NEW YORK (AP) — Nest Labs is recalling 440,000 smoke alarms to fix a feature that could prevent the alarm from sounding immediately.

The Nest Protect Smoke + CO alarms allow users to temporarily silence some alerts by waving their arm near the unit. The company is offering an electronic update to disable this feature. It has not received any reports of incidents, injuries or property damage.

The high-tech home monitoring device company, which was acquired this year by Google, halted all new sales of the alarms last month after recognizing the problem.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday that the recall applies to all of the Nest Protect Smoke + CO alarms.

Nest says the device must be connected to the Internet and linked to an account for an automatic update.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Legislation addressing vacancies on the Missouri State Board of Education is awaiting action by Gov. Jay Nixon.

The measure would the board to notify the governor before classifying a school district as unaccredited or provisionally accredited if the board lacked a member from the congressional district. The legislation calls for the governor to make an appointment to the education board within 30 days.

The Legislature included the education board provision in a broader bill revising a law that requires unaccredited school districts to pay for students who want to transfer to other schools.

BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — An eighth-grader from northern Virginia has outlasted nine other young scholars to win the National Geographic Bee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has put off the execution of a Missouri inmate with a rare medical condition who challenged the state’s refusal to disclose the source of its lethal injection drug.

The justices on Wednesday said a lower federal court needs to take another look at the case of convicted killer Russell Bucklew.

Bucklew’s attorneys said the combination of the secrecy surrounding the execution drug and Bucklew’s medical condition affecting his blood vessels makes for an unacceptably high risk that he would experience extreme pain if injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital

Bucklew would have been the first inmate put to death since last month’s botched execution in Oklahoma. Bucklew is on death row for killing a man during a 1996 crime spree.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City girls’ soccer coach has been charged with eight additional counts of producing child pornography in addition to three similar charges filed last year.

Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Joel White of Lee’s Summit secretly video recorded several girls, 11 and 12 years old, while they undressed.

White formerly coached a girls under-12 soccer team and a girls under-15 team. Prosecutors say the girls depicted in seized recordings were members of his soccer team.

White was arrested after authorities in Commerce City, Colo., discovered videos of nude minors on his camera while investigating the theft of jerseys and other memorabilia from a stadium that was hosting a World Cup qualifying game in April 2013.

White’s attorney didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Department of Transportation is suspending most highway construction and maintenance work throughout the state this weekend to accommodate an increase in traffic due to the Memorial Day holiday.

Work will stop at noon on Friday, May 23 and resume Tuesday, May 27 after morning rush. Still, some lane and bridge closures will remain in place due to more permanent closures.

Even though the majority of highway work is stopping for the weekend, motorists can’t let their guard down and need to drive smart to ensure safe travels. That means paying attention, buckling up, obeying the speed limit, not drinking and driving and planning ahead.

During the 2013 Memorial Day weekend, there were six people killed and 63 seriously injured in Missouri traffic crashes. Ten percent of the people killed or seriously injured involved a substance-impaired driver.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) applauded Congress’s passage of a bipartisan bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the men and women who worked to protect cultural artifacts during World War II, dubbed the “Monuments Men.” The bill was introducedby Blunt and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (N.J.) and co-sponsored by 76 of their colleagues.

“I’m pleased Congress overwhelmingly passed this legislation to recognize the incredible men and women who fought to protect and preserve millions of invaluable cultural artifacts during World War II,” Blunt said. “I thank my colleagues and Mr. Edsel for their efforts as we work to ensure the remarkable legacies of America’s Monuments Men live on for future generations.”

The Monuments Men are a group of approximately 350 men and women from 13 countries who are credited with preserving, protecting, and restoring millions of pieces of artwork, sculptures, and other cultural artifacts in Europe during World War II. Thirteen Monuments Men lived or worked in Missouri, including: St. Louis, Mo.-native, army medic and artist, Walker Hancock; two Directors of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo.; three University of Missouri professors, and others who worked in the arts across the state.

“I am so proud that the Congressional Gold Medal will now be awarded to the brave men and women who rescued, protected and preserved innumerable works of art and artifacts that would have been lost forever during World War II,” Menendez said. “It was my honor to call Harry Ettlinger, one of the surviving members of the Monuments Men, this morning and let him know that on behalf of our nation, and for the sake of our next generation – thank you.”

“This is an extraordinary honor for the Monuments Men that gives even more special meaning to Memorial Day. The men and women who collectively comprised the Monuments Men set the standard for the protection of artistic and cultural treasures during armed conflict working under the most harsh conditions imaginable,” said Robert Edsel, Founder and Chairman of the Monuments Men Foundation, and author of The Monuments Men. “We honor their service by learning from their rich legacy of showing respect for the cultures of others.  The Monuments Men Foundation is grateful to the supporters of this Senate bill, in particular its lead sponsor, Sen. Roy Blunt, as well as Sen. Robert Menendez, for their tireless efforts to recognize the contributions of the scholar-soldiers who protected and preserved so much of our shared cultural heritage.”

The recent “Monuments Men” movie, starring John Goodman, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, and Billy Murray, is based on Edsel’s book. For additional background on the Monuments Men, please click here.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – Some opponents of a Missouri income tax cut say they’re contemplating pursuing a referendum that would put the issue before voters.

The Republican-led Legislature enacted the tax cut this spring by overriding a veto of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. The measure would gradually reduce Missouri’s top individual income tax rate and phase in a new business income deduction starting in 2017.

The Kansas City Star reports  that some groups opposed to the tax cut are considering a referendum petition.

They would have 90 day so gather a little less than 100,000 petition signatures from around the state in order to put a repeal of the tax cut on the ballot.

The last referendum occurred in 1982, when a law permitting bigger trucks on Missouri highways was overruled by voters.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Hazardous materials crews were called to the Internal Revenue Service building in Kansas City after an employee found a suspicious white substance inside a package.

The package was found Wednesday morning at the IRS building in central Kansas City after an employee opened the package.

The area has been cordoned off and isolated as a precaution.