MEXICO, Mo. (AP) — Operations have been shut down at a central Missouri plant that makes materials used in fracking.

The Mexico Ledger reports the Shamrock Proppant plant in Mexico shut down indefinitely Thursday in the wake of the recent downturn in oil prices and a pullback in fracking operations.

Proppants are a treated sand or ceramic gravel mixture used in the fracking industry to open cracks in deep-rock formations to help release oil.

The Energy Information Administration says U.S. oil production decreased by 120,000 barrels per day in September from August.

Frank O’Brien Jr., Shamrock’s president, says he hopes to bring the plant back up as soon as the industry begins faring better.

He says six of Shamrock’s 25 employees are staying at the plant to ensure it’s shut down properly.

TROY, Mo. (AP) — A man accused of abusing his 3-month-old son has been charged in Lincoln County.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 25-year-old Steven Kyle Schnell was charged with child abuse Thursday. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office later announced that 3-month-old Sawyer Schnell had died shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday.

According to authorities, officers responded to the suspect’s home in the Moscow Mills area Wednesday. Police say the child’s mother took the boy to the hospital after noticing something was wrong with him.

Police say the child had several injuries that included bleeding of the brain and detached retinas.

Schnell is being held in jail in lieu of $500,000 cash-only bail. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a shooting during a road rage incident.

The Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic reports that James Dorris of Bunker was convicted in August of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He was sentenced Tuesday in Butler County.

Poplar Bluff police were called on April 28, 2013. Kole Bond told police that he was driving when Dorris’ pickup truck cut in front of him, forcing Bond’s vehicle to stop. Authorities say Dorris pulled out a handgun and fired two shots at Bond’s vehicle, striking the tailgate. No one was hurt.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Police say the shooting at Northern Arizona University that killed one student and wounded three others early this morning began as a fight between two groups.

The University police chief identifies the suspect as 18-year-old Steven Jones. He is believed to be a freshman at the Flagstaff school.

The shooting happened at 1:20 a.m. local time in a parking lot outside a dorm that’s home to many of the campus’ sororities and fraternities.

The university calls the shooting an “isolated and unprecedented” incident and said classes will go on as planned Friday. While the campus is not on lockdown, school president Rita Cheng says: “This is not going to be a normal day at NAU.”

The three wounded have been taken to Flagstaff Medical Center, but the hospital is no releasing information on their conditions.

The 4-year public university has more than 25,000 total undergraduates.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state of Kansas will issue birth certificates to two same-sex couples but will continue to study similar requests on a case-by-case basis.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says the birth certificates in the two cases will list both members of the same-sex couples as parents of their children.

The two couples were part of pending lawsuits in state and federal court. They argued the state’s refusal to issue the birth certificates violated a recent Supreme Court ruling that states must recognize same-sex marriages.

Department spokeswoman Sara Belfry told the Lawrence Journal-World the department decided to issue the birth certificates in the two cases after reviewing applicable law and existing court orders.

But she says the state’s general policy has not changed.

ALLEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in a small community in northeast Nebraska say two people have been injured following a small chemical explosion at a restaurant.

Allen Fire Chief Rod Strivens tells the Sioux City Journal that a man and a woman sustained injuries in a blast that was reported around 5 p.m. Thursday at a restaurant that was closed at the time.

Strivens says the man and woman were using cleaning supplies in a bathroom at the facility when a minor fire quickly ignited. The fire, which caused minimal damage to the building, was quickly extinguished.

A statement from the Dixon County Sheriff’s Office says EMS crews transported two victims with burns to a hospital. The extent of their injuries wasn’t immediately clear, and they were not identified.

MILFORD, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man is biking his way over the route the Ponca people were forced to march from Nebraska to Oklahoma in 1877.

David Fikar tells the Lincoln Journal Star that the trip has been hard, but nothing as difficult as the tornadoes and floods that faced the Ponca 138 years ago.

Fikar, a retired registered nurse, began his journey September 7th in Niobrara. Except for a weeklong break, he has been riding his mountain bike south ever since. He had made it as far as Milford by Wednesday and planned to head to Beatrice before taking the winter off and resuming the ride in the spring.

Fikar says a Chief Standing Bear medallion given to him in 2009 sparked his interest in the trip.  Find out more about the effort to get a special designation for the Chief Standing Bear Trial, click the image above.

 

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Hall County officials voted unanimously Wednesday to advance regulations that would expand opportunities for adult-oriented businesses in the county.

New regulations moved forward Wednesday expand zoning for such businesses from 300 acres to nearly 9,000 acres.

Proposed changes also specify that alcohol isn’t allowed at adult-oriented businesses, and that they must be 1,000 feet from houses, churches, schools, parks and recreational facilities.

The Grand Island Independent reports changes passed by the county’s regional planning commission will be considered by the county board at an October 20th meeting.

The proposal comes amid a pending federal lawsuit against the county by a Lincoln businessman who wants to open a strip club. The lawsuit claims county zoning is too restrictive in how much space is set aside for adult entertainment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has filed a civil lawsuit accusing an officer of battery over a parking violation.

The Kansas City Star reports Damian Words alleges in the lawsuit filed last month in Jackson County that Officer Dale Secor violated department policies May 31, 2014, when he used a stun gun after Words refused to comply with the officer’s demands.

Police say Words objected to the officer opening the door to his unoccupied car, became aggressive and refused to show his identification.

Words’ lawyer, Arthur Benson, says according to department rules the officer should have de-escalated the situation instead of using the stun gun.

The officer is represented by the Missouri attorney general’s office, which declined comment because the lawsuit is pending.

Words is seeking unspecified damages.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Backers of medical marijuana are taking steps to put proposals that would allow the drug’s medical use to a statewide vote in Missouri.

The group New Approach Missouri filed petitions Thursday to amend the state constitution to allow doctors to recommend the drug to patients with certain illnesses.

Medical conditions that would qualify include cancer, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder. But the initiatives would give physicians the option to recommend pot to patients with any other chronic, debilitating condition if they deem it necessary.

Use of marijuana in public or while driving still would be barred under the proposed amendments.

The petitions must first be approved by the secretary of state. Supporters then need to gather enough signatures for the measures to be put on the ballot in 2016.