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Equine herpes forces racehorse quarantine at Nebraska track

Nebraska Department of Agriculture logoGRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Racehorses have been quarantined at Fonner Park in Grand Island because three horses there tested positive for equine herpes.

The Nebraska Agriculture Department says one of them has been euthanized, but the remaining two are getting better with treatment.

The 750 to 850 horses at Fonner Park can’t leave until the minimum 21-day quarantine is lifted. Fonner will continue racing through May 7, but the 150 or so horses in the same barn as the three that tested positive won’t be allowed to race.

Prairie Meadows Race Track in Altoona, Iowa, has quarantined and is monitoring horses that arrived from Fonner Park within the past week.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, decreased coordination, hind limb weakness, leaning against a wall to maintain balance, lethargy and the inability to rise.

Missouri Legislature passes bill to cap school funding goal

Click this graphic for more information
Click this graphic for more information

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have passed a measure aimed at reining in the amount of money lawmakers will provide to K-12 schools.  The House voted 116-38 Tuesday to send the bill to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

Lawmakers set a goal for how much money schools should receive in basic aid.

But legislators for years have fallen short of meeting those goals. The measure would cap that, and supporters say will make it more feasible to meet targeted funding.

Current proposals for spending on K-12 schools next fiscal year fall more than $400 million short of funding goals.

Under the proposal pending before Nixon, legislators would only be about $54 million short.

Nixon has said he opposes the legislation. He’s criticized it as shifting education expenses to local taxpayers.

Religious-objections supporters rally in Missouri Capitol

Sen. Bob Onder
Sen. Bob Onder

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment to protect businesses that deny services for same-sex weddings are lobbying Missouri legislators.

About 200 backers of the amendment rallied Tuesday in the Capitol.

The measure would ban government punishment of businesses that cite religion while declining goods or services of “expressional or artistic creation” for same-sex weddings.

If passed by the Legislature, voters this year would decide whether the amendment should be added to the Missouri Constitution.

Sponsor Sen. Bob Onder urged the crowd to tell House members to allow the proposal to go to voters.

The measure needs to pass two House committees before it could be debated by the full House.

The rally came the day after a business group that opposes the measure announced brewery Anheuser-Busch joined its ranks.

Missouri House advances medical marijuana bill

marijuana leaf  smallJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Legislation that would legalize medical marijuana cultivation with tight restrictions on who could use the drug has won initial approval in the Missouri House.

The House adopted the bill Tuesday by 91-59 vote after limiting marijuana to terminal cancer patients in hospice care.

The restriction caused a split among some supporters of medical marijuana.  Rep. Shamed Dogan voted against the measure after saying it was too watered down.

Rep. Mike Colona said there was still time to broaden the bill, adding that a lack of legislative action could bolster petitioners seeking to put a more sweeping measure on the ballot.

Others said legalizing marijuana for any use would lead to higher use among teenagers.

The bill needs another vote to go to the Senate, and it would require voter approval.

Professor mauled by bear in critical condition

polar-bear-1208344_1280JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An assistant professor who was mauled by a bear while teaching a mountaineering course in southeast Alaska is in critical condition.

A spokesman at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage says 35-year-old Forest Wagner is in the intensive care unit Tuesday, a day after the attack.

A University of Alaska Southeast spokeswoman says Wagner was with a group of 12 students on Mount Emmerich near Haines, Alaska, when he was attacked by a sow with two cubs. No students were hurt Monday.

A student hiked down the mountain to get cellphone reception and call for help.

Wagner’s biography says he’s been coordinating and teaching in the outdoor studies program at the university’s Juneau campus since 2006. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.

Senate takes up energy bill after 2-month delay for Flint

windmills-984137_1280WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has revived a wide-ranging bill that would promote various forms of energy, from renewables such as solar and wind power to natural gas, hydropower and geothermal energy.

The bill also would speed federal approval of projects to export liquefied natural gas to Europe and Asia. Senate passage is expected this week.

The bipartisan bill is widely popular, but was delayed in early February amid a partisan dispute over sending hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid to Flint, Michigan, to fix and replace the city’s lead-contaminated pipes.

Navy scraps mailer over sexism accusations

sailor-79529_1280MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Navy has scrapped a recruiting mailer that promised women they could join while staying in touch with their feminine side.

Navy officials said Tuesday they made the decision amid criticism that the wording was condescending and perpetuated stereotypes.

The mailer says the Navy offers women opportunities “most girls aren’t even aware of” in career areas that “aren’t just for the guys… all while staying in touch with your feminine side.”

The mailer went out to about 202,900 people across several states, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Clinton, Trump cast NY votes

ballot boxNEW YORK (AP) — The two front-runners in the polls in New York — and in their parties’ races so far — have cast their ballots in today’s New York primary.

Hillary Clinton voted with her husband in Chappaqua, New York. And Donald Trump voted at a synagogue near Trump Tower in Manhattan. He told reporters, “I think we’ll do really well. It feels good.”

Clinton, meanwhile, headed to Washington, where she urged union workers to help her win “the kind of victory to build the future we all deserve.” She spoke to a meeting of the North America’s Building Trades Unions.

Clinton says if elected president she will keep in the Oval Office a cross that was made for her by an iron worker from scrap recovered from Ground Zero.

The union endorsed Clinton’s campaign last December.

Missouri boy charged as adult in 12-year-old sister’s death

handgunJASPER, Mo. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy faces adult charges in the fatal shooting of his 12-year-old sister in rural southwest Missouri.

Jasper County prosecuting attorney Dean Dankelson says Thomas “Tristan” Potts was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree attempted arson. He was 13 in October when Teresa Potts was killed and previously was charged as a juvenile.

Dankelson says the brother and sister had been adopted out of foster care.

The charges were filed one day after a juvenile judge ruled the Potts could be tried as an adult. The Joplin Globe reports that a witness testified at a hearing that Tristan was planning to flee to Georgia. Potts was being transferred Tuesday from juvenile to adult custody.

The boy’s attorneys didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Drugstore chain CVS pushes convenience with curbside pickups

CVS logo(AP) — CVS Health is spreading its curbside pickup service to drugstores nationwide this year.

The nation’s second-largest drugstore chain has partnered with the technology firm Curbside to create CVS Express, a program that lets shoppers buy products with an app and then pick them up about an hour later at a nearby store, where an employee will deliver them to the car.

CVS Health launched the free curbside pickup service last December at a dozen stores in San Francisco and has since expanded it to Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina. The company currently offers curbside pick-up services at 361 stores but has room to grow with more 7,900 retail locations nationwide. It expects to roll out the program in a majority of those stores nationally by year-end.

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