CAMDENTON, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri State Highway Patrol says two women were killed and three children were injured in a two-vehicle collision in southwest Missouri.

The accident occurred Thursday morning on Highway 5 in Camden County.

The report says a vehicle driven by 32-year-old Amber Metcalf, of Versailles, crossed the center line and hit a vehicle driven by 33-year-old Jessica Brazil of Camdenton.

Both women died at the scene. Three children, ages 6, 4 and 2, who were passengers in Brazil’s vehicle, were taken to a Springfield hospital with serious injuries.

The highway was closed for nearly three hours after the accident.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A barbecue restaurant owner in eastern Kansas is accused of racking up more than $7,300 in charges on a customer’s credit card left at the business.

Matthew Sander was charged last week with counts of identity theft, misdemeanor theft, felony theft and criminal use of a financial card.

Sander is the owner of Smokin’ Joe’s Bar-B-Q in Olathe.

A customer told police that he ate at the restaurant Jan. 28, and couldn’t find his card the next day. He found several unauthorized purchases made Jan. 28 on his statement. Sander was arrested March 10 after investigators identified him through surveillance video.

Court records show the case is the third time since December that Sander has been charged with similar crimes. His next court appearance is April 11.

LEE’S SUMMIT ,Mo. (AP) – A Jackson County jury has recommended a life sentence for a Kansas City man in the shooting death at a party.

The jury on Wednesday convicted Terrell Ingram of first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Malik Barbour outside a Lee’s Summit home.

Police were called to the party early July 16 and found Barbour dead at the scene from gunshot wounds.

The Kansas City Star reports prosecutors said Barbour and Ingram fought outside of the home before Barbour was shot while he was getting into a car.

A witness said Ingram initially shot at Barbour up to six times, then approached him and fired two more shots.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have advanced the first piece of a plan for complying with a Kansas Supreme Court on public school funding.

A special Senate committee on school finance approved a bill Thursday that would revise the state’s formula for distributing more than $4 billion a year to local school districts. The measure goes next to the Senate and a debate there is expected next week.

The bill’s changes are designed to make the formula fairer to poor school districts. It eliminates several provisions that the Supreme Court said favored wealthier districts.

The court ruled in October that parts of the funding formula were unfair and that the state isn’t spending enough money overall on its schools. The Senate committee’s bill does not significantly boost the state’s overall spending.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — An Olathe man was sentenced for the second time for setting a fire and then shooting at first responders who responded.

William Outhet Jr., 63, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 14 years in prison for attempted first-degree murder.

Prosecutors say he set his house on fire in February 2013 and fired at firefighters and police officers when they arrived.

No responders were injured and firefighters rescued Outhet after they found him unconscious in the home with a shotgun across his chest.

Outhet was sentenced in 2014 to 15 years and four months in prison. The Kansas Court of Appeals vacated his arson conviction and ordered resentencing for the attempted murder charge.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A fraternity placed on disciplinary probation by the University of Missouri for hazing won’t face more sanctions from its national governing body.

The university placed Beta Theta Pi on probation until Feb. 1, 2019, after determining members had engaged in hazing during the fall semester. The fraternity also must have monthly meetings and take other steps with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life through Dec. 1.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the fraternity’s national organization decided the probation is sufficient.

Justin Warren, spokesman for the national fraternity, says an investigation found one incident involving a few members. Two members were suspended until graduation and lost their rooms at the chapter house.

FarmHouse fraternity was closed Tuesday by its national organization for hazing, the third fraternity closed since classes began in August.

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. (AP) – A former suburban St. Louis high school English teacher has been charged with a sex crime.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 58-year-old David Mendelson Jr., of University City, was charged Wednesday with two counts of sexual contact with a student by a teacher. His bond is set at $100,000. His attorney didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

Webster Groves police said in a news release that the department was contacted earlier this month by officials in the Webster Groves School District about a report of an inappropriate relationship between Mendelson and a student. The relationship is alleged to have occurred during the 2009-2010 school year.

Police say the ensuing investigation resulted in Mendelson’s arrest. Mendelson hasn’t been employed with the district since 2010.

HANNIBAL, Mo. (AP) – The Missouri Department of Conservation is investigating after seven white pelicans were fatally shot near the northeast Missouri town of Hannibal.

The Hannibal Courier-Post reports that the carcasses of the federally-protected pelicans were found Monday. Matt Markley of the conservation department says officials are looking for clues, including shell casings in the area where the carcasses were found.

The conservation department’s website says white pelicans are found statewide, generally arriving in late March to mid-April and departing in mid-May.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Conservation Act names the American white pelican among protected bird species. A misdemeanor conviction for killing the species can include a fine of up to $15,000.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man charged with sexually assaulting a male University of Missouri-St. Louis student at gunpoint earlier this month inside an on-campus apartment is charged with a similar crime at a Kansas State University fraternity house.

Devonta Bagley, 23, Belton, Missouri, is jailed on $500,000 bond on charges of sodomy, armed criminal action and burglary in the Missouri case. No attorney is listed for him in online Missouri court records.

He faces similar charges in Riley County, Kansas, where court records say he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old inside the Sigma Chi fraternity house in September while the man was “unconscious or physically powerless.”

Officials say Bagley had been a graduate student at UMSL, but was expelled last fall after a student conduct hearing.