JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Election officials say an overworked staff, a tight timetable and technical glitches are to blame for the ballot shortage in several St. Louis County precincts.

Directors of the St. Louis County Election Board Eric Fey and Gary Fuhr told lawmakers Wednesday two municipalities submitted their ballot information late, which led to problems when election officials changed the information in their databases.

The election directors said three teams of staff ordinarily check that enough of the county’s 323 ballot styles are printed. But Fuhr said much of their staff was also working on March’s primary election and only one team checked the final totals.

Fuhr said the county does not have the resources to manage two major elections less than two months apart.

Some lawmakers said the election directors should resign.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Military installations in Missouri, Arizona, Florida, and Texas are under consideration to be the home base for the first Air Force Reserve squadron that will fly the new F-35A fighter.

An Air Force statement released Tuesday says the candidate bases include Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, and Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida.

The statement says the others are Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.

The Air Force says it will select “preferred and reasonable alternatives” this fall and that F-35s are expected to begin arriving at the chosen location by the summer of 2023.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a 38-year-old woman stole a semitrailer carrying beer and then crashed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Authorities say they believe the woman got into the truck Wednesday and locked the semitrailer’s door while the driver was unloading the vehicle at a convenience store.

Lincoln police Officer Katie Flood said when police got to the store, the woman drove out of the lot and hit a police cruiser. A pursuit ensued before the chase was called off for safety reasons.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln police say they found the vehicle on the school’s East Campus crashed near the veterinary science building parking lot. School police Captain Jerry Plessel said the woman was cited for criminal mischief and willful reckless driving.

Lincoln police arrested the woman on suspicion of auto theft, fleeing arrest, attempted assault on a police officer and driving under the influence.

 

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City high school teacher has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail as part of her probation for having sex with a 16-year-old student.

The Kansas City Star reports that 33-year-old Jeana Marie Fleming was sentenced Tuesday in Johnson County District Court for unlawful sexual relations. Fleming also will be required to register as a sex offender.

Fleming and the boy had sex in December 2014 while she taught in the Olathe school district’s alternative education program for high school students.

Under Kansas law, it is illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student at the same school, even if the student is above the age of consent. In Kansas, the age of consent is 16.

NEWTON, Kan. (AP) — Police say two 6-year-old boys took a joyride in a pickup truck through a central Kansas town, damaging five other vehicles and two mailboxes along the way.

Newton police Sgt. Josh Millspaugh says the boys’ three-block journey ended about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when they rammed another truck.

One of the boys was taken to a Wichita hospital with minor lacerations. The other was released to a parent.

Millspaugh said it was “surprising” to see such young occupants when he responded to the scene.

He said the boys didn’t say where they were going, but had collided with cars and a full-sized van, and occasionally drove through yards.

Millspaugh says he didn’t know the relationship between the boys. The truck they drove belonged to a parent.

LEADINGTON, Mo. (AP) — Misty Dean is now a member of the Board of Aldermen in the small eastern Missouri town of Leadington, thanks to a coin toss.

Three candidates — Dean and incumbents Steve Kinsey and Debra Matthews — sought two open seats in the April 5 election. Matthews won re-election to the board after receiving 26 votes.

But Dean and Kinsey tied with 20 votes each. The Daily Journal newspaper in Park Hills, Missouri, reports that it came down to a coin toss during Tuesday’s meeting after both candidates agreed. The other option would have been a runoff election that would have cost the city at least $1,500.

Dean correctly picked “tails.” She was sworn in at the meeting.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Jefferson City man has pleaded guilty to participating in a home theft in which a man was killed.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports that 25-year-old Robert Burks pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree burglary. He was one of three people who were charged in the February 2015 death of 52-year-old Johnny Evans.

As part of a plea deal, charges of second-degree murder and attempted robbery were dismissed. Burks will serve five years in prison as part of the deal.

It involved him testifying last month in the trial of 19-year-old Charles Thompson, of St. Louis. Thompson was convicted of first-degree burglary and acquitted of charges of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and armed criminal action. Thompson’s sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Charges are pending against the third suspect.

NEW YORK (AP) — Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal miner, is seeking bankruptcy protection.

The filing comes less than three months after another from Arch Coal, the country’s second-largest miner, which followed bankruptcy filings from Alpha Natural Resources.

New energy technology and tightening environmental regulations have throttled the industry and led to a wave of mine closures and job cuts. Peabody makes most of its money by selling its coal to utility companies that use it to generate electricity. But many utilities have shifted to using natural gas, which costs less than coal and produces less pollution.

Peabody Energy Corp., based in St. Louis, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska City mother has been given two years of probation and some jail time for having her boyfriend force her two sons to watch the movie “Mommie Dearest.”

Court records say 28-year-old Mary Lucas also was sentenced Tuesday to perform 40 hours of community service and spend four weekends in jail and 10 days more that can be waived by the court. She had pleaded no contest to negligent child abuse.

Authorities say Lucas’ boyfriend at the time duct-taped the unruly 4- and 5-year-old boys to chairs while the movie played as he baby-sat them in August. The movie depicts actress Joan Crawford as a mean mother. Court records say the boyfriend thought Lucas wanted to show the boys that she was not the meanest mother.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri House committee has approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would declare a right to life for unborn children “at every stage of biological development.”

The amendment approved Tuesday does not include any exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the mother’s life.

The legislation’s supporters say it would make abortion illegal in Missouri, while opponents disagree.

Voters in North Dakota and Colorado rejected similar proposed constitutional amendments in 2014. And the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 2012 ruled a proposal to grant “personhood” to human embryos would be an improper ban on abortion.

The proposal is considered unlikely to pass year because only a few weeks are left in the Legislative session.