SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Police in southwestern Missouri say a man from Lebanon is dead after being shot outside a convenience store. Springfield Police say 25-year-old Brendan Riggs died at a hospital early Sunday, shortly after the shooting.
Police say they took someone into custody for questioning but later released that person hours later after consulting with Greene County prosecutors, pending further investigation.
No charges had been filed as of early afternoon Sunday.
CAMPBELL, Mo. (AP) — A man has drowned after fleeing from officers in the flooded Missouri Bootheel region.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the body of 40-year-old Rickey G. Lerma, of Risco, was found Thursday morning in the St. Francis River after he fled from officers.
An officer had approached Lerma after Campbell police were contacted about a suspicious person parked in a driveway. Lerma fled after the officer asked him to step out of his vehicle.
Police say Lerma bailed out of his vehicle when it stalled while he attempted to cross a flood zone. A police dog later found him swimming along the flooded river, but Lerma refused orders to return to land.
Police says he had felony warrants in Dunklin County and surrounding counties.
WAYNE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a pilot has been found dead at the scene of a plane crash in northeast Nebraska.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says the wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 172 was found around 1:30 a.m. Monday in rural Wayne County.
The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene. His name hasn’t been released, pending notification of relatives.
The Sheriff’s Office says the plane was reported overdue Sunday and had gone off radar. It had been diverted to the Wayne County airport from its destination of Sioux City, Iowa, because of bad weather.
Tom Becker manages the Wayne County facility, and he says Columbia, Missouri, was the last known stop for the aircraft.
Federal authorities will be investigating.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A chunk of ice falling off a semitrailer truck on Interstate 80 caused a crash that injured three people and disrupted one girl’s trip to college.
The crash happened Saturday afternoon on I-80 near North Platte.
The chunk of ice penetrated the windshield of a 2003 Honda Odyssey and struck the driver and front passenger. Then the van veered into the median and rolled several times.
The driver, 18-year-old Kimberly Mangum of Grovetown, Georgia was flown to a Denver, Colorado hospital with serious facial injuries.
Mangum’s 42-year-old father and 16-year-old brother were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released.
Nebraska State Trooper Ryan Hayes says the accident would have been worse if all three people in the van hadn’t been wearing seatbelts.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say farmers and ranchers in south-central and southeastern Nebraska have until Jan. 15 to apply for funding to improve grassland bird habitats.
A multiagency partnership has formed the Grassland Bird Initiative, which provides funding in 15 counties. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will provide financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to improve habitat for grassland birds such as bobwhite quail and greater prairie-chicken.
Cost sharing of up to 75 percent is available to begin such practices as resting rangeland and conducting special burns, to buy fencing materials and to set up watering facilities for livestock.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — The National Weather Service says its preliminary data shows Kansas had 124 confirmed tornadoes in 2015 — 83 more than in 2014. The number of tornadoes last year tied for the fourth highest number since 1990.
Eric Metzger, a meteorologist in Wichita, Kansas says moisture from a strong El Nino was a possible factor in 2015’s higher number of tornadoes.
Metzger said that while 124 tornadoes are above normal, Kansas experiences between 70 and 110 tornadoes every year.
The 2015 preliminary data is subject to changes, and official statistics will be released in six or eight months.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Surveillance cameras set up in Kansas City, Missouri, to catch illegal dumping also led to the rescue of a dumped dog.
Kansas City codes officer Alan Ashurst was reviewing footage when he noticed a dog being shoved out of a car and the driver pulling away. He contacted Kansas City’s animal health and public safety office. Special investigator Eron Dawkins then also began reviewing the photos.
They went back to the dump site and found the dog and brought him to a shelter, from which a Kansas City couple since has adopted him.
And thanks to cameras, investigators also cited the owner of the car for four violations, each carrying a maximum fine of $500.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 27-year-old Kansas City man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing another man during an attempted robbery.
Jackson County prosecutors say Willie J. Gibson Jr. was sentenced Wednesday.
He was found guilty last month of second-degree murder, attempted robbery and armed criminal action in the death of 29-year-old James Jackson.
Jackson was shot when Gibson and two other men tried to rob him.
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Kansas state officials are considering stiffer penalties for water violations.
The Hutchinson News reports that the higher penalties are among four proposed changes that state water officials plan to present to Gov. Sam Brownback’s office by Feb. 1.
The plan is the result of 500 meetings and 15,000 comments over the past couple of years. They’re all part of Brownback’s effort to develop ideas to preserve and extend the state’s water resources.
The plan proposes fines for failing to provide water use information, unauthorized diversions, failure to install a flowmeter, tampering with a meter and falsifying a water use report.
A Shawnee County District Court also ordered Phoenix-based American Handicapped and Disabled Workers to stop collecting payments from Kansas customers. The company’s owner is Adli Najib Dasuqi of Waterford, Michigan.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said in a news release Wednesday the company’s telemarketers sold household items such as light bulbs and trash bags. The products were priced above market value but the telemarketers misled consumers into believing that the company was a charity or had a charitable purpose.
Kansas residents seeking reimbursement from the company should contact the Consumer Protection Division at (800) 432-2310, or visit its website at InYourCornerKansas.org.
