KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A California-based real estate research company says new foreclosure cases in Kansas and Missouri declined sharply in the third quarter from year-ago levels while rising slightly nationwide.

RealtyTrac reports the number of default notices, auctions and bank repossessions fell 31 percent in Kansas during the July to September period, while they plummeted 45.5 percent in Missouri during that same period.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1wNABbc ) reports foreclosures nationwide climbed .42 percent in the third quarter, which is the first quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2011. But they dropped 16 percent in September.

The states with the highest foreclosure rates in the third quarter were Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada and Illinois.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City-area high school student has been charged with possessing child pornography after authorities say he downloaded images onto his school-issued laptop.

The 17-year-old North Kansas City School district senior is being held at the Clay County Detention Center on $50,000 bond.

Investigators say they found about 40 images of girls ranging from about 5 to 10 years old. The student tells officer he had been downloading the images for about two or three weeks.

The Associated Press doesn’t typically name juveniles accused of crimes.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Gov. Sam Brownback has appointed a veteran Topeka attorney to a seat on the district court that considers challenges to state laws and agency actions.

Brownback announced Thursday that Teresa Watson will succeed Shawnee County District Judge Jean Schmidt, who recently retired.

Watson is an attorney in private practice who received her law degree from Washburn University in Topeka in 1994. She has also worked as a research attorney for both the Kansas Supreme Court and the state Court of Appeals.

Brownback cited her experience in private practice and with the state.

The district court in Shawnee County has a higher profile than others because it is in the capital city and reviews questions about the constitutionality of laws or the legality of state agency actions.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Promoting peace in part of the African nation of Uganda will the focus of a one-day conference at Johnson County Community College next month.

The gathering takes place Nov. 1 with the director of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Missouri’s Park University giving the keynote speech.

The center supports something it describes as peace journalism and says choices about how stories are framed can improve the prospects for peace.

Breakout sessions will feature presentations from groups that include the Medical Missions Foundation. The conference will be geared toward students and others who are interested in international relations, journalism, providing health care in the developing world, social justice and peace/conflict studies.

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. (AP) — Madison County says a sheriff’s deputy has been fired and charged with stealing $40,000 from a woman while off duty.

Sheriff Robert Spain says 31-year-old Eric Smith was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony stealing on Thursday. He says Smith is no longer employed by the department.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Smith has an attorney.

BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key arts panel has approved a revised design for a memorial to honor President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, which could clear the way for groundbreaking.

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts voted Thursday to approve Frank Gehry’s design. A federal planning agency also recently approved the design.

The Eisenhower Memorial Commission that’s working to build the $140 million project says the approvals clear the way for groundbreaking in 2015.

Congress must still fund the project, however. So far, $63 million has been appropriated. The memorial group has $25 million of that on hand. But critics, including Eisenhower’s family, have delayed the project.

Gehry designed a memorial park with statues of Eisenhower. A large metal tapestry depicting the Kansas landscape of his boyhood home would serve as the backdrop.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new survey suggests slower economic growth ahead in rural areas of 10 states in the Plains and the West.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said Thursday falling grain prices and weak global growth are weighing down the economy in rural areas.

The overall economic index for the region fell to 43.4 in October from September’s already negative 48.2. The index has been steadily falling since June 2013 when it hit 60.5.

The survey indexes range from 0 to 100. Any score below 50 suggests decline in the months ahead.

Bankers from rural areas of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri man has joined his brother in pleading guilty to a conspiracy to distribute more than $1.2 million worth of synthetic marijuana.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 32-year-old Eric Scott Reynolds, of Lebanon, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to commit mail fraud and money laundering. His brother, 35-year-old Stephen Brian Reynolds, of Eldridge, admitted the same charges in August.

Stephen Reynolds owns a Lebanon store called Lucky’s Novelties, where his brother also works.

Prosecutors said that from March 2011 until they were charged in December 2012, they distributed about 373 kilograms of synthetic marijuana from the store.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Long before he was a U.S. Senate candidate in Kansas, Greg Orman was a young businessman in Minnesota with a bright idea.

As a recent college graduate, Orman founded Environmental Lighting Concepts in 1992. The company updated older buildings with more energy efficient lighting fixtures — often with an enticement of rebates from utility companies.

The lighting company is where Orman first tested the business acumen that he now touts in his campaign as an independent challenger to Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. It’s where Orman began building his wealth. And it’s where he started a pattern of developing, expanding and then selling businesses after they became profitable.

Those who worked with Orman at his first business describe a man who seemed driven to succeed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is authorizing the Pentagon to call up reserve and National Guard troops if they are needed to assist in the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The U.S. has already committed to sending up to 4,000 military personnel to West Africa to provide logistics and help build treatment units to confront the rapidly spreading and deadly virus.

Obama signed an executive order Thursday that permits the Pentagon to use the reservists and Guard troops.

Obama also notified top congressional officials of his move.

Nearly 4,500 people have died from the Ebola outbreak, most of them in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The White House has said the troops will not be providing direct health care aid.