BERKELEY, Mo. (AP) — The mayor of Berkeley, Missouri, says the city will thoroughly investigate the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old by a white police officer. But Mayor Theodore Hoskins says comparisons to the Michael Brown case in Ferguson are unfair.

Hoskins spoke at a news conference Wednesday, hours after the shooting Tuesday night at a convenience store in Berkeley.

Berkeley, which is 82 percent black, is in north St. Louis County, next to Ferguson, where a white police officer killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, in August.

Hoskins says the situations are different. He noted that surveillance footage shows the Berkeley 18-year-old pointed a gun at the officer who shot him. Also, Ferguson has a largely white police force, but the majority of police officers in Berkeley are black.

DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Volunteers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command are getting ready to monitor Santa Claus as he makes his fabled Christmas Eve flight.

Technology and social media have become key to the annual effort, and NORAD Tracks Santa has already attracted a record 1.5 million Facebook “likes.”

NORAD volunteers will spend Wednesday answering phone calls and emails from children wondering when Santa Claus is comin’ to town. The helpers also post on Facebook, Twitter and www.NORADSanta.org to provide updates on the storybook journey.

The 59-year-old program began with a typo in a Colorado Springs newspaper ad that had kids calling a high-level military hotline asking for Santa.

Last year, volunteers took 117,000 phone calls and answered 9,600 emails.

To follow Santa’s journey click here 

BERKELEY (AP) – Several police cars and a business are damaged after another fatal police shooting spurred new protests in suburban St. Louis.

Police killed a man late Tuesday at a Mobil station in Berkeley, Missouri, and almost immediately a large crowd gathered to protest. Some of the demonstrators became violent. Squad cars were damaged and a man set fire inside a nearby QuikTrip store. The front windows of the QuikTrip were shattered.

Some protesters shouted expletives at police. Others took police tape and wore it over their shoulders or as headbands.

As many as 100 protesters were there at the peak, but before dawn the number dwindled to less than a dozen.

Berkeley is near Ferguson, where a white police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, in August.

JOPLIN (AP) – A southwest Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to abandoning a corpse after she and a man posed for photos with the body and posted them on Facebook.

The Joplin Globe reports 24-year-old Chelsie Berry of Carl Junction entered her plea Monday in Newton County Circuit Court.

She and 28-year-old Jared Prier were charged in August with disposing of the body of 30-year-old Dennis Meyer in the driveway of a rural Newton County home after Meyer died of a drug overdose.

Berry told investigators she and Prier were reluctant to call for an ambulance or take Meyer to a hospital because they were high on methamphetamine and Xanax and were afraid of getting into trouble.

Prosecutors later dropped the charge of abandonment of a corpse against Prier.

LAWRENCE – A Kansas man died in an accident just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Douglas County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Mazda Tribute drive by Alexander G. Tsiovkh, 63, Lawrence, was westbound on Kansas 10 just east of 1200 Road.

The vehicle crossed left of center and collided with a Volvo semi tractor driven by Mohamed Igal, 34, Kansas City.

Tsiovkh was pronounced dead at the scene.
Igal was transported to KU Medical Center.
The KHP reported both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident.

BERKELEY (AP) – St. Louis County police say a man who pulled a gun and pointed it at an officer has been killed in Berkeley, Missouri.

County police spokesman Sgt. Brian Schellman says a Berkeley police officer was conducting a routine business check at a gas station around 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when he saw two men and approached them.

Schellman says one of the men pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer. The officer fired several shots, striking and fatally wounding the man. Schellman says that the second person fled and that the deceased man’s handgun has been recovered.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports a group of about 60 people have gathered at the scene.

Berkeley is about two miles from Ferguson, where a police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in August.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City lawmaker is proposing a measure that would allow terminally ill patients to use medications that haven’t received federal approval.

KAKE-TV reports Shawnee Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand plans to present the “Right to Try” bill when legislators return to Topeka on Jan. 12.

Hildabrand says the government shouldn’t stand in the way of anything that could potentially extend the lives of people with terminal illnesses.

Five other states — Missouri, Colorado, Michigan, Louisiana and Arizona — already have approved similar legislation.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Arizona-based nonprofit Goldwater Institute, which says the effort is designed to allow patients access to investigational drugs that have completed basic safety testing.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri agriculture officials are looking for ways to boost exports to Cuba following President Barack Obama’s announcement that he plans to ease trade restrictions with the Communist country.
Gov. Jay Nixon says he has asked the state Department of Agriculture to explore additional economic opportunities with Cuba.
The governor says he also is inquiring of federal officials about opportunities for trade missions to Cuba involving Missouri business, agriculture and government officials.
The U.S. already exports about $350 million of farm products annually to Cuba, including corn, soybeans and rice. Those exports could surge if the U.S. eases restrictions on financial transactions and allows Cubans to pay for products on credit instead of with cash up front.