ST. LOUIS (AP) — A state lawmaker from St. Louis has asked a legislative committee to investigate St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch, saying Friday that she was concerned he “manipulated” the grand jury in the Michael Brown case.

A joint House and Senate committee is investigating why Gov. Jay Nixon did not use National Guard troops to prevent burning and looting in Ferguson on Nov. 24, the night McCulloch announced that the grand jury would not indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

“Many St. Louis-area residents believe — and there is at least some evidence to suggest — that Mr. McCulloch manipulated the grand jury process from the beginning to ensure that Officer Wilson would not be indicted,” May wrote.

She said in an interview that McCulloch should have removed himself from the case at the outset.

“I don’t believe he followed proper procedures when he presented evidence to the grand jury,” May said. “To me, he was working for the defendant in this case and not the victim.”

Messages left Friday with Schaefer were not immediately returned.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri will get more than $280,000 from T-Mobile following claims that the company was unfairly charging customers for third-party text message subscriptions.
Attorney General Chris Koster on Friday announced Missouri was among 49 states that settled with T-Mobile for a total of $90 million in penalties and restitution.

Customers complained that they were being charged for horoscope, trivia and other text subscriptions for which they never signed up.
The practice is called cramming. T-Mobile is refunding customers $67.5 million for the charges. Missourians can receive refunds by submitting claims at t-mobilerefund.com.

The company now must obtain express permission before billing users for third-party charges.
Koster says he’s also been charged for third-party texts from AT&T, which last fall stopped billing customers for the subscriptions.
Koster calls cramming “an insidious practice.”

Hutchinson, Kan. – The Kansas State Fair announced in a media release today it has received Awards of Distinction representing Agriculture and Communications from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) headquartered in Springfield, Mo. 

The Kansas State Fair received the first place Agriculture Award of Excellence for the Fair’s program featuring Fair and Sponsor Joint Exhibit Program (Kansas Energy Expo).  They also received first place for Agricultural Photo Series – Photo series taken by Loribeth Reynolds from Hutchinson Community College as a participant of the Kansas State Fair’s Scholastic Press Corps Internship program.  In addition, the Kansas State Fair received third place for Special/Specific Agricultural Educational Event, Exhibit or Program for the Fairgoing Public (Kansas State Fair Duck Slide), Newly Established or Developed Program to Promote Agriculture (STEAM Ahead Initiative), and third place for Program Designed to Correct an Issue Related to Competitive or Non-Competitive Agriculture Program (sight/glare issues related to windows at the milking parlor).

There are a total of 14 Agriculture Award categories, each divided into five divisions by attendance. The Kansas State Fair’s 2014 marketing campaign, “Get On A Stick” garnered Hall of Honor Communications Awards in the following categories: First place, Outstanding Radio Ad; First place, Unique Advertising Specialties/Merchandise/Souvenirs and second place award for the Best Marketing Campaign. There are a total of 21 award categories for the Hall of Honor Communications Awards, each divided into five divisions by attendance. Judging of these awards are evaluated and judged by a team of industry leaders. These individuals are selected from the membership of the IAFE, which has over 1,200 members from around the globe.

 “It is always nice to have our industry recognize the Kansas State Fair on an international platform,” Denny Stoecklein, Kansas State Fair General Manager, stated. “We work hard to ensure the Kansas State Fair is an event Kansans are proud of and this international recognition is just icing on the cake.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents says it won’t recommend a proposed funding mechanism that would tie college budgets to specific performance-based benchmarks.

Instead, the board said it would recommend the Legislature delay considering any kind of performance-based budgeting model until the state’s financial condition turns around. It wants the model to be used as an incentive to qualify for additional funding, above what schools receive in their base budgets.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports state lawmakers had urged the board in August to develop a metrics model that could be considered by the Legislature in its next session.

A task force appointed to create a proposal offered its plan to the regents Thursday. It called for setting goals for each university and offering payments based on targets like the number of awarded certificates and degree

ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it’s determined the North Korean government was behind a devastating hacking attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The FBI announcement Friday is the first official statement blaming the isolated country for the cyber-attack.

In the statement, federal officials say they found similarities between the tools used in the Sony attack and previous hacks linked to North Korea.

Administration officials had previously declined to openly blame North Korea but said they were weighing various options for a response.

The break-in resulted in the disclosure of tens of thousands of leaked emails and other materials and escalated to terrorist threats that promoted Sony to cancel the Christmas release of the movie “The Interview.” The comedy is about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.