CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Authorities in far southeastern Missouri are investigating whether a stray bullet wounded an 11-year-old girl who was shot in the neck while traveling with her family on Interstate 55.

The girl from Kirksville was treated at a hospital after the shooting Saturday evening and was released Sunday morning.

Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell says the vacationing family was southbound when they say the driver’s side window suddenly blew out.

Greenwell says deputies have been contacted by a person who was shooting his pistol about the time the girl was shot, perhaps making the bullet a stray one and the shooting accidental.

The family resumed its trip after the girl was released from the hospital.

There was no immediate word about any arrests.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Bass Pro Shops has laid off “fewer than 60” employees at its corporate headquarters in Springfield and at a woodworking shop in Nixa.

Paul Shore, Bass Pro Shops vice president of human resources, said Friday the company also laid off an average of six employees at most of its retail stores across the country.

Shore said the layoffs were part of the company’s effort to be more efficient. He noted the business still employs about 5,800 people in southwest Missouri and has added 2,300 jobs in the Ozarks in the last three years. The company has more than 22,000 employees across the country and still plans to open eight new stores this year.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the laid-off employees will be offered a severance package and continued benefits.

GRANDVIEW, Mo. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City man is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 75-year-old father.

Jackson County prosecutors announced Sunday that 44-year-old Kyle Webb of Grandview was charged after his father, Franklin Webb, died Saturday night. A probable cause statement says Kyle Webb was arguing with his dad over cleaning a leaky pipe when the older man fell.

Webb said he laid on top of his father’s head in an effort to restrain him and stayed that way until the older man lost consciousness.

It was not clear Sunday whether Kyle Webb had an attorney.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have searched a large southwest Missouri home after women claimed they were sexually assaulted and drugged there.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office searched the 200,000 square-foot home in Bois D’Arc last week after the assault allegations were raised.

No one has been charged in connection with the search at the home.

The Springfield News-Leader reports authorities collected pills, white powder, bedding, condoms and other items.

Documents show the address is owned by James Bonis, who pleaded guilty in April to federal charges accusing him of importing rifle scopes from China, changing the engravings and selling them with labels that claimed they were made in the U.S.

Bonis’ lawyer, Nancy Price, says Bonis denies any wrongdoing.

SALEM, Missouri (AP) — A former backwoods music venue in southeast Missouri whose past owner was jailed after a 2010 raid is being turned into a state park.

Plans for the 330-acre park in Shannon County include a 20-room lodge, a restaurant and store, cabins, campsites and other amenities.

The Southeast Missourian reports the land’s former owner, Jimmy Tebeau, hosted concerts and campouts several times a year at the park, called Camp Zoe, between 2004 and 2010. After the raid in 2010, Tebeau was jailed for maintaining drug-involved premises. He was released in May 2014.

The Missouri State Parks bought the land for $640,000 at a federal auction in 2013. The new park will include another 160 acres bought separately by the state for $455,000.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri officials will appeal a loss of accreditation for the school’s master’s program in library science.

The American Library Association withdrew accreditation for the program earlier this month.

The university has until August 6th to file documents needed to appeal the decision. Laura Dare, an ALA official, declined to discuss the decision while the appeal process is underway.

Dare says even if the appeal is denied, currents students graduating through 2017 will get degrees with accredited status.

About 160 students are currently in the program, the only accredited library science master’s curriculum in the state.

Dare says after the appeal is considered, the earliest date the decision could be reversed is at a Committee on Accreditation meeting November 20th or January 10th.

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — Officials are looking for one or two people who abandoned several animals at a Salina motel.

Salina animal control officers went to a Traveler’s Lodge Thursday after receiving an odor complaint. They found emaciated, dehydrated cats, snakes, turtles and rats. Some of the animals were feeding on other animals that had died.

Vanessa Cowie, animal services manager at the Salina Animal Shelter, says it appears the animals had been abandoned for at least two weeks. The Salina Journal reports shelter workers saved at least 10 animals. Some reptiles could be released into the wild the other animals will eventually be put up for adoption.

Salina police Capt. Mike Sweeney said police are seeking one or two people who are believed to have stayed at the motel.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City officials have approved a financing deal for building a new downtown convention center hotel.

The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved the financing deal to build an 800-room Hyatt Hotel just east of the Bartle Hall Grand Ballroom.

The Kansas City Star reports the $311-million project requires a public subsidy along with private investment, but doesn’t use general taxpayer dollars nor require the city to guarantee the debt.

If the financing is completed by the end of 2015, construction could begin in the first quarter of 2016, with the hotel expected to open in mid-2018.

Critics contend it’s expensive, won’t attract many more conventions, and will struggle to meet revenue projections, as has happened with convention hotels in St. Louis and even Overland Park, Kansas.

BRENHAM, Texas (AP) — Blue Bell Creameries has started ice cream production trial runs in Alabama three months after a listeria scare halted all sales.

The Texas-based company said it’s evaluating enhanced production processes at its plant in Sylacauga, Alabama.

Blue Bell earlier this month notified health officials of its plans for test production, which began Wednesday.

Company officials in a statement Friday said production facilities in three states have undergone changes that include replacing floors and ceilings, and modifying HVAC systems.

Blue Bell has not said when sales will resume.

Company products were linked to 10 listeria illnesses in four states, including three deaths in Kansas, before a recall April 20.

Listeria is a bacterium that can cause serious illness, especially in older adults, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s top Senate leader says state Senator Paul LeVota has submitted his resignation following allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward interns.

Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said he received a resignation letter from the 47-year-old Democrat from Independence on Friday. Dempsey says the resignation is effective August 23rd.

That follows the release Wednesday of an internal Senate investigation into a sexual harassment claim against LeVota by an intern this year.

A second intern then came forward claiming LeVota invited her to his apartment and sent her inappropriate texts in 2010.

LeVota has denied the claims and previously had said he had no plans to resign.

Missouri’s two top Democrats, Governor Jay Nixon and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, said Thursday that the allegations called into question LeVota’s ability to serve.