JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new Missouri education commissioner has been chosen to replace a leader who faced frequent criticism while dealing with struggling districts.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Wednesday that the State Board of Education has promoted deputy commissioner Margaret Vandeven to the role of education commissioner. Vandeven replaces Chris Nicastro, who announced in September that she was resigning at the end of the year. Despite criticism that intensified in the past year, Nicastro has said no one asked her to retire other than her husband.

One issue for Nicastro was an August auditor’s report that found the department’s process for seeking bids from consultants to study a possible overhaul of the Kansas City school district was biased and included potential conflicts of interest.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – An execution date of Jan. 28 has been set for a man who fatally stabbed a St. Louis County woman during a 1998

burglary.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday set the execution date for 45-year-old Marcellus Williams. It would be Missouri’s first execution in 2015, after a state record 10 inmates were put to death this year.

Lisha Gayle was killed at her home in University City. Williams was burglarizing the home when he discovered that Gayle was in the shower. He took a knife from the kitchen and attacked her when she came downstairs, stabbing her more than 20 times before stealing a laptop computer and other items.

Gayle was a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 11 years before leaving the paper in 1992.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A new audit faults the Missouri Department of Agriculture for failing to inspect some grain and petroleum devices and giving sizable pay raises to several employees.

But Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich  says those are “relatively small” concerns. Schweich says the Agriculture Department audit released Wednesday is probably the best of any major state agency during his four years in office.

State audits don’t typically list positive findings, just areas of concern.

The audit questioned the need for significant salary increases given to six employees during the 2013 budget year and to four employees during 2014. The department said the raises were generally due to increased job responsibilities.

The department pointed to staff shortages for failing to complete inspections of some petroleum devices and grain meters.

JULIE PACE, Associated Press

MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the U.S. will end its outdated approach to Cuba that has failed to advance U.S. interests.

Obama is announcing Wednesday that the U.S. and Cuba have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and open economic and travel ties.

Obama says the U.S. is changing its relationship with Cuba. He says it’s the most significant change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in more than 50 years.

Obama says the U.S. will now begin to normalize its relations with Cuba and begin a new chapter. He says the U.S. intends to create more opportunities for Americans and Cubans to work together.

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JULIE PACE, Associated Press
MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has spoken to Cuban President Raul Castro about normalizing full diplomatic relations between the longtime foes.

Senior administration officials say the two leaders spoke by phone Tuesday for more than 45 minutes. It’s the first substantive conversation between U.S. and Cuban leaders since 1961.

The call follows more than a year of secret discussions between the U.S. and Cuban officials. The talks happened in Canada and the Vatican and included personal involvement by Pope Francis.

Obama will discuss the opening of relations with Cuba from the White House Wednesday. The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly ahead of Obama’s announcement.

PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shadowy outside groups ran an estimated $25 million in ads to shape state-level elections this year, and their full roster of donors is unlikely to ever be known.

That’s according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity.

While that advertising spending is a small slice of the $850 million spent in statewide races, the amount is still almost twice what outside groups shelled out during the last midterm elections in 2010.

Mysterious groups also ran twice as many ads as they did in 2010, the first election after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the ultra-rich, corporations and unions to quietly bankroll campaigns through anonymous groups.

The state that saw the most ads from opaque groups was Kansas, where Republican Gov. Sam Brownback prevailed in an uphill contest with Democrat Paul Davis. The state saw a total of 34,300 ads through Election Day on Nov. 4. Of those, 11,328 were from nonprofits whose finances can be shielded for years, if not forever.

One of the most prominent outside nonprofits in Kansas was the Alliance for a Free Society. The group incorporated in Delaware in July, meaning its tax disclosures will not be available until 2015 or later. And there’s no telling whether those documents will include the patrons or a list of other similarly vaguely named groups.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker is seeking a special prosecutor for an investigation into allegations that Kansas City Councilman Michael Brooks choked an aide.

Baker said Tuesday a special prosecutor was needed to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest within her office. An assistant county prosecutor, Alissia Canady, is running for Brooks’ 5th District Council seat. Brooks has not yet filed for re-election.

Police have turned over a case file to Jackson County for review.

A law firm is conducting a separate investigation for the city.

Presiding Jackson County Circuit Judge Marco Roldan will appoint the special prosecutor.

JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Obama administration official says Cuba has released American Alan Gross, who has been imprisoned for five years.

The official says Gross has departed Cuba on a US government plane bound for the United States. He was released on humanitarian grounds by the Cuban government at the request of the United States, the official said.

The official insisted on anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Canine inhabitants of downtown Kansas City will have a new place to exercise next year.

The Kansas City Star  reports that bids will go out early next year for a 1.5-acre off-leash dog area. It will include fencing, a curved path, stone staircase, new trees and benches. Construction should begin in the spring. The park is expected to open later in the year after the new grass is well established.

The parks department says a separate fundraising effort is underway to create another smaller off-leash area at a different location.

WASHINGTON (AP) — He may be president now, but Barack Obama says he’s a black man who has been mistaken for the valet.

Obama tells People magazine that every black professional male his age has had someone hand over their keys while waiting outside a restaurant. That happened to him, he said.

First lady Michelle Obama says her husband also used to have trouble catching cabs and once was mistaken for a waiter at a black-tie party. She says even when she went to Target as first lady, a fellow shopper asked her to get something from a shelf.

The president says racial relations have gotten better, but more progress is needed.

He says the small indignities they have experienced pale in comparison to young men who have been mistaken for criminals just for being “dressed the way teenagers dress.”

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Authorities in southern Missouri say two people have died in a three-vehicle accident.

The Western Taney County Fire District says the accident shut down Highway F near Branson for more than two hours Tuesday night.

Officials say the people who died were in separate vehicles. They didn’t say what caused the crash.
Troy A. Wilson, 17, Rockaway Beach and Tonya Luna, 46, Merriam Woods, died in the crash.

No charges have been reported. The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating.