Salina daily brief
Salina, Kansas and US news for busy people - Apr 27, 2026 edition
Salina
- A severe storm dropped two-inch hail in Salina and Saline County late Sunday, causing property damage including broken car windows. →
- The commission unanimously voted to delay electing a new chair and vice chair until the vacancy left by Monte Shadwick's resignation is filled. →
- The public works department plans to complete a logistical challenge of painting the North Ohio overpass before the end of the current construction season. →
- Salina Crime Stoppers seeks tips regarding a $60,000 theft of tools and vehicle parts from Palmer Towing and Recovery in Saline County. →
- The Salina Arts & Humanities Commission delayed the $2,400 purchase of a Justin Deister sculpture due to concerns over its abstract design and a lack of community feedback. →
- Artists Anthony and David Smith will paint a red-winged blackbird mural on a downtown enclosure, a design intended to pay homage to Native American traditions of luck and abundance. →
- Artist Julie Cates and youth artist Maya Johnson will collaborate on a new colorful mural project near the intersection of Santa Fe and Iron avenues. →
- Salina officials are calling for residents to participate in a cultural plan survey to help guide the future direction of the city's arts and humanities landscape. →
- The Kansas Wesleyan University Wind and Jazz Ensembles will perform a free public concert at 7 p.m. April 28 at Sams Chapel in Salina. →
- Watch for a few stray morning showers before 10 a.m., but we'll clear out for a breezy and mild afternoon with a high near 68.
🌾 Kansas
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A severe weather system swept Kansas from Sunday into Monday, producing tornadoes, large hail up to golf-ball size and structural damage across central, eastern and southeastern parts of the state, with multiple tornado touchdowns reported in Labette and Montgomery counties and no injuries confirmed. →
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Insurance brokerage Lockton Cos. unveiled plans for a $765.7 million headquarters development called Hallbrook North in Leawood, featuring a headquarters tower, child-care facility, retail and restaurant space, with construction expected to begin this summer. →
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A new AI lab at Fort Hays State University is dramatically cutting research time for students, reducing projects that once took a month to just days and allowing one student to process more than 700,000 images in seven to eight hours instead of two to three days. →
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Lightning struck and destroyed a 93-foot animatronic sauropod at Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby during severe weather Saturday night, leaving only the metal skeleton intact after Derby firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to other exhibits. →
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Kansas Democratic governor candidates Sens. Cindy Holscher and Ethan Corson clashed Sunday over CoreCivic-linked campaign contributions and party establishment ties during a forum in Shawnee, though both staked out nearly identical positions on minimum wage, voting access and reproductive health care. →
🇺🇸 US
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A gunman opened fire outside the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, exchanging shots with authorities before being subdued by the Secret Service; suspect Cole Tomas Allen, 31, faces charges of using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault of a federal officer. →
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President Trump canceled a planned trip by senior negotiators to Islamabad on Saturday, saying Iran's written proposals fell short of U.S. demands on enriched uranium and control of the Strait of Hormuz. →
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S&P 500 companies are on pace to report year-over-year earnings-per-share growth exceeding 13 percent in the first quarter, the sixth consecutive quarter above that threshold, despite weak consumer sentiment and high oil prices. →
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A study published in Nature Medicine links the herbicide picloram to rising colorectal cancer rates in adults under 50, with U.S. counties using more of the chemical showing higher incidence even after controlling for income and other pesticides. →
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Kenya's Sabastian Sawe won the London Marathon on Sunday in 1:59:30, breaking the world record and becoming the first runner to go sub-two hours in a record-eligible marathon; Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha also finished under two hours at 1:59:41. →
Weather

April 27, 1861: President Lincoln Suspends the Writ of Habeas Corpus
President Abraham Lincoln authorized General Winfield Scott to suspend the writ of habeas corpus along key military transport routes in Maryland, allowing the Union army to detain suspected Confederate sympathizers without immediate judicial review. The move sparked an intense constitutional clash, as Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled that only Congress—not the president—could suspend habeas corpus, a position later essentially affirmed by the Supreme Court. Lincoln’s decision left a lasting legacy in American law and politics, becoming a central case study in how far executive power may stretch in wartime and how civil liberties can be curtailed in the name of national security.
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