CLAYTON (AP) – Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon came to St. Louis County Wednesday to launch a broad study of the state’s future energy needs.

The Democratic governor’s remarks to a meeting of Midcontinent Independent Service Operator stakeholders at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Clayton followed an April announcement of a new state Energy Division in the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The new government agency will hold a series of public meetings across the state as it prepares a report on a recommended strategy by the end of May 2015.

The Missouri Public Service Commission made a statement regarding the study.

“A comprehensive energy plan is vitally important for our state. The Missouri Public Service Commission looks forward to working closely with the Division of Energy and all interested stakeholders on the development and crafting of such a plan that will help chart the course for Missouri’s energy future.”

The Energy Division will be led by Public Counsel Lewis Mills, who represents consumer interests before state utility regulators. The governor says he wants the new agency to help increase access to clean energy while also promoting economic development.

MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court decisions to allow inmates to be put to death or to grant a rare reprieve often come at the last minute, and sometimes after the appointed hour of execution has come and gone.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), who serves as a member of both the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, released the following statement today in response to the capture of Ahmed Abu Khattala, who has been wanted for the murder of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012:

“The effort that went into capturing this suspect is a great example of what American forces can do when they’re allowed to do their job.  

“The next step is that we need to get every bit of information we can from this terrorist and enemy of the United States and its citizens.

“This suspect is an enemy combatant, and trying him in the United States as if he had the protective rights of an American citizen would be a mistake.”

BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A former Catholic priest who was sent to Boonville, Missouri even though he had pleaded guilty to abusing a boy in New Jersey was sentenced to two concurrent 12-year sentences for molesting three teenage boys in Missouri after the transfer.

Gerald J. Howard, 69, admitted Tuesday that he forced two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old boy into sex acts between May 1984 and September 1987 in Boonville. He also admitted that he gave his victims drugs and alcohol, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/1vQtrDy ).

A plea deal in the Missouri case allowed Howard to plead guilty to two counts of forcible sodomy and one count of attempted forcible sodomy, while four other felony charges were dismissed.

Cooper County Prosecutor Doug Abele said Howard befriended the two 14-year-old boys while he was assigned to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Boonville. Howard met the third boy after he left the parish. The first two victims were abused in his car, apartment or in the parish’s rectory, while the third boy was abused at Howard’s apartment, Abele said.

All three of the boys were afraid to disobey a priest and Howard threatened them with physical harm if they told anyone, he said.

Abele gave Cooper County Circuit Judge Robert Koffman four letters from the three victims, who were not identified in court.

“There’s some things that jump off the page to me,” Koffman said. “All of these victims were children and have had their lives turned around.”

NEW YORK (AP) — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has opened two new investigations into Chrysler over complaints that the ignition key could shut the engine off and cause air bags not to deploy in a crash.

The investigations cover about 1.2 million vehicles.

The NHTSA says it has received at least 32 complaints from drivers who say the ignition key of 2006-2007 Jeep Commander and 2005-2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles turned off after they accidentally hit it with their knees.

The second investigation is related to Chrysler’s 2011 recall of 2010 Dodge Journey, Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country vehicles for a similar issue. The NHTSA also received complaints from owners of 2008-2009 models saying they may have the same ignition key problem.

Chrysler wasn’t immediately available to comment.

CASSVILLE (AP) – A southwest Missouri man suspected of cattle and farm equipment thefts in several counties has been sentenced to 30 year in prison for thefts in Barry County.

Prosecutors say 65-year-old Howard Perryman of Monett and Richard Hert stole a tractor and other farm equipment in Barry County in 2010. Hert was sentenced in 2012 to seven-year concurrent prison sentences for four crimes and is now on five years of probation.

KYTV-TV reports that Perryman was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1998 for receiving stolen property in Greene County. He was also charged in 2013 in Greene County with stealing cattle and farm equipment, and was the focus of an investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol and several sheriffs’ departments that recovered at least $100,000 in stolen property.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kauffman Center of the Performing Arts has chosen Paul J. Schofer to be its new president and CEO.

The Kauffman board of directors announced Tuesday that Schofer will succeed Jane Chu, who was recently named chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Schofer has been Kauffman’s vice president of operations and chief financial officer since March 2012. Before that, he was senior vice president and CFO of Learfield Communications. He served as chief financial officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation from 2004 to 2007.

KANSAS CITY- A Missouri man was seriously injured in a Tuesday night crash in Johnson County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Mazda driven by Thomas M. Meloy, 51, Leeton, was eastbound on 50 just west of Mo. 13 on ramp. The driver lost control of the vehicle, it traveled off the left side of the road, struck a sign and overturned. The driver was ejected.

Lifeflight transported Meloy to Research Medical Center.

The MSHP reported he was not wearing a seat belt.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Missouri group that favors marijuana legalization brings its message to the Kansas City area next month as part of a series of town hall meetings across the state.

Show-Me Cannabis submitted 10 different legalization proposals to Missouri elections officials earlier this year for a possible statewide ballot initiative. But the group ultimately decided to postpone its efforts until the 2016 presidential election.

The group has scheduled a public meeting the evening of July 21 in Independence at the Trails West branch of the Kansas City Public Library.

Similar 90-minute sessions are planned for evenings of Aug. 4 at the Hannibal Public Library and Aug. 14 at the Maryville Community Center in northwest Missouri.

BONNE TERRE (AP) – A Missouri inmate has been put to death for killing two St. Louis County women in 1996, marking the state’s fifth execution this year.

A corrections spokesman said John Winfield died early Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. His execution came shortly after convicted killer Marcus Wellons was put to death in Georgia. Wellons’ was the first execution in the nation since a botched execution on April 29 in Oklahoma raised new concerns about lethal injection.

Another convicted killer, John Ruthell Henry, is scheduled to die later Wednesday in Florida.

Winfield shot his ex-girlfriend, who was the mother of two of his children, in the head, leaving her blind. He shot and killed two of her friends.