JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A measure supporters say would allow families dealing with difficult situations to remain together without government interference is moving forward in the Missouri Legislature.

The Missouri House on Monday approved a bill that would let parents assign care of their children to others without the state considering it abandonment or neglect.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andrew Koenig, of Manchester, says foster care forces parents to fight with the system. He says the bill would let parents get help without fearing losing custody of their children.

Opponents say the measure does not contain any oversight of the organization or individuals who would be caring for children, such as background checks or training.

The bill heads to the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the bird flu virus has been found at a farm holding nearly 10 percent of Iowa’s egg-laying chickens.

The confirmation of the highly infectious and deadly H5N2 virus means up to 5.3 million hens must be destroyed at the farm in northwest Iowa’s Osceola County.

 

Iowa is home to roughly 59 million hens that lay nearly one in every five eggs consumed in the country.

It’s the first chicken farm in Iowa to be affected by the virus, which was confirmed at a turkey farm in the state last week.

Several Midwestern states have been affected by the outbreaks, costing poultry producers nearly 7.8 million birds since March.

The latest farm experienced a high number of chicken deaths and sent samples to labs.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback has vetoed a bill that would have increased regulations on ride-hailing companies like Uber.

Brownback announced his decision in a statement Monday, saying the bill was “premature” and might stifle growth.

The bill would require ride-hailing companies to provide proof of insurance and undergo state background checks.

Uber connects drivers to riders through a mobile app and lobbied fiercely against the bill, saying its passage would have forced the company to leave the state.

The bill passed with large majorities in both chambers and Republican Rep. Scott Schwab from Olathe said the Legislature would attempt to override the governor’s veto. This would require 84 votes in the 125-seat House and 27 votes in the 40-seat Senate.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A medical marijuana advocate has lost custody of her 11-year-old son at least temporarily and could face possible charges following comments the boy made during a drug education program at his Kansas school.

Garden City Police said the case of 37-year-old Shona Banda was forwarded Monday to prosecutors for a decision about any charges. Police said in a statement that possible charges include possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and child endangerment. No arrests have been made.

Police were called to the boy’s school on March 24. A search of the house found marijuana and other drug-related items.

The divorced Garden City mother says she did not regain custody of her son after a hearing Monday. She says she is not giving up.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Abuse and neglect is the main reason the state of Kansas is removing children from homes, which is a change from the past.

Statistics from the Department of Children and Families show during the current fiscal year, children were taken from homes 59 percent of the time because of abuse and neglect. Other issues, such as a child’s behavior problems or a parent being in prison, accounted for the other 41 percent of the removals.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports in past years, non-abuse causes were the primary reason children were removed from homes.

DCF Secretary Phyllis Gilmore says the agency is focusing on keeping families together if no actual safety issue, such as specific abuse, is present in the home.

Wentzville, Mo. (AP) — Documents show a Wentzville processing facility for Affordable Care Act applications logged more than 13,000 hours of overtime to make up for a computer backlog after the initial sign-up period.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports documents show workers at the facility run by Serco Inc. logged the hours from May 1 through Aug. 15 last year.

The contractor runs the facility for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Agency spokesman Aaron Albright says the cost of that overtime was covered under the contractor’s original contract, and did not cost taxpayers any extra money. Albright said last year the same computer issues that hampered applicants trying to sign up for health care also delayed processing work.

The Wentzville facility was created to process paper applications and to help resolve any differences in documents for people who sought coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

TROY, Mo. (AP) — An eastern Missouri man is accused of felony child abuse after police say he burned his girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter with a nightlight bulb.

Prosecutors in Lincoln County have charged 33-year-old Michael Gilbert of Elsberry with felony abuse or neglect of a child. He’s free on $7,500 bond.

Authorities allege that after seeing the girl try to ignite a piece of paper with the nightlight, Gilbert unplugged the light and touched the bulb to the girl’s leg.

Police say Gilbert insisted he did that to show the girl that things get hot, unaware the bulb would leave her with second-degree burns.

HONOLULU (AP) — The federal government is proposing removing most of the world’s humpback whale population from the endangered species list.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries wants to reclassify humpbacks into 14 distinct populations, and remove 10 of those from the list.

The federal agency said in a release announcing its proposal that protection and restoration efforts have led to an increase in humpbacks in many areas.

Under the plan, two of the populations would be listed as threatened, in Central America and the Western North Pacific. The agency says these whales at times enter U.S. waters.

The other two populations — in the Arabian Sea and off Cape Verde and northwest Africa — would remain listed as endangered.

The public has 90 days to comment on the proposed changes.

NEW YORK (AP) — This is the last year that the original version of Kraft Mac & Cheese sold in the U.S. will contain artificial preservatives or synthetic colors.

In January, Kraft says its macaroni and cheese will be colored using paprika, annatto and turmeric.

The company is already selling a version, Kraft Mac & Cheese Boxed Shapes, with no artificial flavors, preservatives or synthetic colors.

There has been a huge shift away from processed foods in the U.S. and larger food producers are trying to follow their customers in that direction.

Kraft Foods Group Inc. is based in Northfield, Illinois. Its stock rose 87 cents to $87.60 Monday.

BMW is recalling 91,800 Mini Coopers to fix a defect that may prevent the air bag on the front passenger side of the cars from deploying in a crash.

The problem affects the 2005 to 2008 models of the Mini Cooper and Cooper S. BMW says the air bag may not work properly because of a flam that might prevent the vehicles’ mat detection system from sensing a passenger sitting in the front seat.

BMW told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has been notified of one minor injury linked to the defect.

To repair the problem, BMW will replace the detection mat in the affected models for free. The recall will begin May 1.

Vehicle owners can get further information at 1-888-327-4236 or http://www.safercar.gov .