ST. LOUIS (AP) — Authorities have arrested at least two people at a protest over the Ferguson grand jury decision in which several demonstrators stormed City Hall in St. Louis.

An undetermined number of protesters made it into the building Wednesday while shouting “Shame, shame.”

The protest march included several hundred people and began with a mock trial of Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. It was held on the steps of the Old Courthouse, the site of the Dred Scott trial.

More than 100 additional police officers were called to the building and it was locked down.

A total of 58 people were arrested at area protests overnight, including 45 in Ferguson.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A horse-drawn coach carrying Santa Claus has delivered the governor’s Christmas tree to Cedar Crest.

The Topeka Capital-Journal  reports that Gov. Sam Brownback and his wife, Mary, were on hand Tuesday morning as the 9-foot Scotch pine arrived. The tree was placed on a stand and taken into a living room inside Cedar Crest, where it will be decorated.

Mary Brownback says the tree would be available for visitors to view during holiday open houses at Cedar Crest, which will take place from 1 to 3:30 p.m. each Monday before Christmas.

A second horse-drawn carriage delivered an 8-foot Scotch pine that will be placed in the governor’s ceremonial office inside the Statehouse after the Thanksgiving holiday.

About 25 people showed up to watch the festivities.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Brown’s mother says it has been a “sleepless, very hard, heartbreaking and unbelievable” time for her since the announcement that a

grand jury didn’t indict Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson for killing her son.

Lesley McSpadden said during an interview on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday that she also felt that Wilson’s description of her son as looking demonic during their Aug. 9 confrontation was disrespectful and “added insult to injury.”

McSpadden said she hadn’t seen video of her husband, Brown’s stepfather Louis Head, yelling “Burn this bitch down” to angry protesters after the grand jury decision was announced Monday night.

She says the crowd “was already stirred” up by that point and that she holds the authorities, not her husband, for the violent night of protests.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a person of interest in a northeast Kansas homicide has been arrested in Connecticut.

Shawnee County sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer says the 26-year-old man is in the custody of the New Britain Police Department in Connecticut.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that he was identified as a person of interest shortly after Dustin C. McKinney’s death earlier this month at a home just north of Topeka. Another suspect also is jailed in the killing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson says he “never wanted to take anybody’s life” and feels sorry about the death of Michael Brown.

But Wilson says in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that aired Wednesday that he followed his training when he shot the unarmed black teenager. During their confrontation, he says, “The only emotion I ever felt was fear and then it was survival and training.”

Wilson says he only fired at Brown when Brown was facing him, and never when his back was turned. And he says he saw in the teenager a high level of aggression and anger that was “almost unfathomable.”

Wilson says he understands Wilson’s parents’ anger because they are grieving their son. He says, “I’m sorry that their son lost his life.”

DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The stricter smog standard proposed by the Obama administration joins a string of historic — and controversial — moves by the administration to improve air quality.

People familiar with the proposal tell The Associated Press that the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce Wednesday a preferred range of 65 to 70 parts per billion to reduce the amount of smog-forming pollution allowed in the air.

The agency’s scientific advisers had endorsed a standard of 60 parts per billion. The current standard is 75 parts per billion, put in place by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Those familiar with the proposal were not authorized to discuss it by name ahead of the official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A photographer for The Kansas City Star was among several people arrested during a Kansas City march to protest the Ferguson decision.

The Kansas City Star reports that Kansas City Police Chief Darryl Forté tweeted that four had been detained. The arrests happened Tuesday night as about 100 protesters marched through the upscale Country Club Plaza restaurant and shopping district to the Westport bar and entertainment area.

The Star reported that marchers encountered police barricades at the Plaza. Police blocked many intersections and attempted to keep the marchers out of the street.

The march was one of several Ferguson events in Kansas City. Earlier Tuesday, a crowd of 60 protesters led a short and mostly silent march that ended with speakers calling for an end to racial profiling.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — More than half of the fall layoffs at Sprint Corp. occurred at the Overland Park headquarters.

The Kansas City Star  reports that 1,700 jobs were slashed companywide this fall. Among them, 910 jobs were cut in October and November in Overland Park.

The disclosure came in reports Sprint made to Kansas officials under a federal labor law that requires public notice of mass layoffs. The notice is intended to give employees time to prepare for the job loss and make plans to find other work or seek additional training.

The letter says Sprint is eliminating 458 additional positions at its Overland Park campus.

Chief executive officer Marcelo Claure has made cost cutting one of his priorities in taking the helm of Sprint.

 

MATT STROUD, Associated Press

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (AP) — As stores crowd with holiday shoppers, gun buyers will be challenging the nation’s background check system to keep up.

There are already nine guns for every 10 people in the U.S. and someone is killed with a firearm every 16 minutes. Stakes are already high with about 40 background checks requested every minute. On Black Friday, it speeds up to nearly two gun checks per second.

Kimberly Del Greco helps run the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. She calls it a perfect storm of time limits and insufficient data and resources.

About 500 FBI agents have just three days to verify information that keeps guns from criminals, the mentally ill and people with restraining orders. Otherwise, the sale goes through. About 512 gun sales a day effectively beat the system in 2013.