ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press
PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Television airwaves were crammed with political ads over the weekend as candidates emptied their wallets for any last ad time.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Missouri’s local election authorities are expecting about 40 percent of registered voters to cast ballots in Tuesday’s elections.

The voter turnout predictions are compiled by the secretary of state’s office from figures submitted by local clerks and election officials. They are based on rolls showing more than 4 million registered voters in Missouri.

The predictions range from a low of about 15 percent in some counties to more than 60 percent in other counties.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Move over Punxsutawney Phil. Missouri has its own way to predict the weather.

Folklore holds that the shape of the seedling inside a persimmon seed can predict upcoming winter conditions.

University of Missouri Extension horticulture specialist Patrick Byers says there’s no research that backs up the folklore. But that didn’t stop him from collecting fruit from persimmon trees in Lawrence, Newton, Webster and McDonald counties.

His evaluation of 102 seeds suggests this coming winter in the Ozarks is going to be colder than average, with below average snowfall and a few warm spells.

Persimmons grow on trees and look like orange tomatoes. The Extension Service says Native Americans taught settlers that the fruit should be left on the trees well into October when it becomes ripe enough to eat.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government allowed police in Ferguson, Missouri, to restrict more than 37 square miles of airspace for nearly two weeks in August for safety reasons. But audio recordings show instead that local authorities wanted to keep news helicopters away during violent street protests.

Amid demonstrations following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, Federal Aviation Administration managers struggled to redefine an earlier flight ban so police helicopters and commercial flights at nearby Lambert-St. Louis International Airport could fly through the area – but not others.

FAA officials say a main reason was to keep the media out. The conversations contradict claims by the St. Louis County police, who said the restrictions had nothing to do with limiting the press.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man found shot inside a Topeka home.

Sheriff Herman Jones tells The Topeka Capital-Journal authorities were working to obtain a search warrant for the home on Sunday night. He says dispatchers received a 911 call on Sunday evening and deputies found the man dead with gunshot wounds.

Jones says authorities are treating the death as suspicious.

It’s unclear how many times he was shot. His identity hasn’t been released.

EL DORADO SPRINGS (AP) – Authorities say a southwest Missouri deputy and a passenger in a fleeing car have been killed in a shootout.

KYTV reports that the chase started just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday when Cedar County Deputy Matthew Chism tried to pull over a driver for having no headlights. The driver sped off and the 25-year-old deputy chased the car through the town of El Dorado Springs.

Missouri Highway Patrol Spokesman Jason Pace says a foot chase ensued when a passenger in the fleeing car jumped out. Gunfire erupted, killing Chism and the 28-year-old passenger, identified as William A. Collins of El Dorado Springs. The driver, also 28, was arrested at a nearby home, but his name wasn’t immediately released.

The Cedar County sheriff asked the patrol to lead the investigation.

EUDORA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say two 16-year-old boys who were struck by a train in northeast Kansas had been hanging out on a railroad bridge.

The Lawrence Journal-World  reports that the boys were flown Saturday to different Kansas City-area hospitals with serious injuries. Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Steve Lewis said the teens heard the train coming but weren’t able to get out of the way.

All train traffic was stopped while emergency vehicles parked on the tracks near Eudora to attend to the teens. One of the boys was from Lawrence, while the other was from Eudora. Their names weren’t immediately released.

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida couple is on their way to Kansas to mourn their son, a pilot killed in a small plane crash at a flight training facility.

Mark Goldstein died Thursday when his twin-engine plane crashed just after takeoff at the Flight Safety International Learning Center at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. Three people inside a flight simulator when the plane crashed also died.

Ingrid and Don Goldstein of Ocala were driving to Kansas this weekend. Ingrid Goldstein told the Ocala Star-Banner that her 53-year-old son was a gifted and decorated pilot and air traffic controller.

She said her son was, “the kindest, nicest man.”

The National Transportation Safety Board says Mark Goldstein worked as an air traffic controller for 24 years at the Wichita control tower before retiring this year.