McPherson

• The McPherson County Planning Board will review proposed data center regulations and public feedback as part of a zoning code rewrite. →
• The McPherson County Commission will consider equipment repairs, snowblower bids, tech upgrades, and primary election canvassing. →
• The McPherson Public Schools Board of Education scheduled a special meeting for Monday morning at 514 N. Main in McPherson. →
• McPherson Center for Health will host an open house Sept. 16 in McPherson to introduce new physicians Aaron Holt and Collin Harvey. →
• Sports in Kansas named McPherson High School football a Class 4A team to watch as the Bullpups return 19 starters this season. →
• INVESTIGATION: Unused Kansas Department of Agriculture web subdomains were hijacked by bad actors to promote online gambling and pornographic content. →
• It’s going to be a scorcher in McPherson today with bright sunshine and a blazing high near 106°F, made even hotter by breezy south winds and heat index values reaching up to 109°F.

🌾 Kansas

• The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said Friday that Ronald H. Williams Sr. and Kelly L. George jointly planned the Aug. 11 killings of their four children and themselves in Winfield, revising an earlier account that blamed the father alone. →

• Tyson Foods said Thursday it will make its Holcomb, Kansas, plant one of three anchors for its beef business while closing plants in Illinois and Utah and seeking a buyer for a Washington facility amid a historic cattle shortage. →

• District Judge Jan Satterfield heard about 2½ hours of arguments Friday on whether a citizen petition to ban high-impact data centers and large battery storage installations in El Dorado can advance to a public vote, without issuing a ruling. →

• A Citizen Journal review of nine public meetings found Kansas counties taking divergent approaches to covering the costs of recycling materials like glass, with Riley County ultimately rejecting a subsidy contract and Salina spending $162,500 to buy a building for a recycling nonprofit. →

• A Citizen Journal review found more Kansas cities using housing incentive districts that redirect new property tax revenue to repay development costs, including a $53.5 million, 176-unit project in Topeka and a 124-home district in Emporia. →

🇺🇸 US

• The FBI reported violent crime fell an estimated 9.3% in 2025, the largest one-year decline since national estimates began in 1936, with the murder rate tying 1955-56 for the lowest on record. →

• Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Aug. 14 to two federal stalking counts in the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting he shot Thompson in Manhattan. →

• The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to pause a lower-court order halting aboveground construction of the $400 million White House East Wing ballroom, which is roughly 65% complete. →

• The California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo's application Aug. 14 to expand paid driverless rides across 18 counties, growing its authorized territory more than eightfold and opening Sacramento and San Diego to service. →

• Ukraine launched one of the war's largest drone barrages overnight into Aug. 16, setting fire to a major Wildberries warehouse near Moscow and killing at least six people, according to Russian officials. →

Weather

August, 17 1945: George Orwell Publishes Animal Farm

George Orwell released his novella Animal Farm in Britain, using a barnyard rebellion to satirize the corruption of revolutionary ideals under Soviet communism. Its stark portrayal of how power deforms truth and language has made it a lasting classic in debates over authoritarianism and propaganda.

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.