TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A campaign to unseat a majority of the Kansas Supreme Court’s members has likely prompted more than $1 million in total spending by groups opposing and supporting the justices.

Conservative Republicans, abortion opponents and critics of court rulings in death penalty cases are seeking to remove four of the court’s justices in Tuesday’s election.

Data released Thursday by the Center for Public Integrity showed groups on opposite sides of the campaign spent nearly $908,000 on television ad time through October.

But the figure doesn’t include radio ads, mailings, or other expenses.

A PAC formed by an aide and former aide to Secretary of State Kris Kobach is running radio spots in the Kansas City area against retaining the justices. Anti-abortion mailers also have targeted the justices.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — Authorities plan to bury once again the remains of a pre-school girl found in St. Charles County in 1968, a case that remains unsolved 48 years later.

The St. Charles County Police Department will hold a graveside service Friday at a cemetery in St. Charles for the child still referred to as “Jane Doe West Alton.”

Her body was found stuffed inside a suitcase in West Alton on Feb. 1, 1968. Authorities believe she was between 2 and 4 years old.

Investigators exhumed the remains last year in hopes of finding new clues about who she was and how she died. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children produced a fresh depiction of the girl. Still, they mystery remains.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rival pet food makers Nestle Purina PetCare and Blue Buffalo Co. have settled lawsuits filed against each other, both claiming false advertising.

No financial terms were disclosed in the settlement announced Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Blue Buffalo said its lawsuit will continue against third-party suppliers of ingredients.

Nestle Purina PetCare is based in St. Louis and is a division of Swiss-based Nestle SA. The company makes Alpo, Beneful, Purina Pro Plan and other pet foods. Blue Buffalo is based in Wilton, Connecticut. The company’s ads highlight use of natural ingredients.

Purina filed suit in 2014, claiming that tests showed Blue Buffalo used chicken byproducts in some food. Blue Buffalo denied the claim and filed a countersuit that accused Purina of false advertising and unfair competition practices.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 73-year-old St. Louis homeowner who fatally shot two armed intruders says the shooting left him “devastated.”

The man’s name has not been released. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he wishes it never happened.

Police say the man was working in his closed garage Tuesday when two men armed with pistols came in through a door and demanded his pickup truck, which was parked outside. The man pulled a pistol from his pocket and killed both intruders.

Police Capt. Mary Warnecke says it appears the homeowner acted in self-defense.

NEW STRAWN, Kan. (AP) — The first phase of the dredging of an eastern Kansas reservoir has been completed.

The Emporia Gazette reports that the dredging of sediment from the bottom of the John Redmond Reservoir on the Neosho River began in mid-May. The project was started after a study determined water supply needs in the region couldn’t be sustained during a drought.

Officials considered building new reservoirs or importing water, but ultimately decided that dredging to restore water supply storage space at the site would be the most cost-effective solution.

A total of 3,000,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed from John Redmond. The sediment has been placed in confined disposal facilities on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land and private property.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Harvey County officials have identified a person of interest in the shooting deaths of three people in central Kansas.

Sheriff T. Walton says Wednesday on the department’s Facebook page that investigators want to talk to 35-year-old Jereme Lee Nelson, whose last address was in Augusta.

Officers are investigating the deaths of 33-year-old Travis Street, 37-year-old Angela Graevs and 52-year-old Richard Prouty, whose bodies were found Sunday south of Moundridge. The couple’s 18-month-old child was not harmed.

Walton didn’t say why authorities want to talk to Nelson, who isn’t charged with any crime.

 

Be on the lookout for Jereme Nelson.Wanted for questioning in a triple homicide in Harvey Cty. He’s armed & dangerous. Call 316-284-6960 pic.twitter.com/tVSoQItMYa

— Johnson Co. Sheriff (@JOCOSHERIFF) November 2, 2016

Nelson is white, 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He could be driving either a cream-colored Lincoln MKZ with Kansas plate number 670HHJ or a cream-colored 2005 Cadillac Escalade with Texas plate number SKZ229.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials are investigating an outbreak of E. coli among people who attended the Louisburg Cider Mill Ciderfest.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Wednesday that seven cases have been confirmed so far but the investigation is continuing.

The festival was held Sept. 24-25 and Oct. 1-2 in Louisburg.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture, the state health department and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an on-site assessment Oct. 27.

Anyone who became ill within one to 10 days after attending the Ciderfest is asked to call the state health department’s Epidemiology Hotline at 877-427-7317.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man is asking the state Supreme Court to bar prosecutors from citing past criminal allegations at his upcoming trial on a child sex crime charge because a 2014 constitutional amendment that allows prosecutors to do so wasn’t in effect when the latest alleged crime occurred.

Kendrick Tipler pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in 2005. He was later was charged for an alleged attempted sexual act against a child in 2013.

Tipler’s attorney told the court on Tuesday that the 2014 amendment allowing allegations of other crimes to be used in child sexual abuse cases shouldn’t apply because the law hadn’t taken effect when the alleged crime occurred.

But prosecutors say the constitutional change applies to trials that take place after the law took effect.

PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) — DNA evidence has cleared a southwest Missouri family of going onto other people’s land without permission to cut down walnut trees.

The Joplin Globe reports that charges were dismissed Tuesday against Melvin and Ronda Bickford and their two sons, 21-year-old Ashton, and 24-year-old Johnathon. Prosecutor Bill Dobbs says testing of evidence collected at the crime scene didn’t match any of the family’s DNA.

The Bickfords and a friend were charged last year with cutting down 17 walnut trees in northern McDonald County. The friend, 41-year-old John Ellis, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of theft and two counts of property damage in a plea bargain allowing suspended sentences and probation.

Dobbs says Ellis’ conviction still stands. But the DNA test results scuttled the prosecution’s case against the Bickfords.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Police say a man suspected of robbing a Springfield bank has been arrested after a witness followed the man.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that officers responded Tuesday morning after a man passed a note to a bank teller demanding cash. Police say the witness followed the suspect as he left in a car and traveled north through town. Authorities ultimately caught up and arrested the suspect.

Police say the FBI will handle the investigation going forward.