ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri State Treasurer Eric Schmitt is offering strong criticism of the state budget — of another state.

The first-term Republican on Tuesday spoke at a news conference along the Mississippi River in St. Louis, urging Missouri lawmakers to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen neighboring Illinois.

Illinois is considering a spending plan that would significantly increase taxes due to a severe budget shortfall.

Schmitt said Missouri lawmakers must act now to avoid a similar crisis in the future. He says Missouri has a pension liability that could eventually result in severe cuts of services and higher taxes.

He also said the state must work to protect its AAA credit rating and continue to shrink the size of government.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Federal immigration officials are being sued by the families of two people who authorities say were killed by a Mexican national in the U.S. illegally.

The lawsuit filed in Kansas City, Kansas, alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials negligently allowed Pablo Serrano-Vitorino to stay in the country illegally before he allegedly killed four people in Kansas and one in Missouri last year.

Serrano-Vitorino is jailed on one count of first-degree murder in Missouri. He also faces four counts of first-degree murder in Wyandotte County, Kansas.

The Kansas City Star reports that the lawsuit says Serrano-Vitorino re-entered the U.S. after being deported in 2003. The families claim he was released from Kansas jails in 2014 and 2015 after federal immigration officials didn’t follow procedures and missed chances to detain him.

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say a standoff at a Missouri post office ended when a worker released several hostages unharmed and killed himself.

KYTV reports that a hostage called officers around 1:30 p.m. Sunday to say the armed man was holding the employees inside the post office in Rolla.

Police negotiated with the man to release the hostages and found him dead upon entering the building around 7 p.m. Sunday. The man’s name wasn’t immediately released.

Rolla Police Chief Sean Fagan said the man was a “very good employee” and that officials “don’t know why he did it.” He said that the man has “never been in any kind of trouble” and that family members are being interviewed.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is assisting police with the investigation.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two people died when a stolen pickup truck crashed in Kansas City, Kansas, and a survivor then fled after stealing a vehicle from a good Samaritan.

The Kansas City Star reports that at least five people were inside the truck when it crashed into a tree shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday.

Police said that when a motorist stopped to help, a surviving passenger in the pickup stole the woman’s vehicle. The thief remains at large, although the woman’s vehicle has since been recovered.

Two other people in the stolen pickup were taken to a hospital with critical injuries. The names of the people killed weren’t immediately released.

The wreck remains under investigation.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California authorities have revealed the name of a dead man they misidentified and who was buried by the wrong family. It’s a U.S. Army vet whose family in Kansas hadn’t talked to him in 30 years.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Friday the man found dead with an enlarged heart behind a Verizon store on May 1 was 54-year-old John Dickens.

They had originally misidentified him as Frank Kerrigan, and Kerrigan’s family held a funeral and buried him. Then, 11 days later, Kerrigan showed up alive.

Dickens’ sister, Diane Keaton, tells the Orange County Register the family hadn’t spoken to Dickens in decades and feared he might be dead.

Now Dickens’ remains, which were identified using fingerprints, will be exhumed, cremated, and flown back to family members in Kansas.

VERSAILLES, Mo. (AP) — A 25-year-old Kansas man has drowned while fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the family of Connor Mohr, of Overland Park, Kansas, reported him missing Saturday morning after he was fishing at a dock and didn’t return.

Mohr was found in the water near the dock after a brief search.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy have announced a revamped plan to merge after Kansas regulators scuttled an earlier deal.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Some Kansas pools and water parks are closing their water slides after a new state law tightened regulations on amusement park rides.

The law, which took effect July 1, was passed after a state lawmaker’s son died last summer on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Kansas City Star reports the law defines a water slide as an amusement ride if it is at least 15 feet tall and uses water to propel someone through the ride.

Erik Sartorius, head of the League of Kansas Municipalities, says the law isn’t clear whether the water on some slides propels people forward.

Water slides have closed in Chanute and the Roeland Park Aquatic Center. The Lindsborg water slide was closed but has reopened.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missourians are buying new boats in record numbers, fueling a rebound from a decline in 2009 and 2010.

The National Marine Manufacturers Association says new boat sales hit $339 million last year, after dropping below $200 million after the Great Recession. That’s a 9 percent increase in Missouri sales in one year and represents 5,900 new boats in the state, The Springfield News-Leader reported. The state now ranks 16th in the nation for the sale of new boats.

Thom Dammrich, president of the marine association, said the sale of new boats, marine products and services is up across the U.S. Those sales reached $36 billion nationwide in 2016, an increase of 3.2 percent from 2015. About 247,800 new powerboats were sold last year, up 6 percent from 2015.

Ed Thomas is typical of many new boat buyers. He has a second home on Table Rock Lake and has purchased progressively bigger boats in Springfield as his two children have grown. On Memorial Day, Thomas picked up his newest and biggest boat — a sleek 25-foot, $16,000 Malibu inboard that’s specifically designed for wakeboarding and wake surfing — at The Ski Shack.

“As our kids got older and bigger they wanted to do more,” Thomas said. “We’ve worked hard to create an environment where our kids want to be with us.”

A 16 percent increase in new sailboats last year was driven by a 23.4 percent increase in the “20 ft. or less” category. Used boats also sailed off lots and dealer slips last year, with 981,600 used boats valued at $9.2 billion, an increase of 2 percent from the year before.

“We think this trend is going to continue through 2018 and into 2019,” Dammrich said. “The economy is gaining strength. Consumer confidence is 13 percent higher than it has been in recent years. New home sales are going up. All of these things correlate highly with new-boat sales.”

Hot sales also are growing for special-purpose boats designed for wakeboarding and wake surfing, as well as aluminum-hulled pontoon boats, he said.

Although the recession began in December 2007, boat sales hit the lowest point in 2009 and 2010. Ski Shack owner Greg Mustain said people had a “fear factor” caused by economic uncertainty and held off buying new boats during 2009-2010.

“It was almost impossible to sell a new boat back then,” he said. “But consumer confidence changed and the economic outlook is rosier than it was even a year ago.”

Optimism also reigns at the MarineMax dealership at Indian Point. General Manager Terry Perciful said he doesn’t expect to have trouble selling a luxury 40-foot yacht, noting that people at Table Rock are looking for comfort in their boats.

“People will keep their boat for two or three years, then move up to something bigger,” he said.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new system will soon alert Missourians when a law enforcement officer is killed or injured.

Gov. Eric Greitens on Friday signed a bill creating the “Blue Alert” system. Similar to Amber Alerts, the system would notify the public when someone who injured or killed a law enforcement officer is on the run.

The alert system was part of several crime-related changes to state law approved by the Legislature in May. The law also increases penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers.

Another part of the law creates a crime of illegal re-entry. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports if a person is deported from the U.S. for committing a crime and returns to the country and commits a felony, they would also be guilty of illegal re-entry in Missouri.