A 19-year-old man has been accused of trying to kidnap a 10-year-old girl in Council Bluffs.

The Council Bluffs Police Department says a man grabbed the girl and forced to her walk with him about 2:20 p.m. Monday near Edison Elementary School.

She struggled with him, broke away and ran to her sister, who had driven to the school to pick her up.

The older girl called their dad, who told them to follow the man in case he tried to accost another student. The father went to the scene and held the man until police officers arrived.

In custody is Nathan Busse, who faces kidnapping and other charges.

Busse remained in Pottawattamie County Jail on Tuesday. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

The trial of a Missouri man charged with killing a woman in Nebraska more than 20 years ago is scheduled to begin this week.

Forty-six-year-old John Oldson, of Randolph, Mo., is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Catherine Beard, a 31-year-old waitress from Ord. She disappeared in 1989. Her remains were found outside Ord in 1992.

Oldson, who used to live in Ord, was interviewed in 1989 but not arrested. He was arrested a year ago in Missouri. Authorities say new evidence and witnesses led to his arrest.

The trial was moved from Valley County to Howard County after the defense requested the change based on pretrial publicity and questionnaires to possible members of a jury. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday.

Kansas law enforcement officials have identified a man who is allegedly impersonating a police officer while trying to cash fake checks.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement officials say they believe 45-year-old Robert Wayne Helms of Pittsburg might be connected to at least 25 cases.

 

Belle Plaine Police Chief Gorden Fell says the man showed up in his town last week. Lyons police are investigating a similar case.

In some instances Helms flashes a fake badge and displays a gun. He has at least twice claimed to be a deputy from Adams County, which doesn’t exist in Kansas.

The Kansas Department of Corrections lists Helms as an absconder, with past convictions for forgery, theft and kidnapping. Officials say he is considered armed and dangerous.

A St. Louis landmark is getting a big makeover.

The 150-foot-long Budweiser sign at the Anheuser-Busch brewery was coming down Monday for the first time since it was installed in 1979.

The brewery is spending $500,000 to upgrade the sign so that it will shine more brightly, using LED technology that will be better able to stand up to the elements.

Removing the sign is a difficult process – the “B” alone is 18 feet tall and weighs 2,400 pounds. The replacement process is expected to take five weeks.

Gov. Jay Nixon has accepted the resignation of State Board of Education President Stan Archie, of Kansas City.

Archie has been sued twice for allegedly using his position as a pastor at a Kansas City church to engage in sexual misconduct.

Archie, who represented the Fifth Congressional District on the board, submitted his resignation Friday afternoon.

“Strengthening our public education system is a fundamental priority of my administration, and there are several key areas to address in the coming months,” the Governor said. “The State Board of Education will continue to have a crucial role in these matters, and it is important for the board to have a clear focus without distraction from its mission. I will be moving forward with consideration of a new appointment to this board.”

Archie was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2006.

The latest lawsuit, filed late Wednesday, alleges the Reverend Stan Archie made lewd comments about his sexual prowess after he began counseling a 15-year-old congregant, who is now 23.

The lawsuit says Archie encouraged the girl to act promiscuously and report her experiences to him.

A lawsuit filed last year claimed that Archie engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with his former assistant.

A central Missouri woman was sentenced to five years in prison after her infant son died while she was using methamphetamine.

Thirty-year-old Megan Ayers admitted that she had used methamphetamine and didn’t check on her son for 12 hours before he died in his playpen at a Holts Summit home in June 2012.

She was sentenced Wednesday to three five-year terms, to run concurrently. But the judge ruled that if Ayers successfully completes a drug treatment program, she could serve the rest of her sentence on probation.

Murder charges weren’t filed because the exact cause of the boy’s death couldn’t be determined.

Ayers’ boyfriend, 23-year-old Bryan Sorter, is awaiting a Feb. 6 trial for endangering the welfare of a child and drug charges.

Kansas City police have disclosed the death of a 4-year-old girl who was shot in the head earlier this month by a 6-year-old boy.

Police said Tuesday that preschooler Trinity Ross was taken off life support last week, seven days after the accidental shooting.

An adult had briefly left the preschooler and two boys, ages 5 and 6, alone in the living room of Trinity’s home when the older boy found a gun on a chair.

The adult heard a gunshot and found Trinity on the floor with a wound in her forehead.

Police said the older boy apparently found the five-shot revolver under a jacket. The adult said it belonged to a relative of the boys.

Call it the “Stan the Man Span.”

A campaign to name a new Mississippi River bridge at St. Louis for the late Cardinals great Stan Musial is already gaining momentum.

Musial died Saturday at age 92 and will be laid to rest this week.

The career Cardinal and Hall of Famer hit .331 in a 22-season major league career.

The bridge carrying Interstate 70 over the Mississippi between downtown St. Louis and Illinois is scheduled to open in 2014.

Two Missouri state senators introduced identical bills Tuesday to name it the Stan Musial Memorial Bridge. The sponsors are Eric Schmitt and John Lamping, both Republicans from St. Louis County.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is introducing legislation that would name the new I-70 bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis—which is currently being constructed and will span Missouri and Illinois—the “Stan Musial Memorial Bridge,” to honor Musial’s legacy.

“Stan Musial found a way to be an even better man and community member than he was a baseball player—and that’s no easy feat when you’re one of the all-time greats,” McCaskill said on the floor of the Senate. “He brought so much to St. Louis. I’m happy to find a small way to honor him and his family.”

McCaskill will introduce the measure with Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.