NIXA, Mo. (AP) — Police in the southwest Missouri town of Nixa are investigating how a decomposed body ended up in the back seat of a car parked at fast-food restaurant.

Nixa spokeswoman Jill Finney said police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant early Thursday after the body was found in a car that had been in the parking lot for several days.

Finney says the body was so badly decomposed it was nearly unrecognizable but it is apparently a male.

Finney said foul play has not been ruled out. No other details were released.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jefferson City police say a 58-year-old woman faces animal cruelty charges after 41 animals were taken from her home.

Police said the animals were removed Thursday after a warrant was issued because of several complaints about the house and concerns about the number of animals living there.

Trash and junked vehicles were removed from the property after an abatement order was issued in December 2015.

The home was condemned after the 40 cats and one dog were removed. The animals are in various stages of health and were taken to the Jefferson City Animal Shelter for treatment.

The woman was taken to the Cole County jail after being arrested on 41 counts of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is planning to use provisional ballots during the upcoming elections and then throw out all of the votes for state and local races cast by the thousands of voters who register to vote at motor vehicle offices without providing proof of citizenship.

An email sent Wednesday from Kobach’s office to county election officials outlines the state’s proposed plans for implementing a two-tiered election system.

A federal court order required Kansas to allow these voters to cast ballots at least in the federal races. Kobach plans to use a process that allows election officials to go back into those ballots and count only votes cast in federal races.

The move comes despite a Kansas judge ruling that Kobach had no such authority.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s public power utility says its nuclear power plant in eastern Nebraska has been temporarily taken offline for a minor malfunction.

Omaha Public Power District says in a written release that the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station north of Omaha was taken offline Tuesday morning when a turbine tripped.

The utility says the system responded as designed by automatically shutting down the reactor without incident. The utility says the plant is safe and there were no injuries.

Operators are analyzing the cause of the situation, focusing on the speed and power controls of the turbine. Crews are working to resolve the issue and restore the unit to service.

The utility announced earlier this month that it would close the nuclear power plant by the end of the year.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A U.S. Senate oversight committee is demanding information about how state lotteries are increasing security after an insider allegedly rigged jackpots for years.

Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, says fraud allegations in lottery games raise serious concerns. Yet he says it’s not clear what the Multi-State Lottery Association is doing to address them.

In a letter to association leaders obtained by The Associated Press, Thune says his committee wants answers to several questions by July 7.

Investigators say the association’s former security director, Eddie Tipton, installed software code that allowed him to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year. A jury has convicted Tipton of rigging a $16.5 million jackpot, and he’s charged with manipulating games in four other states.

BELOIT, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been killed in a wheat-harvest accident in north-central Kansas.

The Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim in a news release as 43-year-old Michael Alan Anderson, of Beloit. The Salina Journal reports that he was pronounced dead Tuesday at the scene of the accident.

No other details were immediately released.

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SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas health officials are trying to determine what is causing elevated lead levels among about 30 children in central Kansas’ Saline County.

Farah Ahmed, of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, says an investigation will be held through July.

Since the start of 2015, elevated lead levels have been detected in the blood of 32 children, age 15 and younger.

The Salina Journal reports that health officials discussed the issue with the public Tuesday night in Salina. Ahmed says health officials will review the potential sources for lead exposure, including grandparents’ houses, child care centers, toys, food, cosmetics and where the parents work.

Saline County has a history of elevated blood lead levels, with 21 cases in 2013, and 38 in 2014.

HUMANSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A flying team participating in an all-female cross-country airplane race crashes into a Missouri field, but both crew members were able to walk away unhurt.

The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal reports the Cessna 182 went down shortly before noon Wednesday near Humansville, about 70 miles south of a planned stop in Warrensburg.

It was one of 50 airplanes racing in the 40th Annual Air Race Classic, which departed from Prescott, Arizona, on Tuesday morning. Race spokeswoman Dianna Stanger says preparations were being made Wednesday afternoon to remove the damaged aircraft from the field.

The race covers more than 2,700 miles across 12 states over four days and ends at 5 p.m. Friday in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Stanger says there have been no fatal crashes in the event’s four decades.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri has its first openly gay Miss Missouri.

Erin O’Flaherty was crowned Miss Missouri on Saturday in Mexico, Missouri.

Ann Jolly, chairman of the board of the Miss Missouri Scholarship Organization, said Wednesday that the 23-year-old O’Flaherty is the first openly gay woman to be named Miss Missouri.

O’Flaherty said in a telephone interview that she came out as gay when she was 18. She knew going into the Miss Missouri pageant if she won she’d be making history, but she says that wasn’t her focus.

She says she believes she’ll also be the first openly gay woman to compete in the Miss America scholarship pageant, scheduled for September in Atlantic City. A spokeswoman for the Miss America pageant didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Michigan man who allegedly tried to collect fake debts from Gov. Jay Nixon has been charged with a felony for alleged deceptive business practices.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster on Wednesday said Jeffrey Scott Kowalski tried to get tax information and collect non-existent debts from the governor, lawmakers and others.

Online court records on Wednesday didn’t list an attorney for Kowalski who is the CEO of StarProse Corporation. Koster also filed a civil lawsuit against Kowalski.

Koster says Kowalski sent collection notices to more than 70 Missouri consumers, including Nixon, 50 state lawmakers, an associate circuit judge and a school superintendent.

The state previously sued Kowalski in 2004 for allegedly emailing school superintendents and asking for personal information, including their sexual orientations. A circuit court ordered Kowalski to stop.