DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler is recalling up to 792,300 older Jeep SUVs worldwide because the ignition switches could cause engine stalling.

Tuesday’s recall covers 2005-2007 Grand Cherokees and 2006-2007 Commanders.

Chrysler says it’s not sure exactly how many will be recalled. The company says an outside force such as a driver’s knee can knock switches out of the “run” position, shutting off the engine. This disables power-assisted steering and braking and the front air bags might not inflate.

Engineers are working on a fix. Chrysler says it knows of no injuries and only one accident. The company says only a few complaints have been filed. Owners should keep clearance between their knees and keys until repairs are made.

The recall comes as U.S. safety regulators investigate ignition switch problems across the auto industry.

 

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A 62-year-old Kansas City woman serving five years in prison for trying to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband has died behind bars of apparent natural causes.

Chillicothe Correctional Center announced Tuesday that inmate Dorothy Cascone died Monday night at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Jefferson City.

Cascone pleaded guilty in March 2011 to second-degree assault in the unsuccessful attempt to do away with George Cascone. Prosecutors said she bought life insurance on her ex-husband even though they had been divorced about 11 years.

Court records indicate she asked a man to shoot her ex-husband while he was sleeping late July 4 or early July 5, 2010, because fireworks and other guns would be going off. The plan fell apart when the man contacted federal investigators.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs is vowing to crack down on whistleblower retaliation after a private government watchdog released a critical report on the agency’s treatment of employees who brought internal problems to light.

Sloan Gibson spoke Tuesday in St. Louis during the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The former bank executive took over the VA in late May following the resignation of Eric Shinseki amid an uproar over treatment delays and falsified records at VA hospitals and clinics nationwide.

Gibson said the agency is “not going to tolerate” an environment in which workers are afraid to speak out about problems.

The Project for Government Oversight says it received complaints from nearly 800 current and former VA workers and veterans about possible wrongdoing.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Kansas City schools will remain unaccredited for a while longer as students prepare for a new school year that starts next month.

The school district had offered to drop a lawsuit challenging its unaccredited status if Missouri education officials would grant it temporary provisional accreditation for the school year starting Aug. 11.

But the State Board of Education decided to take no action Tuesday on the request. The education department said there isn’t enough data available yet to determine if the district has earned provisional accreditation.

The label matters because districts that are unaccredited must pay the costs of students who choose to transfer to other nearby schools.

Kansas City school officials say just 24 of their nearly 16,000 students applied to transfer during the upcoming school year.

On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran visited with Gretchen Carlson on Fox News Channel about the need for the Senate and House to come together and pass a Veterans Bill before August recess. Additionally, Sen. Moran discussed the lack of leadership shown by President Obama on the world stage including the tragedy of the Ukraine of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and next steps toward finding answers.

 

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford says its aluminum-sided F-150 pickup will hold its own against rivals despite its lighter weight.

The company revealed details of the new truck Tuesday. The 2015 F-150 4×4 goes on sale this fall and is 732 pounds lighter than the outgoing model.

Ford’s base truck with a 3.5-liter V6 engine will get 283 horsepower, similar to a Chevrolet Silverado but lower than a Ram. But Ford says its 7,600 pounds of towing capacity will top both rivals.

An F-150 with Ford’s new 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 engine will get 325 horsepower — more than a Ram EcoDiesel — and can tow 8,400 pounds. The company expects half of its buyers to choose one of its two fuel-saving EcoBoost engines.

Ford will release fuel economy and pricing later this year.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s opponent in the Republican primary predicts that a “dual” voting system for helping Kansas enforce a proof-of-citizenship rule will confuse voters and suppress turnout.

Challenger Scott Morgan’s criticism of the Kobach-designed system Tuesday came a day after the secretary of state’s office began mailing notices to dozens of voters about it. The voters registered using a national form without providing proof of their U.S. citizenship to election officials.

Kobach advised counties last month to set aside such voters’ ballots and count only their votes in congressional races in the Aug. 5 election.

Morgan called the policy baffling.

But Kobach dismissed the criticism, saying maybe Morgan is confused.

Most Kansas residents use a state registration form requiring them to produce citizenship papers for election officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s another legal battle involving President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Two federal appeals courts today have issued contradictor rulings  on a key financing issue. The rulings came within hours of each other.

A divided court panel in Washington called into question the subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people pay their premiums. The court said financial aid can only be paid in states that have set up their own insurance exchanges.

But in Virginia, another appeals panel unanimously came to the opposite conclusion. That court said the IRS had correctly interpreted the will of Congress when it issued regulations allowing consumers nationwide to purchase subsidized coverage.

The White House says policyholders will keep getting financial aid as the administration sorts out the legal implications.

Both cases are part of a long-running political and legal campaign to overturn the health care law.

 

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has delivered a serious setback to President Barack Obama’s health care law, potentially derailing subsidies for many low- and middle-income people who have bought policies.

If upheld, the decision could mean premium increases for more than half of the 8 million Americans who purchased taxpayer-subsidized insurance under the law.

It affects consumers who purchased their coverage through the federal insurance marketplace — or exchange— that serves 36 states.

A three-judge panel in Washington ruled 2-1 that the law, as written, only allows insurance subsidies in states that have set up their own exchanges. That invalidated an Internal Revenue Service regulation that allowed subsidies in all 50 states.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Chinese woman charged as part of what federal prosecutors say was a conspiracy to steal trade secrets from U.S. seed corn companies is free on bond.

A federal judge says the case against Mo Yun is weak and there are no reasons to hold her until the Dec. 1 trial as prosecutors had requested.

Judge Robert Pratt said in an order filed Monday that Mo must post $250,000 bond, wear a GPS monitor and remain under home confinement between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Mo can’t travel to China to see her children, but may be allowed to go to California to see them under supervision.

She was arrested July 1 in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors say she helped others employed by her husband’s company take seed from Midwest cornfields.