U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill this week met with the nominee to be the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, John Roth, to discuss how best to guard against waste, fraud, and abuse of power in the sprawling agency-specifically following allegations that former Acting Inspector General, Charles Edwards, abused his authority.

McCaskill serves on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is holding the confirmation hearing for Roth this week.

“We should hold our federal agencies to the highest level of accountability, and I plan on holding their watchdogs to that standard,” said McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. “Inspectors General are the eyes and ears of taxpayers within these agencies, and I look forward to working together with John to make sure the Office of the Inspector General can close this most recent chapter and get back to safeguarding taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse at the Department.”

McCaskill and Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)-the ranking Republican member of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight-recently released a joint statement after Charles K. Edwards, the Homeland Security Department’s former Deputy Inspector General who was under investigation by the subcommittee, stepped down from his post. Edwards was scheduled to face questioning from the oversight panel over allegations of misconduct, but the hearing was canceled following Edwards’ reassignment.

(AP) – Buying an older car could become more economical in Missouri.

A state senator filed a bill Thursday that would exempt decade-old cars from sales taxes on the titling of the motor vehicle.

Under the bill, a 2004 model bought in 2014 would be exempted from sales taxes.

The measure is sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Parson, of Bolivar. He says that some people can’t afford new cars, and that vehicles in service for 10 years have already had taxes paid on them.

It has not yet been referred to a Senate committee.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union wants a federal judge to send a lawsuit over Kansas’ enforcement of its proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters back to state court.

In a motion filed Thursday, the ACLU said the lawsuit raises questions only about whether policies pursued by Secretary of State Kris Kobach violate the state constitution, leaving no federal court jurisdiction.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit last year in Shawnee County District Court for two voters and the gay-rights group Equality Kansas. They want to block Kobach from imposing different election rules based on whether voters register with state or national forms. The national form doesn’t require proof of citizenship.

Kobach contends the case hinges on the interpretation of federal laws, and he had it moved to federal court.

(AP) – The Missouri Court of Appeals has ordered the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis to release two decades’ worth of sexual abuse allegations against priests to a plaintiff in a molestation case.

The court’s Eastern District issued the ruling in a brief order Thursday. The archdiocese quickly announced it would appeal the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

A St. Louis judge had given the archdiocese a Jan. 3 deadline to release the names of accused priests to a woman who filed suit in 2011 alleging she was molested as a child by a since-defrocked priest. But the Court of Appeals temporarily stayed the judge’s order.

The woman’s lawsuit alleges a pattern by the archdiocese of covering up abuse claims.

6:55: p.m. (AP)   A 39-year-old Joplin man has been bound over for trial in last year’s shooting death of a Missouri Southern State University assistant football coach.

A Jasper County judge heard evidence Thursday at a preliminary hearing for Jeffrey Bruner and ruled there was sufficient cause to proceed on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Bruner pleaded not guilty earlier to the charges and has been held without bond since his arrest. The judge on Thursday set bond at $1 million. Bruner’s next court date is Jan. 24.

Moore was in his first year at Missouri Southern as an offensive line coach.

6:40 a.m.  (AP) – A Joplin man accused of fatally shooting a Missouri Southern State University football coach faces a preliminary court hearing.

Jeffrey Bruner is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Nov. 1 death of 37-year-old Derek Moore outside a Joplin movie theater. Moore was shot several times in the parking lot of the theater where he had gone with Bruner’s estranged wife.

Bruner has pleaded not guilty. Online court records showed his preliminary hearing scheduled Thursday in Jasper County Circuit Court.

The 39-year-old defendant remains held without bond in the county jail.

Moore was in his first year at Missouri Southern as an offensive line coach.