Salina daily brief

Salina, Kansas and US news for busy people - Sep 15, 2026 edition

Salina daily brief
Maximilian Vidavsky/Citizen Journal

Salina

  • The Salina City Commission voted 4-1 to exceed the revenue neutral rate, raising the city mill levy by 1 mill to 29.568 mills for 2027.
  • The Salina City Commission approved a $160.9 million municipal budget for 2027, featuring flat operational expenses and staff raises.
  • The Salina City Commission approved higher municipal fees for 2027, raising rates for EMS, sanitation, recycling, and clerk services.
  • The Salina City Commission amended a development deal to help retain $12 million in state grants for a 500-unit housing project.
  • Salina city staff is negotiating a contract with Prairie Paws Animal Shelter to take over municipal animal shelter operations this fall.
  • The Salina City Commission approved annexing 27 acres of industrial land owned by Great Plains Manufacturing into the city.
  • Former USD 305 superintendent Gary Norris was sworn in to fill an unexpired vacancy on the Salina City Commission.
  • Grab your umbrella today, Salina, as we'll see partly sunny skies with likely showers and thunderstorms and a high near 83°F before temperatures drop into the low 70s this afternoon.

🌾 Kansas

  • Vice President JD Vance touted a pandemic loan fraud crackdown affecting 870,000 people before rallying Kansas Republicans at a Sept. 14 event in Olathe ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

  • Boeing machinists in Wichita voted Sept. 12-13 to seek reintegration into the company's master contract covering Puget Sound and Portland workers, aiming to reverse a two-decade pay gap.

  • Garden City schools reported a decline of 114 students this year amid falling birth rates, a trend Citizen Journal found mirrored in districts across Kansas.

  • The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services is seeking bids by Sept. 29 for a statewide, round-the-clock mental health crisis transportation system funded by $2.46 million in federal money.

  • Wichita signed a certificate of occupancy Sept. 14 to begin taking over its delayed $550 million Northwest Water Treatment Facility, with full operations expected in early 2027.


🇺🇸 US

  • AI stocks tumbled worldwide Monday after Anthropic's CEO called for slower development, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index dropping nearly 6% even as Trump rejected new regulations and Nvidia's Huang dismissed AI doomsday warnings as "made up."

  • The EPA repealed Monday a 2024 rule requiring coal- and gas-fired power plants to cut carbon dioxide emissions starting in the 2030s, a move it says will save the industry more than $300 billion.

  • The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration's emergency request to enforce a new Postal Service mail-ballot rule ahead of the midterms, leaving a lower court injunction in place.

  • The 10-year Treasury yield briefly topped 5% Monday, its highest since October 2023, as diesel prices hit a record $6.23 a gallon amid Middle East supply disruptions ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting.

  • Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized Yemen's Greater and Lesser Hanish islands Monday, extending their control near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and threatening a second major global oil shipping route.


Weather

Weather



SEPTEMBER 15 1931: DIRIGIBLE BRIEFLY DOCKS AT EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

A small dirigible managed a short-lived docking at the new Empire State Building’s mooring mast before strong winds forced it to pull away. The much-publicized experiment dashed hopes that the skyscraper’s spire would serve as a convenient midtown Manhattan airship port.

Day in History

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