ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is appointing two new members to the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners after a judge ruled the board didn’t follow state law.

Nixon’s Tuesday appointments came days after St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison called for another election for a St. Louis-area state House seat because of irregularities that he said are the election board’s fault.

Burlison in a Friday ruling said another election is necessary because the board accepted 142 absentee ballots without envelopes, as required by law.

Incumbent state Rep. Penny Hubbard beat political newcomer Bruce Franks by 90 votes in the Aug. 2 primary after she pulled ahead with absentee votes.

Burlison says he’s convinced absentee ballot irregularities affected the outcome of the Democratic primary for the seat.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Defense attorneys are questioning the impact of local police using U.S. Secret Service cellphone tracking technology in 2014 to investigate a case. Attorney Diane Dragan argues that some of the charges and all of the evidence stemming from her client’s arrest should be tossed out of court because the cellphone tracking performed by the technology is illegal.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that lawyers say the legal mechanism police cite to justify the use of the technology is inadequate because federal prosecutors say the use of the system is akin to a formal search, which requires a search warrant.

St. Louis police are now getting warrants before using the tech, but attorneys say the concession could affect older cases.

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man is charged with second-degree murder for the deaths of two children in a vehicle he struck from behind on Interstate 70 near Kansas City.

Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker says 60-year-old James Green of Odessa also is charged with two counts of second-degree assault and drunken driving for the crash Monday evening in Blue Springs.

Prosecutors say Green told a trooper his Cadillac Escalade was on cruise control when he looked down at his phone and didn’t look up in time to avoid hitting an SUV. Three other vehicles also were involved.

The crash killed 7-year-old Chloe Beaird and 13-year-old Gavin Beaird, both of Warrenton. Two adults in the vehicle were seriously injured.

It was unclear after hours Tuesday if Green had obtained an attorney.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — An Indiana-based company says its ITT Technical Institute campuses in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, have permanently closed.

ITT Educational Services blamed the closings on a federal ruling last month that banned the company from enrolling any students who relied on federal financial aid.

The Kansas City Star reports the action reflects concerns by the U.S. Department of Education about the company’s “administrative capacity, organizational integrity, financial ability and ability to serve students.”

ITT Educational Services says the closings will be permanent and idle most of its roughly 8,000 employees.

U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. says students enrolled in ITT facilities may be able to have federal student loans at the school discharged.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The National Rifle Association is backing Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster for Missouri governor.

The NRA’s political action committee on Tuesday announced it endorsed Koster over his Republican opponent Eric Greitens.

Greitens is a former Navy SEAL officer and former Democrat. His campaign manager says “no one is stronger” than Greitens on Second Amendment issues.

Koster, a former Republican, is the only Democratic statewide candidate in Missouri the NRA endorsed.

The endorsement is the latest of several that typically go to Republican candidates but that have instead gone to Koster this year.

He also won the Missouri Farm Bureau and other top agricultural groups’ support.

Greitens, a first-time candidate, also failed to get an endorsement from Missouri Right to Life’s political action committee.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Investigators say a small fire in a Nebraska prison was set deliberately.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office said Tuesday that the blaze was an act of arson, but declined to comment further because the investigation is ongoing.

Two inmates and a staff member at the Lincoln Correctional Center were treated for smoke inhalation as a precaution after the fire around 10 p.m. Monday.

Lincoln Fire Department Battalion Chief Jeremy Gegg says the fire was extinguished by the time emergency crews arrived.

The fire comes after a disturbance with inmates last month sent nine employees to the hospital.

Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith says the fire was contained to one cell. She says fires in cells aren’t a common occurrence, but they have happened in the past.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man who punched a police officer so hard the officer’s face was shattered has been given 15 to 20 years in a Nebraska prison.

Thirty-two-year-old Chaz Hill was sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County District Court. A judge gave Hill 335 days credit for time served. Hill had pleaded guilty to assault on an officer.

Police say Officer Tom Arrance responded to a disturbance at a gas station Oct. 7 and confronted a man who witnesses say was acting oddly. Police say Hill punched Arrance just once, breaking the officer’s nose, a cheekbone and the bones around one eye. Doctors used six metal plates and 17 screws to repair the damage.

Witnesses say Hill appeared to try to remove Arrance’s gun from its holster before fleeing.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Fort Dodge police say boys 12 and 13 are accused of using an airsoft pistol to rob a man of his cellphone.

The Messenger reports that officers were sent to the scene in central Fort Dodge around 2:05 a.m. Sunday. Christopher Monley reported that he was walking home when the two boys accosted him and demanded he give them his phone.

Monley says he refused but then changed his mind when one pointed at him what he thought was a handgun. They rode away on their bicycles.

Police say the boys later were found and arrested a few blocks away. One of them had the airsoft pistol and the other was carrying the man’s cellphone. The boys were charged with robbery and referred to juvenile authorities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — North Dakota authorities plan to pursue charges against Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein for spray-painting construction equipment at a Dakota Access Pipeline protest.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said Tuesday that the charges would be for trespassing and vandalism. State court records Tuesday evening didn’t yet list any formal counts against Stein.

A spokeswoman for Stein says that activists invited her to leave a message at the protest site. She says Stein wrote “I approve this message” in red spray paint on the blade of a bulldozer.

Stein, who is anti-war and advocates for clean energy, camped out with protesters Monday evening.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say a Sioux City man attacked his girlfriend with a hammer because she refused to let him tattoo his name on her chest.

The Sioux City Journal reports that 28-year-old Jonathan Michael Boggs has been charged with aggravated domestic assault and going armed with intent.

He was being held Tuesday in the Woodbury County Jail on $10,000 bond and could not be reached for comment.

Police say Boggs wanted the woman, whom he had been dating for about a month, to let him tattoo his name on her chest Friday. When she refused, an argument ensued, and she attempted several times to leave the house. Police say Boggs kept her from leaving and threatened to kill her with a hammer. He later hit her with the hammer.