JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Legislation limiting public access to police body camera videos has won final approval in Missouri in a move that some supporters hope will help encourage their use.

The bill’s passage Tuesday comes nearly two years after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson touched off massive protests over the way police interact with residents.

Ferguson police did not have body cameras at the time. And the lack of video evidence helped feed doubts and speculation over exactly what transpired before a white officer fatally shot the black 18-year-old on a city street.

The Missouri bill would close videos from police body and vehicle cameras while investigations are ongoing. Videos taken at homes, schools, medical facilities and other “nonpublic locations” could remain closed even after the investigation ends.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder says he’s backing North Carolina over a lawsuit to defend the state’s so-called bathroom law.

Kinder on Tuesday said the U.S. Justice Department overstepped its authority by suing the state over the law.

At issue is a new law requiring transgender people to use public restrooms and showers corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the law amounts to state-sponsored discrimination.

Kinder is running for governor and faces a GOP primary against suburban St. Louis businessman John Brunner, former Navy SEAL officer Eric Greitens and former House speaker and U.S. attorney Catherine Hanaway.

Kinder says the Justice Department lawsuit is an “unprecedented assault on our privacy and safety.”

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tornadoes destroyed homes, overturned vehicles and stripped the bark from trees Monday as they churned across Oklahoma, part of a strong series of storms that hit the Plains.

At least two people died in weather so violent that forecasters declared a “tornado emergency” for communities in the path of one of the twisters.

Garvin County officials said a man believed to be in his upper 70s died when another tornado hit a home near Wynnewood, south of Oklahoma City. That storm, caught on video by several storm chasers, appeared white against the dark clouds of a supercell storm. In Johnston County, the sheriff’s office said a man was killed by a tornado near Connerville.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have passed an income-tax deduction for active duty members of the military.

Senators voted 30-0 Monday to send the legislation to Gov. Jay Nixon.

The measure would allow members of the armed forces to deduct income earned on active duty from those members’ adjusted gross incomes for the state.

Married couples filing jointly could also deduct that income.

Legislative researchers estimate the proposal would cost the state at least $3.6 million in lost general revenue for a full fiscal year.

Republican sponsor Sen. Wayne Wallingford says the loss is worth helping members of the military.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The embattled police force in Ferguson officially has a new chief.

Delrish Moss was sworn in Monday, becoming the first permanent black chief in the St. Louis suburb where 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed, was fatally shot by a white officer in 2014. The officer was not charged but the shooting was a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Moss spent his entire 32-year career with Miami police and planned to retire in September. He said in an interview with The Associated Press that he felt called to Ferguson, even though he had planned to retire in September. He was chosen from among 54 applicants.

Moss grew up in a tough Miami neighborhood and saw firsthand examples of racially biased policing. He says he will encourage officers to find ways to positively interact with the community.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys for Kansas hope to persuade the state Supreme Court to accept recent changes made by lawmakers in the state’s system for funding public schools. The court is set to hear arguments Tuesday on whether the technical changes approved earlier this year are fair enough to poor districts that the justices can abandon a threat to shut down public schools.

The court in February ordered the Legislature to improve funding for poor school districts. The justices gave lawmakers until June 30 to fix the problems or face having schools shut down.

Lawmakers’ changes leave most school districts’ aid unchanged and don’t boost overall education spending.

Lawyers for four school districts suing the state contend legislators’ work shouldn’t satisfy the Supreme Court’s order because aid to poor districts didn’t increase.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas prosecutor is looking into allegations of misuse of public funds against a top federal elections official when he was a county election commissioner in the state, two county officials confirmed Monday.

Brian Newby left Kansas for a job as executive director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in November, 2015. Johnson County spokeswoman Sharon Watson said the county had concerns over findings of an audit done when Newby was an elections official there, and informed the DA.

District Attorney Stephen Howe said in an emailed statement that his office “has and will continue to work with county commissioners” to review Newby’s conduct.

Newby says it would be wrong to say he is under criminal investigation.

His actions in the federal post have angered voting rights activists.

NEHAWKA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a tornado that swept through a rural southeast Nebraska town destroyed a home, while the homeowner hung onto a tree outside.

The National Weather Service in Omaha reported at least one tornado touched down Monday afternoon near Nehawka, about 30 miles south of Omaha.

Sandy Weyers, Cass County Emergency Management director, says the homeowner didn’t make it inside by the time a tornado arrived in the area so he grabbed hold of a tree and “rode it out.”

The man only suffered a few cuts and scrapes, but Weyers said the home was a total loss. No one was in the home when the roof and outer walls collapsed.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is suspending its work on a plan for complying with federal regulations meant to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.

Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation approved by the GOP-dominated Legislature to put the work on hold because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February.

The new law takes effect May 19 and is a response to the high court’s 5-4 ruling staying the federal rules until legal challenges are resolved.

Wyoming and Virginia have enacted similar measures.

The Kansas law will prevent state agencies from conducting studies or doing other work for a carbon-emissions plan while the U.S. Supreme Court’s stay is in effect.

Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said Monday that the federal government is attempting an “unprecedented expansion” of its power.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis NAACP officials are questioning the accuracy of Missouri data on racial disparity in police stops.

St. Louis chapter president Adolphus Pruitt said during a Monday legislative hearing that biased policing could be underreported.

Missouri requires officers to record information such as the race of drivers after vehicle stops. Analysts then review data for racial disparity trends in policing.

Pruitt pointed to 2012 reports from one St. Louis County officer. He says the officer’s activity log for one day notes arrests not included in data submitted to the state. He says that could mean annual reports don’t show an accurate picture of police bias.

Pruitt says reporting laws need to be tightened.

The state attorney general’s office must submit the analysis of 2015 data no later than June 1.