BEATTIE, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas farm cooperative has been fined $65,900 after a worker lost the toes on his left foot when he became entangled in an auger.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Tuesday that the employee of the Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative was injured in August 2014 while he was cleaning out a grain bin near Waterville. It said locking devices were not placed on the augers to prevent them from turning on while workers were in the bin.

OSHA said in a news release that it found one willful, one repeated and three serious safety and health violations at the operation. The employee has not been able to return to work.

Representatives for the cooperative did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

OZARK, Mo. (AP) — A southwestern Missouri man has been charged with four counts of murder in the killing of three people, including a pregnant woman and her fetus.

Twenty-five-year-old Brian Williams of Sparta appeared in court Tuesday and was jailed without bond on four counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Investigators allege in a probable cause statement that Williams shot 27-year-old James Marsh; Marsh’s pregnant girlfriend, 26-year-old Casey Maples; and 40-year-old Christina Winden at a mobile home in Ozark, Missouri. Williams also is accused of killing Maples’ unborn child that a pathologist says was 7 or 8 weeks old.

Authorities haven’t revealed a motive. The probable-cause statement says Williams told investigators he had no remorse about killing Maples.

Court records don’t list an attorney for Williams to comment on the charges.

INDEPENDENCE (AP) – A new statue has been chosen to replace the Pioneer Woman Statue that was stolen and destroyed from an Independence museum.

Dave Aamodt, curator of the National Frontier Trails Museum told the Independence City Council that the $40,000 needed for the new statue will be covered entirely by donations and funds from the Truman-Heartland Foundation.

It will replace a life-size Pioneer Woman bronze statue that was stolen from in front of the museum in June 2013. The thieves destroyed the statue and tried to sell the parts for scrap. Two people were sentenced to prison and one was placed on probation for the crime.

The Independence Examiner reported the city hopes to receive the new statue in May.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Cerner Corp. is offering voluntary separation packages to employees whose combination of years of service and age total 65.

The Kansas City Star reports eligible workers will have a month to decide to take the buyouts.

Cerner spokesman Dan Smith says the offer will not affect the company’s hiring and growth plans. The company has 21,000 employees and has said it plans to add tens of thousands of workers in the next 10 years.

Smith says the company does not have a predetermined number of buyouts and the program is completely voluntary. He says it was prompted in part by Cerner’s acquisition of Siemens Health Services, which caused some overlap in jobs.

Smith says the program will not include involuntary separations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says Nebraska should pay $3.7 million in damages to Kansas in a long-running legal dispute over use of water from the Republican River.

The justices on Tuesday also agreed with the recommendations of a special master who found that Nebraska should pay $1.8 million on top of actual damages for using more than its legal share of the river’s water in 2005 and 2006.

The dispute centers on a 1943 compact allocating 49 percent of the river’s water to Nebraska, 40 percent to Kansas and 11 percent to Colorado.

Since 1999, Kansas has complained that Nebraska uses more than its fair share of water from the river, which originates in Colorado and runs mostly through Nebraska before ending in Kansas.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the trial of a man accused of killing a Columbia art dealer in exchange for $10,000, a car and a gun.

The Columbia Daily Tribune  reports 14 jurors will be selected from a pool of 120 candidates to hear the case against 26-year-old Casey D. Lewis of Shawnee, Oklahoma. He’s charged with first-degree murder in the 2013 shooting death of Brian Daniels.

James Thompson was a caretaker for the disabled victim, who had won a nearly $5 million settlement after he was badly injured in a 2005 apartment fire.

Police say Thompson hired Lewis to shoot Daniels, so he could inherit Daniels’ estate. Thompson was accused of forging Daniels’ will and has been convicted of murder.

It wasn’t immediately known who is representing Lewis.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling about 67,000 Cadillac ATS compact sports sedans to fix a problem with the power sunroof controls.

The recall affects cars from the 2013 through 2015 model years. GM says the sunroofs can automatically close if the non-recessed switches are even partly touched. The recall is being done because the switches can be activated with less force than allowed under federal safety standards.

GM found the problem in testing a 2016 model in January. The company says it knows of no crashes or injuries. Repairs were made at the factory and dealers have been told to stop selling cars on their lots until they are fixed.

Dealers will replace a switch trim plate to fix the cars, which mainly were sold in the U.S. and Canada.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) —Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald is apologizing for misstating that he served in the military’s special forces.

McDonald made the erroneous claim while speaking to a homeless veteran during a segment that aired last month on “CBS Evening News.”

McDonald now says “that was inaccurate.”

The secretary apologized in a statement Monday “to anyone that was offended” by his mistaken claim that he was a special forces member. He says he remains committed “to the ongoing effort to reform VA.”

The VA website says McDonald is an Army veteran who completed Ranger training and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal when he left the military. President Barack Obama chose the former Procter & Gamble CEO to take over the scandal-plagued VA last year, and McDonald took office last July.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A measure to limit the lifetime cap for welfare benefits to four years has Missouri Senate approval.

Senators on Monday voted 25-8 in favor of the legislation, which would cut a year off the current limit of five years.

The bill would affect recipients of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which gives money each month to low-income families.

The legislation also would eventually cut access to benefits if parents don’t look for work or participate in other work-related activities. Department of Social Services workers would be required to meet with those at risk of falling out of compliance.

Lawmakers voted close to party lines, and Sen. Jason Holsman of Kansas City was the only Democrat voting for the bill.

The bill now heads to the House.