KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City officials say a dog has been abused so severely that its eyes had to be surgically removed.

The Kansas City Star reports that a municipal citation was issued to the person accused of abusing the Tibetan spaniel, but the dog owner’s name wasn’t immediately available. A city spokesman said Friday that the case also is being referred to the Jackson County prosecutor’s office.

KC Pet Project manages the city’s animal shelter and said Friday that the dog is doing well at a foster home “and is on his way to healing from his injuries.”

Kansas City Animal Control rescued the dog, named Roadrunner, last weekend. A witness reported that the dog’s owner had beaten, strangled and thrown the animal from the third-story of an apartment building.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Springfield police are investigating a triple homicide at a motel where transients and struggling families often stay.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that officers were summoned Saturday morning to the Economy Inn.

Springfield Police Lt. Culley Wilson says three people were pronounced dead at the scene, and a man was taken by ambulance to a hospital with a serious injury.

When initial details about the investigation were released shortly before noon, Wilson said officers were still trying to identify the victims and figure out how they knew each other. He says all the victims appear to be adults, and there is no evidence that children were staying in the hotel room.

Officers have not released any suspect information.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Jackson County judge has ordered five years of probation for the last two defendants in the 2010 shooting death of a Kansas City businessman.

The Kansas City Star reports that Michael Dear and Joel Thomas apologized Friday for their roles in the shooting death of 49-year-old Michael Tutera, during a robbery of his home south of the Country Club Plaza.

As part of their sentence, they were ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. They will go to prison if they violate the terms of their probation.

Initially, prosecutors charged Dear and Thomas with second-degree murder. Prosecutors said they made statements regarding their roles in exchange for being allowed to plead guilty in July to reduced charges of first-degree burglary.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Two people have been arrested in an alleged sexual assault on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus.

Lawrence police said in a news release that a woman told police early Saturday that that two men whom she knew raped her at one of the dormitories on campus. The woman was taken for medical treatment while officers tracked down the two suspects.

The release says officers interviewed the suspects before taking them to the Douglas County Jail. Police plan to turn over their investigative reports to prosecutors so a decision on whether to file charges against the suspects can be made.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — BOISE, Idaho — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.’s new genetically modified potato. But one of the company’s oldest business partners — McDonald’s — hasn’t.

The Idaho Statesman reports  that the fast-food giant says it doesn’t use genetically modified potatoes and has no plans to change that policy.

The USDA this month gave Boise-based J.R. Simplot Co. permission to begin commercial planting of its new spud, called the “Innate” potato. The company altered the potato’s DNA so it produces less acrylamide, which is suspected to be a human carcinogen. Potatoes naturally produce the chemical when they’re cooked at high temperatures.

The potato is also engineered to resist bruising.

Simplot is a major supplier of french fries, hash browns and other potato products for restaurant chains like McDonald’s.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kansas City, Kansas, police say officers have recovered a vehicle that they think was involved in a drive-by shooting that killed a 10-year-old girl.

Maj. Vince Davenport says police are “making progress” investigating last month’s killing of Machole J. Stewart. The Kansas City Star reported that detectives investigating Machole’s death are being aided by agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Davenport says the outside agencies are providing “technical services.”

Machole was inside her family’s home when the occupants of a passing vehicle fired shots into the dwelling.

Her death came a little more than a week after a 6-year-old Angel Marie Hooper was shot to death at a convenience store in Kansas City, Missouri. Two men have been charged in Angel’s killing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — AT&T, the nation’s second-largest cellular provider, says it’s no longer attaching Internet tracking codes to data transmitted from its users’ smartphones.

The hidden string of letters and numbers can be used to track subscribers across the Internet and are passed along to websites that a consumer visits. They provide a lucrative data-mining opportunity for advertisers.

AT&T says the tracker was part of a testing project that’s been phased off of its network.

Verizon Wireless says it still uses this type of tracking, known as “super cookies.” However, the country’s largest mobile firm says it’s “evaluating” its continued use of the tracking codes.

While the codes don’t explicitly contain personal information, they’re unique and are sent to websites alongside personal details that a user may submit voluntarily — like a name or a phone number.

Jacob Hoffman-Andrews with the Electronic Frontier Foundation likens the code to “a license plate for your brain.”