(AP) — Police say a 2-year-old and a 23-year-old Navy sailor from Missouri were killed in a crash on Interstate 64 in southern Indiana near Corydon

Police say a car traveling west on I-64 near mile marker 106 struck a sport utility vehicle traveling east. They say the driver of the car and a passenger in the SUV were killed.

Harrison County Coroner Rusty Sizemore identified the 2-year-old girl killed as Merissa Summers of Laconia, about 15 miles south of Corydon. Sizemore said he wasn’t releasing the name of the sailor, who is based in Virginia, because his family had not been notified.

Sizemore said an infant was in Kosair Children’s Hospital with critical injuries.

(AP) – Boeing is shifting hundreds of jobs to Alabama, Missouri and South Carolina as it restructures its research and technology operations.

The Chicago-based aerospace company said Thursday that it will decrease its research operations in Washington state and California as part of the change.

The announcement comes as those same states, and several others, compete to assemble Boeing’s 777X passenger plane.

Boeing spokesman Daryl Stephenson says the restructuring of research operations is unrelated to the new airplane and was in the works long beforehand.

The company is adding 300-400 employees each in Alabama, Missouri and South Carolina. Research jobs are declining by 800-1,200 in Washington and by 200-300 in California.

Senator Roy Blunt is asking the public to tell him their ObamaCare stories. He issues the following on his Senate web site today.

Since October 1st, American families have seen headline after headline discussing the disastrous roll-out of President Obama’s health care law.

The launch of this website should have been the most basic step in rolling out this costly health care law. But unfortunately, this administration overpromised on ObamaCare, and as expected, their signature piece of legislation is under-delivering.

President Obama recently said that ObamaCare is “much more” than a website. American families who have seen their hours at work reduced, health care cost skyrocket, and coverage dropped agree that ObamaCare is more than a website with technical glitches. This law is a train wreck.

I am committed to fighting for Missourians who are being crushed by ObamaCare. And we must work together to dismantle this law and create relief for families, seniors, and job creators across the country.

In order to repeal this costly health care law and replace it with common-sense solutions that puts patients and doctors in charge of health care – I need your input. I hope you’ll share your story of how this costly law is impacting you, your family, and your community in the space below or by sending me a tweet using #MoObamaCareImpact

(AP) A federal grand jury in Kansas City has indicted 10 former employees of the Internal Revenue Service for unemployment benefits fraud.

The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri said in a release Thursday that the 10 former IRS employees are accused of receiving more than $112,000 in unemployment benefits while they were working for the IRS.

They’re each accused of taking anywhere from about $6,000 to $21,000 in fraudulent benefits, totaling $112,609. The defendants are each charged with one count of theft of government property and one count of bank fraud.

A federal grand jury has indicted the former CEO of the National Association of Independent Truckers in an alleged scheme to hide millions of dollars from the federal government.

The grand jury indicted businesswoman V. Cheryl Womack Thursday for allegedly trying to interfere with the administration of federal tax laws and lying to federal investigators.

Womack’s attorney, Nathan F. Garrett, declined to comment, saying he hadn’t seen the charges.

(AP) — The U.S. government says new cars and trucks sold last year averaged 23.6 miles per gallon of gasoline, a record.

Mazda led all auto companies with an average of 27.1 mpg, followed by Honda at 26.6. Chrysler-Fiat had the worst mileage at 20.1, followed by Daimler at 21.1 mpg. All the figures are for combined city and highway driving.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the overall increase for 2012 is 1.2 miles per gallon above 2011. That’s the second-largest annual increase in 30 years.

The agency says automakers are increasing mileage by cutting weight and with more efficient engines and transmissions.

(AP) Gov. Jay Nixon is joining several Kansas City-area lawmakers in calling for ethics legislation that includes limits on campaign donations.

Nixon had called for reinstating campaign contribution limits during his State of the State speech this past January. He said unlimited contributions erode public trust.

State lawmakers return to the Capitol on Jan. 8 for their legislative session.

Missouri’s campaign finance limits were eliminated by legislation passed in the closing hours of the 2008 session. Supporters contend capping campaign donations creates an incentive to circumvent the limits and thereby obscure from where money has flowed.

Nixon was joined Thursday by Republican Sen. Will Kraus of Lee’s Summit, and Democratic House members Kevin McManus of Kansas City and Jon Carpenter of Gladstone.

(AP) – Gov. Jay Nixon and several Missouri lawmakers are calling for ethics legislation that includes limits on campaign donations.

Nixon had called for reinstating campaign contribution limits during his State of the State speech this past January. He said unlimited contributions erode public trust.

State lawmakers return to the Capitol on Jan. 8 for their legislative session.

Missouri’s campaign finance limits were eliminated by legislation passed in the closing hours of the 2008 session. Supporters contend capping campaign donations creates an incentive to circumvent the limits and thereby obscure from where money has flowed.

Nixon was traveling Thursday to Kansas City. He is to be joined by Republican Sen. Will Kraus, of Lee’s Summit, and Democratic House members Kevin McManus, of Kansas City, and Jon Carpenter, of Gladstone.

Expectations for U.S. beef production in 2014 are higher than the previous month according to the USDA’s last forecast of the year. (full report below..click on a page for a closer look)

The United States Department of Agriculture World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) forecast increased beef exports, cattle prices and beef production estimates over its November predictions.
The December forecast increases total red meat and beef production in 2014 by less than one percent each compared to the previous month’s forecasts. According to the report, the increase is a result of higher expected cattle and hog carcass weights and higher cattle slaughter. The beef production forecast expects imports to remain consistent with earlier predictions.
Demand will likely keep cattle prices strong going into 2014. Shrinking supplies will make each head more valuable with expected prices next year higher in the December report than a month earlier. The USDA specifically focuses on fed cattle prices, which have remained above $130 per hundredweight while beef prices hover above $200.
High beef prices will weigh on consumer demand next year as per capita consumption increased from November estimates, but remains six percent lower than 2013 projections.-Brett Wessler, Drover’s CattleNetwork

(AP) — Purchases of two large parcels of land in northeast and southeast Kansas have been placed on hold over concerns about the timing of the sales and lack of legislative input.

The state finance council delayed its decision Thursday after several legislators on the council said some of their colleagues questioned the purchases for the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

One of the parcels is located near Tuttle Creek Reservoir in Pottawatomie County and is adjacent to land already owned by the state. The second is located in Cherokee County near the Oklahoma border, also near land already owned by the state.

Legislators say they will take up the land purchases soon after the 2014 session begins in January to get more answers.