The Dent County Sheriff’s Office says Billy Smith last seen early Monday at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, driving a 2009 black Chevy Cobalt with Missouri license plate KL5-M9L.
The sheriff’s office describes Billy Smith as 5-foot, 10-inch, weighing 315 pounds with blue eyes, very short hair and a goatee.
The Congressman’s office in Cape Girardeau declined comment Tuesday.
Democratic Sen. Paul LeVota, of Independence, fired his chief of staff, Ron Berry, on July 24 shortly before LeVota announced his own resignation.
Berry’s dismissal was immediate. But LeVota’s resignation didn’t take effect until this past Sunday.
Now the Senate has re-hired Berry as chief of staff for LeVota’s vacant 11th Senatorial District. Tuesday marked Berry’s first full day.
LeVota has denied making unwanted sexual advances toward interns. But a report from a University of Central Missouri investigation backed up an intern’s assertion that LeVota had sexually pressured her.
LeVota had sent Berry a message saying he was fired for failing to promptly report harassment allegations against LeVota.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A group that wants to reinstate Nebraska’s death penalty through a ballot measure will submit its signatures to the secretary of state’s office a day early.
Nebraskans for the Death Penalty will announce the number of signatures collected on Wednesday, a day before its submission deadline. The secretary of state’s office will then send the boxes to counties, which have 40 days to verify all of the signatures.
The petition drive began after Nebraska lawmakers voted in May to abolish the death penalty, overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts’ veto.
Nebraskans for the Death Penalty will release its signature count at 3 p.m. at the Capitol. Spokesman Chris Peterson says volunteers and paid circulators have collected signatures from all 93 counties.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eight people across the U.S. who registered to use Ashley Madison are suing the cheating website after hackers released personal and detailed information on them and millions of other users, including credit card numbers and sexual preferences.
The lawsuits were filed between last month and Monday by Ashley Madison users in California, Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee and Minnesota. They all seek class-action status to represent the estimated 37 million registered Ashley Madison users.
The lawsuits, which seek unspecified damages, claim negligence, breach of contract and privacy violations. They claim Ashley Madison failed to take reasonable steps to protect the security of its users, including those who paid a special fee to have their information deleted.
Ashley Madison is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a group that hacked the site.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A white supremacist charged with killing three people at Jewish sites in suburban Kansas City has asked a judge to postpone his murder trial after prosecutors finish presenting their case because evidence he wants mailed to him hasn’t arrived.
Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., who is representing himself, told a Johnson County judge Tuesday the prosecution’s case is progressing faster than anticipated and it wouldn’t be fair if he doesn’t have the evidence to present in his defense. He didn’t give details about it.
Miller has asked few questions of prosecution witnesses, which has also moved things along.
Prosecutors say Miller killed 69-year-old William Corporon and Corporon’s 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, outside a Jewish community center before shooting 53-year-old Terri LaManno outside a nearby Jewish retirement home in April 2014.
GAINESVILLE, Mo. (AP) — The Ozark County sheriff says no charges will be filed against a man who took unused national cemetery gravestones that were in a landfill to pave his patio.
The stones have been removed and will be buried in a Tuesday ceremony, which will include a veterans’ honor guard and local Cub Scouts.
Reed says the stones were taken to the landfill, because of spelling errors or other blemishes. He sought no charges against the man, because the company which cut the stones never billed the federal government for the defective ones.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Reed adds the man didn’t realize the significance of his actions.
A Navy veteran says he and other local veterans planned to meet with the man to help him replace the patio.
DETROIT (AP) — Americans are less happy with their cars and trucks than at any time in more than a decade, mainly because they’re sick of recalls.
That’s the main finding from the 2015 American Consumer Satisfaction Index, an annual survey of nearly 4,300 people. The survey found that satisfaction with cars and trucks dropped for the third straight year to the lowest level since 2004.
Last year automakers recalled a record 64 million vehicles for problems such as exploding air bags and ignition switches that can unexpectedly cause engines to stall. Rising prices also contributed to the frustration. Edmunds.com says car prices are up 11 percent since 2010 and hit a record $32,932 in July.
The index’s automobile satisfaction score this year dropped nearly 4 percent to 79 out of 100.
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Dodge City man has been found not guilty in the death of a 3-year-old girl.
After 10 days of testimony, a Ford County jury on Monday found Brock Cunningham not guilty of child abuse and first-degree murder. He was charged in 2013 in the death of Natalie Pickle, who died in 2008 while in Cunningham’s care. At the time, Cunningham was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.
The Dodge City Daily Globe reports Cunningham said the girl was jumping on a bed and hit her head when she fell off. She was flown to a Wichita hospital, where she died.
An autopsy found the girl died of blunt force trauma and her death was classified as a homicide.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis’ sprawling Forest Park will soon have definitive entryways.
The civic group Forest Park Forever on Monday announced plans to build entryway pillars at eight places. Permanent stones will be in place next year. The total cost has not been released, but the first site alone will cost $300,000.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the new plan for entrances is a sharp contrast from one that was turned away a decade ago, when discussions centered around building six towering gates at a cost of up to $1 million each.
The new designs are far more understated, with at least two columns at each entry, some joined by a short wall inscribed with the park’s name.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri man who has portrayed Santa Claus at events has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of abusing a child.
Online court records show 55-year-old Jeffrey B. Moffat of Jackson pleaded not guilty to statutory sodomy involving a person under the age of 14.
The Southeast Missourian reports his next court appearance will be for a motion hearing Oct. 16.
Moffat has portrayed Santa Claus for the Iron Mountain Railway in Jackson.
