JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An initiative proposing a new teacher evaluation method has won approval to appear on the November ballot in Missouri.

The secretary of state’s office confirmed Tuesday that supporters had gathered enough petition signatures of registered voters to qualify the proposed constitutional amendment for the fall election.

The proposal would limit tenure protections for public school staff and require them to be evaluated largely on student achievement.

A campaign group supporting the measure said Tuesday that it would reward good teachers and support struggling ones.

The measure is opposed by a coalition of public school teachers and officials who contend it could lead to costly standardized tests across the state.

The proposal will appear on the ballot as Constitutional Amendment 3.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former top aide to Gov. Sam Brownback is among three finalists for a vacant seat on the Kansas Supreme Court.

A special nominating commission on Tuesday chose Court of Appeals Judges Caleb Stegall and Karen Arnold-Burger and state District Judge Merlin Wheeler from 13 applicants for the high court. Brownback has 60 days to appoint one of them to replace Justice Nancy Moritz, who left to join the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stegall was Brownback’s chief counsel until the governor appointed him to the state Court of Appeals in January 2014. Arnold-Burger has served on that court since 2011.

Wheeler is chief judge of the 5th Judicial Circuit, made up of Lyon and Chase counties.

Brownback’s appointee to the Supreme Court will require confirmation by the state Senate.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says a recent $500,000 loan from Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer to their re-election campaign has not been repaid yet.

The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday, “Nothing further’s happened on that.”

Colyer made two loans of $500,000 to the campaign within eight months, and finance reports show that the first one was repaid within days.

Such large loans by candidates to campaigns are uncommon in Kansas, and repaying one within days is a highly unusual move that generated questions about the two Republicans’ motives.

But Brownback faces a tougher-than-expected fall campaign against Democratic challenger Paul Davis.

Finance reports show that Colyer loaned the re-election campaign $500,000 on Dec. 31 and was repaid on Jan 2. He loaned the campaign $500,000 again in July 23.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Springfield officials say an investigation is underway after firefighters found a woman’s body in the back yard of a home in north Springfield.

Firefighters were sent to the home Monday after receiving a report of a fire outside the house. They found the 30-year-old woman’s body in the yard.

City spokeswoman Cara Erwin said in a news release Tuesday that the victim was Ashli Hilton. She died in a fire-related incident but further details were not released.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday to determine the cause of death.

AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — Challenges to same-sex marriage bans in four states will be argued this week in Cincinnati, the biggest day yet in a slew of upcoming cases going before federal appeals judges covering nearly half the United States.

ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say a U.S. two-star general was killed in an apparent insider attack by a member of the Afghan security forces.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the information by name ahead of an official announcement.

The attacker wounded approximately 15 people, of which roughly half were Americans, one official said.

A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on foreign troops at Camp Qargha, a base west of the capital, Kabul. Among the wounded was a German brigadier general.

Gen. Mohammmad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, said a “terrorist in an army uniform” opened fire on both local and international troops. Azimi said the shooter had been killed.

JIM SUHR, Associated Press

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to intervene in the scheduled Missouri execution of an Illinois man condemned to death in the 1995 killing of a suburban St. Louis college student.

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) — A Rolla man was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole after pleading guilty in the fatal shooting of a Phelps County man.

Sixty-one-year-old David Earl Lundin pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Monday, when his trial was scheduled to start. Several lesser felony charges were dropped. Phelps County Prosecutor John Beger said in a news release that he intended to seek the death penalty if Lundin had not pleaded guilty.

The Rolla Daily News reports  Lundin shot 57-year-old Richard Finnell in March at a home just outside Rolla. He led officers from several agencies on a three-hour manhunt before he was arrested.

Court records indicated that Lundin was waiting for Finnell and a friend when they returned to the house. After a confrontation, Lundin shot Finnell.

COLUMBUS, Kan. (AP) — Cherokee County authorities say a suspect was hospitalized and is expected to be charged in the fatal shooting of a southeast Kansas man.

Sheriff David Groves says 20-year-old William J. Stephens was found shot to death Monday at his home nine miles west of Columbus.

Deputies located a 19-year-old man from rural Columbus several blocks away who was suffering from severe injuries that the sheriff said were not gunshots.

The Joplin Globe reports the suspect was hospitalized and placed under arrest.

Groves says Stephens and the suspect had a dispute before the shooting. The investigation is continuing.