SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A group of bicyclists is about to attempt a ride across Iowa in 24 hours.

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man connected to two Kansas City-area females who disappeared about 10 years apart has been charged with murder in their deaths.

Kylr Yust was charged Thursday with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abandoning a corpse in the deaths of 17-year-old Kara Kopetsky of Belton and 21-year-old Jessica Runions of Raymore. He is being held on $1 million bond.

Yust had long been a suspect in the two deaths. Runions was seen leaving a gathering with Yust before she disappeared in September 2016. Kopetsky had filed a protection order against Yust in April 2007, a month before she went missing after walking out of Belton High School.

The remains of Kopetsky and Runions were found in April in a rural area near Belton.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge says Springfield can continue to prohibit women from showing their nipples in public.

U.S. District Court Judge Beth Phillips ruled Wednesday that the city’s current public indecency ordinance didn’t violate the Constitution by allowing men, but now women, to show their nipples.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued when the city council expanded an indecency ordinance in 2015 after topless rallies were held in downtown Springfield. Although the council later repealed the more restrictive ordinance, the ACLU asked the court to rule on whether the city could require women to cover their nipples in public.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Phillips ruled prohibiting women’s bare nipples in public promotes decency, which is an important government objective.

The ACLU said it is discussing whether to appeal the judge’s ruling.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A judge in central Missouri has appointed nearly 40 private attorneys to represent criminal defendants after announcing last week that the public defenders’ office needed the assistance.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Boone County Presiding Judge Kevin Crane announced Sept. 27 that the public defenders’ office needs help. Public defenders have more representation requests than they can fulfill because of stricter limitations on their caseloads.

Caseloads were limited after an arm of the Missouri Supreme Court that reviews allegations of attorney misconduct recommended suspending an overworked public defender’s license. One attorney says others now fear their licenses are threatened if they don’t lighten their caseloads.

A private attorney Crane recruited says he doesn’t mind helping, but acknowledges the need for more funding for public defenders.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An Illinois resident has won a $1 million Powerball prize with a ticket purchased in Missouri.

The Missouri Lottery said Thursday that Krystal Ringling of Edwardsville, Illinois, matched all five white-ball numbers in the Sept. 16 Powerball drawing. The prize was claimed at the St. Louis Lottery office on Sept. 18.

Ringling purchased the ticket at Charlie’s Food Mart in the Spanish Lake area of St. Louis County.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Department of Education will use a $27 million federal grant to support literacy programs in the state’s schools.

The three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education is one of the largest grants ever received by the agency. The Wichita Eagle reports it will fund the Kansas Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Initiative.

It will support literacy programs for students from birth through 12th grade, focusing on English learners and students with disabilities.

Districts serving at least 5,000 students may apply individually. Districts serving fewer than 5,000 students may apply as part of a consortium. Eight districts or consortia will be chosen to receive about $1 million a year for three years.

The grant also will pay for a program consultant, an administrative assistant and an evaluation team.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says the infotainment technology that automakers are cramming into new vehicles is making drivers take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for dangerously long periods of time.

The study is the latest by University of Utah professor David Strayer, who has been examining the impact of infotainment systems on safety for AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety since 2013. Strayer says past studies also identified problems, but the “explosion of technology” has made things worse.

Automakers now include more infotainment options to allow drivers to use social media, email and text. The technology is also becoming more complicated to use. Some vehicles now have as many as 50 buttons on the steering wheel and dashboard that are multi-functional.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Law enforcement agencies are facing a sharp increase in violent crimes in Kansas, as the state Bureau of Investigation deals with a shortage of agents to support local departments.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the bureau provided data Tuesday on violent-crime rates to the Joint Committee on Kansas Security.

The statistics show that the number of reported killings statewide increased by more than 46 percent between 2014 and 2016, the highest level since 2000. The overall violent crime rate climbed more than 15 percent, with increases in rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

A bureau official says the number of investigators has dwindled since 2009, leaving agents overwhelmed and forcing the department to shell out more overtime pay to meet demands.

Republican Rep. Kevin Jones says the bureau needs more resources.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri appeals court has ruled in favor of a lesbian woman trying to get custody or visitation with a child she helped raise with her former partner.

Appellate judges ruled Tuesday that the woman has a “loving parent-child relationship” that’s strong enough to qualify her to seek custody or visitation, even though she did not give birth to the child.

The St. Louis-area couple signed artificial insemination paperwork in 2011, lived together for another roughly three years while raising the child before splitting.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights praised the appellate court’s ruling that a lower court must reconsider custody for the woman who did not carry the child. An attorney for the woman who gave birth to the child didn’t comment, citing the pending case.