OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of bankers suggests there’s been a slight improvement in the weak economic outlook for rural areas of 10 Western and Plains states.

A report issued Thursday on the Rural Mainstreet Index says it rose to 43.9 this month from 40.9 in May. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the survey’s indexes suggests that factor will decline.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the overall index has remained below growth neutral for 10 months. He says that over the past 12 months, farm prices are down 9.5 percent, grain prices are off 4 percent and livestock prices are down 15 percent.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The Associated Press says in a lawsuit that a Kansas county wrongly has withheld public records involving alleged fiscal misconduct by the county’s former elections chief, who later took a top U.S. elections job.

Filed Thursday in Johnson County District Court, the lawsuit names the county’s governing board as defendants.

The AP is seeking emails under the state’s open-records law related to Brian Newby’s role as county election commissioner before he took a job in November as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s executive director.

An audit released after Newby’s departure from Kansas uncovered alleged misuse of thousands of dollars in public funds and raised questions about his management of the office.

Newby has called the audit “inaccurate, incomplete and misleading.”

A Johnson County spokeswoman declined comment Thursday, citing the pending litigation.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri public colleges and universities are set to restructure general education courses to make it easier for students to get credit for classes if they transfer schools.

Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday signed legislation that will require schools to adopt similar 42-credit-hour, lower-level curriculums.

The goal is for public colleges and universities to set up similar general education classes so students can more easily transfer.

Colleges and universities will need to implement the program by the fall 2018 school year. It will ensure students can transfer and get credit for those classes.

The legislation also allows community colleges and other two-year postsecondary schools to offer classes to high school students.

It will create a scholarship for low-income high school students who take college classes.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former GOP gubernatorial candidate and a conservative talk radio host are among those who will review the University of Missouri following turmoil.

The University of Missouri fell under scrutiny after student protests in Columbia over what some saw as administrators’ indifference to racial issues.

Lawmakers frustrated over how turmoil was handled created the UM System Review Commission to review system policies and administrative structure. The eight-member commission will recommend changes.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem Richard on Thursday said he appointed Mizzou alums Neal Bredehoeft of the Missouri Soybean Association, unsuccessful former GOP gubernatorial candidate Dave Spence and Kansas City attorney Michael Williams. He also picked Columbia conservative radio host Renee Hulshof, whose GOP husband unsuccessfully ran for governor.

The GOP House speaker also must appoint four members.

HAZELWOOD, Mo. (AP) — A suburban St. Louis man is in custody after allegedly groping a woman and running off, only to leave his phone number behind.

Twenty-five-year-old Jerome Devaughn Smith of St. Peters is charged with first-degree burglary and sexual abuse. He is jailed on $50,000 bond.

Police said that Smith was in a Hazelwood neighborhood Wednesday, handing out flyers for a cleaning company, when he gave one to a 68-year-old woman outside her home. She took the flyer and turned to go inside. Police say she noted that Smith was following her. She told authorities that when she tried to shut the door, he grabbed her breast.

The woman bit the suspect and he ran off. The flyer he left behind included his phone number.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The lights — and perhaps more importantly, the air conditioning — are back on in downtown St. Louis after an underground fire knocked out electricity for much of the city’s urban center.

Crews for Ameren Missouri restored power Thursday afternoon, but not before several offices and business closed for the day. City Hall and the Carnahan courts building were among the buildings shut down.

Extreme hot temperatures and aging infrastructure were believed to be culprits for a fire inside a manhole that caused the outage at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The temperature was 98 degrees by mid-afternoon Thursday, with a heat index topping 100 degrees for the fifth straight day.

The outage affected about 2,100 customers, including many high-rise buildings. Ameren said power has been restored to most customers.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will start giving away nicotine gum, lozenges and patches next week to help smokers drop the habit.

The effort will last from June 20 to July 1, or while supplies last. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is distributing the nicotine replacement products.

To participate, smokers can call the state’s Tobacco Quitline. They also must enroll with a trained coach who will help them quit using tobacco.

The program is part of a national tobacco education campaign through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State health officials say nearly one in five Kansas adults smoke cigarettes and that nearly 70 percent of all cigarette smokers want to quit.

BUTLER, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri sheriff says he’s waiving fees for the rest of June for residents seeking concealed carry permits after last weekend’s nightclub massacre in Florida.

Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson announced the move Monday on the department’s official Facebook page.

The county has charged residents $100 for their first five-year permit and $50 to renew one. The department also will hold a free concealed carry class for new applicants July 9.

Authorities say Omar Mateen opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday. The attack left 49 people dead and 53 wounded.

Anderson says in the Facebook posting that while he continues praying for peace in the U.S. and worldwide, he “will not put blinders on and act like this cannot happen here to people we know and love.”

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A museum dedicated to classic cars has opened in Springfield.

The Route 66 Car Museum was opened by 75-year-old Guy Mace on Wednesday. The museum is housed in a 20,000-square-foot facility that used to be a warehouse, and features a gift shop.

It has 70 cars in its collection, including seven Jaguars, two Rolls Royces, a couple of Brass-Era cars that predate 1910, and several cars from movies, including the truck from the 1930 movie, ‘Grapes of Wrath’ starring Henry Fonda.

Susan Wade, public relations manager for the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the museum adds another Route 66 reason for people to spend time in the city.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a suspended Kansas sheriff’s detective who is charged with three counts of felony perjury worked on more than 600 cases.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office found that the cases 40-year-old Erin Thompson handled ran the gamut — from traffic infractions to homicide. The newspaper obtained the list of 612 cases after filing an open records request.

Senior assistant Shawnee County district attorney Matt Patterson says the office has an ethical obligation to notify those who currently have or have had cases involving Thompson.

She was charged in May after an investigation into inconsistencies on investigative reports. An affidavit accuses her of repeatedly reporting she talked with people she had never contacted.

Her lawyer, Tom Lemon, declined to comment.