Topeka

• GraceMed told the Shawnee County Commission it closed its Highland Park clinic in Topeka due to a severe decline in medical staff. →
• Topeka city staff launched an update to the 2020 Housing Study to replace pre-pandemic data and gather feedback on local housing needs. →
• The Topeka Special Committee on Housing is exploring standardized housing plans to accelerate residential construction and bypass reviews. →
• The Topeka Planning Commission voted 5-1 to approve a conditional use permit for Kanza OZ LLC to build a 20-vehicle enclosed garage. →
• The Topeka Planning Commission approved rezoning 10 acres on Southwest Burlingame Road to allow development of a Valley Self Storage. →
• Expect some early morning showers and thunderstorms before things clear up for a mostly sunny Tuesday with a high near 84°F and breezy northwest winds.

Click here for local obituaries

Click here for local jail logs

🌾 Kansas

• The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book found 51,000 Kansas children — about 7% — lacked health insurance in 2024, the highest total since 2012, with analysts linking the increase to post-pandemic Medicaid eligibility reviews. →

• Wichita State University announced June 11 it is expanding its Teacher Apprentice Program to train paraprofessionals as licensed middle-school math and science teachers, with the first cohort of up to 60 candidates starting in August. →

• A proposed class-action lawsuit filed May 26 alleges that Jordan Disposal's Galena Landfill — located within a federal Superfund site in Cherokee County — is releasing hydrogen sulfide gas and leachate that residents say is making them sick. →

• Defending World Cup champion Argentina faces Algeria at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Kansas City Stadium in the first of six FIFA World Cup matches the metro area will host through July 11, with 650,000 visitors projected. →

• Three 18-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, men face first-degree murder charges in the June 7 fatal shooting of media personality James Dodds, 64, after a highway pursuit near Newton ended with their capture following a spike strip deployment on Interstate 135. →

🇺🇸 US

• Internal documents from lawsuits filed by more than 1,400 school districts show Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube repeatedly targeted students during school hours, paying teen ambassadors, funding PTA events and sending classroom alerts despite mounting evidence the platforms harmed adolescent mental health. →

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom said federal agents have questioned family, friends and former aides as part of a Justice Department investigation into him and his wife, alleging President Trump ordered the probe to retaliate against a potential 2028 presidential rival. →

• Eight U.S. Air Force crew members are believed dead after a B-52 Stratofortress crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California Monday, while a separate skydiving plane crash Sunday in Butler, Mo., killed all 12 people aboard in one of the deadliest U.S. skydiving incidents in decades. →

• Teachers in a Louisiana parish will receive bonuses exceeding $50,000 this year after a Meta data center construction project more than doubled local sales tax revenue, with the parish collecting $42.9 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. →

• CIA Director John Ratcliffe told senior officials that U.S. intelligence raises serious doubts about Iran's willingness to honor nuclear concessions in the recently announced memorandum of understanding, as Brent crude fell below $82 a barrel amid uncertainty over the deal. →

Weather

JUNE 16, 1903: FORD MOTOR COMPANY INCORPORATED

On June 16, 1903, Henry Ford and his investors signed the papers that created the Ford Motor Company, laying the groundwork for a new kind of automobile business. By pioneering mass production, standardized parts, and the moving assembly line, Ford slashed costs and made the Model T affordable to ordinary Americans. That combination of technological innovation and radical cost reduction became a defining template for American entrepreneurship, inspiring generations of founders to scale ideas for the many, not the few.