A hug from a stabbing victim’s mother ends a court hearing for a Piedmont woman who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The woman, Ashley Risner, had entered a no-contest plea in the stabbing death of Mark Little during a street fight in St. Louis. She gets a three-year sentence in return for the plea.

She’s already been in jail for more than two of those years waiting for her trial.

When Little’s mother was asked if she wanted to make a statement at the hearing, she hugged Risner and told her to get on with her life and do the right thing.

The Air Force confirms a body found near Anchorage, Alaska is that of a missing airman from Raytown.

The Air Force has been looking for Clinton Reeves since he didn’t show up for work April 23rd. A fellow airman is charged with evidence tampering in the case.

The state has taken an unlicensed dog breeder from the central Missouri town of Barnett to court, charging the owner with violating the state Animal Care Facilities Law. The charge against breeder Lisa Oldendorf says she violates several standards for cleanliness, identification, and living conditions.

The scores are in for the national science test, showing Missouri’s 8th graders are better than average, but about two-thirds of them are not considered proficient.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress says the national average score is 151 points out of a possible 300. Missouri students averaged 156. 

Thirty-six percent of Missouri’s eighth-graders are considered proficient, up five points from the national average.

 The flags of the United States and the State of Missouri at all government buildings in Missouri will be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Tuesday, May 15, in honor of Missouri’s Peace Officers Memorial Day. The day commemorates the sacrifices of the federal, state, county and municipal peace officers who have been killed or disabled in the performance of their duties.

“The Law Enforcement Memorial on the Capitol grounds commemorates the sacrifice made by hundreds of Missouri law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty since statehood,” Gov. Jay Nixon says. Seven officers were killed or died in the line of duty in 2011.