ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lame-duck lawmakers are returning to Washington where they face a stacked agenda and not much time to get it all done.

Their to-do list includes keeping the government running into the new year, renewing expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses and approving a defense policy measure that has passed for more than 50 years in a row. They hope to get it done in two weeks without stumbling into a government shutdown.

Also pending are President Barack Obama’s requests for money to combat Islamic State militants, battle Ebola and deal with unaccompanied Central American children who have crossed into the U.S.

On the agenda, too, are renewing the government’s terrorism risk insurance program and extending the ban on state and federal taxes on access to the Internet.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri legislative leaders are raising doubts about whether a special session is needed to approve money for the state’s public safety response to protests in the St. Louis area.

Gov. Jay Nixon has said he plans to call a special legislative session because emergency funds in the budget will soon run out.
But House and Senate leaders said Monday that there appears to be enough money to pay the National Guard members and Missouri State Highway Patrol officers who have been on duty.

The governor activated the National Guard because of protests over a grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, for the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of black 18-year-old Michael Brown. Protesters set fires and looted stores after the decision was announced.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Police Officers Association says the five Rams players who stood with their hands raised before Sunday’s game should be disciplined and the NFL should publicly apologize.

Some witnesses said Michael Brown, who was black, had his hands up before being fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson in August. Wilson testified to the grand jury that Brown hit him and reached for his gun.

The officers’ association released a statement Sunday that says the players’ gesture was “tasteless, offensive and inflammatory.”

Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he wasn’t aware the gesture had been planned by the players, who are all black.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Monday in an email: “We respect and understand the concerns of all individuals who have expressed views on this tragic situation.”

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State and union officials acknowledge that understaffing and turnover have caused violations of the contract covering employees at the Topeka Correctional Facility for women and other state prisons.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the violations include having probationary officers train newer workers and requiring employees to work double shifts.

Rebecca Proctor, executive director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, says the violations raised concerns about security for inmates, employees and people living near state prisons.

Jeremy Barclay, spokesman for the state corrections department, says a probationary officer trained new employees at the Topeka prison only once, and said mandatory, forced overtime was authorized since a 2009 between the state and union.

SPRINGFIELD-  The Cyber-Monday deals are exciting but the Missouri Better Business Bureau is reminding shoppers to be extra careful.

Guard personal and financial information. Watch for “phishing” emails from “phony” retailers or shippers that try to trick you into exposing passwords or financial information.

Only use secure, encrypted, “https,” sites when buying online. Don’t use the same password for shopping that is used for your bank account.

Americans are expected to log on and keep up their holiday shopping on Cyber Monday. It’s been the biggest online shopping day of the year since 2010. People started shopping online for holiday deals on Thanksgiving and even before and haven’t slowed down. The research firm comScore expects people to spend about $2.5 billion on Cyber Monday.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Topeka police believe those responsible for four homicides in the city last year are still living in or near the city.

On Dec. 1, 2013, 45-year-old Carla Avery was found seriously wounded behind a strip mall in Topeka. House later, three other people were found shot to death. Two of those victims had connections to Avery, who died two days later.

A year later, no arrests have been made.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/11IxmIC ) that Police Capt. Brian Desch believes the suspect or suspects came from Topeka and that someone knows who was involved. He is asking anyone with information to come forward.

Desch says police believe the deaths were not random acts of violence. He says one to two detectives continue to pursue leads in the case.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly economic survey index for nine Midwestern and Plains has dipped again.

A survey report issued Monday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index fell in November to 51.3 from 51.8 in October. September’s figure was 54.3.

After rising in June to its highest level in more than three years, the overall reading has hovered in a range pointing to much slower growth for the overall regional economy over the next three to six months.

The survey results from supply managers are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests economic growth, while a score below that suggests decline.

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

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The 16-person panel chosen by Missouri’s governor to help find long-term solutions after the Ferguson police shooting meets for the first time Monday.
The Ferguson Commission has scheduled a five-hour public meeting set to begin at noon at the Ferguson Community Center. A public comment session is set to start at 3:45 p.m.

The panel includes a Ferguson construction supply company owner, two pastors, a university professor, two attorneys, a 20-year-old community activist and a

St. Louis police detective who is also president of the state chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.
The commission’s task is to study the underlying social and economic conditions — from failing schools to high unemployment— underscored by sometimes violent unrest following the early August shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson officer Darren Wilson.

BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — The pilot has died and three others are injured after the crash of a small plane near the Boonville, Missouri, airport.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol tells KMIZ  that the pilot, Charles Sojka of Salina, Kansas, were killed in the crash around 9 a.m. Sunday. The three passengers were taken to University Hospital in Columbia. Their conditions weren’t known Sunday evening.

Tim Rogers of the Salina Airport Authority says Sojka was a flight instructor at Sojka Aviation. Rogers says the plane had left Salina earlier in the week and was on its way back from Boonville.