Voters approve tax to sustain emergency operations at rural Missouri hospital through 2011

OSCEOLA, Mo. — Voters have approved a property tax to keep the emergency room open and ambulances running at a rural western Missouri hospital that had warned of possible deaths if the measure failed.

For rural hospitals, move to digitize records on federal incentive carries costs, and risks

OSCEOLA, Mo. — Electronic medical records are a life-or-death issue at Sac-Osage Hospital — not necessarily just for the patients, but for the hospital itself.

Sheriff to take new look at 20-year-old murder of Mo. farm wife after AP investigation

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri sheriff said Monday that he will take a fresh look at the 1990 slaying of a farm wife after an Associated Press review raised questions about the investigation.

5 killed in head-on collision on rural Mo. highway; corner says there were no skid marks

FARMINGTON, Mo. — Five people were killed in a head-on collision on a two-lane highway in rural eastern Missouri.

Gay-rights activists: Struggle continues for basic rights; marriage equality is secondary

CLAYTON, Mo. — Gay marriage and gays in the military may dominate the headlines, but activists in many states say their fight is much more fundamental: basic rights and protections against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation.

KC Southern reports steep drop in second-quarter profits as shipments and fuel surcharges fall

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Regional railroad operator Kansas City Southern reported a much smaller second-quarter profit Thursday as the economy and lower fuel prices slashed revenue by 30 percent.

Recession helps Missouri wine school lure grape growers hoping to turn hobby into career

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Soured on the real estate market, Columbia broker Bob Walters has found what he hopes is a more fruitful pursuit: growing grapes for wine. Downsized banker Mary Becker also is dabbling in the business, planting vines on the 120 acres south of Kansas City.

Sprint Nextel reports larger loss in 2nd-qtr as revenue, subscribers sink

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Investors pummeled Sprint Nextel Corp.’s shares Wednesday after the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier said it continued to hemorrhage some of its most valuable customers during the second quarter despite the introduction of the glitzy Palm Pre smartphone.

Kansas City to pay $550,000 to settle discrimination lawsuit over comments by mayor’s wife

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — City officials agreed Thursday to pay a former mayoral aide $550,000 to settle a lawsuit over comments made by the mayor’s wife, who has faced criticism for her role in her husband’s administration.

MEMC Electronic Materials’ 2nd-quarter profit plunges on continued economic slump

ST. PETERS, Mo. — Silicon wafer maker MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit plunged as sales were cut in half.

EPA plan for Missouri lead waste worries residents; ‘treated like second-class citizens’

LEADWOOD, Mo. — For generations, people in Leadwood have lived near huge piles of dangerous, lead-contaminated mining waste. Now the EPA has decided the answer to the problem is to pile on more lead-tainted earth.

Residents in Leadwood, Mo. fight plan to top heaps of hazardous waste with more waste

LEADWOOD, Mo. — The folks in this aptly named southern Missouri town know full well they’re living amid giant piles of what amounts to hazardous waste. To them, that doesn’t make the logic of trucking in tons of lead-contaminated soil from a neighboring county to cover it up sound any less ridiculous.

An Ozark Woodstock: Fans, foes recall ‘74 festival that rocked Missouri town

SEDALIA, Mo. — Baby boomers in America’s heartland are reminiscing about one of the biggest, yet least-known music festivals of its time that rocked the Missouri State Fairgrounds.

Mo. governor unfreezes $1.5M in state funds for Tour of Missouri, says race should go on

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon says the 2009 Tour of Missouri should go on.

Mo. jail to host ‘bed and breakfast’ event to pay for new mattresses

HILLSBORO, Mo. — Want to spend a night in jail? And how about paying for the privilege? The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in eastern Missouri has come up with a novel way to pay for mattresses at a new jail addition.

H&R Block’s Smyth receives $5.3 million in fiscal 2009 compensation as he takes over as CEO

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — H&R Block Inc. CEO Russell Smyth received compensation valued at $5.3 million in fiscal 2009, the year he took over leadership of the nation’s largest tax preparer.

Ex-cons mediate in rough neighborhoods from Kansas City to Chicago before feuds turn violent

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An argument earlier in the day between teens from rival neighborhoods had Jason Broom worried as he stood in a pothole-riddled parking lot pondering his next move.

Pilot practicing aerial acrobatics dies when propeller plane crashes in northwest Missouri

TARKIO, Mo. — A pilot has died after her propeller plane crashed into a bean field in far northwest Missouri while she practiced acrobatics for an air show.

Missouri charged in quadruple killing, bodies were left in apartment with wandering toddler

RAYTOWN, Mo. — A Kansas City, Mo., man has been indicted in the March killing of his ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend and her two young nephews. Their bodies were found in an apartment with the woman’s toddler wandering among the corpses.

Mo. tourism commission reaffirms Tour of Missouri support in face of potential funding cut

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri tourism officials and professional cycling teams are reaffirming support for the Tour of Missouri race in the face of budget cuts that could force its cancellation.

Free speech vs. cultural sensitivity: Missouri campus program seeks balance when views collide

COLUMBIA, Mo. — They call it Speakers’ Circle, a First Amendment gathering spot at the University of Missouri where just about anything goes.

Sprint Nextel signs $5 billion networking deal with Ericsson, transfers 6,000 employees

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday announced it will transfer operation of its wireless and wireline networks to Swedish telecommunications equipment maker LM Ericsson.

Missed revenue forecasts could mean more troubles ahead for state budgets

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — With its IOUs and plans to close state offices three days a month, California gets all the attention as lawmakers fight to write a budget set off balance by a $26.3 billion deficit.

Former KC Chiefs player Rich Baldinger won’t be charged in Mo. car collision that killed woman

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Rich Baldinger will not face charges in a traffic accident that left a 61-year-old woman dead.

H&R Block reports strong fourth-quarter profit on higher bank income, tax prep fees

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — H&R Block, the nation’s largest tax preparer, has reported better-than-expected profit for its fiscal fourth quarter as higher fees and more consumer financial services income offset a decline in the number of tax returns it prepared.

Tax preparer H&R Block Inc. set to release fourth-quarter results

KANSAS CIY, Mo. — Financial services company H&R Block Inc. is scheduled to report earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter Monday afternoon. The following is a summary of key developments related to the period.

Mo. inmate who used cardboard toilet paper holder to escape recaptured

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Columbia police have captured an inmate who allegedly escaped from the Howard County jail using a cardboard toilet paper holder. Curtis Jones of New Franklin was captured Wednesday afternoon.

Kansas City man found sleepwalking and urinating in apartment closet stabbed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A sleepwalking episode led to a stabbing. The Kansas City Star reported on its Web site Wednesday that the 24-year-old victim suffered a stab wound to his face and shoulder. Police said the victim’s girlfriend awoke around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday to find her boyfriend urinating in the closet. He was intoxicated when he arrived at his apartment several hours earlier.

Incoming Mo. chief justice says executions on hold because of federal stay in inmate’s case

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The state’s incoming chief justice said Tuesday that it was unlikely any executions would be scheduled in Missouri while the courts assess an inmate’s lawsuit challenging the state’s lethal injection procedure.

Mo. measure would rename highway adopted by neo-Nazis after rabbi who fought for civil rights

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The state’s litter prevention program got an unusual ally last year: A neo-Nazi group adopted a half-mile section of highway in Springfield and picked up the trash.