JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – A proposed amendment to the Missouri Constitution that would enshrine a fundamental right for parents to raise their children as they see fit is pending in the state Senate.

The House passed the measure 112-36 on March 13 before the Legislature began a weeklong break. The amendment states that parents have a right to make decisions involving the discipline, education, religious instruction, medical care, housing and “general well-being” of their children.

Supporters say parents should have constitutional protections when it comes to raising children.

If it passes the Senate, the proposed constitutional amendment would go on the November statewide ballot. It is sponsored by Republican Rep. Todd Richardson, of Poplar Bluff.

Jefferson City, MO–Gov. Jay Nixon is encouraging Missourians to observe Veterans of Operation Iraqi/Enduring Freedom Day on March 26 in honor of the nation’s military veterans who served in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, the Governor signed into law a bill designating March 26 as the date in Missouri to give special honor and recognition to those veterans who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Desert Storm.

“In every town across Missouri, you’ll find veterans who served during one of these conflicts in the Middle East,” Gov. Nixon said. “You’ll also find thousands of Missouri families who still have a loved one in uniform in Afghanistan or another country where our military serves. We have a responsibility to honor and respect their sacrifice, and I encourage Missourians to join me in thanking these veterans and their families for what they have done for our country and our state.”

As a member of the Council of Governors, Gov. Nixon has traveled twice to Iraq and three times to Kuwait and Afghanistan since 2009 (most recently in December 2012) to meet with U.S. military and civilian leaders in those countries and to visit with Missourians serving in the Missouri National Guard or the regular armed forces.

In January 2010, Gov. Nixon also launched the Show-Me Heroes initiative, which works with Missouri employers to give first consideration to military veterans when job openings occur. In the past four years, more than 3,500 Missouri employers have taken the Show-Me Heroes pledge, and more than 6,300 veterans have been hired by those businesses since those employers joined the program.

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A Tennessee truck driver has pleaded guilty in Missouri to taking part in a multi-state cargo theft ring.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 49-year-old Michael Lee Sherley, of Memphis, pleaded guilty Wednesday to theft of an interstate shipment.

The charge stemmed from the May 2013 theft of a trailer containing $73,000 worth of canned corn from a truck stop in the south-central Missouri town of West Plains.

Sherley worked for Memphis-based Nu World Trucking for about a year.

Prosecutors said members of the ring used Nu World’s resources to drive tractors without trailers attached through truck stops near interstate highways, looking for unattached trailers. They hooked the trailers up and drove to other states to sell the cargo.

The corn stolen by Sherley was bound for an Arkansas food bank.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Zoo officials and the city’s mayor don’t want to see an end to free-admission days at the zoo, but after several fights broke out Tuesday, followed by gunshots in the facility’s parking lot, they say something needs to change.

No injuries were reported after the shots were fired as people were leaving the zoo near its 4 p.m. closing time, The Kansas City Star reported. The shooter hasn’t been found.

The zoo offers four free-admission days per year as thanks to voters in Clay and Jackson counties for approving a 1/8-cent sales tax in 2011 to help fund the zoo. Last year similar fights broke out during a free day in April that was held on a weekend, so zoo officials moved this year’s free days to Tuesdays.

With local schools out for spring break and weather warming up into the 60s, roughly 19,000 people turned out Tuesday — many of whom came later in the day when the zoo reported it was admitting 4,000 an hour into the park.

“The zoo just cannot handle that many people,” zoo director Randy Wisthoff said. “It just gets too crowded. The pathways are too small.”

Last April, attendance was estimated at more than 29,000 on a Sunday free-admission day when violence also broke out.

 (AP) – A state funding shortfall is hitting some Missouri school districts harder than others.

A report released Wednesday by the Missouri Budget Project says the state is underfunding public school districts by $656 million this year. That’s based on the amount called for under a 2005 law that re-wrote Missouri’s school funding formula.

The report says the shortfall amounts to about $700 per student on a statewide basis. But those figures vary widely by district.

The largest discrepancy is a $978 per student at the Potosi School District in Washington County in rural eastern Missouri. The smallest state funding gap is a $34 per student shortfall at the Clayton district in St. Louis County.

A budget plan pending in the Missouri House would narrow but not eliminate the funding shortfall.

OZARK (AP) – A southwest Missouri police checkpoint aimed at drunken drivers on St. Patrick’s Day instead snared 10 people suspected of possessing methamphetamine.

The Springfield News-Leader reports 12 arrests stemmed from the checkpoint Monday in Christian County, of which only one was for driving while intoxicated. The other was for possession of marijuana.

Ozark Police Chief Lyle Hodges says three of the 12 arrested in the operation also had outstanding warrants. He says the number of drug arrests – and lack of drunken driving charges – was unusual.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri could award additional tax credits for donations to pregnancy resource centers under legislation passed by the Missouri House.

The bill that is pending in the Senate would raise the current annual tax credit cap by $500,000, bringing the total amount up to $2.5 million per year.

The House passed the bill on a 113-36 vote before lawmakers recessed for this week’s break.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri cancer patients soon could find it more affordable to take chemotherapy pills.

Gov. Jay Nixon was expected to sign legislation Wednesday that would limit the amount of money patients could be charged for oral chemotherapy medicines. The bill would impose an out-of-pocket limit of $75 for a 30-day supply, starting next January.

Many patients currently are charged thousands of dollars a year for oral chemotherapy, which is covered as a pharmacy benefit. It often has fewer side effects than intravenous therapy. But IV chemotherapy is significantly cheaper for patients, because it’s covered as a medical benefit requiring a routine co-payment for an office visit.