KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s governor has declared a state of emergency because of widespread flooding that has led to at least eight fatalities.

Governor Jay Nixon’s office said in a release Sunday that weekend flooding has led to eight deaths, dozens of water rescues and evacuations. More flooding is expected while river levels continue rising around the state.

Several roadways have also been closed because of flooding, including a section of Interstate 70 outside St. Louis.

Nixon says the state’s emergency plan has been activated, allowing state agencies to coordinate with local authorities to provide emergency services.

In Pulaski County, authorities said six people died after vehicles they were in were swept away by floodwaters. Greene County authorities also said two fatalities there were associated with the recent flooding.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Investigators have reopened the Kansas case of a 1999 shooting death for which a man served more than 15 years before his brother confessed in suicide notes that he was the killer.

Kirk Vernon is the chief detective in northeast Kansas’ Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. He says that while Tom Bledsoe’s November suicide notes helped free Floyd Bledsoe from prison on December 8th, authorities are “open to all possibilities that (Tom) may have had assistance” in 14-year-old Camille Arfmann’s death or in hiding her body.

Vernon says there’s no reason to believe Floyd Bledsoe is involved. And he says the inquiry won’t target the county’s former elected prosecutor and sheriff over their original handling of the case.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama urged states and cities to join him in expanding benefits to new mothers and fathers when he signed an executive order this year directing agencies to allow federal workers to take six weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn.

Progress has been slow — but momentum is building.

Last week, New York City became one of a handful of cities to move to grant six weeks of paid leave. Others that already have include Pittsburgh and Austin, Texas.

Other cities have adopted smaller measures, while some private companies have created generous, multi-month packages.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was no contest: “Star Wars” is the top choice as top entertainer of 2015.

The storied sci-fi franchise has been chosen The Associated Press Entertainer of the Year. Not only did it dominate the box office upon its release — the buzz about the movie made its way into the fabric of the entertainment world this year.

The first trailer overshadowed the NFL game on which it was shown — and drew millions of non-gridiron fans to the broadcast. And when box office numbers lagged during the year, Hollywood insiders pointed to the Star Wars release as evidence things would turn around.

Others up for votes this year included Adele, Taylor Swift, Amy Schumer, Jon Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis and the Kardashians.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Charges have been filed against a former Springfield water treatment plant manager accused of using city money to buy more than $17,000 worth of herbicide for his personal use.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Kelly Green was charged Wednesday in Greene County court with one count of felony stealing.

He’s accused of billing the city for herbicides that he used on his own farm in southwest Missouri. Officials estimate he bought more than $17,000 worth of herbicides with city money.

Online court records don’t list a lawyer for Green, who resigned in October 2014.

The city said in a release that it’s taken steps to prevent future misuse of city resources.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A 43-year-old Chicago man has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for kidnapping a female Southeast Missouri State University student.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a federal judge in St. Louis sentenced Jeffery M. Lazier on Monday.

Lazier previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of kidnapping and admitted abducting the 22-year-old at knifepoint in May as she sat in her vehicle in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Authorities say the woman was held for more than six hours as Lazier drove into Illinois, repeatedly assaulting her and forcing her to try and get money from banks.

The woman jumped from the car at an off-ramp on Interstate 57 near Effingham, Illinois, and ran for help.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a former mayor of Kansas City, has announced that he will seek a hearing and a congressional investigation into a federal compensation program for employees who became ill after working in nuclear weapons plants.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program was established in 2001.

The Kansas City Star reports that Cleaver and other members of Congress say the program should get a closer look after an investigation by news organization McClatchy found that fewer than half of the people who have applied have received any money.

McClatchy reported last week that 107,394 current and former nuclear workers have sought compensation for cancer and various other illnesses.

Cleaver sent a letter to the House Committee on Government Reform Tuesday requesting the investigation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House committee that handles legislation on social issues will continue to be led by a vocal opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage.

Speaker Ray Merrick announced Wednesday that Republican Representative Jan Pauls of Hutchinson will be the new chairwoman of the Federal and State Affairs Committee.

She’ll replace Republican Representative Steve Brunk of Wichita. He is leaving the Legislature next month to become Kansas executive director of an affiliate of the conservative group Focus on the Family.

Pauls is an attorney who has served in the Legislature since 1991. She was a Democrat but switched parties in 2014, two years after gay-rights advocates targeted her in the Democratic primary and she barely won.

She’s opposed same-sex marriage and extending anti-discrimination protections in state law to gays and lesbians.

BEND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI says a 28-year-old man faces federal and state charges after he robbed a credit union in Bend, then went on a shopping spree that included buying a Christmas tree he later used to try and hide from police.

The Oregonian reports that the FBI says Brett Gillispie-Comstock went into a Selco Community Credit Union twice on Dec. 16 before he walked to a teller, told her he was ready to open an account and handed her a note demanding $5,000.

He left with $1,373 in an envelope. The newspaper reports that Bend police officers found Gillispie-Comstock nearby about 40 minutes after the robbery and arrested him.

Authorities say Gillespie-Comstock told investigators that he and his mother had lost $400 gambling and that they needed money for rent, Christmas presents and a Christmas tree.

The Oregonian reports that authorities say he used some of the money to buy a Christmas tree. The FBI says he had been trying to use the tree to hide his face when police stopped him.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A former magistrate judge in Kansas faces federal charges accusing him of defrauding a judge’s association out of about $24,000.

The Joplin Globe reports former Magistrate Judge Bill Lyerla was indicted last month on wire fraud charges. The indictment was unsealed in early December when Lyerla pleaded innocent and was released on $5,000 bond.

Online court records don’t list a lawyer for Lyerla, who’s accused of defrauding the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association out of $24,000. Lyerla resigned after he was suspended in 2014 from the 11th Judicial District, which serves Cherokee, Labette and Crawford counties.

The website of the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association also lists Lyerla as a former treasurer for the association.

A message left at a phone listing under Lyerla’s name wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday.