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McPherson

• The Kansas Bureau of Investigation continues its probe into the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Joshua Soden during an altercation near Inman; an 18-year-old involved remains unarrested. Questions have arisen regarding potential self-defense immunity under state law, though officials have not commented. →
• The City Commission approved a $65,000 purchase of two acres from New Hope Church to expand the neighboring Grant Sports Complex. →
• The McPherson City Commission passed Resolution No. 26-02, granting the city administrator and HR department authority over hiring decisions and non-disciplinary administrative leave while retaining commission oversight of terminations. →
• The City Commission updated its schedule to meet twice monthly instead of biweekly to improve staff efficiency and align with other Kansas cities. →
• After trailing 10-2 early in the game, the McPherson Eighth Grade Boys Basketball team outscored Wellington 41-15 the rest of the way to secure a 43-25 victory and improve to 5-1. →
• The Elyria Christian Girls Basketball team fell 41-22 to Berean Academy in a defensive struggle where the Warriors' 13 offensive rebounds proved decisive. Grace Prescott led the Eagles with 12 points and four steals in the loss. →
• Expect a chilly but dry day in McPherson with partly cloudy skies, a high of 46°F, and light northwest winds.

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🌾Kansas

• Electoral College for Governor: Kansas House introduced a constitutional amendment creating an electoral college system for gubernatorial elections, allocating one elector per 40 senate districts—potentially allowing a candidate to win without the statewide popular vote.
• Social Media Parental Consent: Legislators advanced bills requiring verified parental consent for minors under 16 to access social media platforms and AI chatbots, with enforcement through the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.
• Panasonic Battery Expansion: Panasonic's De Soto plant is ramping up to 50% capacity with two new production lines despite the EV industry facing a 36% sales drop after elimination of federal tax credits.
• Data Center Deregulation: New legislation would allow data centers and industrial facilities to generate and purchase electricity outside traditional utility regulation to attract major tech investments to Kansas.
• Election Security Measures: Lawmakers introduced bills requiring voter roll checks against federal immigration databases, hand-counted ballot audits instead of machine tabulation, and increased campaign finance transparency.
• Free School Meals Expansion: Bipartisan coalition introduced two bills to expand free meal access—one encouraging federal program participation and another creating state-funded universal meals for all Kansas students.

Top 6 Kansas news stories

February 4 2026

citizen journalGreg Loving

🇺🇸 US

• US shoots down Iranian drone near aircraft carrier after aggressive approach; IRGC later threatened US tanker in separate incident day before nuclear talks.
• Trump signs spending deal ending shutdown with short-term DHS funding extension; passed narrowly 217-214 with bipartisan opposition.
• Plastic surgeons recommend halting gender transition procedures for patients under 19, breaking with major medical groups citing insufficient long-term research.
• AI advancement triggers software selloff as Anthropic's legal tools spark $300B market value loss; Thomson Reuters drops 16%, PayPal 20% on disruption fears.
• Russia resumes energy strikes on Ukraine in minus-13°F cold, ending informal cease-fire one day before peace talks despite Trump's request for weeklong pause.
• Walmart hits $1 trillion market cap joining elite tech club through e-commerce expansion and AI-driven automation success.

Top 5 US news stories

February 4 2026

citizen journalGreg Loving

Weather

February 4 2004: Facebook launches

A Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg launches The Facebook, a social media website he had built in order to connect Harvard students with one another. By the next day, over a thousand people had registered, and that was only the beginning. Now known simply as Facebook, the site quickly ballooned into one of the most significant social media companies in history.