LIBERTY, Mo. (AP) — A northwest Missouri man was convicted of killing his wife and injuring another woman.

A jury on Wednesday recommended that 46-year-old Ervin D. Carroll be sentenced to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder.

The Kansas City Star reports the friend told police that Ervin Carroll had told his wife to leave their home. She said when he approached the women with a 10-gauge shotgun, Linda Carroll tried to push the barrel away and the gun went off.

Carroll also was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, second-degree assault and armed criminal action.

PHOENIX (AP) — Two men accused of alcohol-related violations in connection with the fatal fall of an Arizona State University student have pleaded not guilty.

David Siegel and Matthew Farberov appeared Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court in the case of Naomi McClendon.

The 18-year-old woman from Manhattan, Kansas, plunged 10 floors to her death March 30 from an apartment complex near ASU’s campus.

Tempe police say McClendon initially attended an “all-you-can-drink” party thrown by ASU fraternity members and surveillance video shows her stumbling and intoxicated when she entered the residential building.

Siegal and Farberov, both 20, are charged with minor possession of liquor and failing to require identification.

Another defendant, 21-year-old Alex Kraus, faces the same charges but now lives in New Jersey. A judge reset his court appearance for Oct. 16.

McClendon was a 2013 Manhattan High School graduate. Her parents both were employed at MHS.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Sen. Pat Roberts is trying to bolster his support among GOP and unaffiliated voters in Kansas with a recorded telephone message from former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Roberts’ campaign said the call with Romney’s endorsement was going to 400,000 voters across the state Wednesday.

Roberts is in a tougher-than-expected race for re-election against independent candidate Greg Orman.

Orman is running as a centrist, and his campaign says voters are tired of gridlock in Washington.

Romney was the 2012 Republican nominee against Democratic President Barack Obama.

In the message, Romney calls Roberts a trusted conservative. Romney says Roberts is needed in Washington to block the agenda of Obama and Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Orman has said voters are interested in solving the nation’s problems, not partisanship.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state commission has approved a plan to allow an extra $3.5 million for Westar Energy for upgrades to a coal plant.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1uJI3mZ ) the Kansas Corporation Commission approved a plan Tuesday for Westar Energy for improvements at the La Cygne power plant.

Westar Energy and Kansas City Power & Light own the plant together and need to make upgrades to comply with federal emissions rules.

Under the agreement, Westar Energy said it wouldn’t ask for a rate increase until March. It means new rates based on the costs of operating the plant won’t be effective until October 2015.

Kansas City Power & Light will file its rate case in January and work on the basis of estimated costs until then.

JOPLIN (AP) – Two men are charged with second-degree murder in the beating and strangling death of a 71-year-old Joplin man.
Joplin police say 21-year-old Anthony Carter and 26-year-old Kristopher Smith, both of the Joplin area, were arrested and charged Wednesday in the death of David McKibben, a treasurer at the First Baptist Church.

McKibben’s body was found in his apartment Saturday. The Joplin Globe reports police said in a news release that the suspects appeared to target McKibben and his death was not a random act of violence.

Some items were taken from McKibben’s home but police would not say if he was killed as part of a robbery or if the items were taken as an afterthought.
Online court records do not show that either suspect has an attorney.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A prominent Washington attorney is part of the effort to get the Democratic nominee off the ballot in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas against Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

A Topeka attorney representing Democratic candidate Chad Taylor filed a request Wednesday with the Kansas Supreme Court, asking it to allow out-of-state attorney Marc Elias to practice before the court.

Elias is a partner in a Washington law firm, and his online biography says his clients include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But a spokesman for the group said he is not representing it in this case.

Taylor petitioned the court Tuesday to force Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to remove him from the ballot after Taylor ended his campaign last week.

The move potentially boosted independent candidate Greg Orman.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following statement after President Obama’s televised address on combating the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS):

“I’m glad to hear President Obama is assembling a strong, international coalition against ISIS and the very real threat these extremists pose. ISIS is a barbaric, inhumane terrorist group with the ability to communicate and travel globally, and our partners and allies around the world must be united in in combating an organization with such reach. But it’s critical that we aim before we shoot, and so I was pleased tonight to hear the President’s strategy to confront the threat of ISIS today and in the future.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), who serves as a member of the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, released the following statement tonight in response to President Barack Obama’s speech on ISIL:

“As the nation prepares to mark the thirteenth anniversary of the deadly terrorist attacks on 9/11, we are reminded that the threat to our nation from terrorist groups like ISIL is still very real, and because of a new base in Syria and Iraq, that threat is potentially even more dangerous today.

“While I believe the president has the authority to respond to this threat under congressional action from 2001, I also believe he could have benefited from coming to Congress with a more specific plan and asking Congress to reaffirm that authority.

“Like the rest of the nation, I will be watching closely for what actions the president ultimately takes. If left unchecked, the danger posed by ISIL could easily produce a significant threat to the United States. This group is not a ‘manageable problem’ as the president described it last week. But instead, it matches his description today of a group that must be defeated. I hope the president’s plan and his resolve can meet the goal of defeating this enemy.”

DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri women seeking abortions will face one of the nation’s most stringent waiting periods, after state lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto to enact a 72-hour delay that has no exception for rape or incest.