HAVANA (AP) – Four U.S. House members have met with an American government subcontractor who is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Cuba.

The delegation includes U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, Sam Farr and Barbara Lee of California and Gregory Meeks of New York.

Cleaver says they are hoping to start negotiations on securing the release of Alan Gross, a Maryland native.

Lee says it is time for both countries to “make a serious commitment” to serious negotiations.

The delegation also met Monday with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

Gross was arrested in 2009 after he was caught setting up hard-to-detect Internet networks for Cuba’s small Jewish community on a U.S. government contract. Havana considers such programs to be an affront to its sovereignty.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A Democrat from St. Louis County says he will vote to enact a Missouri income tax cut.

House member Keith English said Monday that he supports the bill because it has triggers and fail-safes to protect state revenues. English says the legislation would help small businesses and make Missouri competitive with other states.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the tax cut legislation last week, citing concerns that it could jeopardize funding for education and public services.

The Senate voted to override the veto Monday. House Republicans need at least one Democratic vote for the required two-thirds majority for a veto override.

The legislation would gradually reduce Missouri’s top individual income tax rate and phase in a new deduction for business income reported on personal tax returns.

MARSHFIELD (AP) – A southwest Missouri man is recovering after being shot by police at his home.

Marshfield police chief Doug Fannen says the shooting occurred Sunday evening after officers were called to investigate a domestic disturbance.

Fannen says two of his officers were trying to make contact with the husband and wife when the man began shooting at them.

The officers returned fire, hitting the man several times. He was hospitalized but his condition is not being released.

KOLR-TV reports the officers weren’t hurt but have put on paid administrative leave while the Webster County Sheriff’s office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate.

Fannen says Marshfield officers have been called to the same home several times for disturbance calls.

HARRISONVILLE (AP) – A 28-year-old Kansas City man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of killing a central Missouri bar owner in the businessman’s driveway.

The Daily Star-Journal of Warrensburg reports Cass County jurors on Friday found Reginald Singletary guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Sept. 1, 2012, slaying of 25-year-old Blaine Whitworth of Warrensburg.

Prosecutors say Singletary confessed that he killed Whitworth but said University of Central Missouri student Ziyad Abid paid him to do it.

That claim led to first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges against Abid, who was jailed for nearly a year before prosecutors dropped the charges when Singletary changed his story.

Investigators testified Whitworth was shot three times in the back with hollow-point bullets.

CHARLESTON, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has freed a man who was convicted of robbery in 2000 but never sent to prison until a clerical mistake was discovered last year.

Cornealious “Mike” Anderson was 23 when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the robbery of an assistant manager of a fast-food restaurant. He told The Associated Press last month that he waited, and even asked, about going to prison, but the order never came.

On Monday, a Mississippi County judge heard arguments and granted Anderson his immediate freedom.

In the years since his conviction, Anderson started his own construction-related businesses, married and had children. He also coached youth football and volunteered at his church in Webster Groves.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says prayers that open town council meetings do not violate the Constitution even if they routinely stress Christianity.

The court said in 5-4 decision Monday that the content of the prayers is not critical as long as officials make a good-faith effort at inclusion.

The ruling was a victory for the town of Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester.

In 1983, the court upheld an opening prayer in the Nebraska legislature and said that prayer is part of the nation’s fabric, not a violation of the First Amendment. Monday’s ruling was consistent with the earlier one.