Your Tuesday Morning News Update with Maria Neider

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Greene County judge fires a barrage of questions at Springfield's municipal prosecutor regarding the city's use of red-light cameras. Judge Mark Fitzsimmons asked prosecutor Johnnie Burgess to explain details of the red-light camera ordinance, which assigns drivers a civil fine if their vehicle is filmed running a red light.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A state lawmaker wants to dampen the party on some of Missouri's popular floating streams. New legislation by Republican Senator Delbert Scott of Lowry City would ban beer bongs, Jell-O shots, kegs and beaded Mardi Gras necklaces on Missouri rivers. The bill was among the first filed yesterday as lawmakers gear up for the 2009 legislative session.

An Ava man charged with shooting his ex-wife's boyfriend.. then beating him to death with a baseball bat...will go before a judge today. Authorities say James Hitchcock killed Wendell Hilhouse in August. Hitchcock allegedly asked the couple to help him move some cars. When they pulled up alongside his vehicle, the woman says Hitchcock opened the door and shot Hilhouse.

Missouri Southern State University in Joplin is putting a campus-wide freeze on hiring. The school is working on plans to handle a potential 15-percent budget cut. MSSU started worrying last summer when reports predicted the state budget could be 200-million dollars short.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A fire at a substation has knocked out power to at least 50,000 businesses and homes in the St. Louis area served by AmerenUE. Several schools have closed because of the outage and early-morning commuters were delayed by the darkened traffic lights.

by Ozarks Today Staff