McPherson

• The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education approved up to $200,000 to relocate the Eisenhower Elementary playground. →
• The McPherson Police Department will increase patrols around schools to enforce traffic and parking rules in new bus zones. →
• The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education approved a bus transload plan shifting middle school bus traffic to Park Drive. →
• McPherson USD 418 accrued $341,234 in bond interest and will implement a new financial tracking system to monitor bond spending. →
• The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education plans a town hall meeting this fall to update the public on school construction projects. →
• Under a new Kansas law, McPherson County must now approve accessory dwelling unit applications administratively instead of via hearings. →
• Expect dangerously hot and mostly sunny conditions in McPherson today, with temperatures climbing to a high near 105°F and gusty winds making it feel even hotter.

🌾 Kansas

• Winfield, Kansas, police say Ronald H. Williams Sr. killed a woman and four children before fatally shooting himself Aug. 11 in a murder-suicide that ranks among the deadliest single crimes in modern Kansas history. →

• The Topeka City Council on Aug. 11 expanded its data center moratorium to cover city utility service for projects outside city limits, targeting a proposed Compass Datacenters development near Southwest 77th Street and Burlingame Road. →

• Marion, Kansas, and reporter Phyllis Zorn filed a motion Aug. 11 to dismiss her federal civil rights lawsuit after the city agreed to pay her $850,000 over the 2023 police raid on the Marion County Record. →

• Former KU chemical engineering professor Feng "Franklin" Tao filed a second federal lawsuit against the university July 21, alleging discrimination and retaliation tied to his prosecution under the DOJ's China Initiative. →

• Oak Park Mall LLC has submitted plans to redevelop the 89-acre Overland Park mall property into a mixed-use district with a 260-unit apartment complex, a 120-room hotel and a theater and conference center. →

🇺🇸 US

• Investors are shifting bets in the AI power race from power plant owners like Constellation Energy and Vistra toward equipment makers such as GE Vernova and Caterpillar, whose shares have surged this year. →

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces mounting political and legal setbacks, including a paused luxury home tax, even as he advances plans for city-owned grocery stores in Manhattan and the Bronx. →

• Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, setting up a November matchup with Trump-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany. →

• Intel raised $20 billion in its first public stock sale since 1971 to fund U.S. chip factories and its next-generation manufacturing process. →

• Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA draft, challenging the league's eligibility rules amid the debate over transgender participation in women's sports. →

Weather

AUGUST 12, 2000: RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SUBMARINE KURSK SINKS, KILLING 118 CREW

The Kursk, then the world’s largest attack submarine, suffered two explosions during naval war games in the Barents Sea and plunged to the seafloor with 118 sailors aboard. Russia initially rejected foreign rescue help and later raised the sub in a $100 million recovery operation, but the destroyed front hull left the exact cause of the disaster unresolved.

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.