TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators appear to be embracing a compromise proposal for rewriting the rules for collective bargaining between teachers’ unions and local school boards.

The House and Senate pass separate bills Thursday that have the support of teachers’ unions and school board and administrator associations. They reflect a compromise among the groups in January.

The House voted 109-14 to pass its bill, while the Senate voted 40-0 for its measure.

State law currently compels the two sides to bargain on 31 issues each negotiations cycle.

The House bill would require them to discuss only salary and work hours, but would allow each side to make five other issues mandatory topics.

The Senate bill would allow three mandatory topics in addition to salary and hours.

TROY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has reduced the bond for four people accused of staging a kidnapping of a 6-year-old boy.

Each of the defendants had been ordered jailed on $250,000 cash-only bond. But KMOV-TV  reports a Lincoln County judge on Thursday pared bonds for three of them to $100,000, while the fourth defendant had her bond reduced to $50,000 because of health considerations.

Police say the boy’s mother planned the ruse earlier this month to scare the boy because they believed he was too nice to people and wanted to teach him about possible danger from strangers.

The mother’s next court appearance is scheduled for next month. The co-defendants are to next be in court in April.

The Associated Press is not naming the defendants in order to protect the child’s identity.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In a story Feb. 18 about a Missouri state board authorizing a bond sale to pay for a University of Missouri building renovation, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the project would make space for another 3,300 students. The university estimates that the renovated building would be able to accommodate 3,300 students, total.
A corrected version of the story is below:
A Missouri state board has approved the public sale of $38.5 million in bonds to pay to renovate a University of Missouri-Columbia hall.
The Board of Public Buildings voted Tuesday in favor of selling the bonds for Lafferre Hall in the university’s engineering college.
Planned renovations include repairs to portions of the hall built decades ago and adding lab space.
Renovations are scheduled to be completed by December 2016.
The university estimates the renovated building would be able to accommodate 3,300 students and could take care of $15 million in deferred maintenance.
The Missouri Legislature in May approved $200 million in bonding for repairs and renovations to existing college buildings and $400 million for state buildings. Lafferre Hall is the first to get bonding approval.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A Missouri lawmaker is criticizing a suburban Kansas City school district after a student with Asperger’s syndrome was beaten so severely that he was hospitalized.

State Sen. Eric Schmitt said Thursday that the school’s handling of the Feb. 19 attack on 12-year-old Blake Kitchen of Liberty was “inexcusable.” Schmitt said he plans to take the lead in ushering an anti-bullying bill through the state Senate.

A spokeswoman for Children’s Mercy Hospital says the boy spent four days there and was released Monday. Blake’s mother says the boy’s injuries include a cracked skull and a fractured jaw.

Liberty school district superintendent Jeremy Tucker says the situation is under investigation and the district is cooperating with law enforcement. He says the district has policies addressing hazing, bullying and student discipline.

ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to impose strict new regulations on Internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T.

The regulatory agency voted 3-2 Thursday in favor of rules aimed at enforcing what’s called “net neutrality.” That’s the idea that service providers shouldn’t intentionally block or slow web traffic, creating paid fast lanes on the Internet.

The new rules say that any company providing a broadband connection to your home or phone would have to act in the public interest and conduct business in ways that are “just and reasonable.”

Much of industry opposes the regulations, which it says constitutes dangerous government overreach. The rules are expected to trigger lawsuits, which could drag out for several years.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police say the body found last week in a city-owned well has been identified as a 27-year-old woman, though the cause of her death hasn’t been released.

Police say Janina Vasquez’s body was discovered in a 25-foot well near the Missouri River on Feb. 19.

Police said in a news release Thursday that the case still is being investigated, and the local medical examiner hasn’t yet made a ruling as to what caused the death.

The body was found by Kansas City water department workers, but city officials say the body was in a flood-control well and not one relating to drinking water.

EMERY P. DALESIO, AP Business Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission says city-owned broadband companies can expand and compete with commercial Internet providers.

The cities of Wilson, North Carolina, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, asked the FCC for the ruling because state laws have prevented them from expanding.

The cities built networks offering super-fast speeds at low cost when telecommunications companies decided not to expand fast service in their area.

President Barack Obama has supported the expansion of city-owned broadband, saying the laws stifle competition and economic development.

The FCC voted 3-2 on Thursday in Washington to pre-empt state laws limiting the two cities, but the decision could set a precedent for other towns in 19 states that enforce limits. Guggenheim Securities telecom analyst Paul Gallant says cities and towns aren’t big competitors for broadband companies.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – The Missouri Institute of Natural Science will be able to double its size after receiving an anonymous local donation.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that the donation will cover a significant portion of the museum’s expansion, which will cost about $170,000. Bob Lawrie, a museum board member, says that the expansion will include a lower-level bone preparation room where visitors can see fossils being readied for display, an observation deck and a gift shop with fossils for sale.

The expansion will provide room for hundreds of fossils, including the famous “Henry” triceratops.

Recently, a South Dakota fossil collector donated two truckloads of prehistoric fish, crocodiles, mammal skulls and teeth, according to museum director Matt Forir.

The museum is not disclosing the amount of the donation at this time, but Lawrie says they still need donations from the public.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri judge has rejected — for now — a change of venue request for a man charged with shooting a Springfield police officer.

The attorney for 32-year-old Joshua Hagood filed the motion this week, saying pretrial publicity made it impossible of Hagood to receive a fair trial. Hagood was charged with assault of a law enforcement officer and other counts after the shooting in January.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Greene County District Court Judge David Jones denied the change of venue request Tuesday but said he would reconsider it before the trial begins.

Hagood is being held in Greene County Jail without bond.

Officer Aaron Pearson suffered a career-ending brain injury and is being treated at a rehabilitation hospital in Georgia.