WASHINGTON (AP) — An Associated Press statistical analysis shows a dramatic drop in Oklahoma earthquakes since late May, when the state limited wastewater injections into energy wells.

And a new study says the state is on its way back to calmer times that prevailed before a huge jump in man-made earthquakes.

In parts of Oklahoma, the state ordered a 40 percent volume reduction in injection of saltwater — waste from hydraulic fracturing — that scientists generally blame for the massive increase in earthquakes.

An AP analysis of U.S. Geological Survey data of earthquakes magnitude 3.0 or larger shows that before the new rules went into effect, Oklahoma averaged 2.3 quakes a day in 2016. Since then the average dropped to 1.3 a day, though some were large and damaging.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police in St. Louis and Kansas City say they made roughly 140 arrests of protesters who pressed for a $15 per hour minimum wage.

Kansas City police confirmed that at least 110 people were arrested Tuesday while they blocked a street. St. Louis police took nearly 30 protesters into custody after they staged a sit-in on a street near a fast-food restaurant.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson had warned that protesters who blocked traffic would be arrested.

Protesters earlier Tuesday blocked a McDonald’s drive-through in downtown St. Louis for about a half-hour and managers had to close the dining area.

The protests were among hundreds across the country seeking a $15 minimum wage. Protesters also want a union for fast-food workers.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A somber Missouri Supreme Court has resumed hearing cases, a day after the death of one of its members.

A black cloth was draped Wednesday over the seat of former Judge Richard Teitelman, and colleagues held a brief moment of silence before hearing arguments.

Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge paused repeatedly to collect herself as she opened the court session by recalling Teitelman as “a man of great intellect and seemingly a photographic memory” who was a friend to many.

Teitelman was the state’s first legally blind Supreme Court judge. He had served on the seven-member court since 2002.

The Supreme Court had canceled its session Tuesday upon learning of Teitelman’s death at his home in St. Louis.

A memorial service is planned Thursday at Washington University in St. Louis.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As trials near for two brothers accused of conspiring to fix lottery games in five states details are emerging about an additional rigged Colorado game and software on Indiana and Iowa lottery computers that a prosecutor says could have allowed additional games to be fixed had the conspiracy not been uncovered.

Trial for former lottery computer technology official Eddie Tipton is in February. His brother Tommy Tipton, of Texas, goes to trial in January.

They’re charged with ongoing criminal conduct along with Eddie Tipton’s friend Robert Rhodes, who reached a plea deal and will testify against the Tiptons.

Prosecutors allege Eddie Tipton hid a false number generating program on lottery computers that helped him predict numbers netting more than $2 million in winnings.

Attorneys for the Tiptons say the state can’t prove the charges.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Law enforcement officials have arrested a man they say stole American flags around western Nebraska because he objected to the way they were being flown.

Flags have been reported stolen from schools, libraries, veterans’ group centers, cemeteries and even fire and police departments. The towns hit include North Platte, Paxton, Stapleton, Thedford, Ogallala and Big Springs.

Logan County Sheriff Sean Carson says a 41-year-old man was arrested Monday afternoon and faces multiple counts of criminal mischief, trespassing and theft.

Carson said the man stole the flags because some were torn and others were being flown after dark.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a suspicious bag that caused evacuation of three buildings at the University of Nebraska at Kearney contained no dangerous material.

A campus news release says a teacher spotted the bag Tuesday outside the Fine Arts Building. Around 3 p.m. officials evacuated about 400 people from that building, the Health and Sports Center and Cushing Coliseum.

Nebraska State Patrol officers sent to the campus determined by 6:30 p.m. that the bag didn’t pose a threat to public safety.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A former U.S. Army explosives expert has admitted in federal court that he illegally possessed grenades that authorities say were among a cache of explosives found in his Kansas home.

Forty-two-year-old John Panchalk of Overland Park pleaded guilty Monday in Kansas City, Kansas, to possessing two M-67 fragmentation grenades unregistered to him.

Federal prosecutors say they’ll recommend probation.

Panchalk caught investigators’ attention in May when police responding to a report of a stolen vehicle at a Parkville, Missouri, self-storage site found storage trailers vandalized. One of them, later linked to Panchalk, contained explosives that included ammunition canisters, blasting caps, C-4 explosives and military grenade simulators.

A search of Panchalk’s home uncovered 38 pounds of C-4 explosive, detonation cord, blasting caps, grenade simulators, incendiary devices and the two fragmentation grenades.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge has ruled that a Topeka man who donated sperm so two women could have a baby together isn’t legally the child’s father and doesn’t have to provide financial support.

The state Department for Children and Families had not decided as of Tuesday whether it would appeal last week’s ruling by Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi.

The department sought to force William Marotta to pay child support for the girl born in December 2009.

Marotta answered a Craigslist ad from the same-sex couple. Kansas law says a donor providing sperm to a doctor for insemination isn’t legally a father, but the two women didn’t use a physician.

The women later separated. Mattivi ruled the woman who didn’t give birth is the girl’s second parent.

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Regulators want more time to review Bass Pro’s proposed $4.5 billion acquisition of rival outdoor goods retailer Cabela’s.

The companies said Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that U.S. and Canadian antitrust regulators wanted at least a month of additional time to examine the deal.

The additional review could delay the deal’s closing, which was expected in the first half of next year.

The retail stores Cabela’s and Bass Pro operate tend to be in different parts of the country, but there is some overlap between the two companies.

Bass Pro has said it plans to maintain some operations in Cabela’s hometown of Sidney, Nebraska, but it isn’t clear how many jobs will be lost when the headquarters moves to Springfield, Missouri.