WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement after Senate leadership announced that she has been named to the top Democratic position on the Senate Special Committee on Aging in the next Congress:

“I’m looking forward to working closely with my friend Senator Susan Collins, and I’m eager to continue our work to protect consumers and seniors, to make sure Congress is living up to the promises we’ve made to them, and to help ensure their government is working for them.”

The Aging Committee’s purview over all issues related to older Americans gives McCaskill a powerful new perch from which to combat scam artists targeting seniors—and all consumers—as well as a broader position with which to protect Social Security and Medicare.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Police say a 23-year-old woman has been thrown from the bed of a pickup truck after leaving a Kansas City Chiefs football game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Sgt. Bill Mahoney tells KCTV-TV Alexa Brosseit was hospitalized with serious injuries to her head and neck after the Sunday crash. He says a 22-year-old man was driving the truck with a woman in the passenger seat when he hit a guardrail on Interstate 435.

The impact ejected Brosseit from the vehicle. Her condition was unclear early Tuesday.

Mahoney says it’s unclear what caused the crash. The driver was arrested and released. Lab results from his blood alcohol content test are pending.

ASH GROVE (AP) – A former southwest Missouri high school teacher has been charged in a child sex case involving a 16-year-old female student.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 34-year-old William Herrington of Republic was charged Monday with felony sodomy, child molestation and sexual contact with a student.

Ash Grove police say Herrington sent inappropriate messages to the girl’s Twitter account, and had sexual contact with her in the school’s library storage closet and at his home in October.

Superintendent Kyle Collins suspended the Ash Grove High School social studies teacher after the girl’s mother contacted him in October. Herrington is no longer employed by the district.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Herrington has an attorney.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is urging dismissal of a lawsuit that would dismantle the president’s immigration program, an initiative designed to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation.

The case was brought by an Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio who contends that President Barack Obama’s program serves as a magnet for more illegal entries into the U.S. Arpaio says the new arrivals will commit crimes and thus burden his law enforcement resources.

In a court filing late Monday, the Justice Department told U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that the sheriff’s theory is speculative and unsubstantiated and that Arpaio has failed to show he will suffer any injury at all from the federal government’s program.

JEFFERSON CITY – A proposed Missouri bill would give legal amnesty to those seeking emergency medical help for drug overdoses.

Republican state Rep. Bryan Spencer of Wentzville recently proposed a bill protecting those who call for help from being charged with some drug crimes.

Some who call an ambulance for themselves or others would be immune from charges of drug possession, but there are stipulations. The amnesty only kicks in if the individual has less than a certain amount of an illegal substance.

For example, someone with more than three grams of heroin, cocaine or morphine would not be protected. Police still could arrest those if they already had suspicion that they were committing illegal activity before calling for help with an overdose.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office says a first-grade student brought a loaded handgun to school but didn’t display it or make any threats.

Sheriff’s Maj. Phil Blume told The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/1IVgUGn) that the pupil “self-reported” having the gun on Monday at Indian Hills Elementary School in Topeka.

Blume says the gun was “rendered safe” by an officer at the scene. He says the weapon was loaded but there were no rounds in the chamber.

A news release from the Sheriff’s Office says the child brought the gun from home.

Indian Hills Principal Jim McDaniel sent an email to parents advising of the weapon, though school officials declined to say what kind of weapon was found.

The email says the weapon was never taken out of the student’s backpack.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Two Kansas men have pleaded guilty in federal court to operating a synthetic drug business that generated at least $16 million in sales in less than two years.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says 58-year-old Tracy Picanso and 56-year-old Roy Ehrett, both of Olathe, each pleaded guilty Monday to one count each of conspiracy, producing and selling misbranded drugs, producing and selling counterfeit drugs and conspiracy to launder money.

Prosecutors say the men owned an Olathe-based business that produced and sold synthetic marijuana and stimulants in Kansas, Missouri, California, Texas, Georgia and Colorado.

Prosecutors say some of the drugs were manufactured in buckets with drill-powered mixers and tried out on “testers” who helped tweak the recipes by reporting on the drugs’ effects.

Sentencing is set for April 13.

CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the Obama administration’s harshest congressional critics will get a final high-profile shot Tuesday when the House Oversight Committee grills witnesses about the president’s health care overhaul.

California Republican Darrell Issa (EYE’-suh) will lead the questioning of former health legislation adviser Jonathan Gruber.

The MIT economist recently apologized for saying voters’ “stupidity” was vital to passing the health law in 2010.

The committee also will question Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Issa has used the committee chairmanship to probe and attack the administration on issues such as the Benghazi attacks, the IRS scandal and guns. Talk radio conservatives love him, but even some GOP colleagues say he overdoes the combative partisanship at times.

Issa will surrender the chairmanship next year.