TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel will lead Kansas’ efforts to establish policies and procedures for the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or drones.

Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King on Tuesday announced the appointment of Bob Brock, a Pittsburg native.

Brock worked with drones during his 22-year Air Force career. He also was a flight safety officer and instructor pilot.

King said in a news release that protecting the privacy and public safety of Kansans as the use of drones increases will be Brock’s top priority.

Brock will have offices in Topeka and at the Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus in Salina.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A Leavenworth woman is charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of her 85-year-old mother.

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson says 59-year-old Victoria Smith was charged Tuesday. Her mother, Anna Higgins, was found dead Sunday at a home in Leavenworth.

Police have not said how Higgins was killed.

Smith was taken into custody at the home after her mother’s body was discovered.

She requested a court-appointed attorney during a hearing Tuesday in Leavenworth County District Court.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked Kansas from cutting off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas, issued the temporary order Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by local Planned Parenthood affiliates.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment planned to cut off funding Thursday for services such as exams and cancer screenings for poor patients receiving health coverage through Kansas’ Medicaid program.

Federal courts have prevented other states from cutting Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.

Kansas state health officials have cited a dispute over a clinic inspection in December and allegations against Planned Parenthood affiliates in Oklahoma and Texas that Planned Parenthood has called unfounded.

Planned Parenthood says it’s being targeted because it provides abortions, even though Medicaid funds don’t cover abortions.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two women are dead after being struck by an Amtrak train in St. Louis.

Police said the women were struck around 11:30 p.m. Monday below an overpass on the city’s south side. The women were on the tracks near the intersection of Manchester and Kingshighway when they were hit just before midnight.

They were pronounced dead at the scene.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the women were on the train tracks. Their names have not been released.

The Amtrak train, No. 316, was traveling from Kansas City and was within four miles of its stop in downtown St. Louis. It was carrying 17 passengers and four crew members. None of them were hurt.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State and county agencies are joining with university laboratories in searching for ways to make sure the Zika virus doesn’t take hold in Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has started a statewide surveillance program to monitor the mosquitoes that spread the virus, and it’s preparing to release a plan of action.

The Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University has increased research on the virus, and the Shawnee County Health Agency has created an awareness program to deter any further increase of Zika virus cases in the state.

Five individuals have been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Kansas, with all of those cases travel-related.

There have been 820 cases of Zika virus in the U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) — Almost four years after seeking bankruptcy protection under a barrage of labor issues and rapidly changing appetites, the maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs will take the stage once again as a publicly traded company.

Hostess Brands, which first emerged in 1919, has been shuffled between different owners since it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for a second time in July 2012.

The latest owners, the Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., will sell the company for $375 million in cash to Gores Holdings, an acquisition company run by the private equity firm, The Gores Group, the companies said Tuesday.

It was feared by many that the Hostess CupCake, a staple in school lunchboxes for decades, was a fading piece of Americana. Those fears, it appears, were premature.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — Law enforcement officials in St. Louis and St. Louis County said a streamlined application process has helped with police recruitment.

St. Louis County Chief Jon Belmar said that a county police recruitment process that once took eight to 13 months now takes about six months. Belmar said as a result, his department is about 11 officers over its authorized strength of 880, including 41 who are just starting the academy.

Belmar said resignations that peaked at a rate of 1.6 officers per week following unrest in Ferguson due to the fatal shooting of Michael Brown have slowed.

Police officials said that condensed background investigations, online applications and flexibility in candidate testing locations have also helped with recruitment.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Three people are dead after a shooting in north St. Louis.

The shooting happened around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday near Goodfellow and West Florissant Avenue. Police found the victims — two men and a woman — inside the home. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Names of the victims have not been released. They included a man in his 50s, a woman in her 50s, and a man in his 20s.

It was part of a deadly night in the city that involved several shootings. Another man was fatally shot in south St. Louis around 10:30 p.m. Monday, and a second victim is hospitalized following that shooting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director James Comey says the FBI will not recommend criminal charges in its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state.

Comey made the announcement Tuesday, three days after FBI agents interviewed Clinton in a final step of its investigation.

The Justice Department has been looking into whether anyone mishandled classified information that flowed through Clinton’s email server. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last week that she would accept the recommendations of Comey and of career prosecutors

Although Comey’s announcement removes the threat of criminal charges, it’s unlikely to eliminate concerns about Clinton’s trustworthiness. And it almost certainly won’t stop Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from continuing to make the server a campaign issue.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A hiking and biking trail through Missouri and Kansas will allow people to follow in the footsteps of pioneers.

The 3-Trails Corridor will closely retrace the path of old wagon swales. The trail will start in the Missouri city of Sugar Creek and move through Independence, Raytown and south Kansas City. It will also go through the Kansas cities of Leawood, Overland Park, Olathe and Gardner.

Some stretches of the trail already exist, while others await construction.

The trail was sketched out 25 years ago by trail enthusiasts in Kansas City.

The National Park Service is working with the Mid-America Regional Council to come up with a comprehensive plan to involve all the counties and cities through which the trail will run.