KEN DILANIAN, AP Intelligence Writer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the “World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act” yesterday, and the bill will now head to the president’s desk to be signed into law. The Blunt-led effort would establish a World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin and recognize 2018 as the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the armistice with Germany, which effectively brought an end to WWI. Blunt and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Mo.) introduced an original version of bill in the Senate earlier this year.

“This important bill gives us an opportunity to honor and remember more than four million American veterans who served our country during World War I,” Blunt said. “I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for their unanimous support in passing this bipartisan legislation, and I look forward to the president signing this bill into law so we can encourage future generations to recognize the selfless sacrifice of these brave American heroes nearly 100 years ago.”

U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) and Doug Lamborn (Colo.) introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives where it passed earlier this week.

Missouri is home to the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, which is the only museum in the country solely dedicated to telling the story of World War I and the global events that took place between 1914 and 1918.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Joplin school officials say most of the district’s 14 new community safe rooms should be ready for use in time for tornado season next spring.
Safe rooms are already open at six elementary schools and a Junge Field. Rooms at another five elementary schools and Joplin High School are nearly complete.

The Joplin Globe reports one safe room at Columbia Elementary School has been delayed by problems with preliminary ground work.
All the safe rooms will be open to the public whenever a tornado watch or tornado warning is issued, when severe weather includes winds of more than 75 mph, or when tornado sirens are sounded.
A federal grant paid 75 percent of the cost, with the other 25 percent paid by community block grants and the district.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A building planned to be a tall residential structure in Los Angeles has erupted in flames that could reportedly be seen for miles at times. Officials say the fire closed down portions of two major freeways. Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz says more than 250 firefighters are battling the early-morning blaze.

EDGERTON, Kan. (AP) — Two companies plan to bring a total of more than 200 new jobs to a distribution and warehouse park in southern Johnson County.

Flexsteel Industries of Dubuque, Iowa, a furniture manufacturer, plans to add 141 jobs at a new building in the Logistics Park Kansas City center near Edgerton.

And Kubota Tractor Corp. of Torrance, California plans to open a nearly 450,000-square-foot parts distribution center and employ about 75 workers by the end of its first year in operation.

The Kansas City Star reports the expansions were announced Friday.

The 1,500-acre Logistics Park is anchored by the BNSF Railway’s intermodal freight facility. Flexsteel and Kubota are the fourth and fifth major distribution businesses to open in the complex.

ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Plainclothes Columbia police officers have started issuing tickets to drivers with Internet ride-sharing company Uber.
City staff and Uber had been negotiating regulations that would have licensed ride-share drivers after an application process that included a background check, proof of insurance and a $70 fee. The Columbia Missourian reports that Uber agreed to not charge for rides until the city established a licensing regime. But in November it began charging customers, even though the City Council isn’t expected to vote on the regulations until February.

City Manager Mike Matthes says that was illegal, and he warned the city would enforce the law. Four Uber drivers were ticketed downtown Friday night for charging for rides without a city permit.
Uber offers service in 250 cities in 50 countries.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a woman who was shot in a Lowe’s Home Improvement store parking lot in Kansas City, Kansas.

Officers found the woman dead on Sunday afternoon. They haven’t released her identity but say she was in her 20s.

Kansas City, Kansas, Officer Thomas Tomasic tells KCTV-TV the shooter likely knew the woman. He says there isn’t a danger to the general public.

Officers are examining surveillance footage from Lowe’s.

No arrests have been reported.

ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been more than a year since regulators came out with new privacy rules for kids’ mobile apps.

But online stores are still flooded with cute and silly software programs that quietly collect vast amounts of data on the youngest consumers.

In July 2013, the Federal Trade Commission began requiring that developers get parents’ consent before collecting information on anyone younger than 13.

Privacy researchers say that overall, the industry is doing better. But a new site, called PrivacyGrade.org, finds that many mobile apps aimed at kids still collect information in ways parents wouldn’t necessarily expect.

So if you don’t want your family tracked by retailers and fast food chains, stick the phone in “airplane mode.” That shuts off the wireless connection, but you’ll risk losing functionality.