> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.citizenjournal.us/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Topeka daily brief - URL: https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-daily-brief-80/ - Published: 2026-08-12T14:40:37.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-12T14:40:37.000Z - Description: Topeka, Kansas and US news for busy people - Aug 12, 2026 edition - Author: Greg Loving - Tags: tcj, #brief, #fullemail # Topeka - The Topeka City Council amended its 12-month data center moratorium to restrict utility services for developments outside city limits. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) - The Topeka City Council voted to intervene in a federal lawsuit by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation over tribal boundary claims. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-city-council-summary-16/) - The Topeka City Council reviewed proposed utility rate increases for 2027 to 2030 to fund $148 million in capital improvements. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-city-council-summary-16/) - The Topeka City Council adopted a law making it illegal to approach within 25 feet of first responders after being told to stay back. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-city-council-summary-16/) - The Topeka City Council banned handheld mobile phone use by drivers in active school and construction zones under updated traffic codes. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-city-council-summary-16/) - Topeka Police Chief Chris Vallejo recommended ending school resource officer contracts with Topeka Public Schools by June 2027\. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/topeka-city-council-summary-16/) - It's going to be a hot and mostly sunny Wednesday in Topeka with a high near 99°F, though brutal heat index values could make it feel as high as 110°F. --- # 🌾 Kansas - Winfield, Kansas, police say Ronald H. Williams Sr. killed a woman and four children before fatally shooting himself Aug. 11 in a murder-suicide that ranks among the deadliest single crimes in modern Kansas history. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) - The Topeka City Council on Aug. 11 expanded its data center moratorium to cover city utility service for projects outside city limits, targeting a proposed Compass Datacenters development near Southwest 77th Street and Burlingame Road. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) - Marion, Kansas, and reporter Phyllis Zorn filed a motion Aug. 11 to dismiss her federal civil rights lawsuit after the city agreed to pay her $850,000 over the 2023 police raid on the Marion County Record. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) - Former KU chemical engineering professor Feng "Franklin" Tao filed a second federal lawsuit against the university July 21, alleging discrimination and retaliation tied to his prosecution under the DOJ's China Initiative. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) - Oak Park Mall LLC has submitted plans to redevelop the 89-acre Overland Park mall property into a mixed-use district with a 260-unit apartment complex, a 120-room hotel and a theater and conference center. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-kansas-news-stories-247/) --- # 🇺🇸 US - Investors are shifting bets in the AI power race from power plant owners like Constellation Energy and Vistra toward equipment makers such as GE Vernova and Caterpillar, whose shares have surged this year. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-us-news-stories-244/) - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani faces mounting political and legal setbacks, including a paused luxury home tax, even as he advances plans for city-owned grocery stores in Manhattan and the Bronx. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-us-news-stories-244/) - Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, setting up a November matchup with Trump-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-us-news-stories-244/) - Intel raised $20 billion in its first public stock sale since 1971 to fund U.S. chip factories and its next-generation manufacturing process. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-us-news-stories-244/) - Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA draft, challenging the league's eligibility rules amid the debate over transgender participation in women's sports. [→](https://www.citizenjournal.us/top-5-us-news-stories-244/) --- # Weather ![Weather](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f7/e6/f7e66a8b-8f27-493f-8b7e-664ecefd4c3d/content/images/2026/08/Tab2FileL-9.png) --- --- # AUGUST 12, 2000: RUSSIAN NUCLEAR SUBMARINE KURSK SINKS, KILLING 118 CREW The Kursk, then the world’s largest attack submarine, suffered two explosions during naval war games in the Barents Sea and plunged to the seafloor with 118 sailors aboard. Russia initially rejected foreign rescue help and later raised the sub in a $100 million recovery operation, but the destroyed front hull left the exact cause of the disaster unresolved. *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](https://www.citizenjournal.us/ai-policy/).*