KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Southwest Airlines says one of its flights made an unplanned landing at Kansas City International Airport after experiencing severe turbulence during rough weather.

The Kansas City Star reports that the flight was headed from Chicago to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday afternoon. A Southwest spokesman says the flight crew decided to land in Kansas City for a safety check “out of an abundance of caution.”

Crews checked the plane for damage before it was cleared to continue on its way. The flight was carrying about 175 passengers and crew. Airport spokesman Joe McBride says the passengers were taken off the aircraft and moved into the gate area during the delay.

No injuries were reported.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southwestern Missouri man has admitted in court that he robbed a bank two years ago and abducted the bank’s manager.

Fifty-three-year-old Timothy Polodna of Springfield pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of bank robbery and kidnapping.

Polodna admitted that in July 2014, he stole $26,536 from a Bank of America branch in Springfield, claiming he had an explosive device.

The kidnapping count related to Polodna’s forcing the bank manager to walk with him to his car until he made his getaway.

Polodna was arrested two days later. No sentencing date was immediately set.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a Wichita, Kansas-area sheriff’s investigator was briefly hospitalized after being overcome with an unknown substance in a department evidence room.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department says the detective was processing evidence as part of a drug investigation when he opened a plastic bag and was overcome by a strong smell. The investigator then experienced sweating, slurred speech and dizziness.

The department says it’s unclear what the substance is and that it’s being tested. But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has warned law enforcement agencies about fentanyl, a synthetic opioid said to be 50 times more powerful than heroin.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say two people have been rescued from a cave at a Missouri state park after they became trapped by rising water following recent heavy rains. Broadcast outlet KMIZ reports that emergency crews rescued the first person Wednesday night from the cave at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park near Columbia.

Boone County Fire District Assistant Chief Josh Creamer says the second person was removed early Thursday. Creamer says the pair were spelunking in the Devil’s Icebox cave.

TV station KOMU reports rescue crews took rafts, canoes and a speedboat into the park. It was the second rescue operation at the park Wednesday. Earlier, authorities helped free a woman trapped by high water.

The area saw strong storms and heavy rain Wednesday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two people are dead and one is wounded after a shooting in St. Louis, and a responding city police officer suffered a bullet graze wound. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson said early Thursday morning that a man confronted his ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend and another man on the porch of a home.

Dotson says the suspect pulled out a gun, and the boyfriend was shot during a struggle over the weapon.

The chief says the woman and the other man fled, but that the suspect shot them both. The woman was killed and the man, believed to be a relative of hers, was taken to a hospital.

When officers arrived, the suspect fired at them. One officer’s leg was grazed by a ricocheting bullet.

One officer returned fire but didn’t strike the suspect, who was taken into custody.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A report says rural and urban schools in Kansas area are struggling to fill teaching positions as applicants opt for jobs in suburban locations and fewer college students major in education.

The report was issued by a task force of academics and educators and was presented to the Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday. Areas that are having a particularly difficult time include southwest Kansas, Wichita and Kansas City.

The report says 40 percent of the 277 teaching vacancies were in southwest Kansas. Vacancies were clustered in Wichita Unified School District 259 and Kansas City Unified School District 500, which are the state’s two largest, high-poverty urban districts.

According to the report, northeast and northwest Kansas is attracting teachers from other parts of the state.