TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are waiting to learn whether the state’s tax collections in May met expectations as they work on proposals to raise new revenue to fix the state budget.

The Department of Revenue was to report Thursday on last month’s tax collections.

A positive report would help legislators a little as they seek to close projected budget shortfalls totaling $887 million through June 2019 while providing additional funds for public schools. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in March that education funding is inadequate.

House and Senate negotiators hoped to restart talks on tax issues.

The state collected about $1.8 million more in taxes than anticipated in April for a surplus of 0.3 percent. Expectations are set by a fiscal forecast issued by state officials and university economists earlier in April.

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Branson officials say Shoji Tabuchi’s theater will be closed for a few days after it was damaged by a fire.

Branson Fire Chief Ted Martin says Wednesday’s fire apparently was caused by electrical equipment in the backstage area.

The fire was contained to 10-by-10 foot area but it caused extensive smoke or water damage in other parts of the theater.

No one was injured in the fire

SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) — Charges have been dismissed against one of two people charged in a June 2016 death in Sedalia.

Pettis County Prosecuting Attorney Phillip Sawyer said Wednesday he was dropping first-degree murder and first-degree arson charges against Cody Harvey of Sedalia in the June 2016 death of 30-year-old Matthew Eldenburg.

The Sedalia Democrat reports the same charges remain against Aran Cantrell, also of Sedalia. His trial is scheduled for July.

Sawyer said admissible evidence was not sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Harvey committed the crimes. He said the problem with evidence involves a non-law enforcement witness who gave false or inaccurate statements about what occurred.

Eldenburg died in a fire at his Sedalia home. Autopsy results showed he was alive when the fire began.

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. (AP) — A former St. Louis County judge was sentenced to probation after being found guilty of a municipal driving while intoxicated charge.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Lawrence Permuter was found guilty Wednesday and was placed on probation for two years.

Permuter was an associate circuit judge when he was arrested Dec. 31, 2015. Police say a witness told Richmond Heights police Permuter’s car crossed one lane of traffic on Highway 40 and crashed into a concrete wall. The witness said Permuter tried to get back on the road before crashing again.

The police report says alcohol contributed to the accident. Permuter declined medical attention for minor cuts and bruises.

Permuter retired in February when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

BALLWIN, Mo. (AP) — Police in the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin are searching for a suspect after a stabbing during a road rage incident.

KMOV-TV reports that the injured driver is hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident happened Wednesday night in Ballwin. Police say both motorists were driving aggressively on Manchester Road when one of the cars pulled off to a side street and the other followed.

An argument began, and one driver stabbed the other, then fled. Police say the drivers did not know each other.

HOUSE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — A search has resumed for a 14-year-old who went missing in the Big River south of St. Louis, but authorities fear he drowned.

The boy was swimming Wednesday afternoon at Rockford Beach Park in Jefferson County. Witnesses saw him in the water, but at some point, he did not resurface. The boy’s name and where he is from have not been released.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says authorities believe the boy drowned. The search has turned from rescue to recovery of the body.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft says the state won’t have free identifications required by a new state law ready in time for a special election in July.

But Ashcroft says provisions in the law, which took effect Thursday, will allow every eligible voter to cast a ballot.

A state constitutional amendment approved by Missouri voters last November requires photo IDs for voting, with some exceptions. Voters without proper identification can cast provisional ballots.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports  St. Louis residents will vote July 11 to fill St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s seat on the Board of Aldermen. And special elections are scheduled in August for vacant Missouri House and Senate seats.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Results from a monthly survey of business supply managers suggest a slight decline in the economic conditions for nine Midwest and Plains states.

The Mid-America Business Conditions Index report released Thursday says the overall regional economic index dropped to 55.5 in May from 61.4 in April.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the index figures over the past six months point to healthy growth for regional manufacturing and nonmanufacturing through the third quarter of this year.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Jackson County medical examiner is investigating whether the West Nile virus caused the death an 8-year-old boy.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man and woman from Kansas City have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than $2 million in methamphetamine in the Kansas City area.