OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union says a Kansas City suburb violated the free speech rights of a man by telling him he would be ticketed or fined if he continued carrying signs reading “Smile God Loves You” and “Junk It All But Jesus.”  The ACLU’s Kansas affiliate notified Olathe Thursday that a city employee told Dustin Strouse he couldn’t stand with the signs on a public sidewalk at an Olathe intersection.

ACLU attorney Doug Bonney says people have the right to carry signs in public places. The ACLU asked the city to make it clear that Strouse’s sign-carrying doesn’t violate city codes.

Olathe  spokeswoman Erin Vader says the city employee misinterpreted a business-related ordinance on using “human billboards.” She says the employee now knows the ordinance doesn’t apply to Strouse.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is calling on the federal government to make amends for what he called one of the “profound mistakes of urban development policy” by selecting a north St. Louis site where a failed public housing project once stood as the new home for a spy agency’s regional headquarters.  Nixon joined St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, U.S. Representative William Lacy Clay and other elected leaders Thursday before a public meeting on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency project.

The site of the former Pruitt-Igoe housing complex is competing with two St. Louis County locations and one near Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois for the defense and intelligence agency project.

The new location will replace the NGA’s current complex near the Anheuser-Busch brewery south of downtown St. Louis.

NORMANDY, Mo. (AP) — Authorities investigating after an 18-year-old exchanged gunfire with police say the St. Louis-area officer never hit him, even as the suspect’s father questioned the local police’s claim that his son killed himself.

Amonderez Green of Florissant died early Thursday, 14 hours after a confrontation with a Normandy officer.

Normandy police say Green and an officer exchanged gunfire but neither was struck. They say Green was suicidal, and ran a short ways before shooting himself. Green’s father called that “a total lie.”

St. Louis County Police, who are investigating, say Green was not shot by the officer but said ballistics testing and an autopsy are pending.

The confrontation was near Ferguson, on edge 14 months after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Green was black. The Normandy officer is white.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s two largest pharmacy benefit providers say they are severing ties with a mail-order pharmacy affiliated with embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals after a review of the pharmacy’s business practices.  The news sent Valeant shares plummeting and raised new questions about the Canadian drugmaker’s arrangements with Philidor RX Services.

A spokesman for CVS Health, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy benefit provider, says the company terminated its business with Philidor because it didn’t comply with terms of a provider agreement.

Separately, a spokesman for industry leader Express Scripts says the company is “in the process” of removing Philidor from its network. Express Scripts also said it is reviewing similar “captive pharmacy” situations, in which a pharmacy gets most of its business from one drugmaker.

CRETE, Neb. (AP) — A 100-year-old statue in a Crete park has been restored after vandals destroyed it nearly two years ago.  The city of Crete rededicated the Goddess of Liberty statue and celebrated its 100th anniversary Tuesday with dozens of residents, city workers, and local and state officials.

An Alabama-based company used original molds for the 20-foot-tall statue and fountain after workers in Crete picked up and stored about 50 shattered cast-iron remnants.

City administrator Tom Ourada says the city paid for the $60,000 project with private donations, the city’s park reserve fund and $40,000 in court-ordered restitution from the vandals.

Mayor Roger Foster says the city has installed a security system with cameras to deter vandalism.

FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) — A 48-year-old man is accused of striking a St. Francois County deputy with a vehicle before leading police on a chase in Jefferson County.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Donald Hornsey was charged Wednesday with assault on a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action. Police say deputy Paul Clark was driving Tuesday morning when he saw several vehicles on a dirt road and stopped to ask the three people near the cars for identification. Police say Hornsey was asked to walk to Clark’s patrol car when he failed to provide identification.

Authorities say Hornsey entered a truck and struck Clark, knocking him down. Hornsey was arrested hours later after a car and foot chase.

Clark was treated at a hospital and released.

Online records don’t list an attorney for Hornsey.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City-area couple whose toddler died when a dresser toppled onto him is one step closer to building a house to display home safety precautions.

Farmers Insurance announced this month that it has donated $100,000 toward the Charlie’s House Safety Demonstration House. Brett and Jenny Horn began the effort after their 2-year-old son died in 2007 while attempting to climb the dresser.

Ground is scheduled to be broken in 2016 in Kansas City on the Safety Demonstration Home. Farmers agent Leah Smith said in a written statement that the nonprofit group’s mission of educating families about safety “resonates” with the company and that it wants to help.

Backers of the project anticipate reaching 2,500 caregivers and families in the home’s first year of being open.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A western Missouri father and son face federal charges accusing them of illegally possessing firearms.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri says 40-year-old William Harlan Parker and his son, 20-year-old Devlin Quanah Parker, both of Wheatland, were charged in separate complaints Wednesday.

The office says Bill Parker is charged with possessing firearms after being convicted of domestic violence, and with possessing an unregistered firearm. Devlin Parker is charged with possessing unregistered firearms.

The complaint says federal investigators found several unmarked weapons and ammunition at the Parkers’ home after an investigation by the Hickory County Sheriff’s Department.

They’re both in custody and are scheduled for a hearing Monday.

Federal public defenders assigned to represent the Parkers could not be reached early Thursday for comment.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The owner of central Missouri stores where synthetic marijuana was sold has pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Federal prosecutors say Charles Sterling Austin Jr. of St. Charles pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a money-laundering conspiracy. As the owner of the store, Puff N Snuff, Austin also pleaded guilty to the same charge on behalf of the company. The store had locations in Camdenton and Eldon.

Prosecutors say Austin admitted buying and selling synthetic marijuana packaged with false labeling intended to convince consumers what they were buying was not illegal.

Under the plea agreement, Austin has to forfeit about $423,000 confiscated by law enforcement from his bank account.

He faces up to 20 years in prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.