The Missouri Court of Appeals has upheld the adoption of a Guatemalan child by a southwest Missouri couple.

The court on Monday upheld a lower court decision to terminate the parental rights of the boy’s biological mother, Encarnancion Romero, and authorize the adoption by a Carthage couple.

Romero had challenged a July 2012 decision that found she had forfeited her rights because she had abandoned and neglected the child. The boy was 11 months old when Romero was arrested in May 2007 in an immigration raid at a Barry County poultry processing plant.

Romero’s attorneys have not decided whether they will appeal the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

A southwest Missouri woman whose conviction in a 2003 homicide was overturned has been found not guilty after a second trial in the case.

Greene County Judge Michael Cordonnier ruled Tuesday that no physical evidence linked Paula Hall of Sparta to the death of Freda Heyn.

Hall was convicted of second-degree murder in February 2009 and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but an appeals court overturned the conviction in 2011. She was released on bail in June.

Cordonnier heard the case again in a bench trial last week.

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a member of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, joined a bipartisan group of his

colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Chuck Hagel today urging him to provide immediate death gratuity payments to military families during the government shutdown.

In addition to Blunt, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chris Coons (Del.), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), and Tom Carper (Del.).

As the letter states, the death gratuity program provides for a special tax free payment of $100,000 to eligible survivors of members of the Armed Forces who die while on active duty.

“We strongly urge you to use whatever legal discretion you have to ensure that the nation can fulfill that sacred obligation, and to promptly notify us of changes required under law while the Congress continues to work towards reopening the government,” the Senators wrote.

“Most immediately, we request that you seek an interim solution to allow the families of the five service members killed in Afghanistan this weekend to welcome their loved ones home,” the Senators continued. “Any delay in providing families with this essential benefit is absolutely unacceptable.”

At the first of several hearings around the state focused on Missouri’s dairy industry, the Missouri House Interim Committee on Emerging Issues in Agriculture is looking at ways to improve the state’s dairy industry. Tuesday’s hearing in Harrisonville was the first, with others scheduled in Springfield and northwest Missouri later this month.

Testifying at the Harrisonville hearing for Farm Bureau were dairy farmer David Martin, who is also Hickory County Farm Bureau president, and Brent Hampy, a Pettis County cattleman who serves on the Missouri Farm Bureau State Board of Directors.

Martin, whose family has operated a dairy for three generations near Humansville, Mo., told state representatives that even though many dairy policy issues must be addressed at the federal level, there are areas in which Missouri legislators can help.

“Create a dairy apprentice mentoring program to give high school and college students who have an interest in dairy farming the opportunity to get practical hands-on experience working on a dairy farm,” Martin suggested. “We would urge the committee to develop state programs that enhance dairy profitability, incentivize additional ‘new’ milk production from Missouri’s existing dairy farmer base, and expand and develop markets for Missouri produced milk.”

Hampy focused on disease issues, specifically state Trichomoniasis (Trich) regulations. Trich is a venereal disease of cattle that can be economically devastating for a cattle owner if their herd becomes infected with the disease. Infected herds can end up with a 50-70 percent calf crop due to infertility complications.

Farm Bureau supports the development of a Trich notification procedure by the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA). “We strongly support the development of a Trich notification rule for cattle producers adjacent to an infected herd and believe notification should be the responsibility of MDA animal health officials. The Department should move forward with a plan to modify the current rules in the swiftest manner possible and provide the necessary resources.”

The committee is also looking at the federal milk pricing system and ways the state can bring milk prices in line with the regional costs of producing milk. Missouri’s dairy farmers produce more than $4.4 billion in dairy products every year. Dairy in the state supports 23,000 Missouri jobs.

You might notice more neighborhood foot traffic this week as students from more than 20 Missouri schools participate in International Walk to School Day today.

October is Walk to School Month and the Missouri Department of Transportation encourages parents and communities to help children establish ongoing walking and cycling programs.

“The physical fitness benefits are obvious. What’s interesting is, if more children walked or bicycled to school, fewer cars would be nearby at pick-up and drop-off locations, making it safer for walkers and bicyclists,” said Safe Routes to School Coordinator Jeff Cremer. “Fewer vehicles also result in fewer air pollutants. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of poor air quality.”

One of the most popular program activities is called the walking school bus. Groups of children walk designated routes to school under adult supervision, picking up kids along the way similar to a bus. For some neighborhoods it’s a casual group walk, while others set up a formal plan with adults scheduled to walk on certain days. Families who live farther from school can drive part of the way and join the walk along the designated route.

MoDOT oversees the Safe Routes to School program, which provides children in grades K-8 with education, training and infrastructure for bicycling and walking to school safely. The program is designed to provide public awareness and outreach to encourage walking and bicycling to school, instead of riding in cars and buses.

(AP) — A Kansas man whose Missouri-based company defrauded thousands of people out of more than $10 million has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Israel Owen Hawkins Jr., founder of Petro America Corp., was sentenced Tuesday for conspiracy, securities fraud, money laundering and other charges in a scheme that promised people big returns for investing as little as $100.

Prosecutors say Hawkins, of Kansas City, Kan., and others defrauded 12,000 victims of more than $10 million. Nine others had pleaded guilty to various crimes and four others were convicted at trial. Hawkins also was ordered to pay restitution of more than $10 million.

Three other people involved in the scheme were sentenced Tuesday, and others will be sentenced in the coming weeks.

(AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Kansas man should spend 30 years in prison for his role in a Missouri company that fleeced thousands of investors by promising

them immense wealth for as little as $100.

A sentencing memo filed last this week also recommends decades of prison time for two other top officials with Petro America Corp, which billed itself as one of the world’s largest companies despite having few assets.

Isreal Owen Hawkins claims the company he founded never went public because of government interference. He and four others were convicted in May for their roles in what prosecutors say was a $10 million scheme, and all will be sentenced next week.

Prosecutors recommended a 30-year sentence for Hawkins, 25-year term for Teresa Brown and 20 years for Johnny Heurung.

(AP) — Newly unsealed court documents say a man found floating in Table Rock Lake was killed by his girlfriend and another man.

Nineteen-year-old Annmarie Patrick and 29-year-old Justin Dion Tuttle are jailed on $1 million bond on charges of first degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 28-year-old Daniel J. Martin Jr. The trio was seen in Martin’s pickup truck on the afternoon of Sept. 26.

Patrick told investigators that Martin said “something” was about to happen and don’t “freak out” before Martin was killed. Court documents say Martin’s body then was weighted down and dumped into the lake, where it was found three days later.

Patrick’s and Tuttle’s attorneys didn’t immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press.