JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A former beauty queen from Kansas who hosted an adventure TV show has pleaded guilty to killing a grizzly bear in Alaska without a state tag.

The sentence for Theresa Vail, issued Wednesday, includes one year of probation and a $750 fine.

A charging document says Vail held a single bear tag and shot a bear on a guided hunt. When she attempted to kill it with a second shot, it says, she killed a second bear.

It says the master guide was contacted and a collective decision was made to fly out another tag, which Vail said she signed but backdated at the master guide’s request.

Vail hosted the Outdoor Channel series “Limitless with Theresa Vail.”

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Attorney General’s office representatives will be in flood-ravaged parts of the state starting Friday, offering tips to help victims avoid clean-up scams and price-gouging.

Representatives from the office will help flood victims select reputable contractors as they begin to recovery from the devastating flood that occurred after three days of heavy rain last month. More than 7,000 homes in the St. Louis area and southeast Missouri were damaged.

Attorney General Chris Koster says unscrupulous people often take advantage of natural disasters, including cleanup firms that require money up front, then leave without doing the work.

Resource centers will be open Friday in Cape Girardeau, Saturday and Sunday in House Springs, Monday and Tuesday in Pacific, and Jan. 14-15 in Manchester.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri National Guard says more than 600 of its troops are returning home after responding to flooding, although a small number will continue helping.

Gov. Jay Nixon called on the Guard to help last month with flood-fighting efforts as rivers and streams rose to record levels in some areas. The guard members were used to assist first responders in providing security in evacuated areas, and to help direct traffic away from road closures.

Adjutant Gen. Steve Danner said in a news release that the Guard has moved into the next phase of the mission. A recovery task force of 25 Guardsmen and women will supervise and coordinate debris removal in eastern Missouri.

Danner says the Guard was involved in debris removal efforts after the deadly Joplin tornado in 2011.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The record Powerball jackpot just got bigger, climbing to $800 million as sales soared in the days leading up to the drawing.

Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, says officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association on Friday raised the estimated jackpot for Saturday night’s drawing from $700 million because of strong sales.

Grief says Powerball sales on Thursday were double the previous record for that day and that it’s possible the estimated jackpot could rise again before the drawing.

A winner would have the option of being paid $800 million through annual payments over 29 years or opting for $496 million in cash.

Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri senators have ordered journalists off the Senate floor after some lawmakers complained their private conversations had been tweeted.

The Senate voted 26-4 on Thursday to relocate reporters to a visitors’ gallery overlooking the chamber in Jefferson City.

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard says he initiated the move because some reporters had violated the Senate’s trust in recent years by tweeting private discussions and negotiations they overheard on the Senate floor.

He didn’t cite any specific examples.

Starting on March 29th, journalists will no longer be allowed at their longtime 10-seat table near the Senate dais and the desks of several senators. Photographers will still be allowed on the Senate floor.

In the House, reporters generally use the press gallery overlooking the chamber.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts says he will ask lawmakers to pass a new infrastructure package this year to accelerate long-delayed construction work on bridges and roads.

Ricketts announced his support Thursday for a comprehensive roads bill to be introduced by Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion, chairman of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee.

The proposal would create an infrastructure bank, allowing the state to tap its cash reserve to pay for road and bridge projects faster than it currently can. Money in the reserve would gradually be replenished with state fuel tax revenue.

The infrastructure bank could be used for state highway projects, county bridge repairs and infrastructure to attract new businesses.

The legislation also would allow roads contractors to design and build projects in an effort to increase efficiency.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Former Missouri Senator Paul LeVota has transferred more than $100,000 from his campaign committee to a political action committee that lists his wife as treasurer.

Nancy LeVota filed paperwork this week to create Leadership for Missouri PAC. Paul LeVota’s campaign committee wrote a check to the PAC Wednesday for $103,589, according to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

The PAC’s paperwork does not list any ballot issues or candidates it supports or opposes.  Nancy LeVota was also the treasurer of the campaign committee. It was terminated the same day as the money transfer.

Paul LeVota, a Democrat from Independence, resigned his Senate seat in August following claims that he sexually harassed interns, which he has denied.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

MARION, Kan. (AP) — A grain elevator fire caused an evacuation of part of an east-central Kansas town but only one worker suffered smoke inhalation.

Marion County authorities say the fire Thursday at the Cooperative Grain & Supply in Marion did not cause an explosion. But streets around the elevator were evacuated for about three hours.

Marion City Administrator Roger Holter says the fire started when grain dust caught fire in the area where grain trucks unload their cargo.

The Hutchinson News reports a maintenance worker who was in the area dropped to the floor below the fire and was not burned but he was treated for smoke inhalation.

Authorities did not have a damage estimate for the grain elevator.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska senator wants to tweak a law that prohibits voters from taking selfies with their marked election ballots.

Senator Adam Morfeld of Lincoln introduced a bill Thursday that would allow voters to snap photos of their ballots after voting. Current law prohibits voters from showing their marked ballot to others.

Secretary of State John Gale said last year that the law also applies to photographs. Violations are a misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine.

Morfeld says the First Amendment protects ballot selfies and that they encourage excitement about voting.

Morfeld’s bill specifies that selfies are voluntary and no one should coerce a voter to show his or her marked ballot.

The bill is LB787.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group of 32 workers at a Sysco food distributor in Lincoln will split a $1 million Powerball prize.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports the workers have been pooling their money to buy lottery tickets for years.

Chrissa Bonow bought the winning ticket that matched all five white numbers along with 31 other tickets Wednesday.  She says the group always hoped it would win big. Every member of the group will receive about $27,000 after taxes.

No one won Wednesday’s $500 million jackpot, so lottery officials estimate that Saturday’s jackpot will grow to $700 million.

Bonow says her group already bought their tickets for Saturday.