An Independence man has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his 10-week-old daughter.

Twenty-four-year-old Alex A. Gilbert is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond in Lafayette County after a court appearance Thursday.

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office said the baby died Monday after being found unresponsive at her home last Friday.

An autopsy found she suffered a skull fracture, brain damage and numerous broken bones.

Gilbert’s next scheduled court appearance is May 29.

A veteran TV anchorman has been fired in the wake of comments he made on Facebook claiming “pressure” by the IRS following his 2012 interview with President Barack Obama.

KMOV-TV announced the firing of Larry Conners on its website Wednesday.

Conners later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his Facebook posting simply raised questions about the possibility of an Internal Revenue Service vendetta. The posting followed national stories about the IRS targeting conservative political groups.

The KMOV statement from Mark Pimentel, president and general manager, says that the posting of a personal political opinion on one of the station’s Facebook pages “creates an appearance of bias that is inconsistent with important journalistic standards.”

Authorities say the death of a 10-week-old Missouri baby has been ruled a homicide.

The Lafayette County sheriff’s office said Wednesday that an autopsy showed the infant had a fractured skull, brain damage and other broken bones.

Deputies were called to a home in the southwestern part of the county last Friday and found the baby unresponsive.

The infant was taken first to a hospital in Blue Springs and then to Children’s Mercy in Kansas City. The baby died there on Monday.

The Jackson County medical examiner performed the autopsy and declared the death a homicide. No other details about the baby have been released, and there were no arrests as of Wednesday.

Officials in Joplin, Mo., have brought together a team of public safety employees that they are sending to tornado-stricken Moore.

Joplin was devastated by a tornado two years ago. On Monday, Joplin organized a team of about a dozen police and firefighters to assist in Moore.

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr says his community remembers the assistance it received in 2011 and feels an obligation to lend a hand in Moore.

The team from Joplin is to conduct a needs assessment and help determine areas in which Moore needs further assistance.

Joplin will also work to provide other assistance.

Authorities say a tornado that severely damaged a mobile home park southeast of Oklahoma City killed a 79-year-old man whose body was found in an open area of the neighborhood.

Tornadoes touched down in five states, including one in Wichita, and another in rural Lyon County, Kansas.

Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Sheriff Mike Booth also said that six people who lived in the mobile home park were injured.

Between 30 and 35 homes had significant damage, and number of frame homes in the neighborhood also sustained damage.

The storms were part of a severe weather outbreak that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Twisters were also reported Sunday in Iowa and Kansas.

Forecasters had warned residents about impending severe weather since last Wednesday, and also caution that parts of the nation’s midsection will see severe weather on Monday too.

The city of Marshall has its Sister of Liberty statue back where it belongs.

The statue, which had been missing from its pedestal at Indian Foothills Park for more than a year, was returned to the park Friday.

The statue was stolen in August 2012 and was found two months later in Blackwater River. It was damaged, and metalsmith Beno Messer of Slater had been working to restore it since then.

The statue was first given to the city on July 4th, 1951. It was refurbished in 2011, after the community raised the necessary money.

Messer said he built the base so it would be nearly impossible to remove the statue again. And security equipment will be installed to prevent any future problems.

A north St. Louis County man admits that he stole money from his 4-year-old nephew’s piggy bank to use for drugs and prostitutes.

Baron Calmese, 31, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony stealing charge.

He will be sentenced next month.

Calmese was arrested last July after he took more than $500 for his nephew’s piggy bank.

Investigators say Calmese took the money after first asking the boy’s mother — his sister — if he could borrow some change. The woman told Calmese he could take $2 but he took all the money he could shake out of the bank.

Authorities in Southern Oregon say a man out in the woods for some target shooting wounded himself as he twirled his gun in one hand and used the other for a celebratory fist bump with his nephew.

The Roseburg News-Review reports that David Boyd, 49, of Wildwood, Missouri was hit in the abdomen Thursday by a bullet from his .22-caliber semi-automatic.

He was in fair condition Friday at the hospital.

The paper said he was in Oregon to visit his nephew, 20-year-old Daniel Karnes of Roseburg.

The two told a deputy they had set up empty shotgun shells as targets, and after Boyd hit a few, Karnes went to congratulate him. Karnes said he noticed the gun twirling as they bumped fists, and then it went off.