(AP) — Subway says it’s in the process of removing a chemical from its bread as part of an ongoing effort to improve its recipes.

The announcement comes after a food blogger launched a petition this week asking the sandwich chain to stop using the ingredient. A representative for Subway says the change was underway before the petition was launched.

“The complete conversion to have this product out of the bread will be done soon,” Subway said in a statement, without providing further details.

Vani Hari, who runs the FoodBabe.com site, has targeted other food companies including Kraft and Chick-fil-A for the chemicals in their products.

In the latest petition targeting Subway, Hari noted that the azodicarbonamide used in its bread is also used to make yoga mats and shoe rubber.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today introduced legislation that would require TRICARE-health insurance provided to members of the military and their families-to cover breastfeeding equipment, like breast pumps, along with support and counseling, as required by most health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Currently, as part of breastfeeding support, the ACA requires insurance plans to cover breast pump rental or provide breast pumps for new moms, as well as lactation counseling and support. With TRICARE, members of the military and military spouses are left to pay the full costs out of pocket for these services.

The National Military Family Association quickly endorsed McCaskill’s bill.

“The National Military Family Association thanks Senator McCaskill for introducing the TRICARE Moms Improvement Act, read a statement by the National Military Family Association. Our Association has long been an advocate for improving the quality of life of our military family members who have sacrificed greatly in support of our nation. Ensuring that military health care benefits are on par with civilian coverage is one of our top priorities. The National Military Family Association appreciates Senator McCaskill’s efforts to bring TRICARE in line with Affordable Care Act coverage requirements for breastfeeding support and supplies.”

“As someone who was a single, working mother, I know first-hand the importance of comprehensive, affordable healthcare when caring for a new child,” said McCaskill, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. “This is commonsense legislation that I hope will see quick action by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. New mothers in the military and military spouses deserve access to the services consistent with coverage available in the private sector.”

TRICARE is the health care system for members of the military and their families. TRICARE benefits are not subject to the mandates of the ACA that affect private health insurance plans. As such, when the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) determined that breastfeeding equipment and support should be covered by health insurance companies under the provisions of the ACA, this requirement did not extend to TRICARE.

(AP) — Missouri’s education department says the latest in a series of winter storms could cause school districts to extend classes into the summer.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman Sarah Potter says public schools have already had more snow days than usual in the current academic year.

Many districts have had to call off classes the past two months because of snow, ice and cold temperatures. Potter says schools might need to cut short spring and summer vacations.

The department requires school districts to build six snow days into their calendars and those days must be made up in full. Subsequent snow days only count for a half day that must be made up during the academic year.

(AP)  Republican senators resoundingly rejected a plan Wednesday to expand Medicaid coverage to several hundred thousand lower-income adults as they began debate on legislation that instead would revamp the way the program is managed.

The Senate’s 23-9 party-line vote marked the first official defeat of Medicaid expansion since Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon renewed his call for it during his State of the State address this year.

The Republican-led Legislature repeatedly defeated Democratic attempts last year to expand Medicaid eligibility, and GOP leaders have strengthened their rhetoric against it since then _ even while special interim committees studied ways of overhauling the program.

Missouri’s Medicaid program currently covers about 850,000 people at an annual cost of nearly $9 billion, most of which comes from the federal government.

About half of the states have expanded Medicaid under the terms of President Barack Obama’s health care law. States that do so can receive enhanced federal payments. Missouri could get about $1.7 billion next year from the federal government by expanding eligibility to about 300,000 people.

But in future years, states must gradually start picking up 10 percent of the expansion costs.

“We cannot afford it,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, who argued that bigger Medicaid bills would mean less money available for education.

Nixon’s administration contends the influx of federal dollars from a Medicaid expansion would help the state’s finances. That’s due partly to a projection of increased tax revenues and partly because some patients who currently are covered through higher-cost state programs could be shifted into the expanded Medicaid program.

Democratic Sen. Paul LeVota, who proposed the Medicaid expansion, said Republican colleagues are making excuses for not supporting it.

Expanding Medicaid is the “easiest and simplest way to improve our health care in our state (and) improve our economy,” said LeVota, of Independence.

LeVota offered the Medicaid expansion as an amendment to a bill by Sen. David Sater, R-Cassville. That legislation would require the state to use managed care policies for most parents and children enrolled in Medicaid. Such coverage currently is available in about half of Missouri, with medical providers in the rest of the state paid a set fee for each service they provide.

Some Republicans contend managed care would save the state money while improving patient access to medical professionals, though there is disagreement about that.

“With managed care we are using the private sector to run the Medicaid program,” Sater said.

The Senate quit Thursday without voting on the managed care legislation.

LeVota’s amendment would have expanded Medicaid eligibility to adults earning up to 138 percent of the poverty level _ a little less than $33,000 annually for a family of four. Missouri’s current eligibility cutoff is the lowest allowed under federal law _ about $4,500 for that same family of four. Missouri only covers adults who have custody of children, are disabled or are seniors.

The Medicaid expansion was a key part of how Obama hoped to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. State Medicaid programs were intended to pick up the lowest-income individuals while those living above the poverty level could receive subsidies for private insurance plans purchased through new online insurance marketplaces.

Missouri chose to let the federal government operate its health insurance exchange.

Since the health insurance website launched in October, Missouri has received the names of more than 25,000 people determined to be potentially eligible for Medicaid. But none of those people have been added to Missouri’s Medicaid program yet. Missouri officials say that’s because the data from the federal government is not in a format that can be easily used and has errors, duplications and missing information.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s convinced the effects of climate change have already had a negative impact on agriculture and forestry in the United States.

Vilsack is citing the intensity and frequency of recent storms, plus droughts, snowstorms and subzero weather. He says the nation must play an active role in preparing for climate change.

Vilsack spoke at the White House as the Obama administration announced it is creating seven regional hubs to help coordinate and distribute information about the effects of climate change.

The hubs will be based at Agriculture Department facilities. They’ll assess local climate risks, such as drought and wildfire, then develop plans for dealing with them.

(AP)  The Missouri Supreme Court says the Archdiocese of St. Louis must release the names of church employees accused of sexual abuse over the past 20 years.

The Wednesday ruling upholds a St. Louis judge’s earlier decision. The names will be released only to an unnamed woman suing the diocese and her attorneys, not to the general public.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by a 19-year–old woman who claimed the abuse began when she was 5 years old and attended St. Cronan’s parish.

The priest had been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a parish in University City decades earlier.

 (AP) – This unusual winter got a little stranger last weekend for some people in Missouri who reported hearing mysterious nighttime noises that sounded like loud cracking or rumbling.

Scientists say they experienced a rare natural phenomenon known as a “frost quake,” which happens when moisture in the ground suddenly freezes. If conditions are just right, the soil or bedrock cracks like a brittle frozen pipe.

The season has provided ripe conditions for frost quakes. Temperatures have been frigid, but occasional warm-ups have allowed for thawing. And the temperature swings have sometimes been abrupt.

That was the case Sunday in Missouri, where temperatures in the 40s on Saturday gave way to single-digit readings by Sunday night.

Frost quakes were also reported last month in Canada and in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.