Stories from Tuesday, August 19, 2014

ST. LOUIS- Missouri, one of the nation's most active death-penalty states, has avoided prolonged executions due to a shortage of lethal-injection drugs by switching to pentobarbital, a powerful sedative that generally puts inmates to death swiftly and without complications. The drug's apparent effectiveness raises questions about why it has not been more widely adopted...

Add color to your landscape year-round by joining the Arbor Day Foundation in August. Everyone who joins the nonprofit Arbor day Foundation with a $10 donation will receive 10 free white flowering dogwood trees through the foundation's Trees for America campaign...

JEFFERSON CITY- This fall, a new program available in Missouri will offer nutritious breakfasts and lunches for free to all students at qualifying schools - as long as administrators do their homework by the end of August.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) applies to schools in areas with a high concentration of children receiving assistance, but the free meals will apply to all families, regardless of their income.
Karen Wooton, coordinator of food and nutrition services with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, says the program will remove many obstacles. ...

Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 10 p.m. with a low around 71. Mostly sunny on Wednesday with a 40 percent chance of showers mainly before 8 a.m. with a high near 92 then becoming partly cloudy Wednesday night with a 20 percent chance of showers before 8 p.m. ...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E has sent 10 troopers to Ferguson, Mo., to assist with crowd control and other duties. The troopers were sent Saturday and told to expect a minimum five-day deployment, said Public Information Officer Corp. Clark Parrott...

BERNIE -- Brandy Johnson said the recently approved law allowing use of cannabis oil to treat Missouri patients with epilepsy is a good start toward further research and legalization of medicinal marijuana, but it's not enough. "It's a bittersweet victory," she said. "A small victory."...

POPLAR BLUFF -- Poplar Bluff's former city manager was honored during a surprise appreciation reception Friday evening. Councilman Ed DeGaris presented Doug Bagby with a key to the city and a set of St. Louis Cardinals pool balls. "You have been a fantastic person to work for," said DeGaris, a former Poplar Bluff police office. "You are the most dedicated employee Poplar Bluff has ever had."...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today: 1. ARRESTS, TEAR GAS MAR FERGUSON NIGHT Despite the deployment of the National Guard, who stood back, clashes between police and protesters continued in the St. Louis suburb where the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a policeman...

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) -- Police and protesters collided in the streets of Ferguson again late Monday, a day after the Missouri governor summoned the National Guard to help restore calm to the St. Louis suburb where Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer...