High Plains Public Radio

On July 13, 1951, the Black Friday Flood poured millions of gallons of toxic stew through Kansas City neighborhoods and into the heart of the region’s industrial area. The flood 75 years ago was a major turning point. Thousands of residents lost their homes, their jobs, and almost all their possessions. The city lost much of its most iconic industry.

TOPEKA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and League of Women Voters of Kansas put the secretary of state on notice of a potential lawsuit alleging a new election-related state statute conflicts with federal election law. A notice letter sent by the ACLU, on behalf of the LWV, to Secretary of State Scott Schwab asserted provisions of House Bill 2437 were potentially not compliant with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

Updated July 13, 2026 at 10:12 AM CDT BANGKOK — A huge fire tore through a music bar in Bangkok overnight, killing at least 27 people and leaving 25 hospitalized in critical condition on Monday as investigations began into the Thai capital's deadliest blaze in 17 years. Bangkok city officials said the fire at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar in a northern part of the Thai capital broke out shortly before midnight Sunday, and it took about half an hour for firefighters to bring it under control.

Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly. AI-powered platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates in text messages, holding personalized conversations with thousands of potential voters simultaneously. The bots are also gathering data, learning what each voter wants from their representatives and using that information to shape future campaign messaging.

Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter, sent every weekday morning. On a sweltering morning in early July, Thomas Andrade, the co-owner of Everett Auto Parts in Massachusetts, supervises as a team of workers carefully straps two Chevy Volt hybrid batteries to a pallet, ready to ship out for recycling. Selling off valuable bits and pieces of a vehicle is, fundamentally, how a salvage yard makes money.

Did you actually wash that apple before you took a bite? What about that "pre-washed" lettuce? The rind of that delicious summer melon? Those are the sort of questions Texans should be asking themselves now that parasite-triggered stomach infection is on the move. Texas is one of 17 states hit by an outbreak of the intestinal parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. These microscopic pests cause an infection known as cyclosporiasis. Cyclospora cayetanensis.

There is probably never going to be good news when it comes to an intestinal parasite capable of causing weeks of explosive diarrhea. But there is this: Despite recent, often dramatic, national reports about the spread of the parasite known as cyclospora, Colorado is not seeing an unusual number of cases. There aren’t any outbreaks in Colorado of the disease, which is called cyclosporiasis. It’s not even the second-most common intestinal parasitic disease we have. It doesn’t spread person-to-person.

ISTANBUL — President Trump says that the U.S. will not allow Iranian ships to move through the Strait of Hormuz. "We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," he said in a post online. Trump said other countries will be able to move through the waterway, but that the U.S. would charge a 20% toll on cargo.

Sen. Lindsey Graham died Saturday at the age of 71. The South Carolina Republican was a committed advocate of U.S. military intervention abroad and a close ally of President Trump.

A mix of grief and outrage was on display over the weekend at a vigil for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot in Houston by ICE agents.