Sunday is Korean Veteran's Day in Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has proclaimed this Sunday to be Korean War Veterans Day in Missouri. A state statute passed in 1989 designates July 27 of each year as a day for Missourians to honor and remember those who served in America’s armed forces during the Korean War. An estimated 50,000 Korean War veterans currently live in Missouri. Together with their allies from the Republic of Korea ...

UPDATE: One killed in motorcycle crash Police say a motorcycle rider died in a crash that shut down part of I-44 near Glenstone in north Springfield. Police say the motorcycle  was coming off the interstate when it collided with a north bound truck near the off-ramp from I-44 to Glenstone. Police say the rider was taken to a local hospital as EMTs attempted CPR. MoDOT estimates the westbound exit ramp to Glenstone ...

More Arkansans graduates going straight to college The rate of Arkansas high school seniors going directly to college increased in 2013 - continuing a trend that began in 2009 but still too slow, according to the chairman of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board.   The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a report delivered to the board on Friday shows 54.3 percent of public school students who graduated in spring 2013 or completed a General ...

Animals try to beat the heat at Ozark Empire Fair Saturday is expected to be the hottest day of the Ozark Empire Fair, and fair-goers aren't the only ones trying to stay cool. More than 750 animals were at the fair on Saturday, and organizers say they're everything they can to help the animals avoid the heat. "They could potentially be cooler here at the fairgrounds than they could be out in the field at home," ...

Ex-lawmaker named to Missouri education board  A former southern Missouri lawmaker and school superintendent has been appointed to the State Board of Education. Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday appointed Maynard Wallace to fill the last vacant position on the eight-member education board. Wallace is a Republican from rural Thornfield in Ozark County who served in the state House from 2003 to 2011. Before that, he worked as a superintendent in the Forsyth and ...

Arkansas frees up 125 prison beds  Arkansas prison officials say moving the department's training academy to a former middle school in England will free up 125 more beds for prisoners. The Arkansas Department of Correction opened its Willis H. Sargent Training Academy earlier this year after previously training its officers at the Tucker Unit. Officials say the old site at Tucker will begin housing inmates in November. The Legislature has appropriated $6 million ...

Widow: Man who died in NYPD custody wasn't violent
NEW YORK (AP) — The widow of a New York City man who died this month in a videotaped confrontation with New York City police demanded justice on Saturday, saying the victim wasn't asking for trouble.

GOP works to avert Senate upset in Georgia
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Republicans are on the offensive in the opening days of Georgia's Senate campaign, hammering Democrat Michelle Nunn as a rubber stamp for President Barack Obama and questioning her resume as a non-profit executive — the very experience that anchors her appeal as a moderate who gets things done without partisan wrangling.

Arizona execution renews debate over methods
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A third execution by lethal injection has gone awry in six months, renewing debate over whether there is a foolproof way for the government to humanely kill condemned criminals, and whether it's even worth looking for one.

3 rockets hit Israel as Hamas rejects Gaza truce
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says three rockets have been fired from Gaza at Israel despite a proposed extension of a humanitarian truce in the Gaza war.

Detained CNN journalist freed in Ukraine
A freelance Ukrainian journalist who was detained by pro-Russian separatists while working for the US news network CNN has been freed, the broadcaster said Saturday. CNN said news producer Anton Skiba, who was captured by armed men outside a hotel in the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Tuesday, had called them to say that he was "free and that he is fine." "CNN also has had visual confirmation that Skiba is free from sources on the ground in Donetsk," the network said on its online news site. Donetsk is under siege by Ukrainian forces, and fighting continued Saturday, with loud explosions heard in one suburb of the city.