Associated Press

Hey, bae: It’s time again for a curated list of words and phrases that linguists wish they could hurl into the polar vortex.

The 40th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and Uselessness was released Wednesday by northern Michigan’s Lake Superior State University.

Words highlighted for pop-cultural banishment include “bae,” a term of endearment, along with “curated,” ”skill set,” ”takeaway” and “polar vortex.” The latter refers to the frigid, Arctic blast that gripped the nation last winter.

The list, based on submissions received throughout 2014, joins an archive of roughly 800 entries.

Others include “hack,” ”foodie,” ”swag” and “cra-cra” as a stand-in for crazy.

FERGUSON (AP) – Police say six suspects are in custody after an attempted burglary of a beauty store that was burned and looted during protests in Ferguson.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that police received word around 6 p.m. of a burglary in progress at the Beauty Town near West Florissant and Ferguson Avenues.

Sgt. Harry Dilworth tells the newspaper that police found the suspects in the basement of the store, where some products were still stored.

While officers were at the scene, they heard gunfire from nearby apartments. No one was injured.

The store has been looted several times and was burned last month after the announcement that a St. Louis County grand jury had declined to indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

EUREKA, Mo. (AP) — Eastern Missouri’s only ski resort is opening this week.

Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Eureka, west of St. Louis, will open at 9 a.m. Friday. There currently is no snow on the ground in the St. Louis area so the facility is making its own snow.

Hidden Valley has installed a new double-lift in the beginner area, a 400-foot-long lift with 24 double-seat chairs.

TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today issued the following statement related to the panel’s decision in the school finance case:

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the panel, which in areas seems in tension with the Kansas Supreme Court’s guidance. We are assessing the opinion and evaluating all of our options.”

CARLA K. JOHNSON, AP Medical Writer

(AP) — The first 50-state report on the latest sign-up season under President Barack Obama’s health care law shows more than 4 million people signed up for the first time or re-enrolled.

More than 100,000 Missouri residents have signed up for health insurance through a federally run website during the first month of enrollment.

The Department of Health and Human Services released the report Tuesday. It shows 3.4 million people selected plans using HealthCare.gov as of Dec. 15. More than 600,000 people selected plans in the state-run marketplaces, with those figures generally up-to-date through Dec. 13. The report doesn’t include people who are being automatically re-enrolled in health plans.

Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell has set a target of 9.1 million customers signed up and paying premiums in 2015. She called Tuesday’s figures “an encouraging start.” There’s still time to meet the goal. Open enrollment runs through Feb. 15.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Cancer medicine that previously could cost thousands of dollars soon will cost Missourians at most $75 a month.

State lawmakers and cancer patient advocates say the new state law taking effect Thursday will increase access to chemotherapy pills.

They say those drugs typically have fewer harmful side effects compared to traditional intravenous chemotherapy.

But previously the pills cost patients thousands of dollars more than the IV procedure.

Other laws that will take effect in 2015 include one requiring that women be notified after a mammogram that dense breast tissue can hide signs of cancer.

Another mandates that the state create a handbook to help train adult daycare providers, and one will increase fees for companies that violate federal natural gas safety standards.

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SHAWNEE- A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday in Johnson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2002 GMC Sonoma driven by Brent William Allen, 44, Olathe, was northbound on Interstate 435 just south of Johnson Drive.

The driver lost control of vehicle. It went off the roadway to the east and down an embankment striking a KDOT fence.

Allen was transported to Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

The KHP reported he was properly restrained at the time of the accident.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City-area hospital and health officials say this year’s flu season so far has seen an “unprecedented” number of cases.

The University of Kansas was treating 23 inpatients with the flu on Tuesday, along with 13 others with suspected cases of the flu. Two other influenza patients have died this year at the hospital.

Chief medical officer Lee Norman says in his past eight years at the hospital he’s seen at most 10 hospitalized at any given time.

Norman says as of Monday 10 of 28 Kansas City-area hospitals weren’t accepting helicopters bringing patients to their emergency rooms, which are packed with flu patients.

The Kansas Department of Health reported 333 deaths related to influenza or pneumonia between September and Dec. 20. More than 1,100 in Kansas died of the flu last season, which typically ends in March.

Chief epidemiologist Larry Franken of the Wyandotte County Public Health Department says numbers this year are troubling because the flu normally hits the hardest in January or February.

Franken says he’s concerned 2015 will bring similarly high numbers of flu cases in the area.

DAVID PORTER, Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The battleground over traffic enforcement cameras may be shifting.