// a href = ./ //

SAVERTON, Mo. (AP) - Juveniles are suspected in a series of fires at a tiny Mississippi River town in northeast Missouri.

Ralls County and state investigators say three fires over the past four months at vacant homes in Saverton were intentionally set by youngsters. The Hannibal Courier-Post reports that the names and ages of the suspects, and the number of them, were not released.

The matter has been turned over to juvenile authorities.

Saverton is an unincorporated town of about 75 residents near Hannibal and about 100 miles north of St. Louis.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri House members have approved legislation that would require simplified report cards for schools.

The report cards would include scores on state performance measures with a translation into a letter grade for the individual standards and their components. The report cards would apply to public schools and charter schools with classes beyond second grade. They would be available starting December 2014.

Principals could provide up to 250 words of context or background on the scores. Schools that receive an overall score of less than 70 percent would need to submit a plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education explaining what will be done to improve.

The House passed the measure 128-23 on Thursday. It now goes to the Senate.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A substitute teacher at a St. Louis elementary school was removed from the classroom after bringing a Taser to class.

Christina Garland, a principal at Kehrs Mill Elementary, sent a letter explaining the situation to parents.

The letter did not say how the Taser was discovered Wednesday in a fifth-grade classroom. But Garland said the teacher was immediately removed and another substitute was brought in.

The Rockwood School District is investigating.