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Missouri's unemployment rate continues to drop, but slowly.

January's rate dropped one-tenth of a point to 6.6 percent--which is the lower level in over four years.

A spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development says that Missouri's rate has been below the national average for 41 months. The national rate sits at 7.9 percent now.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Registered sex offenders would have to vote at their local county clerk's office under a bill under consideration in the Missouri House.

The House Elections Committee held a hearing on the measure Tuesday. Republican Rep. Tim Remole, of Excello, is sponsoring the legislation. He says it will protect voting rights for registered offenders while also protecting children in schools that are designated as polling places.

No one testified in opposition to the proposal, but the Missouri Association of County Clerks says it would cost money to turn local election offices into polling places on election day.

If offenders can't make it to the clerk's office on the election day, they would be required to cast an absentee ballot.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri's revenues are up nearly 9 percent through the first two-thirds of the state's fiscal year.

Figures released Monday by the state Office of Administration show Missouri's finances have improved mainly because of a decline in tax refunds and an increase in individual income tax collections.

Through February, net general revenues were up 8.7 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. The total includes a 5.5 percent increase in individual income taxes and a 16.5 percent decline in tax refunds. Sales tax collections have remained relatively flat for the fiscal year.

Missouri's 2013 budget year began last July and runs through the end of this June.

Tax collections in February alone were virtually unchanged from February 2012. But for the entire fiscal year, collections were up $394 million.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities say a 13-month-old girl has been found safe, hours after an Amber Alert was issued for the infant who was in a car apparently stolen from a Springfield parking lot.

< The Springfield News-Leader reports the child, Harmony Blue, was in the car with an older child when the car was taken from a store parking lot Saturday afternoon. Police say the children's father left them and the keys in the car while he was in a store and briefly chased after the car on foot.

The older child was dropped off nearby and recovered by police.

Springfield police Lt. Brian Phillips says the young girl was reunited with her family Saturday evening and the car was recovered, but he declined to release details.

There was no arrest reported.

SAVERTON, Mo. (AP) - Juveniles are suspected in a series of fires at a tiny Mississippi River town in northeast Missouri.

Ralls County and state investigators say three fires over the past four months at vacant homes in Saverton were intentionally set by youngsters. The Hannibal Courier-Post reports that the names and ages of the suspects, and the number of them, were not released.

The matter has been turned over to juvenile authorities.

Saverton is an unincorporated town of about 75 residents near Hannibal and about 100 miles north of St. Louis.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - As Republican state lawmakers consider increased access to firearms, a new study claims Missouri's gun-friendly policies have increased gun violence. The study's author says homicides involving firearms have increased in Missouri by 25 percent between 2008 and 2010. Daniel Webster, a professor and gun policy analyst at Johns Hopkins University, cites the repeal of the state's "permit to acquire law" in 2007 as the turning point. Prior to that year, people had to get a permit and a background check from the local sheriff's office to acquire a firearm even in cases of private sales. Now, no such check is required for gun purchases. Webster's research shows that Missouri's increased level of gun violence in the last five years runs counter to the national trend.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri House members have approved legislation that would require simplified report cards for schools.

The report cards would include scores on state performance measures with a translation into a letter grade for the individual standards and their components. The report cards would apply to public schools and charter schools with classes beyond second grade. They would be available starting December 2014.

Principals could provide up to 250 words of context or background on the scores. Schools that receive an overall score of less than 70 percent would need to submit a plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education explaining what will be done to improve.

The House passed the measure 128-23 on Thursday. It now goes to the Senate.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A special panel created by Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander is recommending that the state allow early voting and expand absentee voting by mail.

The bipartisan commission released its recommendations Thursday for overhauling Missouri's voting laws.

Missouri now allows people to vote by mail only if they meet certain conditions, such as a disability or absence from their district on election day. The commission says voters should be allowed to mail their ballots without such restrictions.

It also recommends requiring all local election authorities to establish one location where voters can cast ballots in-person beginning six weeks before election day. For presidential elections, highly-populated areas would be required to establish an additional polling place for early voting.

The 11-member commission is made up of local election authorities, attorneys and former lawmakers.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri senators have passed legislation scaling back tax breaks for developers and offering new incentives for high-tech businesses and world trade.

The Senate's 27-7 vote Thursday sends the bill to the House, where it already faces some opposition.

House Speaker Tim Jones has said senators "over-reached" by significantly lowering the amount of tax credits available for the construction of low-income housing and the renovation of historic buildings. But Jones likes provisions in the Senate bill that create new tax credits for air cargo exports, computer data centers and investors in high-tech, start-up businesses.

Gov. Jay Nixon praised the bill Thursday for containing "long-overdue reforms" to tax credits.

A similar proposal to overhaul Missouri's tax credits failed during a 2011 special session.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri legislation could land teachers and doctors in trouble if they ask students about gun ownership or note such information from patients on medical records.

A state Senate committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would bar school personnel from asking students whether their parents or guardians own guns. Violators could face a $200 fine.

The bill would also bar medical professionals from putting information about a patient's firearm into a medical record unless it relates to the patient's immediate medical care or safety.

That language was added by Republican Sen. Brian Nieves, of Washington. He says the bill would prevent inappropriate questions about firearm ownership.

But Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf, a physician from St. Joseph, said there shouldn't be limits on what doctors can insert in medical records.