LYNN, Mass. (AP) — Federal officials say a Massachusetts company is recalling more than 32,000 pounds of cooked chicken sausage product due to misbranding and undeclared allergens.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Wednesday that Demakes Enterprises Inc. is recalling Thin ‘n Trim Fully Cooked Chicken Sausage Buffalo Style.

The sausages were produced and packaged between Jan. 20 and Aug. 10. They had been shipped to retail locations in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Officials say there have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions to the product. Anyone who bought the product is urged not to consume it.

Demakes also sells deli meats and hot dogs.

The company is based in Lynn. It hasn’t returned an email seeking comment.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The Federal Highway Administration has approved a plan to extend Kansas Expressway south toward a southwest Missouri county.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the administration approved the project’s environmental assessment report. The approval allows Greene County to proceed with the design phase of the extension that would go down toward Christian County.

Opponents of the project say they’d rather see Greene County choose a different route for a north-south corridor because the expressway will create traffic congestion and road safety issues without easing the commute between counties.

County leaders say the corridor’s route has been set since the 1990s.

Timberbrook Property Owners Association members say attorneys they hired to challenge the environmental assessment are reviewing the administration’s decision.

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2018.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Emergency repairs to a gate at a lock and dam near St. Louis is causing a Mississippi River traffic jam.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that barges on Friday were lined up due to a cracked gate at the Melvin Price Locks and dam at Alton, Illinois. Barge traffic has been closed since Wednesday afternoon. Officials hope to reopen the gate around 6 a.m. Sunday.

By Friday morning, 19 northbound barge tows and 15 southbound tows were stalled.

Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Amanda Kruse says the cracks were discovered during a routine inspections.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Relatives of a 7-year-old Kansas boy whose remains were fed to pigs after he was killed by his father and stepmother claim in a lawsuit that social workers in Missouri and the child welfare agency in Kansas did not do enough to protect him.

The lawsuit alleges child welfare workers had several chances to remove Adrian Jones from his home and were aware that he was physically abused for years but did little except document the abuse.

The boy’s remains were found outside a Kansas City, Kansas, home in November 2015.

Adrian’s father, Michael Jones, and stepmother, Heather Jones, are both serving sentences of life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years in the boy’s death.

The family is seeking $25 million in damages.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Schools around the country are launching drives for money and emergency supplies to help Hurricane Harvey victims in a place many Texans consider sacred — under the Friday night lights of high school football.

The schools are tapping into the big crowds and community spirit in the stands.

The Texas High School Coaches Association has urged teams to raise funds for the Red Cross during games.

Pennsylvania’s East Stroudsburg South High School also will collect funds for the Red Cross. The football coach says players are playing for people in Texas who won’t be able to watch a Friday night game.

Schools in suburban St. Louis are collecting batteries and towels. Opposing teams in the Denver area are collecting shoes, and a school near Cincinnati is asking for clothing donations.

 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is seeking federal approval to cut a key Medicaid health care benefit for the elderly and poor in an effort to save money.

The state has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to eliminate a provision that allows a person to get Medicaid coverage three months before he or she submits an application to join the program. The provision ensures a care facility receives retroactive payment for treating some patients who are suddenly sick or in an accident.

The policy would impact new Medicaid patients.

The Iowa Department of Human Services says the GOP-controlled Iowa Legislature mandated the cut in a bill with cost-containment measures. DHS estimates $36.7 million would be saved, including $9.7 million for the state.

DHS told The Des Moines Register it hopes to implement the changes on Oct. 1.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wells Fargo is now saying 3.5 million customers were impacted by its fake accounts scandal, a dramatic increase from the 2.1 million accounts it originally estimated.

In the weeks and months after the bank acknowledged in September 2016 that its employees opened 2.1 million accounts without getting customers’ permission, the bank agreed to look for fake accounts going back an additional two years to 2009. This was because news reports showed that problems at Wells started before 2011, which is what Wells originally admitted.

Wells plans to pay out an additional $2.8 million in refunds to the impacted customers.

Separately Wells also found 528,000 customers were signed up for online bill pay when they did not ask for it. The bank will give $910,000 in refunds to those customers.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say an incurable animal disease has now been confirmed in two more Kansas horses.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Health said Wednesday that it has received confirmation that a horse in Finney County and another in Kearny County have tested positive for Equine Infectious Anemia.

Earlier this month, six horses in Finney County also tested positive for the disease.

The agency says the infectious disease is caused by a virus that affects horses, donkeys, asses and other equine species. It does not affect humans.

It can be transmitted by biting flies, contaminated medical instruments or a blood transfusion. Signs include fever, anemia and swelling.

The United States typically has a few cases each year, although the disease is more common in other parts of the world.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill says a Missouri lawmaker should resign after posting on Facebook that he hoped whoever put paint on a Confederate monument in Springfield is found and hanged.

McCaskill in a Thursday statement said Osceola Republican Rep. Warren Love’s comment was “unacceptable.”

Love posted on Facebook Wednesday that he hopes whoever vandalized the Confederate monument is “hung from a tall tree with a long rope.”

Love apologized in a later post that he provided to AP. He later told The Associated Press that he didn’t really mean that and says he thinks it’s terrible when someone vandalizes an object of remembrance.

Other Missouri Democratic leaders have also called on Love to resign, but so far Republican leaders not have publicly asked him to step down.