JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republican senators have nominated Majority Leader Ron Richard to be the new Senate president pro tem.

Republican senators met privately Tuesday to select Richard as a successor to former Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey.

The full Missouri Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the pro tem position. Because Republicans control the chamber, Richard is expected to be elected to the leadership post.

Dempsey resigned in August and now works at a St. Louis-based lobbying firm.

Republican senators also Tuesday chose Sen. Mike Kehoe of Jefferson City to replace Richard as majority leader. Sen. Bob Onder of Lake St. Louis was chosen to succeed Kehoe as assistant majority leader.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state of Kansas is selling hundreds of bottles of liquor accumulated by regulators on an online auction.

The selection on the online auction site includes 72 bottles of brandy, 22 jugs of vodka and 13 flasks of rum.

The liquor was collected by the Alcoholic Beverage Control from the owners of newly acquired restaurants who can’t legally sell alcohol that was left behind by the previous business owners.

The bidding isn’t open to anyone looking to stock their liquor cabinets, only holders of state retail or wholesale liquor licenses.

Kansas Department of Revenue spokeswoman Jeannine Koranda says proceeds from the auction will be deposited into the state’s general treasury.

The auction closes Sept. 28.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — An investigation has been opened into the death of an inmate at the Hutchinson jail.

An inmate from the Hutchinson Correctional Facility died Friday at the hospital after allegedly getting into an altercation with another inmate and then becoming combative with officers.

Jail spokesman Dirk Moss says the altercation between the two inmates occurred in the central unit medical clinic. One inmate was then sent to the administrative segregation unit where he became combative with correctional officers before collapsed and becoming unresponsive.

He was taken to the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.

The second inmate was treated for injuries and later taken to the hospital for further treatment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A woman whose two young sons were found inside an underground cave in Kansas City will be released from jail.

Brittany Mugrauer is charged with two counts of felony child endangerment after her 4- and 6-year-old sons were found Friday in the cave, which housed a diesel repair shop. Jackson County authorities say the children were dirty, unsupervised and living in a wooden shipping crate inside the cave.

However, the owner of the repair shop disputes those claims, saying the boys stayed with Mugrauer while she worked there. Sean Dale says the children were well cared for and the crate was a “man cave” made especially for them.

During a brief hearing Tuesday, a judge released Mugrauer on her own recognizance. She had been jailed since the children were found.

BRENTWOOD, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say an ammonia leak at a suburban St. Louis recreation complex sent eight people to hospitals.

Brentwood City Administrator Bola Akande says none of the injuries was life-threatening.

The leak was in a room with a refrigeration system for the complex’s ice rink. Ammonia is used as a refrigerant at many ice rinks.

Authorities say the complex was evacuated after the leak was reported about 11:30 a.m., and the site was declared safe within two hours.

The cause of the leak wasn’t clear.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The dean of the University of Missouri School of Medicine has resigned after less than a year on the job.

The university announced the resignation of Patrice “Patrick” Delafontaine in a newsletter to University Health System employees. Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin did not say why Delafontaine had resigned, effective immediately.

Delafontaine became dean on Dec. 1.

Loftin also announced that James Stannard, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, will be interim dean.

He also said he had accepted a consultant’s recommendation to restore the position of executive vice chancellor for health affairs to improve the system’s structure.

Delafontaine was previously chief of cardiology at Tulane University.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — An audit shows Missouri’s revenue department didn’t pay nearly $20 million owed to closed businesses.

The state audit released Tuesday shows the agency had not returned about $19.4 million in cash bonds as of June 2014.

Businesses must submit a bond or letter of credit to the Department of Revenue before they can collect sales tax.

They can get that money back after two years of properly paying sales taxes or if they close and don’t owe taxes. But Democratic Auditor Nicole Galloway says the Revenue Department only returns the cash bonds when businesses request a refund.

The agency in a response included in the audit said it recently started returning bonds. An automatic refund system is set to take effect next year. An agency spokeswoman didn’t immediately comment further.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — An Ohio teenager in a taxi has been accused of trying to smuggle a baby from Mexico through Texas and to Nebraska.

Anna Crystal Paloma, of Cincinnati, remains in custody after arraignment last week on human smuggling charges.

Prosecutors in McAllen say the 19-year-old Paloma had a 4-month-old girl with her in a cab and crossed the border Aug. 4.

Investigators say Paloma falsely said the child was her niece and she was taking the baby to relatives in Nebraska. A Nebraska birth certificate that Paloma had doesn’t belong to the child.

A mother from Mexico later claimed the baby. Investigators believe the mother meant to enter the U.S. illegally and join her child at an undisclosed Nebraska location.

An attorney for Paloma didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Attorneys for a Nebraska death row inmate say the state’s recent struggle over capital punishment has raised new legal questions that they need to explore, while a state attorney says the prisoner has exhausted all options except for clemency.

Attorneys for John Lotter said Tuesday that new questions surfaced after the Legislature’s vote to abolish capital punishment, the subsequent ballot measure to reinstate it and the governor’s efforts to obtain lethal injection drugs. Lawyers for both sides convened at the federal courthouse in Lincoln.

Lotter was sentenced to death for his role in the 1993 slaying of Teena Brandon, a 21-year-old woman who lived briefly as a man, and two witnesses, Lisa Lambert and Philip DeVine, at a rural Humboldt farmhouse. The crime inspired the 1999 movie “Boys Don’t Cry.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man convicted of killing his girlfriend in 2002 is blaming an antidepressant for his actions and requesting his case be re-examined by a judge.

Randall Robbins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Brittany Eurek and was sentenced to 40 to 60 years in prison.

Robbins claims the antidepressant Zoloft, which was prescribed to him in 2002, played a key role in what was supposed to be a murder-suicide.

Robbins’ attorney says DNA testing conducted this year shows genetics prevents Robbins from metabolizing Zoloft as intended by its manufacturer. His attorney says that can lead to violent outbursts and suicidal behavior, something the federal government warned of in 2007.

Briefs are expected to be submitted soon.