VELDA CITY, Mo. (AP) — The St. Louis suburb of Velda City no longer can jail people in lieu of cash bail for municipal infractions under a federal court settlement over the bond system’s treatment of poor people.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the lawsuit resolved Wednesday was filed on behalf of a 26-year-old mother of two who Velda City police arrested April 2 for driving with a suspended license, a headlight violation and related offenses.

Prosecutors asked for $800 to allow Donya Pierce’s release, and she was eventually freed after her attorneys got involved.

The lawsuit challenged the $350 Velda City requires for release on an offense of driving with a suspended license and $150 for most other ordinance violations.

Velda City now must release people on recognizance or an unsecured bond

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has blocked a contentious measure that would have made Missouri the 26th right-to-work state.

Nixon on Thursday vetoed the bill that would have barred workplace contracts that require nonmembers to pay union fees.

Supporters in the state’s Republican-led Legislature passed the measure for the first time this year, saying it would attract business and spur economic growth.

Opponents argue it would weaken unions and lead to lower wages.

Even with a record number of Republicans in the House, it’s unclear whether the measure has enough support for lawmakers to overturn Nixon’s veto. Some Republicans in both chambers split from their party to join Democrats in opposition to the bill.

The measure passed both chambers with fewer than the two-thirds majority needed for an override.

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Archaeologists from across the U.S. are in south-central Kansas this week searching for artifacts that would confirm a five-mile stretch once was home to a Native American tribe of 20,000 people.

KAKE-TV reports volunteers have found small pieces of tools and pottery in a dusty Arkansas City field that are believed to be from a settlement discovered by Spanish explorer Juan De Onate in 1601.

Another group just down the road is using a sensor that detects magnetic fields and has found what it believes to be homes, storage areas and a dancing ground.

A third site a few roads away is believed to be where Spanish explorers battled a Native American tribe.

Local residents hope the findings help the area become one of the country’s major historic sites.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Students who audited a Wichita State University course have received hand-delivered chocolate bars and written apologies after a computer glitch mistakenly informed them they failed.

The Wichita Eagle reports 67 people who audited a class called “Controversies in Kansas History” received letters that said their cumulative GPA was zero and they were placed on financial aid suspension.

Since they were taught as auditors, there was no GPA requirement and no financial aid at stake.

About half of the students are residents at a retirement community called Larksfield Place, where the class was taught. But the class was open to anyone who wanted to take it and others from around the Wichita area took the course.

Reg Hislop with Larksfield said no offense was taken after the school apologized for the mistake.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — The oldest of five juvenile giraffes at a Missouri zoo has died during a routine medical procedure.

The Springfield News-Leader reports the giraffe, named Pammy J, was born in September 2012 and had developed an overgrown hoof due to a previous injury.

Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield says in a news release staff deemed it necessary to trim the hoof. On Wednesday, Pammy J collapsed after a light dose of anesthesia and zoo staffers were unable to revive her.

A necropsy has been performed and blood and tissue samples were sent for analysis to determine whether any underlying medical conditions contributed to the animal’s death.

 

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — The owner of a St. Louis-area laser hair-removal business has been ordered to spend 14 years in prison for sexually assaulting four customers.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports 51-year-old Lawrence Branam of O’Fallon, Missouri insisted he was innocent before being sentenced Wednesday in St. Charles County. That’s where a jury in January found the owner of Cosmetic Laser Center in St. Peters guilty of deviant sexual assault.

Witnesses have testified that Branam used similar methods to assault the women such as making them wear dark goggles so they couldn’t see what was happening.

While seeking a lenient sentence Wednesday, Branam’s attorney called 13 character witnesses who described Branam as a good father and husband, and a professional businessman. Several accused victims of having other motives for coming forward.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A top Missouri higher education official says he’s retiring next year.

Higher Education Commissioner David Russell on Wednesday announced plans to leave the position Jan. 1. Russell replaced former Commissioner Robert Stein upon his retirement in 2010.

The 67-year-old Russell leads the Coordinating Board for Higher Education. Among the board’s responsibilities are evaluating public colleges and universities and administering scholarship programs.

Russell previously worked for the University of Missouri System for nearly two decades, most recently as senior associate vice president and chief of staff.

He previously served 22 years in the Army before retiring in 1991 as a lieutenant colonel.

Russell says it’s been a privilege to serve alongside “dedicated public servants.”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says a bird flu vaccine doesn’t work well enough to approve it for emergency use against the current outbreak that’s shaken the Midwest poultry industry.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement Wednesday that the current vaccine is not well matched against the H5N2 virus and don’t provide enough protection.

It says the vaccine offers just 60 percent effectiveness in chickens, leaving four in 10 birds unprotected, while the vaccine’s effectiveness in turkeys is still being studied.

The USDA says it will continue to support efforts to develop a more effective vaccine.

The agency says bird flu outbreaks have cost chicken and turkey producers more than 45 million birds so far, mostly in Iowa and Minnesota.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) €Kansas legislators have approved a bill to prevent cities and counties from imposing special taxes on firearms or from using zoning ordinances to limit gun sales.

The House passed the measure on a 96-14 vote Tuesday. The Senate approved it on a 35-3 vote Monday, and it goes next to Gov. Sam Brownback for his potential signature.

The measure follows up on a law enacted last year to nullify city and county restrictions on the sale, possession and transportation of firearms.

The 2014 law didn’t specifically address the power of local officials to levy taxes and fees or their power to restrict property use through zoning ordinances.

Gun rights supporters say they’re trying to prevent a confusing jumble of local rules. Critics contend local officials know their communities best.

CLAYCOMO, Mo. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it will shorten its traditional summer shutdown to increase production at its Claycomo plant in suburban Kansas City in order to meet demand for its vehicles.

The company said Claycomo, five other assembly plants, and supporting powertrain and stamping plants will shut down for one week, rather than two weeks, this summer.

The Kansas City Star reports this will be the third consecutive year Ford shortened its summer shutdown.

The company says keeping the plants open an additional week will allow it to produce about 40,000 more trucks, SUVs and other vehicles.

The Claycomo plant is one of two Ford plants that build the aluminum-body F-150 and it produces the Transit van. The Claycomo plant has 7,485 employees.