HUNTSDALE, Mo. (AP) — A sandbar in the Missouri River near Huntsville is part of a new effort in the years-long fight to save the pallid sturgeon.

The sandbar, known as Airplane Island, is one of 10 locations on the river between Kansas City and St. Louis where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is trying to provide more habitats for the endangered fish.

The Columbia Missourian reports that since 2004, the Corps and other federal agencies have spent millions of dollars re-engineering the lower Missouri River to help the fish recover.

The latest effort is funded by $17 million allotted to the Corps from the Missouri River Recovery Program in the current fiscal year.

The Corps says work on project sites will not affect private property.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A reality TV series about homicide detectives is bringing its cameras to St. Louis.

The St. Louis Dispatch reports that the crew from A&E Network’s “The First 48” is scheduled to begin taping in the city in mid-January, with the first episode expected to air six to eight months later.

Police Chief Sam Dotson says that, although the show emphasizes violence and has the potential to complicate prosecutions, he believes St. Louis’ involvement could improve the reputation of the city’s officers and boost cooperation with the public.

More than 20 cities have participated in the show, including Miami, Minneapolis and Dallas, since its inception in 2004.

Dotson says the New Orleans police chief told him that the show promoted the “good work and skill” of homicide detectives there.

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City gun store that changed locations after a fatal gunfight is closing.

Jon Bieker was killed in January 2015 while defending his wife, Becky Bieker, from four Missouri men who were attempting to rob their Shawnee, Kansas, store, called She’s a Pistol. Three of the robbers were wounded in the shootout. All four are charged with attempted robbery and first-degree murder.

After the gunfight, the store was moved to a new location less than 2 miles away, but legal bills and increased labor expenses have taken a toll. Becky Bieker told WDAF-TV that the closure “feels like losing Jon a second time.”

The store is conducting a liquidation sale and will close no later than 3 p.m. Saturday. Firearm training will continue at a different location.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An unusual budget provision passed earlier this month by Congress means no one who qualifies for a government farm loan will be denied in the next four months.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is a Kansas Republican who chairs an agricultural appropriations panel. He says the budget patch gives the Agriculture Department’s Farm Service Agency authority to meet the spike in loan demand by using future funding.

There is no limit to how much the USDA can lend through April 28.

It is a victory for farm groups who pressed Washington to avert a looming loan crisis.

There’s widespread downturn in the agricultural economy. Farmers in Georgia, the Carolinas and Alabama have seen drought and flooding, and Midwestern states are reeling from a glut in global grain markets that’s slashed crop prices.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new report says sales of Iowa Lottery tickets spiked in the budget year that ended June 30 and generated the most revenue in the program’s 31-year history.

Backed by surging sales of instant-scratch and Powerball tickets, the Lottery brought in $366.9 million in total revenue, a $42 million increase from the prior year.

A state audit released Tuesday says $88 million of that money went to the state’s general fund and to help veteran’s programs, the highest amount for the Lottery since its start in 1985. More than $221 million went toward prize expenses.

Sales of instant-scratch tickets increased by 10.2 percent to a record $233.7 million. Powerball ticket sales surged by 43 percent to nearly $75 million as players were enticed by a new formula that made for larger jackpots.

BURLINGTON, Kan. (AP/Salina Post) — Authorities have arrested an eastern Kansas sheriff’s deputy after an investigation into child sex crimes.

An investigation by agents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) has led to the arrest of 28-year-old Matthew G. Vander Linden, a deputy of the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office, according to a media release.

Vander Linden was arrested Tuesday afternoon for two counts of unlawful voluntary sexual relations, one count of electronic solicitation, and one count of sexual exploitation of a child. The arrest took place without incident at the Coffey County Sheriff’s Office.

The KBI said in a news release that its agents began to investigate last week at the request of the sheriff’s office. The release says the deputy has been terminated. He had worked for the sheriff’s office since March 2014.

The KBI says its investigation is ongoing.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Authorities are considering whether five of Springfield’s eight homicides this year were legally justified.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that prosecutors already have determined they won’t file charges in one of the five cases. Police say prosecutors are reviewing three other cases, and the fifth is under investigation.

Police Lt. Culley Wilson says it is “not totally black and white on what happened” in some of this year’s shootings. He noted that people the right to protect themselves, as well as their families, property and homes.

During a gubernatorial veto override session in September, lawmakers removed the permitting requirement for carrying a concealed weapon and expanded the state’s existing castle doctrine. They also created a stand-your-ground provision that means people no longer are required to retreat before using deadly force.

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — The number of passengers taking off from the Branson Airport has declined for the third straight year.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 5,149 people had boarded a plane from January through the end of October at the privately founded commercial airport. That’s a drop of 63.5 percent compared to the same 10-month stretch in 2015.

The airport was built to provide a more direct route for visitors to the southwest Missouri tourist destination than the Springfield-Branson National Airport, which is an hour to the north.

The Branson Airport opened in 2009 and peaked in 2013 at 113,584 boarding passengers. But Branson’s two mainline carriers — Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines — pulled out of the market in 2014.

Meanwhile, Springfield-Branson National Airport is on track for all-time passenger highs.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Nearly 80 years after he dropped out of high school, Walter Rolley Jr. of Columbia, Missouri, has his diploma, at age 97.

The Columbia Missourian reports that Rolley wore a royal blue cap and gown last week in receiving his diploma at the historic J.W. “Blind” Boone Home. Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Peter Stiepleman read a quote by Frederick Douglass in honoring Rolley: “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.”

Rolley left high school in 1937 to go to work. A few years later, he joined the Army during World War II. He never went back to finish his education.

State lawmakers in 2001 adopted a statute known as Operation Recognition, which grants honorary high school diplomas to veterans and civilian prisoners of war.