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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials who oversee Missouri's driver's licenses are assuring that none of the personal documents supplied by applicants are shared with a private contractor.

Revenue Department officials told a House committee Monday they began requiring documents such as birth certificates and concealed weapons endorsements to be scanned into a state computer system as part of an effort to deter fraud.

Lawmakers raised questions about the process after a southeast Missouri man filed a lawsuit last week challenging the new procedures.

Revenue officials said the digital copies of documents are kept by the department, and only basic information about the applicant is forwarded to a contractor that makes the licenses.

Several dozen lawmakers are backing a bill that would bar Missouri from keeping copies of the documents.

The great 2012 drought is officially over in the immediate St. Louis area. That's according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The agency's latest update shows soil conditions in the City of St. Louis, St. Louis County, Jefferson County and eastern St. Charles County have returned to normal after almost 9 months of drought. Western St. Charles, Lincoln and most of Franklin Counties are still listed as "dryer than normal."

The southeastern third of Missouri, as well as southern and central Illinois had been declared drought-free weeks ago.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has had surgery to repair a ruptured disc in his lower back.

Matheny had the procedure yesterday in St. Louis. Before leaving the team on Sunday, Matheny said he expected to be back at spring training for Thursday's game against Atlanta in Jupiter.

The 42 year old Matheny, who replaced Tony La Russa as manager after the 2011 season, said early in spring training that the injury probably traces back to his days as a big league catcher from 1994-06.

Bench coach Mike Aldrete is managing the team in Matheny's absence.