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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Child porn was found on a southwest Missouri school board member's electronic devices while authorities were investigating reports that he exposed himself to students, according to federal court documents filed Friday. The U.S. attorney's office said John Lewis, 67, of Sarcoxie, was arrested before Thursday night's Sarcoxie school board meeting and charged Friday with possessing child pornography. He remains in federal custody, pending a detention hearing. U.S. attorney's spokesman Don Ledford said Lewis doesn't yet have an attorney. An FBI affidavit said Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers contacted Lewis while investigating reports that he exposed himself to a group of high school students who were working for him on his farm outside Sarcoxie. Troopers obtained a search warrant and seized two desktop computers, a laptop computer and electronic storage devices. Investigators who searched the devices found 19 multimedia files of child pornography and 113 images of suspected child pornography showing children as young as five years old. According to the affidavit, the investigation began after a school official overheard a conversation between high school students, one of whom confirmed he was present at the board member's farm when Lewis exposed himself in close proximity to another student. Two students, both 16 at the time of the incident, told investigators that Lewis talked to them about sex and inappropriately touched them while they were working for him at the farm in late spring last year. Investigators who executed a search warrant at Lewis' home said he became adversarial and "was found to have a very large weapons collection." The district said in a written statement that it's cooperating with the investigation. "Nothing is more important to the district than providing a safe and secure learning and working environment for children," the statement said. "We welcome the support of the community during this process."

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - You may have heard of the phenomenon known as "thundersnow." But have you ever heard of "thundersleet?"

Springfield radio station KTTS reports that's a problem now in southwest Missouri, where the winter storm that's dumping huge amounts of snow in the north is bringing sleet and ice to the south.

In "thundersnow" events, thunderstorms form higher in the atmosphere where temperatures are warmer. That rain turns to snow before reaching the ground, with the above thunderstorm pushing the precipitation down with extra intensity.

Today, that precipitation is becoming sleet across portions of southwest Missouri, and it's causing concerns about collecting on power lines.

So far, only a handful of power outages have been reported.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency in response to a winter storm sweeping across the state.

Nixon said Thursday that the State Emergency Operations Center has been activated. The declaration also allows state agencies to coordinate directly with cities and counties to provide emergency services.

The governor issued the declaration from his office in the Capitol, where he was one of only a few people actually in the building. The House and Senate canceled their sessions Thursday, and most of their offices were closed.

A lone tour guide staffed a Capitol reception desk, but no one had braved the snow to visit the Capitol.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Laurence Bowers had 17 points plus 10 rebounds and Missouri erased a 13-point deficit in the second half to rally past No. 5 Florida 63-60 on Tuesday night.

Phil Pressey added 10 assists, seven points, six rebounds and three steals for Missouri (19-7, 8-5 SEC). The Tigers didn't have Bowers a month ago in a 31-point blowout loss at Florida.

Mike Rosario had 14 points for Florida (21-4, 11-2) but missed a 3-point try at the buzzer. The Gators had won 13 of 14 and led 49-36 with 10:51 left, then hurt themselves at the foul line.

Florida missed five straight free throws in the second half, three times on the front end of one-and-ones. The Gators made six of 12 foul shots overall, while Missouri was 12 of 15.

The Tigers improved to 15-0 at home this season. They are 30-1 the last two seasons under coach Frank Haith.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri senators want to create an online database for businesses to check whether prospective employees have a history of filing workers' compensation claims.

The bill given first-round approval Tuesday drew support from both Republicans and Democrats who said they hope a database will help stop people from abusing the workers' compensation system by repeatedly filing claims against employers.

Senators said employers already can get information on an applicant's workers' compensation claim. But must do so in writing, which can take a couple weeks. They said an online database could speed up the hiring process, benefiting both workers and bosses.

The state Division of Workers' Compensation says an online database initially would include 554,000 claim records, with about 13,000 records added annually.

STOCKTON, Mo. (AP) - A jury has found a 44-year-old southwest Missouri man guilty of attempted rape in a case involving twin sisters who lived as his wives at a ranch inhabited by Mormon fundamentalists.

The Springfield News-Leader reports Charles Laub was found guilty of one count Friday in Cedar County. The women say they were not legally married to Laub but had participated in a religious ceremony in Utah in 2001.

