Salina

• Commissioners reached a consensus to hold the county mill levy steady while prioritizing internal department funding and balancing employee compensation needs. →
• Work has started on a $4.5 million roundabout as part of the West Magnolia Corridor project, with substantial completion slated for late November. →
• Kansas State University will finance a fourth leg of the upcoming Centennial and Magnolia roundabout to create a new entrance for its Salina campus. →
• Engineers are designing a heavy-duty roundabout at Ninth Street and Water Well Road specifically to accommodate large semi-truck traffic in the industrial area. →
• An outdated bridge west of the Salina Soccer Complex will be replaced with a modern structure featuring a utility path to accommodate growing residential traffic. →
• The local teachers union is proposing a $2,000 base pay increase and a shift to the district covering 85% of health insurance premiums for the 2026-2027 school year. →
• Commissioner Monte Shadwick has resigned after more than a decade of service, citing travel plans; a replacement nominee will be selected in early May. →
• The Saline County Republican Central Committee will meet May 7 to select a replacement for resigned District #1 Commissioner Monte Shadwick. Residents interested in the seat must apply by May 1 to be considered for the final gubernatorial appointment. →
• Mitch Gebhardt is retiring as the head football coach and teacher at Southeast of Saline after 16 years and a dominant 129-40 record. He departs following the program’s most successful two-year stretch, which included a 2024 state championship and a runner-up finish last fall. →
• Salina Central’s dominant pitching staff and 1.38 ERA have powered the Mustangs to an 11-1 start and a No. 3 state ranking. This deep rotation is fueling a serious title run, recording five shutouts through the season's first dozen games. →
• It’s going to be a beautiful, mostly sunny day in Salina with a high near 79, though you’ll want to hang onto your hat as those south winds could gust as high as 35 mph.

🌾 Kansas

• Gov. Laura Kelly announced Tuesday that Kansas is awarding $18.9 million to fund 53 airport development projects across the state through the Kansas Airport Improvement Program. →

• The United Kansas Party and the Free State Party announced Tuesday they are merging to field candidates under the United Kansas name and draw support from voters dissatisfied with both major parties. →

• PBS Kansas is mourning broadcast engineer Ivy Unruh, 25, who died Monday from a gunshot wound sustained Friday outside her northeast Wichita apartment, with her estranged husband charged with first-degree murder. →

• The University of Kansas has posted mixed results in recent national and international college rankings, with continued declines in global assessments even as its standing in U.S. News & World Report improved this year. →

• Thirteen Kansas student teams won state championships at the Kansas KidWind State Finals on April 11 and will advance to the World KidWind Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin, in May. →

🇺🇸 US

• President Trump extended the U.S. cease-fire with Iran with no set end date, hours before two ships came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz. →

• The U.S. has expended at least 45 percent of key missile stockpiles during seven weeks of war with Iran, creating a near-term ammunition risk in future conflicts, according to Pentagon officials and a CSIS analysis. →

• Two U.S. embassy officials killed in a Sunday car crash in northern Mexico were CIA officers operating as part of expanded counternarcotics operations, according to two people familiar with the matter. →

• House Republicans are seeking FBI briefings on at least 10 deaths or disappearances among U.S. nuclear and aerospace scientists since 2022 to determine whether the cases pose a national security concern. →

• Private trade schools are charging tuition bills reaching tens of thousands of dollars as demand for blue-collar training surges and free community college and union apprenticeship programs fill up. →

Weather

APRIL 22, 1889: OKLAHOMA LAND RUSH BEGINS

At noon, an estimated 50,000 “Boomers” raced into formerly Indian Territory to claim 1.9 million acres the U.S. government had opened to white settlement. The chaotic rush, marred by fraud from early-arriving “Sooners,” marked a key moment in the transfer of Native-held lands into white ownership. They were called “Sooners” because they slipped into the territory sooner than the legal start time to grab prime claims—a nickname later embraced by the University of Oklahoma for its athletic teams and identity.

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