The University of Missouri Extension Office says Japanese beetle grub worms are appearing throughout Missouri and will emerge by July 1.

Entomologist Wayne Bailey says white grubs of the Japanese beetle lie just below the soil surface in many parts of Missouri, and they’ll begin to emerge as adult beetles soon.

“The beetles are still in the colonization stage in rural Missouri counties and are expected to increase for the next seven to 10 years before beneficial pathogens and insects will slow population growth,” he says. “The Japanese beetle was first found in the U.S. in 1916, possibly arriving in shipments of irises from Japan. It made its way to Missouri by 1934 and stayed primarily in urban areas through the 1960s, living primarily in golf courses and plant nurseries where grubs of the pest were brought in with soil.”

Adult Japanese beetles are about a half-inch long and metallic green in color with bronze- or copper-colored wing covers. Groups of beetles feed on corn’s green silks and tassels, foliage of soybeans, and the fruit and foliage of more than 400 flowers, shrubs and trees, MU Extension reports.

This can be be news for farmers, since the beetles feed on green corn silks and tassels, disrupting pollination and reducing yield because the ears are left with fewer kernels. Feeding on soybean foliage results in a lacelike pattern of holes on upper plant leaflets, often resulting in plant growth and possibly reducing yields.

Linden trees and roses also are especially susceptible to damage by Japanese beetles, but more than 400 plants can be affected.

State Auditor Tom Schweich has released an audit of the Office of Attorney General, Missouri Office of Prosecution Services today. Schweich’s office says in a press release that in the areas audited, the overall performance of this entity was “Good.”

However, Schweich’s auditors have pointed out some areas where improvement is warranted. “The Missouri Office of Prosecution Services needs to improve controls and procedures over recipients,” the report says, and the office “does not restrictively endorse checks immediately upon receipt and does not document the date of receipt… does not deposit registration fees until they total approximately $1,000, which may be up to three weeks.”

Pay raises have also been brought into question, as was noted that raises were given to employees that were not provided to other state employees.  In addition to the 2 percent cost of living adjustment increase that was provided to state employees paid less than $70,000 per year, MOPS employees also received raises in January 2011 and 2012, the audit says. ” These raises represented an annual increase in staff salaries that totaled $22,897.  In addition to the staff raises, the executive director also received salary increases of $11,455 and $7,500 in November 2012 and January 2011, respectively.”

State law grants the Prosecutors Coordinators Training Council the authority to establish employee compensation, but, given the recent state budget constraints and that other state employees have generally not received any such pay increases, the council and MOPS should reevaluate the reasonableness and necessity of these increases, according to the press release.

To view the complete report, Citizens Summary and audit rating scale, go HERE.

An accused sex-offender was found dead in his cell in the Buchanan County Jail Tuesday morning. Sheriff Mike Strong says jail staff discovered Michael Bozarth, 25, around 2 a.m.

Bozarth was in jail awaiting trial in November on three counts of 1st degree statutory sodomy. In court documents, police say he molested two children under the age of nine.

Bozarth has a long history of crimes involving sex, drugs and violence: In July of 2005, Bozarth was convicted of sexual misconduct, sentenced to 15 days in jail, and ordered to register as a sex offender. Since then, he has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 252 days for loitering near a school building. In June of 2007, he pleaded guilty for failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to five days in jail, according to court records.

Authorities say there were only two people in the cell. Buchanan County Sheriff Mike Strong called the death suspicious. He would not comment on how Bozarth died. This is the first homicide in the county jail on Strong’s watch. He says the investigation is ongoing.

John Tretbar with Missourinet affiliate KFEQ in St. Joseph contributed this report.

Five people have been convicted for their role in a scheme that cost thousands of American investors more than $10 million. 300 of those investors were Missourians.

The scam involved the sale of shares to a bogus company called Petro America. Its CEO, Isreal Hawkins, and four other individuals spent the money invested on personal purchases. The Secretary of State’s Office issued a cease and desist order against the company in November of 2008 and referred it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. The Missouri Securities Division also uncovered that Hawkins was not registered to offer investments in Missouri.

Secretary of State Jason Kander’s office announced the conviction.

A St. Louis man who shot at police officers when a SWAT team raided his home on a drug bust has been found guilty of ten felony counts plus endangering a child.

Steven Haywood fired three shots at officers, who returned fire, later figuring out a child was in the bathroom, which was in the line of fire. No one was injured in the gunfire exchange. He’ll be sentenced in July.