KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the 1988 shooting deaths of two people in Kansas City, Kansas.

Wyandotte County authorities charged Melvin L. Shields Thursday in the deaths of 27-year-old Jolene Jones and 33-year-old Steve Ray.

The Kansas City Star reports the victims were longtime friends who had a daughter together. Their bodies were found in a secluded area near the Kansas River.

Prosecutors say the initial investigation didn’t identify a suspect. The investigation was recently reopened, which led to Shields’ arrest. Prosecutors didn’t say what evidence led to the charges.

Shields is being held in Wyandotte County on $1 million bond. He was sentenced to prison shortly after the double killing for unrelated convictions and has a record of criminal convictions.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A man accused of killing a Kansas City survey worker in 2004 has been found not guilty.

A Jackson County jury returned the verdict Thursday in the first-degree murder trial of Jeffrey Sauerbry. He was accused of killing 54-year-old Summer Shipp, who vanished in December 2004 while conducting door-to-door surveys.

She was working in a neighborhood in Independence where Sauerbry lived. Her dismembered body was found four years later.  Sauerbry was charged in 2012, hours after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated 1998 case. He is serving a life sentence for that crime.

A witness testified Sauerbry told him that he had killed Shipp.  Sauerbry insisted he had nothing to do with Shipp’s disappearance. His attorney argued the witness was unreliable and no physical evidence tied Sauerbry to the crime.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Legislature has passed a budget that boosts education funding and cuts off state money for Planned Parenthood.

The $27 billion spending plan approved Thursday now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon. It would take effect July 1.

The budget includes a 4 percent increase for higher education institutions, though the University of Missouri system’s administration would see a $3.8 million cut.

It adds $71 million to the nearly $3.3 billion of existing basic aid for K-12 schools. But that is still more than $400 million below the legal guidelines for school funding.

Lawmakers blocked Medicaid funding from going to any entity that offers elective abortions. That money already is prohibited from paying for abortions, but Planned Parenthood currently accepts Medicaid payments for services such as vaccinations and exams.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha residents have raised concerns about a visit from Rachel Dolezal, who resigned as president of an NAACP chapter in Washington last year after it was revealed that she is white.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that University of Nebraska Medical Center professor Dr. Renaisa S. Anthony’s decision to bring her to Omaha to talk about race on Wednesday sparked a backlash on social media.

Anthony says she organized an invitation-only dinner with Dolezal for 25 people, including faculty, students and people from the community, as part of the university’s series of events called “Race-Inclusion-Diversity & Equity.”

Anthony welcomed the controversy, saying that she sought a “polarizing national figure” to attract people’s attention and start a conversation.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — An interactive video game has been developed to train Army command teams on how to respond to accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

ELITE SHARP CTT was introduced for Army use earlier this month. Army members can download the game for free.

The Leavenworth Times reports the game was developed with help from the Games for Training Program at Fort Leavenworth. Maj. Greg Pavlichko, who heads the program, acknowledges some of the language in the interactive game is colorful, but says that makes the game more realistic.

Lt. Col. Jeff Bevington says officials involved with the ELITE game are now trying to get the word out.

Bevington says “we are trying to educate the Army on this tool.”

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A family dog and a fast-thinking officer are credited with helping to get a Missouri toddler who wandered away from home back to safety.

KMOV-TV reports that on Tuesday, a 2-year-old Wentzville girl woke up from a nap and walked outside without her parents knowing. The girl and her dog were found wandering down a busy stretch of road.

Sarah Woodard and neighbors began knocking on doors to try and find the parents, but without success. That’s when a police officer decided to have animal control scan the dog’s microchip, which led them to the address.

The dog and girl were returned home safely. The parents were unaware the child had gotten up from her nap. She had been gone about 30 minutes.

DESLOGE, Mo. (AP) — An eastern Missouri man has been found dead, two days after he was last seen.

The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Missouri reports that the body of 58-year-old Doyle Jones of Desloge was found just before noon Wednesday in a storage area at the apartment complex where he lived. He was found by his brothers.

An autopsy is planned.

Authorities say Jones went mushroom hunting Monday afternoon, and had not been seen since then. He didn’t return home Monday night and relatives contacted police the next day, prompting a search.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A federal agency has found that a storage tank manufacturer is continuing to expose workers to hazardous levels of a chemical than can cause lung cancer and other health problems.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Wednesday that the agency is proposing $95,000 in fines for safety violations at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based Abec Inc.’s facility in Springfield. The company previously agreed to pay $31,400 after it was cited in July for similar problems.

The latest citations allege that Abec failed to take steps to protect its workers after it was cited with exposing them to hexavalent chromium and potentially deafening noise. OSHA says hexavalent chromium can cause lung cancer and respiratory, eye and skin damage at high levels.

The company didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — Pop music superstar Prince has been found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis.

His publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, told The Associated Press the music icon was found dead at his home Thursday in Chanhassen.

The singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era, drawing upon influences ranging from James Brown to the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix. His hits included “Little Red Corvette,” ”Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.”

The Minneapolis native broke through in the late 1970s with the hits “Wanna Be Your Lover” and soared over the following decade with such albums as “1999” and “Purple Rain.”

The title song from “1999” includes one of the most widely quoted refrains of popular culture: “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A bill designed to ease limits on the concealed carry of weapons is advancing in the Missouri House.

House members gave initial approval Wednesday to the measure that would allow people to carry concealed guns without a permit anywhere they now can carry openly, something that doesn’t require a permit.

GOP sponsor Rep. Eric Burlison says there are more restrictions on the right to carry guns than other constitutional rights. Democratic opponents cited public safety concerns.

The House also added a provision expanding the state’s castle doctrine law. That measure gives people the right to use deadly force to defend themselves and their property against intruders. House guests given permission, such as a babysitter, also would be covered.

The measure needs another House vote before it could move to the Senate.