(AP) – A judge has granted probation to a 21-year-old man convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the SUV crash that killed two Missouri Southern State University football players.

The Joplin Globe reports that 21-year-old Jeremy Johnson, of Harrison, Ark., had originally been given 120 days of shock time, but was returned for re-sentencing Monday after the Missouri Department of Corrections determined he’s ineligible for the shock incarceration program.

Johnson pleaded guilty June 24 to two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2011 deaths of Diondre Johnson and Michael McCrimmons, football players at Missouri Southern State University. But shock incarceration is not an option for an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

The Jasper County judge placed Jeremy Johnson on supervised probation for five years and ordered that he complete 200 hours of community service.

(AP) – The City Council in Kansas City is considering changes to the city’s red-light camera law that will try to address concerns raised in a recent Missouri Court of Appeals ruling.

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee endorsed the changes Monday. If the council approves the proposed changes, the new law would take effect 10 days after that and red-light camera enforcement could resume. The proposed change involves allowing the vehicle’s owner to tell the court whether someone else was driving at the time.

Kansas City had to stop writing red-light camera tickets on Nov. 6 after the appeals panel voided the red-light camera law in the St. Louis suburb, Ellisville. Kansas City’s law is si

 (AP) — Ford is recalling the Escape small SUV to fix oil and fuel leaks that can cause fires.

The hot-selling SUV has been recalled seven times since it was redesigned and went on sale in the spring of 2012.

The first of two recalls announced Tuesday affects more than 161,000 Escapes worldwide from the 2013 model year with 1.6-liter four-cylinder engines.

Ford says the cylinder heads can overheat and crack, causing oil leaks.

Of those SUVs, fuel lines on about 12,000 may have been installed wrong. They could become chafed and leak gas. Many were repaired under a previous recall.

Ford says the oil leaks caused 13 fires but no injuries.

Dealers will fix cooling and control systems or inspect and replace fuel lines for free. The recalls start in January.

Rep. Sam Graves wants you to shop this weekend. He wrote on his Facebook page, “This Saturday, after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, comes Small Business Saturday. It’s a chance to help local retailers and get ahead on your holiday shopping. I hope you’ll take the opportunity to visit a small business in your community and #ShopSmall this coming Saturday!   Read his resolution here. (Click to enlarge the pages.)

 (AP) – The Missouri Association for Social Welfare is challenging the language of a potential ballot measure on a sales tax increase for transportation projects.

The association filed a lawsuit Monday over the summary that voters would see if supporters gather enough signatures to get the proposed constitutional amendment on the 2014 ballot.

Objections include the summary’s description of the tax increase as “1 percent” instead of one percentage point, and a statement that toll roads would be prohibited. Opponents say the initiative requires voter approval to add tolls on roads or bridges that exist before 2014, which could allow tolls on structures that are built later.

Bill McKenna, co-chairman of a group promoting the measure, says challenges to ballot summaries seldom succeed and will not in this instance.

(AP) — President Barack Obama’s health care law is headed for a new Supreme Court showdown over companies’ religious objections to the law’s birth-control mandate.

Amid the troubled rollout of the health law, and 17 months after the justices upheld it, the Obama administration is defending a provision that requires most employers that offer health insurance to their workers to provide a range of preventive health benefits, including contraception.

Roughly 40 for-profit companies have sued, arguing they should not be forced to cover some or all forms of birth control because doing so would violate their religious beliefs.

Both sides want the justices to settle an issue that has divided lower courts. The high court could announce its decision whether to consider the topic as early as Tuesday, following its closed-door meeting.

Two more defendants are going to prison for what federal prosecutors say was a $28 million drug trafficking conspiracy in the Kansas City area.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said 60-year-old Victor Hernandez-Delgado, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison. Forty-one-year-old Jorge Cisneros-Saucedo, of Kansas City, Kan., received a 10-year sentence.

Five other defendants are awaiting trial. The rest are awaiting sentencing or have already been sentenced.

Authorities say the investigation resulted in the seizures of more than $2 million in cash, nearly 200 firearms and 29 vehicles.

(AP) —A new study says the United States is spewing 50 percent more methane than the federal government estimates. Much of it is coming from just three states: Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Scientists say that means methane may be a bigger global warming issue than they thought. Methane is 21 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, the most abundant global warming gas, although it doesn’t stay in the air as long.

Much of that extra methane seems to be coming from the belches, flatulence and manure of livestock, and leaks from refining and drilling for oil and gas. The study is published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The study figures that in 2008 the U.S. gave off 49 million tons of methane.

(AP) Missouri’s park system has bought a Shannon County campground from the federal government that had been forfeited after its former owner was convicted on a drug charge.

Missouri State Parks bought the more than 300-acre property known as Camp Zoe at auction for $640,000 plus closing costs. The online auction began last month and ended Friday, said the park system’s director, Bill Bryan.

The property had belonged to James Tebeau, who pleaded guilty in June 2012 to one federal count of maintaining drug-involved property. For years, Tebeau had hosted concerts at Camp Zoe, including some that drew about 5,000 fans. The campground was raided during a Halloween 2010 concert that prosecutors said featured up to 200 dealers selling marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and other drugs.

As part of his plea deal, Tebeau acknowledged being aware of widespread drug sales on his property but not participating. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Tebeau, a married father of two, turned himself in to Yankton Federal Prison in South Dakota in May.
Bryan said the park system has wanted to acquire Camp Zoe for several years, calling it an “Ozark gem.”

“Its location near Current River State Park and minutes away from the beloved Montauk State Park will provide visitors great opportunities to enhance their Missouri State Parks experience in the Ozarks,” Bryan said.

He said Monday that plans for developing the land were still being worked out, and more land acquisitions could be at hand.
“We’ve got our eye on quite a few properties that we are ready and prepared to add to the Missouri State Parks system,” he said.