The incumbent Franklin County assessor will face a newcomer to the political arena in the Aug. 2 Republican primary.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The art of the coronation has taken something of a beating at the Republican National Convention. Nevertheless, Donald Trump now has the crown — and a final chance to summon unity from the party's restive ranks in the ritual's closing days.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has chosen Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate, adding political experience and conservative bona fides to his Republican presidential ticket. Trump announced his decision on Twitter Friday morning, capping a frenzied 24 hours of speculation about his choice.

PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 17-year-old northwest Missouri high school student has been sentenced to eight years for raping a 14-year-old girl.

DALLAS (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed five police officers and wounded seven others during a protest over fatal police shootings of black men in other states, authorities said. It appeared to be the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis' law officers will work in pairs until further notice because of the killings of five Dallas law enforcers during a mass shooting Thursday night.

VALLES CALDERA NATIONAL PRESERVE, N.M. (AP) — Wildlife officials say a bear attacked a woman running a marathon in a national preserve in northern New Mexico.

CREVE COEUR, Mo. (AP) — Two suspicious packages that caused a suburban St. Louis hospital's emergency room and a nearby interstate highway to be shut down don't appear to have contained explosives, police said after a bomb squad blew up one of the packages.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A new synthetic drug that can be purchased online and is connected to at least 50 deaths nationwide has several states scrambling to stop its spread, with Kansas law enforcement agencies seeking an emergency ban.

By JULIE PACE and KEN THOMAS ,Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Muhammad Ali, the magnificent heavyweight champion whose fast fists and irrepressible personality transcended sports and captivated the world, has died according to a statement released by his family. He was 74.

Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke always has been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights.

NEW YORK (AP) — Morley Safer, the veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent who was equally at home reporting on social injustices, the Orient Express and abstract art, and who exposed a military atrocity in Vietnam that played an early role in changing Americans' view of the war, died Thursday, ac…

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ohio Gov. John Kasich is leaving the Republican presidential contest, giving Donald Trump a clear path to his party's nomination.

NEW YORK (AP) — Aeropostale, once the vibrant epicenter of the U.S. mall scene, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ended his presidential campaign Tuesday, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump's march to the Republican nomination.

CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — Pop superstar Prince, who was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era, was found dead at his home on Thursday in suburban Minneapolis, according to his publicist.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. paper money is getting a historic makeover.

Washington area native, Kate Harding, will be holding a collaborative exhibit in Brooklyn this month. Kate send out the following note with the press release for that show:

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A central Missouri sheriff is free on bond after being arrested on charges that he misused a firearm during an incident last month at a tavern.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country giant Merle Haggard, who rose from poverty and prison to international fame though his songs about outlaws, underdogs and an abiding sense of national pride in such hits as "Okie From Muskogee" and "Sing Me Back Home," died Wednesday at 79, on his birthday.

ST. ANN, Mo. (AP) — Police in the St. Louis suburb of St. Ann say a driver overdosed on heroin and struck a couple and their 2-year-old son, seriously injuring the family members.

JEFFERSON CITY - This is not an April Fools’ Day joke.

TORONTO (AP) — Rob Ford, the pugnacious, populist former mayor of Toronto whose career crashed in a drug-driven, obscenity-laced debacle, died Tuesday after fighting cancer, his family said. He was 46.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Bombs exploded at the Brussels airport and one of the city's metro stations Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens, as a European capital was again locked down amid heightened security threats.

Billy Barnett is no stranger to the stage, having traveled the world sharing the sounds of his blues guitar, and this Saturday, Washington gets to have a listen to the man everyone is calling the hottest thing in blues right now.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the man charged with murder in the killing four men in Kansas City, Kansas, and a fifth man in central Missouri. (all times local):

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nancy Reagan, the helpmate, backstage adviser and fierce protector of Ronald Reagan in his journey from actor to president — and finally during his 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease — has died. She was 94.

Downtown Washington Inc. and its sister organization, the Historic Washington Foundation, Tuesday will mark the fifth anniversary of operating a contract postal unit (CPU) in the historic post office building at Second and Lafayette streets.

The use of lead remediation funds to create a state park near the Arkansas border has raised eyebrows and House Republicans are standing up to the governor over the purchase.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri fired an assistant professor on Thursday who had been suspended after run-ins with student journalists during protests last year, including a videotaped confrontation where she called for "some muscle" to remove a videographer from the Colum…

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., announced Monday after that she has breast cancer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Harper Lee, the elusive novelist whose child's-eye view of racial injustice in a small Southern town, "To Kill a Mockingbird," became standard reading for millions of young people and an Oscar-winning film, has died. She was 89.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Two students were shot and killed Friday at a high school in a Phoenix suburb but the danger at the campus was over, police said, as hundreds of worried parents crowded outside nearby stores to await word on their children.

Ethics reform was a major topic of discussion at the State Capitol Thursday.

A tax on cellphones to fund 911 services is facing opposition in the Missouri General Assembly this year.