HENRIETTA (AP) – Authorities in western Missouri are searching for an inmate who escaped from the Ray County Jail.

The Ray County Sheriff’s Department says Jeremy Glenn Miller forced his way through a ceiling into the attic Saturday evening. KCTV reports authorities believe Miller then gained access to the jail garage area before fleeing.

Miller was being held on a probation violation. His original charge was felony property damage.

He’s described as about 6’1″ tall and weighs about 170 pounds.

MICHELLE R. SMITH, Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A spokesman says eight acrobats fell from a platform at a circus in Rhode Island while one dancer was injured on the floor below.

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros., confirmed that nine performers were seriously injured, including eight who were in the air.

Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare says officials and inspectors haven’t yet determined what caused the accident.

The show’s general manager says the accident occurred during the “hair hang” act while performers are hanging from their hair.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Authorities are working to identify a body that was pulled from the Missouri River in Kansas City.

The Kansas City Star reports the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office is trying to identify the body retrieved from the river Saturday by troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Police say the body appeared to have been in the water for a while.

Detectives were awaiting identification of the body and a ruling on the cause of death from the medical examiner.

Police say it’s unclear if the body is connected to an April 9 incident where a man dropped into the river after hanging off an area bridge. A police helicopter and fire rescue team tried unsuccessfully to find the man after he fell into the water.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A massive collection of documents and blueprints telling the history of Kansas City’s stockyards has been spared from the trash heap and is on display in the city’s main public library.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1mcYHr9 ) reports Bill Haw bought the Livestock Exchange Building in the city’s West Bottoms in 1991 and found enough documents to fill 40 to 50 refrigerator-size boxes. Eventually he donated them to the library because they were taking up too much space.

At one time Kansas City’s stockyards were the second-largest in the country, behind only Chicago. In the early 20th century as many as 20,000 local and migrant workers were employed there.

Haw gave the documents to the library in 2008, and it has taken several years to sort through all of them.

JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — New research shows that U.S. teachers are nowhere near as diverse as their students.

The diversity gap comes as the number of minority students in public schools is on the rise. Almost half the students in the public system are minorities.

Studies from the Center for American Progress and the National Education Association point out that only 18 percent of the teachers in the public school system are nonwhite.

The NEA, the Education Department, the American Federal of Teachers and others are committed to turning around those numbers.

Teachers and advocates say minority students can be helped by seeing successful teachers in the classroom.

JIM SUHR, AP Business Writer

ST. LOUIS (AP) — High school agriculture programs sprouting across the nation’s Corn Belt are teaching teenagers that careers in the field often have nothing to do with cows and plows.

Such offerings are taking hold as school budgets tighten and the numbers of farms in the U.S. decline.

Supporters tout the classes as rich in science and as stepping stones for college-bound students considering careers in everything from urban forestry to renewable natural resources and genetic engineering of crops.

Tens of thousands of jobs open up each year in the broader agriculture field, and roughly half are filled by college grads with actual ag-related degrees.

The growth of such programs has swelled membership of Future Farmers of America.

 

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church has announced he is divorcing his husband.

Retired Bishop Gene Robinson announced that he is divorcing Mark Andrew in an email to the Diocese of New Hampshire Saturday and an article for The Daily Beast.

The coupled entered into a civil union in 2008 that converted to a marriage when New Hampshire legalized gay marriage in 2010.

His election in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church created an international uproar and led conservative Episcopalians to break away from the main church in the United States.

He writes that details of his divorce are private and that he can’t repay the debt he owes Andrew “for his standing by me through the challenges of the last decade.”

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the nation marks the start of “National Mental Health Awareness Month” , U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) has introduced the bipartisan “Caring For America’s Heroes Act” to build on his ongoing efforts to ensure all Americans have access to quality behavioral health treatments – including members of the military, veterans, and their families. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.).

Blunt, who serves as a member of both the defense authorizing and appropriations committees, introduced the Caring For America’s Heroes Act to bring mental health treatment in-line with the way physical injuries are treated under TRICARE. As a result, the bill will help reduce the stigma surrounding behavioral health challenges and allow the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to provide TRICARE beneficiaries with better care. The Caring For America’s Heroes Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (Mich.). To read the bill, please click here.

“We must start treating behavioral illnesses like any other physical illness,” said Blunt. “In the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy, I’m talking with military leaders in Missouri and in Washington, D.C. to guarantee our servicemen and women, veterans, and military families have access to quality behavioral health treatment. This bill takes an important step towards achieving that goal.”

“Caring for the mental health of our veterans and their families is critically important,” said Stabenow. “Twenty-two veterans die by suicide every day, and many more suffer from unseen wounds. This legislation will help our veterans and their families get the care they need so they can get treatment for injuries from the neck up, as well as from the neck down.”

“The Retired Enlisted Association wholeheartedly supports this bill,” said Rick Delaney, President of the Retired Enlisted Association. “This bill will give America’s warfighters the peace of mind to know that their dependents will receive appropriate mental health treatment that will enable them to go and carry out the mission of keeping America safe, and it will give military retirees the knowledge that their sacrifices to our nation are respected and honored as well.”

“The National Military Family Association thanks Senator Roy Blunt and Senator Debbie Stabenow for introducing the Caring for America’s Heroes Act that eliminates TRICARE’s cap on inpatient behavioral health care for military spouses, children, and retirees. Our Association remains deeply concerned about the behavioral health challenges many military families face after enduring the stress of 13 years of war,” said Karen Ruedisueli from the National Military Family Association. “We appreciate the Senators’ efforts to ensure military families experiencing a mental health crisis have access to the appropriate level of care.”

Blunt has a long record of working on issues related to behavioral health services, including:

Last month, Blunt joined Stabenow to successfully pass a version of the “Excellence in Mental Health Act” in the so-called “doc-fix” (SGR) bill to address the nation’s fragmented mental health system. The provision establishes pilot programs in eight states over the next two years to expand access to community mental health services. The original bill was co-sponsored by 25 Senators and supported by more than 50 mental health, veteran, and law enforcement groups.
In the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy, Blunt visited Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. to discuss the military’s behavioral health services with leaders at General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. Click here for high-resolution photos of Senator Blunt’s visit. Click here to watch Blunt’s remarks on Fox News regarding the Fort Hood tragedy and his efforts to improve our nation’s mental health policies.
On April 9, 2014, Blunt participated in a U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on defense health where he questioned a panel of military Surgeon Generals regarding the mental health system and our nation’s military hospitals. On April 8, 2014, Blunt participated in a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, where he also discussed mental health policies.