JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Colorado man has pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking caviar from paddlefish that were caught in western Missouri.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 49-year-old Felix Baravik, of Aurora, Colorado, entered the guilty plea Tuesday.

A pregnant paddlefish can have about 20 pounds of eggs and those eggs can be sold for as much as $35 an ounce.

Paddlefish can be legally fished in Missouri, but the daily catch limit is two. Missouri law prohibits the transportation of paddlefish eggs that have been removed from a paddlefish carcass and also outlaws their sale, purchase, or the offer of sale or purchase of paddlefish eggs.

Under the terms of Baravik’s plea agreement, the government agreed to recommend a sentence of three years of probation and a $5,000 fine.

JIM SUHR, Associated Press

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is meeting with college students as part of his trip to Missouri stemming from a white police officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old.

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JIM SUHR, Associated Press

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has arrived in Missouri to meet with the FBI and other officials carrying out an independent federal investigation into 18-year-old Michael Brown’s shooting death.

Holder arrived in St. Louis shortly before 11 a.m. CST Wednesday and was expected to head to nearby Ferguson. He was accompanied by several Justice Department officials, including members of its Civil Rights division.

A white police officer shot Brown on Aug. 9, setting off nightly clashes between police and protesters in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

A small group of protesters on Wednesday gathered outside the building where a grand jury could begin hearing evidence to determine whether the police officer should be charged in Brown’s death.

Holder has promised a thorough federal investigation.

BLUE SPRINGS (AP) – The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating after a man was struck and killed on the Interstate 70 in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs.

The patrol says the man was hit in the westbound lanes of the highway about 6 a.m. Tuesday. He apparently was trying to cross the highway when he was hit by several vehicles.

Investigators said the man was possibly on his way home from work when he was hit. His name has not been released.

WDAF TV reports one of the drivers who hit the man said he was unable to avoid the impact. Charles Williams stayed on the scene and spoke with police. He says he is extremely distressed to be one of the drivers who hit the man’s body.

COLUMBIA (AP) – The University of Missouri Board of Curators has extended president Tim Wolfe’s contract through June 30, 2018.

The extension announced Wednesday was effective July 1 and replaces a contract that was to end Feb. 15.

Board Chairman Don Downing said in a news release that enrollment and donations have substantially increased since Wolfe became system president in February 2012.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that spokesman John Fougere said Wolfe’s base salary has not changed from $459,000 during the 2013-14 school year. He receives $100,000 in incentive pay, based equally on performance and longevity.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say they have indicted a Derby man who created dozens of false identities so he could buy discounted DVD and Blue-ray movies and then resell them.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that 45-year-old Harvey C. Self is charged with nine counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and two counts of tax fraud.

No attorney was listed for him in court records.

The government alleges Self used the bogus identities to join the Disney Movie Club and Columbia House DVD Club, then resold the movies on eBay and Amazon. Postal inspectors identified 28 different mailing addresses used in the scheme at post offices or commercial carrier boxes in 15  Kansas communities.

Investigators seized 2,833 DVDs and Blu-ray discs from his home.

 

MCCUNE, Kan. (AP) — A controversy over the future of a closed school in southeast Kansas continues to brew.

The Southeast School District is offering to lease a former elementary school in McCune to the city for $1 a year.

But some city officials say the building already belongs to taxpayers and they want the city to have unrestricted ownership of the building.

The school has been the center of controversy since the district, which is based in Clearwater, voted to close the McCune Attendance Center in May, despite strong opposition from residents.

The Joplin Globe reports the district is reluctant to transfer ownership of the building to the city because some McCune residents want to ask another school district to reopen it as an elementary school.

 

PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate control could lie in the hands of female candidates and the deep-pocketed donors — like former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who send them cash.

So far this election cycle, donors have handed over $46 million to a collection of political committees and candidates linked to Emily’s List. That group and its affiliates back female contenders who support abortion rights.

The Emily’s List network raises more than most other outside groups, including the GOP-backing American Crossroads and the Club for Growth. In July, billionaire Bloomberg wrote a $2 million check to Emily’s List’s super PAC.

Republicans need to pick up six seats in the Senate to grab control. Female lawmakers and candidates could decide the climate for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s time in office.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -€” A Kansas City, Kansas, man was sentenced to more than 22 years and five months in prison for second-degree murder and other crimes arising from a fatal accident while he was fleeing from police.

Twenty-nine-year-old Christopher Bradley Stewart was sentenced Monday for the February traffic crash. He was fleeing from police when his car hit one driven by 62-year-old Graciela Olivas, who was killed.

Stewart pleaded guilty in July to second-degree murder and eluding a police officer. He also pleaded guilty to a previous drug possession case. He was wanted for skipping sentencing in that case at the time he killed Olivas.

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) — Former President George W. Bush took the ice bucket challenge then nominated former President Bill Clinton to do it next.

The challenge has caught on with notable figures participating in the campaign to raise money for the fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

In a video posted Wednesday on Bush’s Facebook page, he says: “To you all who challenged me, I do not think it’s presidential for me to be splashed with ice water, so I’m simply going to write you a check.”

The video, taken in Kennebunkport, Maine, then shows a smiling Laura Bush dousing him. She says: “That check is from me — I didn’t want to ruin my hairstyle.”

Also in Maine this week, author Stephen King took the challenge, and then challenged John Grisham.