The women and their combined eight children fled their shared husband nearly two years ago. The 27-year-olds told authorities Laub had isolated them from family and friends and did not allow them to refuse sex.

Online court records indicate Laub was taken into custody after the trial and was being held on $25,000 bond. He is to be sentenced March 11.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Cities and counties would be able to resume collecting taxes on cars that were not purchased at Missouri dealers under a bill passed by the Senate.

The Senate voted 28-0 to send the bill to the House on Monday.

A Missouri Supreme Court decision last year has prohibited local governments from collecting sales taxes on cars bought from out-of-state dealers or from a private sale between Missouri residents.

The legislation would allow counties and cities to immediately collect local taxes on such sales. It would also require a vote between November 2014 and November 2016 in counties and cities on whether the tax should be kept.

Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a version of the bill last year that would not have required a public vote.

Lindenwood University's diving coach is in a bit of hot water after allegedly trying to punch a police officer during a traffic stop.

Kyle Friesenhahn was pulled over on February 3 for suspicion of DUI. After being taken to the police station, officers say he spit on an officer and threw a punch, but missed. Lindenwood placed Friesenhahn on unpaid leave last week and he was released from a part-time job as diving coach for schools in the Ft. Zumwalt School District.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The CEO of a rural hospital is warning that its financial security could hinge on the expansion of Missouri's Medicaid health care program.

Pemiscot Memorial Hospital CEO Kerry Noble joined lawmakers at a Capitol news conference Monday as House Democrats announced legislation to expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults.

The federal health care law cuts payments to hospitals for treating uninsured patients on the assumption they will get more money from an expanded Medicaid program.

If Medicaid is not expanded, Nobel says his hospital system would lose around $1 million annually because of the reduced federal payments for the uninsured. He says that would eventually put the hospital at risk.

Gov. Jay Nixon also wants to expand Medicaid.

But Republican legislative leaders have expressed concerns about its potential long-term costs.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) -- Democratic Party leaders from southeast Missouri picked state Rep. Steve Hodges on Saturday to run in a special election to replace resigned U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in the GOP-leaning 8th District.

The Southeast Missourian reported that he earned 39 votes during his party's meeting in Poplar Bluff. De Soto funeral home director Todd Mahn got 27 votes, and former Blodgett mayor Markel Fitchpatrick earned only two votes.

Hodges, 64, of East Prairie, is a former grocery store owner and high school sports referee who spent a dozen years on a local school board and first won election to the Missouri House in 2006. Only after other likely candidates bowed out did he belatedly enter the race Wednesday night to run in a June 4 special election against Republican state Rep. Jason Smith, who was nominated by his party last weekend.

In accepting the nomination, Hodges recalled his son Andrew's valedictorian address at West Point. "He said opportunities sometimes only come along once in your life," Hodges said. "And he said it's your choice to decide whether to accept that opportunity or let it pass. I thought about it a great deal for several days this week and I thought I think God is presenting this as an opportunity for me. So I need to decide whether this is something I should take advantage of or let pass by because it's not going to happen again."

Missouri's 8th District stretches across 30 counties, from the outer suburbs of St. Louis south to the agricultural-base of the Missouri Bootheel and west to the rolling Ozark hills. The district's residents are the poorest and least educated in Missouri, with a median household income of less than $36,000 and more than 85 percent lacking bachelor's degrees. For 32 years, much of the area had been represented by either Bill Emerson or Jo Ann Emerson, who succeeded her husband after he died in 1996. Jo Ann Emerson resigned Jan. 22 to become president and CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Although of opposite political parties, Hodges praised the Emersons and vowed to continue their legacies of supporting labor and agriculture. He also stressed the need to balance the budget.

Hodges described Smith, the Republican nominee, as a friend and said he hoped to conduct the campaign as friends. "That was the way I was reared," he said. "But in politics as Gov. (Jay) Nixon has said, `There is no second place.' There are only winners and losers, and I hope to give you a winner."

Smith, an attorney, farmer and real estate partner, won a special election to the Missouri House of Representatives in November 2005. Because of term limits, Smith, 32, is now one of the most senior members of the chamber. After serving as majority party whip, his colleagues elected him in January as House speaker pro tem - the No. 2 ranking position.