Salina

• Salina Animal Shelter managers Andrea Murphy and Monique Hawley are scheduled for an April 27 court appearance to face animal cruelty charges. The prosecution stems from the December euthanasia of three puppies suffering from parvovirus. →
• City officials are researching ordinance amendments to allow residents outside Saline County to adopt pit bull-type dogs from local shelters. →
• Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach will address the public and participate in a Q&A session at the monthly Granny Brigade meeting in Salina. →
• Berkley Family Recreation Area baseball facility upgrades include an elevated seating platform to view two games simultaneously and a new public address system ahead of summer tournaments. →
• The Salina Arts & Humanities Commission unanimously approved the permanent installation of the 'Clarence the Catfish' sculpture near a pedestrian bridge following its selection as a People's Choice winner. →
• Sen. Jerry Moran attended ribbon cuttings for SkyWest Airlines and General Atomics and broke ground on a $3 million federally funded healthcare clinical education facility. →
• Salina police arrested 23-year-old Klaiton Stout after he allegedly threatened his roommate with a pocket knife during a domestic dispute on Sunday. No injuries were reported, and Stout now faces potential charges of aggravated assault. →
• Salina Central alumna and record-holder Maddie Nowlin has been named the Mustangs' new head volleyball coach. After two seasons coaching at Salina South, Nowlin returns to her alma mater to lead the program and establish a competitive winning culture. →
• It’s going to be a beautiful sunny day in Salina with a high near 87, though you’ll want to watch out for those south winds gusting up to 30 mph.

🌾 Kansas

• A proposed Google data center near Sharon in Barber County has divided residents over economic benefits versus concerns about water usage, noise and lack of public information, as neighboring counties impose data center moratoriums. →

• SkyWest Airlines cut the ribbon on a new Overnight Maintenance Base at Salina Regional Airport on Thursday, expected to add jobs and support fleet operations alongside groundbreakings for a Salina Family Healthcare community center and a General Atomics facility. →

• Fort Hays Tech Northwest will receive federal funding for renovation of its rural advanced manufacturing innovation lab to prepare students for manufacturing careers across Kansas. →

• Newman University opened a Smart Mobile Agriculture Lab in Garden City to provide hands-on training for agriculture students at its Wichita and southwest Kansas campuses, funded through federal resources secured by Sen. Jerry Moran. →

• WSU Tech and Foley Equipment opened a nearly 4,000-square-foot ThinkBIG Lab at WSU Tech's City Center Campus to expand hands-on training for students pursuing careers as heavy equipment technicians. →

🇺🇸 US

• The Trump administration is in preliminary talks with GM and Ford executives about using automakers' factories and personnel to produce munitions and military supplies, echoing World War II practices, as wars in Ukraine and Iran deplete U.S. weapons stockpiles. →

• U.S. stocks hit record highs Wednesday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite setting new marks as investors grew confident in eventual U.S.-Iran peace talks, while oil prices rose modestly to around $96 a barrel for Brent crude. →

• A New York jury found Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation illegally monopolized U.S. live event markets, with states expected to seek a forced sale and damages for overcharging fans. →

• Twenty-seven percent of Americans now hold a favorable view of China, up 6 points from last year and nearly double the 2023 low of 14%, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March. →

• Iran faces a $270 billion reconstruction bill after U.S. and Israeli forces struck at least 17,000 targets over five weeks, pushing Tehran toward negotiations for sanctions relief despite casting the cease-fire as a victory. →

Weather

APRIL 16 1881: BAT MASTERSON’S LAST GUNFIGHT ERUPTS IN DODGE CITY

On this day, famed lawman and gunslinger Bat Masterson fights his final documented shootout on the streets of Dodge City, Kansas, then a booming and volatile cattle town. Rushing back to defend his brother in a business dispute, Masterson trades gunfire by the railway, wounding a man before paying an $8 fine and leaving Dodge City that evening.

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