WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is condemning what he calls a “heinous attack” on a Pakistani school.

Obama says terrorists are once again showing their depravity with the shooting spree that killed 126 in the city of Peshawar.

Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School Tuesday morning in the worst attack in Pakistan in years. Most of the victims were students in the first through 10th grades.

Obama says the U.S. stands with Pakistan in its efforts to fight extremism and promote peace. He offered prayers to the victims and their loved ones.

GARY FINEOUT, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Jeb Bush is taking his most definitive step yet toward running for president.

The former Republican Florida governor on Tuesday told his followers on Facebook and Twitter he has decided “to actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States.”

He also announced plans to form a new political operation that will allow him to raise money for like-minded Republicans.

A Bush spokeswoman says he has still has not made a “final decision” on whether to run, but that he’ll announce that decision in 2015 after gauging support for his potential campaign.

This past weekend, Bush said he was writing an e-book about his time as governor and promised to release about 250,000 emails from his time in office.

RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The health insurance industry says companies will give consumers more time to pay January’s premiums under President Barack Obama’s health care law.

The move is an attempt to head off potential problems as the Obama administration renews millions of current customers, while trying to accommodate new ones as well.

Renewing coverage each year is standard operating procedure for private insurance plans.

But 2015 is the first renewal year for the health law, and the process involves a massive electronic data transfer from the government to insurers, happening right around the holidays. Last year, many files had errors.

America’s Health Insurance Plans — the industry trade group — plans to announce the grace period Tuesday.

Insurers say they’ll also act promptly to clear up any double-billing of consumers who’ve switched plans.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The first natural gas station open to the public is now operating in Kansas City.
The $2.1 million station that opened Monday is a public/private partnership with Clean Energy, which owns about 500 natural gas stations in the U.S.

The Kansas City Star reports the station will be used to fuel the city’s natural-gas vehicles. But it will also offer three pumps every day for the public. A fourth pump will be added later.

The city already had four stations for its fleet of 300 vehicles.

Peter Grace, senior vice president at Clean Energy, says the company plans to open other stations near Worlds of Fun and downtown Kansas City. They will not be a partnership with the city.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A commission charged with studying efficiencies in Kansas schools considered a proposal that would ban teachers from most collective bargaining.

A proposed bill one of several considered Monday by the K-12 Student Performance and Efficiency Commission. It would limit teacher negotiations to only wages, salaries and hours of work, even if the teachers union and Boards of Education agreed to negotiate on other issues.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports  other draft legislation would allow districts to consolidate administrative services and others creating commissions to study district reorganization and district cash balances.

The commission was created as part of a school finance bill during the last session to study whether the state is effectively spending its education dollars to benefit students. It will make recommendations to the Legislature next year.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – People younger than 21 will not be able to buy tobacco or electronic cigarettes in Columbia.

The Columbia City Council approved the ordinances Monday, as well as prohibiting e-cigarette smoking in public buildings.

The Columbia Missourian reports supporters said the ordinances would improve public health.

Opponents said the ordinances would reduce sales tax revenue in Columbia and be hard to enforce because they regulate only sales of the products but not possession or use of tobacco or e-cigarettes.

Ronald Leone, executive director at Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, presented a petition he said had signatures from 2,600 residents who opposed restricting tobacco use.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas bitcoin company that was shut down after being sued by the federal government will be allowed to reopen.

A federal judge has ruled that Overland Park-based Butterfly Labs can resume operations under several restrictions. The company was closed in September after the Federal Trade Commission charged it had taken millions of dollars for computer equipment it didn’t deliver. It was later allowed to resume limited operations under a court-appointed receiver.

The Kansas City Star reports U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes last week rejected the government’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have kept Butterfly Labs under the receiver’s control while the original complaint was pursued. Wimes said the FTC has not shown that it was likely to succeed on the original charges.

DENVER (AP) — Saying Southwest Airlines is neglecting workers and its customers, baggage handlers are bringing attention to the company’s slide in on-time performance as they seek a new contract.

Workers are picketing and handing out leaflets to passengers at 16 airports across the country Tuesday, including Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles/Ontario and possibly Kansas City..

For years, Southwest was the most punctual of big U.S. airlines but it stumbled after trying to squeeze in more flights. It has backed off and says it is seeing improvement.

Union president Charles Cerf (SURF) says there’s often only one worker pulling bags out of Southwest’s new larger planes, which he says has contributed to delays. Besides increasing staffing, the union also opposes creating part-time jobs.

Southwest says the number of bags handled by its workers has declined.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Columbia man serving a three-year federal prison sentence for sending money to his relatives in Iraq in defiance of U.S. sanctions has been released to a local halfway house.

The Columbia Missourian reports that Shakir Hamoodi will be eligible to complete his sentence under home detention if he can show proof of employment and a permanent residence.

The Bureau of Prisons says Hamoodi won’t be allowed to return to the family business, a Columbia international grocery store.