State and federal officials say a fire at a Missouri probation and parole office was deliberately set.

A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information about the fire that damaged the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole office in Nevada last week.

The fire early Wednesday caused heavy fire damage to the west end of the state office, and heat and smoke damage throughout the building.

Nevada fire Chief Bill Thornton says the state fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives both determined the fire was arson.

A public memorial service is planned Monday for the director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, who was fatally shot when he answered his front door.

The service for 58-year-old Tom Clements is set for New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A private funeral was held for him Sunday.

Clements served for decades in the Missouri Department of Corrections before taking the top job in Colorado.

 

Colorado’s top prisons official was killed at his home Tuesday night in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.

Evan Spencer Ebel, killed in a gunfight with Texas authorities Thursday, is a suspect and had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says the results of ballistics tests are expected this week.

Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones wants the attorney general to appeal a judge’s ruling striking down the state’s contraception insurance exemption for people with moral objections.

Jones sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Chris Koster urging him to appeal on grounds of religious freedom and to challenge a policy by President Barack Obama’s administration that requires insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women.

Koster spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said Wednesday that the office has not decided whether to appeal last week’s decision by a federal judge.

The judge ruled that Missouri’s law exempting workers and employers from contraception coverage on moral grounds ran contrary to the provisions of Obama’s health care law. The judge noted that federal laws takes precedence over conflicting state laws.

A man has been fatally pinned at a parking garage toll booth while leaving a science center at Kansas City’s Union Station with his 5-year-old granddaughter and her friend.

The accident happened around 1 p.m. Wednesday when the man dropped his parking money.

When he leaned down to pick up the money, he inadvertently hit the gas in his truck.

That’s when the man was pinned between a toll booth and a garage pillar. Bystanders were able to help the children and move the truck to unpin the man. But police said the man died of the injuries.

No other details were available.

A mayoral impeachment hearing in Ellisville has been rescheduled to April 1 — the day before an election in which three members of the St. Louis County town’s city council are up for re-election.

Mayor Adam Paul is facing possible impeachment for alleged offenses that include secretly taping city employees, disclosing confidential information and giving illegal orders to employees.

 

Paul’s attorney requested the five-day delay in the hearing to allow more time to prepare a defense.

Paul was suspended for 45 days on Feb. 27.

Authorities in southwest Missouri are investigating the deaths of a man and women whose bodies were found inside a home.

The bodies were found Tuesday in a home north of Asbury, a town of about 200 north of Joplin.

Sheriff Randee Kaiser says the bodies were discovered after a deputy was flagged down.

An individual was concerned because he hadn’t seen the people in a while. Kaiser says investigators got a search warrant and began processing the scene Tuesday afternoon. He says there were no obvious signs of foul play.

The names of the deceased are being withheld while family members are notified.

Federal prosecutors say they’ve dented a violent American Indian gang in the Upper Midwest now that they’ve won convictions in a wide-reaching racketeering case.

The alleged leader of the Native Mob, 34-year-old Wakinyon Wakan McArthur, was convicted Tuesday in Minneapolis on charges including racketeering conspiracy.

 

Jurors also convicted two alleged gang “soldiers,” 26-year-old Anthony Cree and 25-year-old William Morris, on charges including attempted murder in aid of racketeering.

The three were the only defendants who rejected plea deals after 25 people were indicted last year.

Authorities say the case targeted a criminal enterprise that used intimidation and violence to maintain power.

But defense attorneys argued the case was overblown, saying there’s no evidence to support racketeering charges alleging the trio was part of a large, organized criminal group.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A missing central Missouri woman and her young daughter are safe, and the woman is in custody for allegedly fabricating their abduction.

Chariton County Sheriff Chris Hughes said 28-year-old Rachel Koechner and 4-year-old Zoee Sandner were found safe by authorities late Monday evening. They were found with Koechner’s ex-husband, who was not charged in the case but was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant for forgery charges.

Police said Koechner was reported missing after she had not been seen for several days but had left a text message indicating she was in trouble.

Authorities in eastern Kansas are investigating a human skull that hunters found outside Gardner.

Authorities say the skull was found Monday and appears to have been exposed to the elements for several years.

Officials are trying to determine who the skull belonged to and if there was any foul play involved.

Investigators searched for other bones or evidence near the scene and are expected to continue searching Tuesday.