Topeka

• The Shawnee County Election Office reported record-breaking early voter turnout ahead of the Nov. 3 election. →
• Shawnee County scheduled an Oct. 27 open house at Auburn-Washburn Middle School to study a potential new turnpike interchange. →
• The Shawnee County Commission authorized up to $15 million in revenue bonds for AMD Partners to build a Topeka multifamily complex. →
• The Shawnee County Commission approved an $8.6 million budget to rehabilitate the Northwest Maple Hill Road Bridge starting in 2027. →
• The Shawnee County Commission approved an $814,821 purchase of three new front-loader trash trucks for the solid waste fleet. →
• The Shawnee County Commission extended its lease agreement with Pro Hockey Topeka at the Stormont Vail Events Center through 2031. →
• Expect mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures today with a high of 80°F, along with a breezy south wind gusting up to 25 mph.

🌾 Kansas

• Children’s Mercy announced that no 2027 Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans serving the Kansas City area will include the hospital in their networks, affecting current and future patients. →

• Rising health insurance costs are forcing Kansas school districts and local governments to tap reserves, raise employee contributions, or self-insure, with Topeka Public Schools reporting a 30% premium spike. →

• Kansas schools have lost 15,296 students since 2019, prompting districts including Olathe and Blue Valley to close schools and make multimillion-dollar budget cuts. →

• Kansas Department of Agriculture Chief Engineer Earl Lewis announced he will retire Nov. 20, 2026, leaving unresolved an aquifer dispute with a southwest Kansas groundwater district. →

• Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to rally for Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Topeka on Oct. 26 as Marshall faces a close race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. →

🇺🇸 US

• Brent crude climbed above $113 a barrel Thursday on Iran war fears as the Nasdaq fell amid an AI stock selloff and the 10-year Treasury yield slipped below 5%. →

• American Airlines posted a $269 million third-quarter loss Thursday as fuel costs jumped 67.5%, and it forecast a full-year loss. →

• President Trump signed an executive order Thursday to test automatic mortgage insurance cancellation and other housing-cost measures while invoking the Defense Production Act to expand fuel refining. →

• The USDA proposed $573 million Thursday for eight fertilizer projects to cut farmers' reliance on foreign supplies, as Dow reported a quarterly profit of $525 million, up from $124 million a year earlier. →

• Moderna and Merck said Thursday their personalized cancer vaccine combined with Keytruda cut the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% compared with Keytruda alone in a Phase 3 trial. →

Weather

October 23, 2001: Apple Announces the First iPod

Apple unveils the first iPod, a sleek digital music player that could store up to 1,000 songs and fit in a pocket. Its minimalist design and integration with Apple’s ecosystem transformed how people consumed music and helped propel Apple into a leading consumer electronics company.

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