OSAWATOMIE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas officials say a state mental hospital that has suffered from years of neglect and staffing shortages has passed an inspection, moving it closer to being able to receive federal reimbursements.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services secretary Tim Keck said the agency has been “waiting for this for a long time.” The federal inspection involved a 60-bed unit within Osawatomie State Hospital.

The 146-bed hospital was decertified in December 2015 after a series of inspections that uncovered numerous safety, staffing and patient-care issues, including a patient raping a hospital worker.

The decertification made the hospital ineligible to receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, costing the state about $1 million monthly. The hospital must undergo at least one more inspection before it can be recertified.

BELTON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say human remains found in April in rural northwest Missouri are those of a 17-year-old girl who was last seen 10 years ago.

Belton police Lt. Brad Swanson said in a statement Wednesday that the FBI confirmed the remains were those of Kara Kopetsky. The Belton teen was last seen leaving Belton High School in May 2007.

Investigators found her skull in a wooded area south of Belton in April, a day after a mushroom hunter found a different set of remains.

A medical examiner identified the first set of remains as those of 21-year-old Jessica Runions, of Raymore, who disappeared in September 2016.

Runions was last seen at a gathering with 27-year-old Kylr Yust, who has been questioned in Kopetsky’s disappearance. He hasn’t been charged in either disappearance.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri utility regulators have rejected a proposed high-voltage power line to carry wind power across the Midwest to eastern states.

The decision Wednesday by the Missouri Public Service Commission creates a significant hurdle for Clean Line Energy Partners, which wants to build one of the nation’s longest transmission lines.

All the other states along its route already have granted approval. The line would run from Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana, where it would connect with a power grid for eastern states.

Missouri regulators initially rejected the project in 2015, while questioning its benefits and burden on landowners.

This time, the regulatory commission cited a recent state appeals court ruling that said utilities must first get consent from affected counties before state approval can be granted.

Clean Line lacks local approval from several counties in its path.

MORRISON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say cars from two Union Pacific freight trains derailed after one train hit the other from behind in central Missouri.

Jeff DeGraff, a spokesman for Union Pacific, says the conductor of one of the trains was taken to a hospital in Hermann after the accident Tuesday afternoon in Morrison in Osage County. His injuries were not life threatening.

DeGraff says no one else was injured and no other vehicles were involved.

Nine rail cars and two locomotives derailed. DeGraff says the trains were carrying a variety of cargo and there was no concern about hazardous materials leaking.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott White says the derailment closed Missouri 100 in Morrison. It was not expected to reopen for several hours while the rail cars are removed.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Treasurer Eric Schmitt says he’s backing fellow Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley to run for Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat.

Schmitt had expressed interest in a U.S. Senate run, but on Tuesday announced he won’t seek the Republican nomination. He had not taken any official steps to enter.

Schmitt says Republicans should unite behind Hawley, who this month opened a committee to explore a bid.

Schmitt’s announcement somewhat clears the path for Hawley. There are others seeking the Republican nomination, but Schmitt would have been the only other candidate to have won a statewide election.

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Austin Petersen and Tony Monetti, who manages the University of Central Missouri’s airport, are running as Republicans.

State Rep. Paul Curtman is among others who have expressed interest.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a motion from attorneys seeking to halt the execution of a man scheduled to die next week but did not explain its decision.

Attorneys for Marcellus Williams had asked the state Supreme Court and Gov. Eric Greitens to stop the execution, citing DNA evidence that they say exonerates him.

The 48-year-old Williams is scheduled to die by injection Aug. 22 for fatally stabbing former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle during a robbery at her University City home in 1998.

Attorneys for Williams said Tuesday that testing conducted in December shows DNA found on the knife does not match Williams.

After the court’s ruling Tuesday, Gipson told St. Louis Public Radio that he was surprised by the quick decision and planned to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Chicago podiatrist has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $7 million in restitution following his conviction for health care fraud.

Yev Gray was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis. The 49-year-old doctor pleaded guilty in May to two felony charges.

Gray owned Chicago-based Aggeus Healthcare, which provided podiatry services at long-term care facilities in Missouri and 15 other states. Federal prosecutors say the company inserted diseases and symptoms that patients did not have into their medical records.

Gray also pressured Aggeus podiatrists to provide unneeded services, causing Medicare to pay millions of dollars on fraudulent claims.

Gray’s wife, Natalie Gray, is serving a one-year prison term for her role. The CEO and four Aggeus podiatrists are awaiting sentencing.

The jorts-wearing bandit is back. His disregard for the law is as offensive as his disregard for fashion trends. Call us if you can ID. pic.twitter.com/jMtugNac37

— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) August 14, 2017

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Law enforcement are urging anyone who recognizes a man accused of robbing St. Louis-area Walgreens stores while wearing jean shorts to call “the fashion police.”

St. Louis County Police dubbed the suspect the “jorts-wearing bandit” in a tweet, with a photo, posted Monday.

The tweet says his “disregard for the law is as offensive as his disregard for fashion trends.”

Police said in an advisory that the suspect approached one cashier with merchandise Aug. 8 then overpowered her when she opened the cash drawer. He is accused of targeting at least three Walgreens stores.

Police say anyone who recognizes the bandit must contact law enforcement or “the fashion police.”

Jorts have been denigrated as a holdover of 90s men’s fashion, but have recently regained some popularity among hipsters.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is defending the Senate filibuster rule amid some unusual backlash from his Republican House colleagues and constituents at a conference of independent oil and gas producers.

But Roberts concedes Republicans may have to do away with it in order to pass their agenda.

The sometimes testy exchanges Monday came at the convention of the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association.

Rep. Lynn Jenkins won scattered applause when she called for getting rid of the filibuster, saying Congress is “crippled” right now.

Roberts says Republican control of the Senate can easily flip, noting he has been in the minority more often than he has been in the majority.

Rep. Kevin Yoder reminded people that health care repeal failed even though it only needed 51 votes to pass.