ST. LOUIS (AP) — An effort to target crime and improve life in 15 St. Louis neighborhoods is off to a slow start.

In December 2015 Mayor Francis Slay released a detailed plan to target 12 north St. Louis and three south side neighborhoods. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that halfway through the two-year plan, some aldermen are concerned about what they see as only limited progress.

Carl Filler, director of strategic policy initiatives in the mayor’s office, says that like everything in government, the plan is moving a little slow. Still, Filler says several initiatives are underway, including more re-entry coordinators in city jails, more youth programs at community centers, police officers making home visits to at-risk youth, and more homicide officers assigned to the troubled areas of the city.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Agriculture says the estimated cost of raising a child from birth through age 17 is $233,610, or as much as almost $14,000 annually. That’s the average for a middle-income couple with two children. It’s a bit more expensive in urban parts of the country, and less so in rural areas.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a deputy has been killed in a motorcycle crash while searching for a suspect in the shooting death of an Orlando police officer.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told a press conference Monday that another vehicle turned in front of the deputy, who was riding a motorcycle in pursuit of 41-year-old Markeith Loyd. Loyd is suspected in the shooting death of Master Sgt. Debra Clayton. A massive manhunt was underway for him.

Clayton was shot and killed in the line of duty near a Walmart in Orlando. Police Chief John Mina says Loyd also is wanted in the slaying of a pregnant woman.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Checking your home for radon is important to protecting your family’s health.

The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to raise awareness about radon.

The odorless colorless radon gas is the nation’s second-leading cause of lung cancer, behind smoking, and is the most common cause in nonsmokers.

Nebraska has the nation’s third-highest prevalence of radon, the cancer-causing gas that seeps into buildings from the surrounding soil. Iowa and North Dakota are the only states where the odorless, colorless gas is more widespread.

The EPA’s Jon Edwards says everyone should test their homes for radon, and if there are high levels of the gas, homeowners should consider installing a radon mitigation system.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials in Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, are taking different approaches toward handling an expected infestation of an ash tree-killing insect.

Omaha plans to treat up to 5,000 of its 11,000 ash trees and to remove the rest.

In Council Bluffs, officials plant to treat most of the 1,260 ash trees on city property, then evaluate the situation in 10 years. Crews removed 30 unhealthy trees last year and treated 200 trees. Workers will treat about 1,000 trees this spring.

At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, workers will treat about 10 percent of the 368 ash trees on campus.

Officials must take action because of the emerald ash borer. Since being found in 2002 in Michigan, the insect has killed millions of trees across the country.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Some Missouri school leaders are worried that a new state law might lead to felony arrests for students involved in fights and bullying, but legal and legislative officials say the concern is overblown.

The new law, part of an overhaul of a state criminal code that took effect Jan. 1, increases penalties for third-degree assaults and some cases of harassment.

Some school superintendents warned parents and their children that students could face felony charges if they fight with or bully other students. In some cases, the age of the defendant is not a factor in prosecution.

But Missouri Bar President Dana Tippin Culter says schools have always been required to report fights that cause serious injuries. She says prosecutors won’t spend time filing felony charges over minor fistfights.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri prosecutor is requesting clemency for a man who was sentenced to 80 years in prison for a 1993 duplex burglary.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s office said in a news release Wednesday that the lead prosecutor and a victim in the case also support clemency for Alvis Williams.

Prosecutors asked for a 20-year prison term when Williams was sentenced in 1994. But a judge opted for the maximum 80-year sentence, which was only possible for about a one-year when second-degree burglary was listed as a dangerous felony. Today, the most severe sentence for the conviction would be seven years in prison.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a news release it is her “desire to see him as a taxpayer and a contributor to his family.”

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Joplin has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a lawsuit with a man over the demolition of the foundations of three homes that were destroyed in the deadly 2011 tornado.

The Joplin Globe reports that the city council agreed last month to the settlement with Larry Allgood. The city took action through a special board when his properties weren’t undergoing rebuilding after the tornado. Tax liens then were placed on the three properties to cover the demolition costs.

The city had required residents who did not immediately rebuild to tear out any remaining concrete structures. City officials said that would more quickly foster lot sales and rebuilding, as well as remove what they alleged were unsafe structures.

But Allgood argued in court documents that he intended to rebuild.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) — Poplar Bluff police are worried that tainted heroin, possibly laced with fentanyl, is on the streets of the southeast Missouri town after one death and five overdose calls in the past several days.

Police Chief Danny Whiteley told the Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic that much of the heroin that shows up in his town comes from St. Louis, where heroin and fentanyl have been mixed.

Whiteley says the result is “like playing Russian roulette” because of the unpredictable combination.

Police say an increasing number of methamphetamine users are turning to heroin as their drug of choice. Meth lab seizures are down significantly across Missouri, but experts say heroin use continues to increase.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say five people were killed and eight were wounded after a lone suspect opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, international airport.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office tweeted the information following Friday afternoon’s shooting.

Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief told CNN that authorities “have an active crime scene investigation involving terminal 2.”

News stations showed video of medics taking care of a bleeding victim outside the airport. Helicopters hovering over the scene showed hundreds of people standing on the tarmac as an ambulance drove by and numerous law enforcement officers, including tactical units, rushed to the scene.

Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer tweeted that he was at the airport when shots were fired and “everyone is running.”

The Sheriff also tweeted that one subject was in custody. Officials at the airport sent out a tweet stating all services were temporarily suspended at the airport and travelers were urged to contact their air carriers about flight information.