Topeka

• The Shawnee County Commission will vote on data center zoning rules amid resident demands for a moratorium and environmental concerns. →
• Topeka City Council members pressured Evergy to restore power as 25,000 residents faced outages after severe overnight storms. →
• The Topeka Utilities Department reported that $3.2 million in active utility accounts are past due and eligible for service shutoffs. →
• The Topeka City Council is preparing for legislative battles in 2027 regarding proposed state limits on municipal property tax growth. →
• The Topeka City Council unanimously approved a $175,000 settlement to resolve an employment-related lawsuit with a former employee. →
• The Topeka City Council is considering water and wastewater rate models that would place higher percentage increases on commercial users. →
• The Shawnee County Commission is reviewing industrial revenue bonds and tax exemptions for the Hotel Topeka revitalization project. →
• We're looking at a hot and windy Wednesday in Topeka with partly sunny skies and a high of 94°F, though you'll want to keep an eye on the sky as we have a 40% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms along with wind gusts up to 40 mph.

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🌾 Kansas

• Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, Senate President Ty Masterson and allied groups are backing a constitutional amendment to replace the merit-based nominating process for Kansas Supreme Court justices with partisan elections, with voters deciding the question on the Aug. 4 primary ballot. →

• A 115 mph windstorm struck Salina on June 8, snapping roughly 200 power poles, knocking out power to 105,000 customers across multiple cities and leaving an estimated 40,000 customers facing a multi-day wait for restoration. →

• Five Republican incumbents are leaving the Kansas State Board of Education, opening half the 10-member board's seats ahead of contested Aug. 4 primary races in three districts. →

• Kansas wheat harvest opened June 9 in Sumner and Kiowa counties, with early test weights of 59–60 pounds per bushel recorded in Sumner County, even as USDA rated 57% of the statewide crop poor or very poor. →

• The Wichita City Council voted unanimously June 9 to approve up to $450 million in industrial revenue bonds for Boeing's Wichita campus, enabling a 10-year property tax abatement valued at roughly $100 million as part of Boeing's previously announced $1 billion investment in the city. →

🇺🇸 US

• Marine veteran Graham Platner won Maine's Democratic U.S. Senate primary with 72% of the vote, setting up a high-stakes fall challenge to incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a race Democrats see as critical to flipping chamber control. →

• The House passed a $70 billion immigration enforcement bill 214-212 on a party-line vote, as border czar Tom Homan announced a coming surge of ICE agents into New York City in response to a state law barring local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. →

• The House passed a Democratic bill 230-193 to fast-track contract negotiations for newly formed unions, with 20 Republicans breaking from party leaders to force the measure to the floor. →

• U.S. forces struck Iranian air defenses, radar sites and ground control stations near the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Iran's downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter off Oman, with Iran responding by launching drone and missile attacks against U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. →

• Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day state visit to Pyongyang, pledging with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to deepen "strategic coordination" as the two countries reaffirmed their alliance amid North Korea's growing ties with Russia. →

Weather

JUNE 10, 1692: FIRST SALEM WITCH HANGING

Bridget Bishop, the first colonist tried in the Salem witch trials, was executed by hanging in Salem Village after being found guilty of practicing witchcraft. Her death marked the beginning of a wave of hysteria that would lead to more than 150 accusations and 19 executions before the trials were halted.

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