SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Springfield police have identified a 1-year-old boy who died after being run over by a vehicle during the weekend.

Police say Michael R. Hudson died Sunday when he was run over in the backyard of the home of his aunt, 36-year-old Nancy Williams.

Police say in a news release that Williams was working on a vehicle and got into a different vehicle to get new parts. When she moved that vehicle, she ran over the child, who was playing nearby.

Police say no arrests have been made, though the investigation is continuing.

JOSH LEDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Barack Obama pleads for calm and understanding in Ferguson, Missouri, he’s struggling to determine what role he can play — if any — as the nation’s first black president in defusing the crisis.

TONGANOXIE, Kan.- Two Kansas men died in a four-vehicle accident just after 6 p.m. on Monday in Leavenworth County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1997 Ford pick driven by Bart H. Kissinger, Oskaloosa, was westbound on Kansas 16 just west of 235th Street in Tonganoxie.

The vehicle crossed left of center striking the trailer of a 2008 Ford pickup driven by Gerald L. Hartshorn, 68, Tonganoxie.

The 1997 Ford truck continued on striking a 2000 Chevy Suburban driven by Brandon L. McKinsey, 39, Tonganoxie, in the eastbound lane.

Debris from the impact of the 1997 Ford and Suburban, then struck a 2007 Chevy Silverado driven by Ronald D. Grover, 59, Bonner Springs, in the eastbound lane.

Kissinger and McKinsey were pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

The KHP reported Kissinger was not wearing a seat belt.

FERGUSON (AP) – Law enforcement said at least two people were shot during Monday night clashes in Ferguson.

Authorities are blaming the violence on “criminals” who are in crowds of peaceful protesters, and they’re asking people who are protesting the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by a white police officer to protest during the day.

Monday night, police used armored vehicles to push back demonstrators. Reports said officers deployed noisemakers, fired tear gas and flash grenades Monday night in an effort to keep protesters moving and not congregating. They said some people in the crowd lobbed Molotov cocktails.

Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri Highway Patrol said some police officers came under heavy gunfire as they prodded demonstrators to keep moving. He also said four officers were injured by rocks or bottles.

The National Guard continues to remain at arm’s length from protest areas in Ferguson.

FERGUSON (AP) – A Getty Images journalist was arrested and released in Ferguson as protests over the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown persisted in the St. Louis suburb.

Photographer Scott Olson said he was “arrested for just doing my job.” As with previous arrests of journalists over the past week, no charges were filed against Olson, who by Monday night was back shooting photos.

The arrest came on the first night that National Guard troops were in place at the emergency request of Gov. Jay Nixon. The crackdown on protesters included a ban on staying in one place, which forced demonstrators to walk up and down the commercial corridor that has become a hub for public gatherings.

Other reporters have also been detained, prompting formal protests by news organizations.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The latest government snapshot says dryland crops in Kansas that missed the recent rain are showing signs of stress.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that precipitation over the past week was limited to the northern half of the state, with totals of less than a half-inch in most areas.

About 15 percent of the Kansas corn crop is rated in poor to very poor condition, with about 30 percent rated fair, 42 percent rated good and 13 percent in excellent condition.

The state’s sorghum crop is rated as 12 percent poor to very poor, 33 percent fair, 46 percent good and 9 percent excellent.

Soybean condition was rated 10 percent poor to very poor, 37 percent fair, 44 percent good and 9 percent excellent.

 

NELIGH, Neb. (AP) — Willie Nelson and Neil Young will headline a concert next month in a Nebraska cornfield organized by opponents of a proposed pipeline that would carry oil from Canada south to the Gulf Coast.

Bold Nebraska said Monday the concert will be held Sept. 27 on a farm near Neligh in northeast Nebraska. Tickets go on sale Wednesday.

Earlier this year, protesters carved an anti-pipeline message into the cornfield, which is in the path of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Pipeline critics hope the project will be rejected because they fear it could contaminate groundwater and contribute to pollution.

TransCanada has said the pipeline will have upgraded safety measures and should be allowed. The company has already built and is operating the southern leg of the pipeline between Oklahoma and Texas.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A former Missouri school superintendent has pleaded not guilty to killing a Springfield couple from whom police said he had requested a large loan.

KOLR-TV reports 53-year-old Mark Porter appeared in court Monday on two counts of first-degree murder.

Porter is accused of fatally shooting 60-year-old Gary Tyrrell and killing his 61-year-old wife, Jan Tyrrell, through blunt force at their Springfield home in May.

Porter was superintendent of the Mountain Grove school district from 2003 to mid-2005, the year in which Gary Tyrrell retired as an administrator.

The two men were described as close friends, but investigators said Gary Tyrrell had recently declined Porter’s request for a $250,000 loan. Police also said Tyrrell was an avid coin collector, and that Porter had sold more than $18,000 in silver coins after the killings.