ST. LOUIS (AP) — Three months after losing his bid for the U.S. Senate, former Democratic Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander is launching an organization that’s taking a new approach to fight what he calls voter suppression efforts.

Kander on Tuesday announced an organization called Let America Vote. A 27-member advisory board includes elected officials from across the country, communications leaders, and activists that include Martin Luther King III, the son of the slain civil rights leader.

Kander says challenges to voter identification laws have typically come in the courts. He says Let America Vote takes a different approach, seeking to inform public opinion.

Kander is a former Army intelligence officer who was elected secretary of state in 2012. He lost in the 2016 Senate race to incumbent Republican Roy Blunt.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Two Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation to strip the Jay Nixon State Park’s name away from the former Democratic governor.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources revealed the park located in Reynolds County in early January, just as Gov. Jay Nixon was finishing his final term in office.

Republican Sen. Gary Romine says his constituents are upset over the department’s 2015 purchasing of the land with lead settlement money. The settlement is meant to go toward restoration of areas affected by lead mining, but the senator says the park is not one of those areas.

Romine says while lawmakers can’t reverse the purchase, he can try to officially change the park’s name.

Romine and Republican Rep. Paul Fitzwater say they would change the name to Proffitt Mountain State Park in honor of the family who pioneered the area.

UNION, Mo. (AP) — An investigation is underway after a human skull was found in an eastern Missouri state park.

A man who was at Robertsville State Park searching for deer antlers that are shed this time of year called police Tuesday morning. He found the skull near the Shiloh Cemetery at the park in Franklin County.

Franklin County Sheriff Steve Pelton says authorities are searching to see if they can find other remains or evidence. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are assisting in the investigation.

The Senate has confirmed school choice activist Betsy DeVos as Education secretary, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie.

The Senate historian says it was the first time a vice president had to break a tie on a Cabinet nomination.

Two Republicans joined Democrats Tuesday to vote to derail DeVos’ nomination. Democrats cited her lack of public school experience and financial interests in organizations pushing charter schools. DeVos has said she would divest herself from those organizations.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska fear that DeVos’ focus on charter schools will undermine remote public schools in their states.

In an earlier tweet, President Donald Trump wrote “Betsy DeVos is a reformer, and she is going to be a great Education Sec. for our kids!”

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Facebook is heading to New York state’s highest court to challenge search warrants seeking information from user accounts.

Prosecutors in Manhattan sought search warrants in 2013 for the accounts of 381 individuals in connection with a disability benefits fraud case against New York City police and fire retirees.

Facebook challenged the warrants but lower courts sided with prosecutors, ruling it was up to individual users to challenge the warrants seeking their information.

The social media site provided the information but continues to argue that it has the right to challenge warrants for information it possesses about its users.

Both sides will make oral arguments before the Court of Appeals Tuesday.

The case has been closely watched by social media companies, civil libertarians and prosecutors.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has spared from prison two Kansas men convicted of federal firearms violations after taking into account their mistaken belief that a Kansas law can shield from federal prosecution anyone owning firearms made, sold and kept in the state.

The sentence handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten still leaves intact the federal felony convictions against Shane Cox and Jeremy Kettler.

Jurors in November found Cox guilty of making and marketing unregistered firearms, and found Kettler guilty of having an unregistered gun silencer.

Both men thanked the judge in courtroom statements for not sending them to prison.

The Kansas Second Amendment Protection Act says firearms, accessories and ammunition manufactured and kept within the borders of Kansas are exempt from federal gun control laws.

BOONE, Iowa (AP) — Officials say they won’t erect warning signs near an Iowa park overlook where a man fell 60 feet to his death on New Year’s Day.

Sixty-three-year-old Dan Carlile, of Ames, fell after losing his footing near Lost Lake Trail at Ledges State Park south of Boone.

His widow, Cheryl Carlile, says excess signage and railings would ruin the spot’s beauty. But she says a single sign would make people think twice about getting too close to the edge of what’s known as Solstice Rock, which overlooks the Des Moines River.

Iowa Natural Resources Department officials decided against any barriers or signs at the site.

Park manager Andy Bartlett says, “It’s just too important of a cultural resource to do that.”

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Parents and teachers say they’re facing challenges with children after Wichita Public Schools trimmed 15 days from the academic calendar and added 30 minutes to each school day.

The new schedule comes after last year’s $3 million budget cut. With Kansas facing a potential $900 million budget shortfall over the next 18 months, the district is unsure if the school budget can improve.

Parents and faculty say students are more tired, family time is rare and after-school activities are increasingly difficult to arrange. A focus group of high schools students said in October that the schedule has resulted in extra homework and a more frantic speed in classes.

The district says it’s collecting data on the effect longer days have on students and that it also plans to survey families about the new schedule.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republicans in the Kansas Senate have outlined a plan to backtrack on personal income tax cuts championed by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

A bill before the Senate tax committee Monday would raise $660 million over two years. The state faces projected budget shortfalls totaling nearly $1.1 billion through June 2019.

Senate Majority Leader and Overland Park Republican Jim Denning said the plan is a starting point for debating tax increases. But Democratic Sen. Laura Kelly of Topeka said the plan is “not good enough” to balance the budget.

Republican legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback’s urging in hopes of stimulating the economy.

The bill would raise rates for all income taxpayers and end an exemption for more than 330,000 farmers and business owners.