DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state agency that advocates for the elderly and disabled will review its budget in an effort to avoid some cuts to staff visits at facilities like nursing homes, but she didn’t offer specifics.

The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday her office is communicating with the office of the Iowa Long-Term Care Ombudsman to review options.

The ombudsman’s office announced recently that reductions to its state-appropriated budget, which is just above $1 million, would limit staff travel to facilities like nursing homes. The travel is aimed at monitoring conditions.

Reynolds says a large portion of the office’s budget is salaries and administrative costs, so officials may try to use resources differently. She declined to clarify if that could lead to layoffs at the ombudsman’s office.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (AP) — An Anheuser-Busch brewery in Georgia is shipping canned drinking water to the American Red Cross to help Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana.

The St. Louis-based beer giant says a truckload of water from its Cartersville, Georgia, brewery arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Monday. More truckloads are scheduled to arrive in Arlington, Texas. More than 155,000 cans of water are being sent in total.

Anheuser-Busch says it periodically stops beer production at times throughout the year in order to can drinking water at the Georgia facility so it can be ready to go in times of need. The company says it has provided more than 76 million cans of drinking water for disaster relief since 1988.

DETROIT (AP) — Volkswagen is recalling almost 281,000 CC and Passat sedans and wagons in the U.S. because the fuel pumps can fail and cause the cars to suddenly stall.

The recall covers the CC from the 2009 through 2016 model years, as well as the Passat sedan and wagon from 2006 through 2010. All have four-cylinder gasoline engines.

VW says in government documents that the fuel pump control computer can lose electrical power. That can stop gas from flowing and cause the engine to stop. That problem also can make the fuel pump continue running after the car is shut off.

VW will notify owners about the problem in October and send a second letter when replacement computers are available.

PITTSBURG, Kan. (AP) — Artists in southeast Kansas are preparing to turn the walls of participating businesses into murals as part of a community art project.

The Joplin Globe reports that the Southeast Kansas Art Fest 2017 grant program covers half the cost of the project in Pittsburg, Kansas. The other half will be paid by businesses and patrons. SEK Art Fest is a nonprofit that funds community art projects to promote the arts in the region.

Organization spokeswoman Jenna Spencer says the items in the project get auctioned off, with the money used to help fund the grants. She says the cost of each mural depends on the detail and size, and will range from $750 to $3,000.

The group hopes to help fund 10 to 15 murals. Application deadline is Sept. 17.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri couple is suing a television station over its coverage of a man charged with duping dozens of women into having sex with him on camera by telling them they were rehearsing for roles in pornographic movies.

The Kansas City Star reports that the lawsuit filed Monday says KSHB-TV used archive footage of Chyleina and Cory Herron when Mario Ambrose Antoine was charged last year in the porn fraud case. They had been interviewed in 2012 about a financial fraud case involving Antoine.

The suit says the old footage falsely made it appear they were involved in the porn fraud case, which culminated in Antoine pleading guilty to wire fraud.

David Giles, an attorney for KSHB-TV parent company E.W. Scripps, says the company doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Outdoor gear giant Bass Pro is joining other corporations in sending aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey.

KOLR-TV reports that the Springfield-based chain posted Monday on its Facebook page that it will send 80 Tracker boats for government agencies and rescue organizations to use along the Gulf Coast. Rescue calls have poured in by the thousands since the Category 4 hurricane ravaged the Texas coastline.

The company also is donating $40,000 in essential supplies to Springfield-based Convoy of Hope, which is also in the region helping victims.

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Transportation officials say faster and more reliable locomotives combined with improved signals and tracks will cut the time it takes an Amtrak passenger train to run from Chicago to St. Louis by one hour.

Amtrak and state officials announced Monday that the acquisition of 12 new locomotives will serve passenger lines from Chicago to Wisconsin, Michigan and Missouri.

The locomotives were paid for by $215.6 million in federal funds. Another 21 new locomotives will be delivered by January.

State Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn says the new locomotives will have speeds of up to 110 mph and cut travel time to St. Louis from 5 1/2 hours to 4 1/2 hours.

Track improvements have been made on the St. Louis route. Work also continues on signals.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas farmer is hoping to attract visitors to his sunflower plot over Labor Day weekend.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that George Hunsinger has a 6-acre (2.4 hectares) plot of sunflowers in Lawrence. The field attracted about 200 visitors in its first season last year.

The field has gray mammoth sunflowers growing up to 12 feet tall, and Peredovik sunflowers growing up to 6 feet tall.

Hunsinger says the mammoth sunflowers should be in full bloom by Labor Day weekend. Visitors are welcome to photograph the flowers for free and can take home a bloom for a suggested donation of $1 per flower.

Hunsinger says the sunflower plot is mostly a hobby and that he focuses on rotating corn and soybean crops on his more than 300-acres of land.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Now that Missouri’s minimum wage is back to $7.70 statewide, the Democratic mayors from both of the state’s big cities are supporting a ballot measure to increase the wage to $12 an hour gradually by 2023.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson was among several dozen supporters of a higher minimum wage who gathered Monday for a rally and protest. Krewson says she’ll be asking for signatures on a petition toward a November 2018 ballot measure. The effort called “Raise Up Missouri” requires 100,000 signatures by May.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James says in a statement that he also supports the ballot initiative. Other supporters include Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.

A Missouri law that went into effect Monday prohibits local government from approving minimum wages higher than the state’s. The measure overturns a $10 wage in St. Louis that went into effect in May, and nullifies voter approval of a $10 wage in Kansas City.