Topeka

• In a survey regarding a $15 million deficit, Topeka residents identified street improvements as the top priority for the City of Topeka. →
• The Shawnee County Commission approved $12 million in bond intent for the 42-unit Peaks of Topeka housing project. →
• Shawnee County Emergency Management is repairing outdoor warning sirens that malfunctioned during recent severe weather. →
• The Shawnee County Commission reviewed data showing law enforcement costs accounted for over half of the general fund this quarter. →
• USD 501 employees will see a 14.5% increase in health insurance premiums next year, with future spikes of up to 50% predicted due to rising medication and treatment costs. →
• Topeka Utilities Department is advising the public to avoid contact with a Lake Shawnee cove following a recent sewage overflow. →
• The Topeka Fire Department rescued a man from the Kansas River on Monday afternoon. →
• David B. Johnson of Topeka was arrested for rape and kidnapping following a violent home invasion that left two people seriously injured. →
• A Shawnee County jury found Robert Reyes guilty of voluntary manslaughter for his role in a shooting death that occurred in Topeka. →
• Keep your umbrella handy today, as we’re looking at cloudy skies and a 30% chance of showers through the afternoon with a high of 60.

🌾 Kansas

• Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed Republican-backed House Bill 2043, which would have allowed citizens to block local budgets growing property tax revenue faster than Midwest CPI or 3%, along with two other tax-related bills. →

• Kelly vetoed a bill mandating daily elementary school recess and a measure exempting agritourism operations from local building codes, citing legislative overreach into local authority. →

• Kelly signed Senate Bill 82, a bipartisan tax credit package allowing businesses to claim 75% of child care expenditures, a $0.05-per-gallon ethanol blend credit and a credit for gun storage device purchases. →

• Kelly signed Senate Bill 430 adding kratom's active compound mitragynine to Schedule I of Kansas controlled substances law, effectively banning its sale and possession statewide. →

• Kansas legal and government leaders convened in Topeka to address a growing access-to-justice crisis, with officials noting that roughly 75% of state court cases involve at least one unrepresented party. →

🇺🇸 US

• Iran offered regional mediators a deal that would halt its Strait of Hormuz attacks and shelve nuclear talks in exchange for an end to the war and lifting of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, but Trump expressed skepticism about Iranian good faith. →

• About 30% of car trade-in borrowers carried negative equity in the first quarter, owing an average of $7,200 before financing a new loan — a 42% jump from five years earlier — as pandemic-era vehicles purchased at inflated prices flood the market. →

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a congressional redistricting map Monday that could eliminate four Democratic-held seats, potentially leaving Democrats with as few as four of the state's 28 congressional seats. →

• The White House accused China-based groups of running large-scale operations using tens of thousands of fake accounts to repeatedly query U.S. AI models and use the responses to train rival systems, with official Michael Kratsios warning of coordinated campaigns to steal American AI breakthroughs. →

• A trade group representing low-cost carriers asked the Trump administration for $2.5 billion to offset jet fuel costs that have surged roughly 88% over the past few months due to the war with Iran, while Spirit Airlines separately negotiates a government loan of up to $500 million that could result in 90% federal ownership of the carrier. →

Weather

April 28, 2004: U.S. Media Release Graphic Photos of American Soldiers Abusing Iraqi Prisoners at Abu Ghraib

The broadcast of graphic photographs on 60 Minutes II exposed systematic torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees by U.S. personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison. The revelations shocked the American public, damaged the Bush administration’s justification for the Iraq War, and sparked global outrage over U.S. adherence to the Geneva Conventions.

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