KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City business owner was sentenced to federal prison for failing to pay federal taxes he collected from his employees.

Joseph Patrick Balano was sentenced Tuesday to two years and three months in federal prison without parole. He also was ordered to pay $493,443 in restitution.

Balano pleaded guilty in August, admitting that he didn’t pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $260,000 that he collected in employment taxes, along with more than $232,000 as his employer portion of the taxes.

He was the owner of Global Employment Group, Inc., doing business as Staffing Connections (Global Employment) in Grandview and Kansas City.

Balano admitted he used the unpaid taxes for personal expenses and expenses for family members, including gambling, mortgage payments and car payments.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — An assistant professor at the University of Missouri has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a campus run-in with student journalists during protests in November.

A spokeswoman for Columbia’s city prosecutor says an attorney for Melissa Click entered the plea on Click’s behalf Tuesday in municipal court. Click’s arraignment was waived. Another court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 16.

The charge was filed Monday. Click had a confrontation with a student photographer and a student videographer on Nov. 9 during protests over what some saw as university leadership’s indifference to racial issues. Click called for “some muscle” to help remove the videographer from the protest area on the Columbia campus.

The confrontation happened on the day the university system’s president and the Columbia campus’ chancellor resigned.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials say seven children suffered minor injuries when their school bus collided with a vehicle in eastern Kansas City.  Police say six children were taken to Research Medical Center and one was taken to Children’s Mercy. The other children on the bus continued on to school.

At least 20 students, mostly ages 12 and 13, were on the bus headed to Kauffman School when it was hit from behind by a sports utility vehicle.

The bus driver and the driver of the other vehicle were not injured.

Apple Bus Company said in a statement that the accident is still under investigation.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is investigating after a man died following a fight with two corrections officers while he was being booked at the Saline County Jail.

The man died early Tuesday at a Salina hospital after the altercation Monday evening.

Salina Police Capt. Mike Sweeney says the man resisted as he was being taken into custody for allegedly punching a woman.

Jail Administrator Captain Brent Melander says the man continued to be disruptive in the jail booking area and two officers tried to restrain him.

He was unresponsive after the fight and was taken to Salina Regional Health Center. His name has not been released.

Corrections officer David Grove was admitted to the hospital for observation and officer Andrew Fillipi was treated and released.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas Senate committee isn’t ready to endorse a narrow medical marijuana proposal.

The Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee voted Tuesday to forward a medical marijuana bill to the full Senate without a recommendation on whether it should pass. The measure would allow therapeutic hemp oil to be used in treating seizures.

Republicans who control the panel expect the measure to be sent to another committee that handles health issues.

The medical marijuana proposal had been tied to another proposal to lessen criminal penalties for first- and second-time marijuana possession. The House passed a single bill covering both subjects last year.

The Senate corrections committee split the measures into two bills. It approved the one lowering penalties for marijuana possession and sent it to the full Senate for debate.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Columbia man who robbed six banks and used a bicycle as his getaway vehicle will spend nearly five years in federal prison.

Shaun Christopher Becker was sentenced Tuesday to four years and nine months in prison without parole. He was also ordered to pay $4,490 in restitution.

Becker admitted in August 2015 that he robbed six banks in Columbia between November 2014 and January 2015.

Prosecutors say in each case he rode a bicycle to the bank, went inside and handed a note demanding money to a bank teller. He did not display a weapon and no one was hurt in any of the robberies.

Becker told an FBI agent he committed the robberies to support an expensive heroin addiction.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A proposed bill in the Missouri House would require Missouri college students to take a class on freedom of speech.

During a House hearing Tuesday, bill sponsor Rep. Dean Dohrman said the bill is needed after confrontations with journalists during protests at the University of Missouri last year.  Students were protesting what some saw as indifference to racial issues on the Columbia campus.

Assistant professor Melissa Click was charged with misdemeanor assault Monday after a run-in with a student photographer and a student videographer during November protests. The confrontation gained national attention.

A spokeswoman for Columbia’s city prosecutor says an attorney for Ms Click entered a plea of not guilty on Click’s behalf Tuesday in municipal court. Click’s arraignment was waived. Another court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 16.

Paul Wagner, director of the Council on Public Higher Education in Missouri, disputed legislative estimates that the bill won’t cost any money. He says adding course requirements will require students to spend more time and money to graduate.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three firefighters who were injured in a funeral home fire have been released from the hospital.

The Omaha Fire Department says the three firefighters who were sent to the Nebraska Medical Center Tuesday morning are now at home resting.

A fire department news release says heavy equipment is being used to assist with moving collapsed sections of the building.

Fire investigators were working with funeral home employees Tuesday to remove bodies from the building.

Firefighters were dispatched around 3:20 a.m. Tuesday to the Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak & Cutler Mortuary on West Center Road.

A fourth person who was injured, co-owner Bill Cutler, received about 15 stitches.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A bill capping municipal courts fines for ordinance violations has won initial approval in the Missouri Senate.

Senators debated the measure for more than two hours Tuesday before finalizing its language. It still needs a final vote before going to the House. Sen. Eric Schmitt’s bill would place a $200 limit on fines for zoning infractions.

Schmitt said some cities in St. Louis County unreasonably enforce ordinance violations, such as barbequing on front lawns. He says those cities shouldn’t treat citations like a revenue stream.

Democratic Sen. Jill Schupp questioned whether problems with citations were as widespread as Schmitt claimed.

Sen. Kiki Curls, a Democrat, said the banks that own dilapidated buildings in her Kansas City district don’t need lower fines.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Performing an abortion based solely on a Down Syndrome diagnosis would become illegal under a bill in the Missouri Senate.

Sen. David Sater told a committee Tuesday that his bill would make Missouri the second state to ban abortions based on a prenatal diagnosis of mental disability, after North Dakota. The Cassville Republican says abortions performed under those circumstances are a form of eugenics.

American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri policy director Sarah Rossi said outlawing abortions for a group of people is unconstitutional. Other opponents said the bill could make it harder for women to talk with their doctors about prenatal screening.

Parents of children with Down Syndrome said the public needs to understand the condition doesn’t stop people from leading full, meaningful lives.