OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — State psychiatric experts say an Omaha man is competent to face a death-penalty hearing for killing four people just weeks after he left prison.

The Lincoln Regional Center doctors issued their declaration Wednesday regarding Nikko Jenkins. Jenkins was convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of four people in Omaha over a 10-day period in August 2013.

It will be up to a district court judge to set a competency hearing that will determine whether Jenkins can understand the death-penalty proceedings and help his lawyer.

A defense psychiatrist has testified at hearings that Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia and perhaps a bipolar disorder, while state psychiatrists have testified that Jenkins is faking mental illness.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Legislature has passed a bill reviving a tax break for small businesses that add employees.

The bill given final approval Wednesday by the House allows businesses with fewer than 50 employees to claim a $10,000 tax deduction for each job they create that pays at least their county’s average wage. Those businesses could claim a $20,000 deduction if they also cover at least half the cost of their employees’ health insurance premiums.

The bill now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon.

A similar tax break was in effect from 2009 through 2014. The new version would run from 2016 through 2020.

The bill also allows businesses with government contracts, grants or tax credits to seek exemptions from using a federal database to verify workers are legally in the U.S.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A proposal to legalize medical marijuana has again failed in the Missouri House.

Lawmakers quashed the measure Wednesday on a 71-85 vote. The legislation would have allowed doctors to recommend marijuana for patients suffering from debilitating illnesses, such as AIDS or epilepsy.

The proposal also would have created a licensing regime for commercial marijuana growers and retailers.

House lawmakers killed a similar measure in April after scaling it back to only cover hospice patients.

The proposal would have gone on the August ballot if it had passed the Legislature.

Supporters said the legislation could have helped stave off a more permissive measure that could appear on the ballot this November. Activists have submitted a petition to ask voters to add medical marijuana to the Missouri Constitution.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to halt Earl Forrest’s execution hours before the Missouri man is scheduled to die by injection.

The court issued its ruling without comment Wednesday. Forrest is scheduled to die Wednesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre for the 2002 killings of Harriett Smith and Michael Wells in a drug dispute and Dent County Sheriff’s Deputy Joann Barnes in a subsequent shootout at Forrest’s home.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, denied a clemency request on Wednesday.

The state has executed 18 men since November 2013, including six last year. Forrest would be the first in 2016.

The pace of executions is expected to slow because most of the remaining death row inmates have pending appeals or have been declared unfit for execution.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lobbyists could spend up to $40 a day per lawmaker on meals under legislation pending in the Missouri Senate.

Republican Sen. Dave Schatz unveiled the proposal Wednesday that would ban most gifts to lawmakers and public officials but still leave them with a healthy limit for meals.

Lobbyist spending currently is unlimited in Missouri.

Backers say the proposal is a step forward, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough. House members previously had approved a ban on lobbyist gifts except for meals offered to all lawmakers and statewide officials.

Under the most recent Senate proposal, lawmakers still could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner for free courtesy of different lobbyists.

The bill is one of several proposed ethics changes gaining traction following Capitol scandals last year.

SPANISH LAKE, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis County man killed by one of his pit bulls was an advocate for people with disabilities.

Police say 45-year-old Adonis Reddick was found dead in his home Monday night. He had bite marks on his neck. Two pit bulls were found in the home, one of them so aggressive that police had to fatally shot the animal. Authorities believe the aggressive dog bit Reddick.

Police aren’t sure how long Reddick had been dead. Relatives had not heard from him since Saturday.

Reddick lived independent despite development disabilities. He won a national award last year, recognizing his efforts to train, educate and support others with disabilities. He frequently spoke to groups and advocated for better job opportunities for those with disabilities.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is ordering flags in Wyandotte County to be lowered to half-staff in memory of a slain police detective.

Brownback directed the county’s flags lowered Tuesday through sundown Wednesday in 39-year-old Brad Lancaster’s honor.

Police say Lancaster died at a hospital Monday about three hours after being shot near a racetrack in Kansas City, Kansas.

A suspect, 28-year-old Curtis Ayers, has been arrested. Ayers was shot by police during an attempted carjacking. He is in stable condition Tuesday at a hospital.

The local Fraternal Order of Police says a candlelight vigil in Lancaster’s memory is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Legislature has passed a bill aimed at giving divorced parents more equal custody over their children.

The House voted 154-2 Tuesday to prohibit courts from presuming a parent is more qualified to be a guardian based on his or her sex. The Senate passed the legislation on a 28-0 vote two weeks ago, so now it heads to the governor.

If a divorcing couple disagrees on how to share custody, the court would have to settle on written findings of fact before resolving the dispute.

The bill also calls for the state courts administrator to post parenting plan guidelines online.

Democratic Rep. Gina Mitten, a lawyer, said the legislation still has a few technical issues that lawmakers will need to revisit next year.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Senators have voted to increase how much money aging, blind and disabled Missourians on Medicaid can keep in assets.

Senators passed the legislation 29-1 Tuesday, but it heads back to the House because of Senate changes.

Aging, blind and disabled Missourians on Medicaid currently can’t keep more than $1,000 in assets such as savings, or $2,000 for married couples. Republican Sen. Bob Dixon says that contributes to a cycle of dependency.

The legislation would raise limits to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for married couples beginning in July 2017. That would increase annually until the limits hit $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for couples in 2021.

Senators voted 24-7 to defeat an amendment for a broad expansion of who is eligible to receive benefits through the Medicaid health care program.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than 32,000 passengers have ridden Kansas City’s new streetcars on the first weekend of operation, far exceeding ridership projections.

Kansas City Streetcar Authority officials tell The Kansas City Star that ridership peaked Saturday with nearly 15,000 people getting on along the 2.2-mile route through downtown.

More than 12,000 people rode the streetcar Friday. There were nearly 5,500 passengers Sunday, but that was still more than twice the prediction of 2,700 average daily riders once the novelty wears off.

Numbers for the first workday of streetcar operations on Monday weren’t available.

The sole glitch this weekend was an indicator light on a door that went out Saturday. The car was taken to a maintenance shop and was back in service in about a half hour.