Topeka

• Topeka Public Schools will lobby the Topeka City Council after it voted 8-2 to end funding for school resource officers. →
• Topeka Public Schools reported an 11% drop in chronic absenteeism over the past year, with 13 schools below the national average. →
• Topeka USD 501 faces a 30% jump in health insurance costs, prompting the school board to consider self-insurance models and rebidding. →
• The Topeka USD 501 school board is reviewing the budget impacts of adding new sports like boys volleyball after adding girls flag football. →
• Topeka Public Schools reported widespread student compliance with new districtwide restrictions on cellphones, smartwatches, and headphones. →
• Topeka Public Schools is demanding fixes from Kansas Central School Bus after route delays and app issues caused student absences. →
• Fitness trainer Shelly shared guidance on mental toughness and pursuing goals in a video released on Citizen Journal. →
• Expect plenty of sunshine and breezy conditions in Topeka today with an unseasonably hot high of 96°F.

🌾 Kansas

• Former Republican Gov. Bill Graves endorsed Democrat Adam Hamilton over Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas' 2026 U.S. Senate race, continuing his history of cross-party endorsements. →

• Kansas Board of Regents made responsible AI use its top strategic priority and approved a fiscal 2028 funding request that included $40 million for community and technical college projects. →

• Deep Fission became the first participant in the Energy Department's Reactor Pilot Program to publicly release its Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for its underground Gravity reactor project in Parsons. →

• Metal detectors at Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas, detected a gun on a student Sept. 16, leading to the student's arrest before anyone was harmed. →

• A Johnson County judge sentenced Isaiah Sadowski to 123 months for reckless second-degree murder after he fled to Mexico following a 2021 crash that killed a 75-year-old woman. →

🇺🇸 US

• Early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 midterm elections began Sept. 18 in Idaho, Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, with Illinois and Kentucky to follow later in the calendar. →

• New York regulators opened a proceeding Sept. 17 to create an Energy Affordability Index tying utility costs to household income, while a Senate data-center billing bill stalled after Sen. Martin Heinrich blocked unanimous consent. →

• Lockheed Martin said Sept. 17 it received its first shipment of Patriot interceptor components from General Motors' defense unit as the Pentagon pushes to speed weapons production. →

• Diesel hit a record national average of about $6.40 a gallon Sept. 17, squeezing farmers as harvest season begins. →

• The Atlantic had produced no hurricanes by Sept. 17, setting a record for the longest wait for a season's first hurricane in the satellite era. →

Weather

SEPTEMBER 18, 1976: ONE MILLION MOURNERS ATTEND FUNERAL OF MAO ZEDONG

More than one million people gathered at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People and in Tiananmen Square for the funeral of Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China. During the eight-day mourning period, over a million citizens filed past his flag-draped coffin as the nation observed moments of silence and a televised state ceremony.

This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our AI policy.