission to recommend a one-year countywide moratorium on data center development, citing environmental and property-value concerns.


🇺🇸 US

  • President Donald Trump signed an executive order Aug. 10 cutting the federal list of universally recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11, shifting shots for COVID-19, flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningitis to individual clinical decision-making.

  • The FDA proposed a rule Aug. 10 that would end decades of voluntary self-certification for food additives, requiring companies to notify the agency and submit safety data before marketing new ingredients.

  • Newly released text messages show Dr. Anthony Fauci privately raised a theoretical concern in January 2021 that a strong immune response after a second COVID-19 vaccine dose could be linked to first-trimester miscarriage.

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 10 that Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, Google and QTS agreed to comply with new state standards requiring data centers to fund their own power infrastructure and reuse water.

  • The Washington Post reported that a credible Iranian threat led U.S. officials to secretly transfer President Donald Trump to a smaller decoy aircraft before he left Turkey on July 8.


Weather

Weather

Weather



AUGUST 11, 1934: FEDERAL PRISONERS ARRIVE AT ALCATRAZ

The first group of civilian inmates classified as the nation’s “most dangerous” were transferred to the newly fortified federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Built on a former military prison site, “The Rock” was intended to house high-risk prisoners and deter escape attempts with its isolation and harsh surrounding waters.

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.