ST. LOUIS (AP) — A jury in St. Louis has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $55 million to a South Dakota woman who claimed the company’s talcum powder caused her to develop ovarian cancer.

Court records show the jury returned the verdict in favor of plaintiff Gloria Ristesund on Monday.

It comes after a St. Louis jury in February awarded $72 million to the family of an Alabama woman who sued Johnson & Johnson over ovarian cancer she said was caused by using its baby powder and other products containing talcum.

A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman says the New Jersey-based company is beginning the process to appeal the Monday ruling.

Spokeswoman Carol Goodrich says the decision goes against decades of research that supports the safety of cosmetic talc.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republicans’ decade-long effort to require people to show photo identification when voting has cleared a major hurdle.

Senate Democrats allowed a bill and a constitutional amendment to get initial approval Monday after about a month of stalling. Republicans agreed to allow people without photo ID to cast a ballot if they sign a statement saying they don’t have the required identification and can show some other form of ID, such as a paycheck or utility bill.

The measures still needs a final vote before going back to the House, where lawmakers passed versions of the legislation earlier this year with enough votes to override a possible veto by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. The proposed constitutional amendment would bypass the governor and go on the ballot later this year.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas anti-abortion activist is facing trial in federal court this week over a letter she sent to a Wichita physician saying someone might place an explosive under the doctor’s car.

Opening statements are expected Tuesday in the government’s civil lawsuit against anti-abortion activist Angel Dillard under a federal law aimed at protecting access to abortion services. Jurors must decide whether the letter constitutes a “true threat.”

The defense has argued the letter was constitutionally protected speech.

The Justice Department sued Dillard in 2011 for sending the letter to Dr. Mila Means, who had been training to offer abortions. At the time, no doctor was performing abortions in Wichita in the wake of the 2009 slaying of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion zealot.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Lawrence school officials say it’s unlikely the district will ban displays of the Confederate flag.

An advisory committee told students seeking the ban that broadening the district’s existing discrimination and harassment policy to include symbols would accomplish the same goal as banning the flag.

Some students began asking for the ban after a student flew a Confederate flag from his pickup truck on school grounds in January.

The committee members said broadening the current discrimination policy would also reduce the risk of the school district being sued by students claiming their free speech rights were being violated.

The discrimination policy currently bans written, verbal or physical discrimination and harassment.

The advisory committee will meet again Tuesday to begin drafting a new policy.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The second of two men who escaped from a southeast Kansas county jail is back in custody.

Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak announced Monday that Shaun Steven Simpson was arrested without incident while walking in a neighborhood in Olathe.

Simpson and Steven Barnes climbed over a fence at the county jail’s outdoor recreation area in Girard on April 23. Barnes was recaptured Saturday at a Pittsburg motel. The vehicle the men used to escape was found at an apartment complex in Olathe.

Peak said the two will likely be charged with escape from custody and other charges. And he expects charges against others who helped the men after their escape.

Simpson’s mother, Marlene Louise McAfee, of Arma, is charged with helping the two escape.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators have approved a bill aimed at changing welfare policies and reducing prescription costs within the state’s Medicaid program.

The Senate approved the measure early Monday morning on a 27-13 vote after the House passed it Sunday night, 79-43. The measure now goes to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

GOP leaders saw the measure as crucial to resolving budget issues because it would reduce the state’s costs in providing health coverage to poor and disabled residents by nearly $11 million a year.

It would allow Medicaid to use so-called step therapy with prescriptions and require participants to try a less expensive drug before being allowed to get a more expensive one.

The measure also would reduce the lifetime limit for cash assistance to 24 months from 36 months.

FRUITLAND, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal shooting involving one of its troopers.

The shooting followed a traffic stop Friday night near Fruitland in southeast Missouri. The patrol says 48-year-old Jeffrey Darrell Hobbs of Jackson was swerving on Missouri Route 177 when the trooper pulled him over. The patrol says Hobbs was acting suspiciously so the trooper began to handcuff him, but Hobbs attacked the trooper.

Hobbs allegedly tried to drive away, dragging the trooper. Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott says the trooper warned him to stop and when he didn’t he fired two shots, one of which struck and killed Hobbs.

The trooper was treated at hospital for cuts and abrasions. He is a 15-year patrol veteran, and is on administrative leave pending the investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Colorado artist has loaned a series of paintings inspired by the works of Andy Warhol to a southwest Missouri museum from which seven valuable Warhol prints of Campbell soup cans were stolen.

The new temporary exhibition, called “Warhol Uncanned,” will be on display at the Springfield Art Museum from Wednesday through August 28. The museum is combining the display with a food drive.

Artist Lindsey Wohlman donated the pieces from her “Warhol Naked and Unlabeled” series to fill the void left in the museum’s collection after the theft.

The FBI says the break-in took place early on April 7 and involved the theft of seven of 10 Warhol prints on permanent display. The site’s Warhol collection is valued at $500,000.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A group of military veterans has started a program to build tiny houses for struggling and homeless veterans on a vacant piece of land in Kansas City.
The nonprofit Veterans Community Project hopes to have 50 tiny homes on a four-acre vacant site it purchased from the Kansas City Land Bank. The first 240-square-foot house was dedicated Monday morning.

Each house costs about $10,000 to build and equip. The organization is seeking private community donations and is challenging each branch of the military to donate at least one house. United Automobile Workers has agreed to donate basics, such as dishes, linens and toiletries.

Army veteran Chris Stout, retired Marine Corps veteran Kevin Jamison, Navy reservist Mark Solomon and others started the nonprofit.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A worker at Lambert Airport in St. Louis is accused of stealing from a blind woman in a wheelchair after helping her at the airport.

Thursday 23-year-old Justin Gillespie of St. Louis was charged with felony stealing. He does not have a listed attorney.

Gillespie works for AirServ, a contractor which provides passenger services at the airport.

Airport police say Gillespie wheeled the woman through security on Jan. 3. She then asked to use the restroom. A security camera allegedly shows Gillespie reaching into her bag as he waited for her outside the restroom. When the woman arrived home she noticed $800 was missing.