WASHINGTON (AP) — Tanning beds and sun lamps will carry new warnings that they should not be used by anyone under age 18 as the federal government works to reduce rising rates of skin cancer linked to the radiation-emitting devices.

Earlier this year, Missouri lawmakers gave final approval to legislation requiring parental consent for children younger than 17 to use commercial tanning beds.

The Food and Drug Administration has regulated tanning machines for over 30 years, but for the first time the agency is requiring manufacturers to warn consumers about the machines’ cancer risks.

Along with the bolded age restriction on the machines, manufacturers must provide additional warnings about cancer risks in pamphlets, catalogues and websites that promote indoor tanning.

Additionally, the FDA is requiring manufacturers to meet certain safety and design requirements, including timers and limits on radiation emitted. Previously, tanning devices were not subject to any preliminary review by health regulators.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Several Missourians in the U.S. House are backing a proposed amendment to the state Constitution on farming.
The Missouri Farm Bureau says Republicans Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Jason Smith and Vicky Hartzler will hold news conferences around the state next week to support the measure.
The August ballot proposal will ask voters whether the right “to engage in farming and ranching” should be “forever guaranteed” in the Missouri Constitution.
The measure was referred to the ballot by the Republican-led Legislature. It’s also been endorsed by the Missouri Republican State Committee.

 

JOSEPH WHITE, Associated Press

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — When the confetti flew, the two boys stood in the center of the stage and shook hands. They held up the trophy together. Both were champions, a Spelling Bee finish unseen in more than half a century.

Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe had essentially used up the entire list of words the Bee had to offer. The one time Sriram misspelled, Ansun did too. Then they were spot on for their final 12 spellings combined, acing words such as “thymelici,” ”encaenia,” ”skandhas,” ”sdrucciola” and “holluschick.”

Sriram had been a favorite to win. Ansun had come out of nowhere. When it was all done, 14-year-old Sriram from Painted Post, New York, and 13-year-old Ansun from Fort Worth, Texas, had each won $30,000 in cash as co-winners of the 87th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), who serves as a member of the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, released the following response to President Barack Obama’s speech at West Point this week:

“The president’s speech was just another great example of his disastrous foreign policy. The reset and the pivots have all failed. All you have to do is look at Syria, Iran, Libya, Ukraine, or the South China Sea to see where this foreign policy gets us in the world.”

Earlier this week, Blunt questioned the president’s decision to telegraph America’s future troop withdrawal in Afghanistan.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced a former southwest Missouri teacher to 28 years in prison for sexually exploiting a child to produce pornography.

Forty-year-old Charles Gastel, of Carterville, formerly taught middle-school science in Joplin. The U.S. Attorney’s office says he won’t be eligible for parole and will spend the rest of his life under supervised release after leaving prison.

Gastel pleaded guilty in December to sexually assaulting a girl over a period of about nine years, and making video recordings of some of the assaults.

The victim is now 19 and lives in Lamar. She told police last year that Gastel began the assaults when she was 10 years old.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A southwest Missouri man is going to prison for two years for a tax fraud scheme that prosecutors say cost the federal government about $105,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 48-year-old Michael R. Jett, of Reeds Spring, won’t be eligible for parole under the sentence he received Thursday in federal court.

Jett pleaded guilty in December to make a false claim against the government. He admitted filing 22 false or fraudulent tax returns between January 2009 and January 2012.

Those returns, filed on behalf of himself, his family and others claimed about $124,000 worth of refunds, which were directly deposited into the recipients’ bank accounts. In fact, prosecutors said, the returns only qualified for $19,000 in refunds.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri’s attorney general says the state should establish its own laboratory to produce chemicals for use in executions, rather than rely on an “uneasy cooperation” with medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies.

Attorney General Chris Koster spoke Thursday to the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis during a meeting at Lake of Ozarks. Though a death penalty supporter, Koster, a Democrat, cited his own concerns about the death penalty.

Missouri is among several states that purchase execution drugs in secret. Critics say that if details about the source and testing aren’t made public, there is no way to assure that the inmate won’t suffer during the execution process.

Koster says the state should not be reliant on merchants whose identities must be shielded from public view.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Power & Light plans to reinstate a program to help customers save energy after the plan stalled two years ago when the utility limited it to customers in western Missouri.

In 2012, KCP&L dropped a program that would have given customers rebates for more efficient air conditioners and provided programmable thermostats. The Kansas City Star reports a settlement Wednesday among the utility, environmental groups and state regulatory staff would allow the programs to start as early as July.

The Missouri Public Service Commission has to approve the settlement, which sets a goal of saving enough electricity through 2015 to power more than 5,000 homes.

KCP&L doesn’t offer energy efficiency programs in Kansas, but Kansas recently approved legislation that will make them possible in the future.