JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Judges on the Missouri Supreme Court are questioning assertions that a new state constitutional amendment means a felon can now carry guns.

The judges heard arguments Tuesday about how to interpret an amendment approved by voters in August with over 60 percent support. The measure subjects gun-control laws to strict legal scrutiny.

But several Supreme Court judges noted that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S Constitution and similar provisions in other states have long been interpreted to allow restrictions on felons possessing firearms.

WASHINGTON – This year’s annual defense bill will include a provision by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill to require TRICARE—health insurance provided to members of the military and their families—to cover breastfeeding equipment, such as breast pumps, along with support and counseling, as required by most private health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

“As someone who was a single, working mother, I know firsthand the importance of comprehensive, affordable healthcare for new moms,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. “I’m proud we’ll be able to get this commonsense legislation one step closer to the finish line, so that new mothers in the military and military spouses can have access to the same high standard of services we’ve achieved in the civilian sector under the health care law.”

More than 50 medical, family, and healthcare groups, including the National Women’s Law Center, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Nursing endorsed McCaskill’s legislation. Full text of their letter can be found HERE. The National Military Family Association has also endorsed the bill.

Currently, as part of breastfeeding support, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance plans to cover breast pump rental or provide breast pumps for new moms, as well as lactation counseling and support.

With TRICARE, members of the military and military spouses have been left to pay the full costs out of pocket for these services. TRICARE benefits are not subject to the mandates of the ACA that affect private health insurance plans. As such, when the Health Resources and Services Administration determined that breastfeeding equipment and support should be covered by health insurance companies under the provisions of the ACA, this requirement did not extend to TRICARE.

JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama wants top management prospects in the federal bureaucracy to develop a more diverse set of skills as the upper ranks of the federal workforce retire in greater numbers.

He also is aiming to improve the quality of government service in the face of user satisfaction rankings that place the federal government below the private sector.

In a series of executive actions Tuesday, Obama is launching a leadership program for future government career executives with a goal of breaking out of a tradition of promoting senior bureaucrats from within their own agencies.

The administration is also creating a program of customer service awards to reward excellence by individual federal employees.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — The Empire District Electric Co. in Joplin is asking the Kansas Corporation Commission for an increase to pay for environmental compliance at its Asbury plant.

The environmental rider would mean a $3.67 per month increase for Kansas customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy. Empire is asking that the rider be effective March 1.

Empire spokeswoman Julie Maus says the environmental costs include equipment needed to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, particulate matter and mercury emissions.

The Joplin Globe reports  the total cost is between $112 million and $130 million.

Empire in August asked the Missouri Public Service Commission for a 5.5 percent increase, or $24.3 million, from its Missouri customers for environmental compliance. That would add about $9.87 per month for a residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker is proposing some victims of domestic violence get two weeks of unpaid leave from work.

Democratic state Sen. Gina Walsh of St. Louis recently filed legislation that would require employers give their workers time to cope with abuse. Employees would qualify if they or a family member experienced any of a number of forms of domestic violence.

The bill aims to give survivors of domestic violence time to seek counseling, medical attention or legal help.

Workers at companies with 50 or more employees would get two weeks off a year. Companies with more than 15 employees would allow one week off.

Employers could not discriminate against individuals who seek unpaid leave.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police have identified a woman fatally shot in a Lowe’s Home Improvement store parking lot in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas City, Kansas, police say a 28-year-old man has turned himself in to police in connection to the Sunday shooting death of 29-year-old Janet Billings of Bonner Springs. Police describe the man as a person of interest but haven’t released his identity.

They say the man and Billings knew each other but didn’t say how.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison for his role in the theft of commercial trucks and their cargo over a 14-year period.

Forty-three-year-old Kenneth Borders of Kansas City received the punishment on Monday. He was also ordered to pay nearly $1.3 million in restitution to 27 victims. Borders and two other men in February were convicted of stealing trucks and trailers in Missouri, Kansas, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska since 1998.

The men stole $125,000 worth of frozen ribs, nearly $60,000 in chicken wings and about 21,000 pounds of Little Sizzler sausages. Authorities say they sold the items cheaply to anyone who would buy it, sometimes out of the back of the trailer.

The other men are awaiting sentencing.

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities have released the federal autopsy in the Ferguson police shooting.

The autopsy on 18-year-old Michael Brown was performed by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System at the request of the Department of Justice. The conclusions were similar to those reached in autopsies performed by the St. Louis County medical examiner and a private examiner hired by Brown’s family.

The autopsy report was included in documents released Monday by St. Louis County prosecutors.

The Justice Department autopsy found Brown died from multiple gunshot wounds and had severe head and chest injuries. It noted the latter might have been an exit wound from a shot that entered Brown’s arm or forehead.

The autopsy also found a minor gunshot wound to Brown’s right hand was evidence of close range discharge of a firearm.