KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Authorities say a spring storm dropped two low-intensity tornadoes in southwest Missouri but no major damage was reported.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Griffin says the two tornadoes touched down early Thursday.
An EF1 tornado about 100 yards wide stayed on the ground north of Ozark for about a mile, causing mostly cosmetic damage to homes.
Griffin told The Springfield News-Leader the same storm produced an EF0 tornado a few minutes later southwest of Rogersville. That tornado damaged several trees, outbuildings and a barn.
At least one tornado was reported Wednesday night near Belton, in suburban Kansas City, causing no major damage.
No injuries were reported from any of the tornadoes.
ST. LOUIS -- Authorities say a 13-year-old boy is in custody in the shooting death of a 14-year-old St. Louis boy.
Police say the victim, Oscar Johnson III, was shot Wednesday near the Fountain Park neighborhood and died later at a hospital.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the 13-year-old was taken into custody and turned over to juvenile authorities.
The details of the shooting were not immediately clear but police say it occurred in the victim's home.
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- Authorities say human remains found by mushroom hunters in western Missouri are those of a woman who's been missing since Valentine's Day.
Cass County authorities identified the woman as 18-year-old Vernece Brown. The Kansas City Star reported her remains were found last weekend in a wooded area near Harrisonville, about 35 miles south of Kansas City.
Kansas City police say she was last seen leaving her home with an unknown male. Cass County sheriff's Capt. Kevin Tieman said authorities are seeking information about her whereabouts after that point. The cause of death has not been released, but authorities are investigating her death as a homicide.
The discovery of Brown's body is the third time in a year human remains have been found in Cass County woods.
OVERLAND, Mo. -- Authorities say a St. Louis sheriff's deputy was punched in the face three times while riding a public bus to work.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Deputy Corian Byrd said he didn't know his attacker. Byrd said the man looked at his uniform and badge as he sat down right next to him early Wednesday, despite the bus being mostly empty. Byrd described the attack as unprovoked and said he thinks he was targeted because he was in uniform. He said he and a passenger subdued the man until police arrived.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A group that wants to ban most lobbyist gifts to Missouri lawmakers has turned in signatures to get a question on November's ballot that would let voters decide the issue.
The ballot initiative, submitted Thursday by an organization called Clean Missouri, would also make lawmakers' records subject to the state's open records law, lower limits on campaign contributions and change how legislative districts are drawn. It would ban lobbyist gifts over $5.
Currently there are no limits on lobbyist gifts, although they must be reported, and lawmakers are exempt from the open records law.
A spokesman for Clean Missouri said it collected almost 347,000 signatures, more than twice the required number to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot.
HILLSBORO, Mo. -- Police in eastern Missouri say a man tried to set his house on fire and then took two hostages at knifepoint.
Police say Kylie Kunzie of Jefferson County called 911 to report a fire in his home Wednesday morning. They say he called again minutes later saying he was at a nearby home and holding a man and a woman hostage.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported authorities were able to get the hostages away from Kunzie. No one was injured. He surrendered himself peacefully to deputies. The 45-year-old has been charged with arson, armed criminal action and kidnapping.
-- From wire reports
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