Topeka

• Residents urged the Shawnee County Commission to reject a data center proposed near Montara, citing noise, water use, and low tax benefits. →
• Forbes Field in Topeka was named a candidate location to host next-generation Air National Guard KC-46A refueling aircraft. →
• Between 30 and 40 percent of Shawnee County detention center job applicants fail a polygraph, mostly after admitting past drug use or poor attendance, and the county has renewed its $170-per-exam contract for the tests. →
• The Shawnee County Commission approved a contract for aggregate at higher prices, requiring limestone use on upcoming road projects. →
• The Shawnee County Commission voted to seek engineering design services to replace the Northwest 86th Street bridge over Cross Creek. →
• The Shawnee County Commission approved $18,195 in Gage Park sales tax funds for tree removal and eight Welcome to Playland signs. →
• Expect a beautiful, sunny Friday in Topeka with a gentle northeast breeze and highs reaching 66°F.

🌾 Kansas

• The Democratic Governors Association released a digital ad Oct. 1 linking Republican gubernatorial nominee Ty Masterson to Sam Brownback's tax cuts, which Masterson called a "lie" based on deceptive editing. →

• Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Adam Hamilton's campaign refused Sen. Roger Marshall's demand to pull an ad about his former practice's medical-debt collection tactics, instead sending a letter warning against frivolous litigation. →

• The Olathe school board voted 7-0 Oct. 1 to close five elementary schools and one middle school after the 2026-27 school year, affecting about 2,200 students, while United Teachers of Wichita rallied Sept. 30 to support USD 259's $615 million bond on the Nov. 3 ballot. →

• Riley County commissioners agreed Oct. 1 to extend the county's moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems by six months to await possible state legislative action in 2027. →

• Gov. Laura Kelly issued a verbal statewide disaster emergency declaration Sept. 30 as remnants of Hurricane Polo merged with a storm system, prompting a flash flood emergency in Dodge City and Ford County and washing out roads statewide. →

🇺🇸 US

• Manufacturing output and unemployment claims stayed strong in September even as prices and oil costs rose, with the ISM manufacturing index hitting 54.5 and jobless claims falling to 197,000. →

• British counterterrorism police arrested a 27-year-old British-Iranian man in London on Oct. 1 in an investigation into a possible Iranian link to a security incident at RAF Fairford air base. →

• The Supreme Court agreed Oct. 1 to decide whether the Trump administration can hold immigrants arrested in the U.S. without bond hearings while their deportation cases proceed. →

• The FDA approved Edwards Lifesciences' Autus valve, the first expandable artificial pulmonary valve for children with congenital heart disease, the company announced Oct. 1. →

• President Trump said in a Time interview published Oct. 1 that heavier U.S. bombing of Iran after the Nov. 3 midterms was "possible," as the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier group headed to the Middle East. →

Weather

October 2, 2020: President Trump and First Lady Test Positive for COVID-19

On October 2, 2020, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 amid a resurgence of the pandemic. The diagnosis followed a White House event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and came just days after Trump’s first presidential debate against Joe Biden.

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.