RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is focusing a spotlight on an online tool that flagged a “mystery hemorrhagic fever” in the region several days before the World Health Organization formally announced the epidemic.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a pedestrian who was struck in a hit-and-run accident along a Kansas City highway.

KMBC-TV reports that the accident occurred early Saturday on U.S. 71. Witnesses told police the man was running in and out of traffic when he was hit by a vehicle that left the scene.

TIPTON FORD, Mo. (AP) — A group of southwest Missouri residents has dedicated a stone marker commemorating the spot where a 1914 train crash killed 43

people.

The accident occurred when Missouri and North Arkansas Train No. 209, which was actually a gasoline-powered vehicle similar to a street car, collided with a freight train on a Kansas City Southern line near Tipton Ford, an incorporated area in Newton County.

“The gasoline exploded,” said Larry James, a historian who works with the Shoal Creek Historic Preservation organization. “The doors were hit so hard in the collision they couldn’t get them open. They hit head-on.”

A couple dozen residents gathered at the site Tuesday to dedicate a stone marker commemorating the accident. The tragedy, which killed several African-Americans leaving an Emancipation Day celebration in Joplin, stunned the community. Two days after the accident, more than 5,000 people attended a mass funeral in Neosho.

“It gives me closure,” said Carolyn Hutchinson-Payton, whose grandparents lost a son and a daughter in the accident. “I feel relief going to this stone, and I think the souls of my grandparents feel relief today now that there is some closure.”

McCUNE, Kan. (AP) — An elementary school in southeast Kansas that was closed in May after a year of controversy is still the subject of debate between groups discussing its future.

The McCune school, part of the Southeast School District based in Cherokee, was closed in May, despite protests from several area residents.

The Joplin Globe reports the Southeast School Board asked the city of McCune in April if it could use the building. City officials say they want full ownership of the building. But the school district said in a statement Thursday that it wants to lease the building to the city.

Superintendent Glenn Fortmayer says the district’s attorneys recommended the lease agreement to protect the district from having the building used by another school district.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A 27-year-old Lawrence woman has been sentenced to about five years in prison for the stabbing death of her boyfriend.

Marci Deshayna Cully pleaded no contest in June to voluntary manslaughter in the Christmas 2013 stabbing death of 33-year-old Wayne Francisco.

During a preliminary hearing, investigators testified that Cully told them she stabbed Francisco twice after he threatened her and threw a chair at her and tried to swing it again.

Cully was sentenced Friday.

In addition to the 59-month prison sentence, Cully also has to pay Francisco’s family about $3,500 for his burial expenses. She’ll also have to register as a violent offender for 15 years after she’s released from prison.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two residents of a Topeka care facility were prevented from voting in the Tuesday primary election by a poll worker who didn’t understand the state’s voter identification law.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Secretary of State Kris Kobach confirmed Thursday that some elderly residents of Brewster Place showed up to a polling place without I.D.s and were turned away without being issued provisional ballots, as required by law.

Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell says three voters were affected and one was later able to vote. He has apologized to the other two and says the error was attributed to a poll worker.

Kobach spearheaded the ID law and a proof-of-citizenship requirement to register, saying the measures prevent voter impersonation and protect the state from “alien” voters.

MARGERY A. BECK, Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Same-sex marriage bans across the country are falling while some Nebraska officials are holding strong to the state’s status of having one of the nation’s most restrictive laws.

Nebraska voters passed a state constitutional amendment in 2000 banning same-sex marriages, civil unions or even legalized domestic partnerships. It has withstood all legal challenges.

Sue Stroesser, a Nebraska native who recently moved back, learned how far-reaching the ban is when she was denied a Nebraska driver’s license in her married name. Officials wouldn’t accept her Iowa marriage license to another woman.

Amanda Bergeron-Bauer lives with the fear that should anything happen to her, her 5-year-old son could be taken from her wife, who is not recognized by Nebraska as a parent.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Attorneys general from more than two dozen states want federal regulators to impose restrictions on electronic cigarettes, including a ban on the more than 7,000 flavors now available.

In a letter Friday to the Food and Drug Administration, they say limits on advertising and prohibiting flavors besides tobacco and menthol will help protect minors.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says that while they contain no tobacco, e-cigarettes have all the same addictive qualities as regular cigarettes.

In April, the federal agency proposed treating e-cigarettes as tobacco products, putting them under its regulatory control.

Cigarette maker Altria says the FDA should determine appropriate product standards and marketing restrictions based on science and evidence, respect adult consumer preferences and not automatically apply cigarette restrictions to e-vapor products.

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — A 19-year-old rural Columbus man has been charged in the shooting death of a 20-year-old man.

The Parsons Sun reports that Cherokee County authorities have charged Skyler C. Gurnee with one count of premeditated first-degree murder in the death of William “Joey” Stephens.

Sheriff’s deputies found Stephens’ body Monday morning in Hallowell. Deputies also found Gurnee several blocks away suffering from severe injuries that the sheriff said were not gunshots.

Gurnee was hospitalized until Tuesday is now being held without bond in the Cherokee County Jail. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.