(AP) — An Overland Park woman was forced out of her apartment after as much of 10 pounds of mercury spilled from an antique clock.

Fire department spokesman Jason Rhodes says the liquid apparently spilled weeks ago on a back porch of the woman’s apartment but she wasn’t aware it was dangerous mercury until a relative saw the spill Monday.

Overland Park Fire Department spokesman Jason Rhodes says in a news release that the mercury spilled out of tubes that were counterweights for an old grandfather’s clock.

The Environmental Protection Agency is advising on cleanup. The woman’s apartment was sealed until it is cleaned. Occupants of three other units were allowed to stay but advised to check with the Centers for Disease Control to see if they have exposure issues.

(AP) – A committee is recommending that the state continue to have operational control of the Kansas City police department.

The committee on Monday voted 13-12 to expand the Board of Police Commissioners from four to six members but recommended the Missouri governor continue to appoint board members.

That committee, which was established by Mayor Sly James, rejected a plan to give the mayor the responsibility for appointing the police board.

The committee’s recommendation isn’t binding. James and the Kansas City Council can accept or reject the recommendation but any change in control of the department would have to be approved by either the Missouri Legislature or the state’s voters.

Kansas City is the only major U.S. city without full authority over its police force.

 (AP) – A University of Missouri researcher says orthopedic surgeons are not often identifying domestic violence as a possible cause of the injuries they treat.

Dr. Gregory Della Rocca teaches orthopedic surgery at the MU School of Medicine and oversees orthopedic trauma services at the Columbia health care system. He surveyed more than 150 U.S. orthopedic surgeons and found that fewer than one in four had received domestic violence training.

Nearly three-fourths of the surgeons surveyed estimated that their patients suffered domestic violence in fewer than 5 percent of the cases. An international study of domestic violence among orthopedic trauma clinic patients estimated the actual rate at 40 percent.

Della Rocca says the Missouri health system’s orthopedic trauma unit now screens all patients, male or female, for abuse signs.

(AP) – Government, business and education leaders will meet this week to discuss a Missouri program that helps students complete their degrees sooner and land jobs in high-demand fields.

The meeting, called the National Convening on Higher Education Innovation, is scheduled Wednesday and Thursday in Kansas City. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and acting U.S. Education Department Deputy Secretary James Shelton are expected to attend.

The meeting will examine ways to expand and replicate “Innovation Campuses,” which allow businesses to employ students as apprentices and help pay the cost of their education – either by paying them or contributing money for their tuition.

(AP) – A Springfield man is facing two misdemeanor charges after police say he falsely reported a drug dealer had shot him in the abdomen.

22-year-old Claude Shuler told police a 43-year-old suspect shot him Oct. 31, but changed his story when officers found syringes and a handgun at the residence where he was shot.

A probable cause statement says Shuler admitted shooting himself, saying he had heard that a drug dealer was trying to kill him and he thought he would be safe at the hospital.

He underwent surgery was in stable condition. A warrant for his arrest was issued Friday on false report and drug paraphernalia charges.

No attorney or phone number for Shuler was listed online.

(AP) — A new Associated Press investigation finds that the push to produce corn-based ethanol has fallen short of clean energy expectations and appears to be causing more environmental damage than promised.

The AP’s investigation is based on government data, interviews and observations. It highlights what many researchers have published in peer-reviewed journals and is consistent with reports by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The investigation finds that farmers rushing to plant more corn wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies with fertilizer use.

The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol. The Obama administration stands by its policy.

Ethanol supporters are pushing back hard at the AP report, calling it a “smear.”

Congress is working to do away with requirements that oil companies blend ethanol into their gasoline, something Big Oil is supporting.

 (AP) — An industry report shows that sales of farm tractors and combines fell in October from the same month a year ago.

But Monday’s report from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers also says that U.S. sales of the items in the first 10 months of the year still remain ahead of last year’s pace.

Sales of farm tractors totaled about 19,600 in October, down 3.4 percent from October 2012. Farmers bought 1,153 combines in October, a drop of nearly 35 percent from the same month last year.

During the first 10 months of this year, farmers bought nearly 173,000 tractors, for an increase of 10.1 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

Farmers bought 8,847 combines during the first 10 months for a sales increase of 5.6 percent.

(AP) – A federal judge has thrown out a Missouri lawmaker’s lawsuit seeking an exemption from contraceptive coverage under the new Affordable Care Act’s insurance provisions.

Republican state Rep. Paul Wieland of Imperial and his wife Teresa sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the federal Labor and Treasury departments in August.

The couple said their religious and free speech rights were violated by the health overhaul’s contraceptive requirements in the group health insurance plan he can receive as a state legislator.

U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton granted defense motions to dismiss the case in mid-October and then rejected an emergency injunction request.

The Wielands say they were previously able to opt out of contraceptive coverage. They have three teenage daughters.

Monday 11/11/13   4 p.m. (AP) – Police in southwest Missouri believe a Springfield physician shot and killed his wife before taking his own life.

A 7-year-old child called police before dawn Friday after finding the bodies of Dr. Rudolph Fajardo and his wife, Stephanie Fajardo.

Police said Monday that three other children, ages 1, 3 and 6, were also in the south Springfield home. The children were unharmed.

No motive has been suggested. The investigation continued Monday.

CoxHealth issued a statement saying Rudolph Fajardo had worked for the multi-hospital organization since 1998. The statement called him a respected physician.

Friday 1 p.m. (AP) Police are releasing few details about two bodies found in a Springfield house.

Police were alerted early Friday.

Police Spokeswoman Lisa Cox says nothing – not even natural causes – is being ruled out.

Cox declined to provide any details about the two people found dead. Cox says more information will be released after family notifications are completed.