Briefly

__Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, Missouri, receives license__

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia has received a license to begin offering abortions.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains announced Tuesday the clinic received its license and its first counseling appointments will be scheduled for Monday.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the first abortions will be provided Oct. 23.

The new license comes after Planned Parenthood won a court ruling in April that some new state requirements for abortion clinics infringed on women's abortion rights. The Department of Health and Senior Services was ordered to process abortion license applications for clinics in Kansas City, Columbia, Springfield and Joplin. At the time, a St. Louis facility was the only place in Missouri offering abortions.

Kansas City received its license in August. The licenses for Springfield and Joplin are still being processed.

__Greitens says flag deserves respect__

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is the latest Republican to criticize athletes for kneeling in protest during the national anthem.

He said Wednesday in a Facebook post that the American flag "brings real patriots to their feet, not their knees." The former Navy SEAL says he was taught to respect the flag. He describes those who refuse to stand as "selfish," saying they are making the moment about them.

President Donald Trump and others have been lashing out at NFL players for not standing during the anthem. On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence left a 49ers-Colts game after about a dozen San Francisco players took a knee.

The kneeling protests started last year as a statement against the killings of unarmed black men and boys at the hands of police.

__Mo. gets grace period for ID compliance__

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri has more time to comply with stricter identification requirements under the Real ID Act.

The Department of Homeland Security is giving Missouri a grace period through Jan. 22 as it reviews the state's request for another extension. The last extension expired Tuesday.

At issue is a federal law with tougher proof-of-identity requirements needed at airports, some federal facilities and military bases.

Some Missouri lawmakers, worried about privacy, have pushed back against compliance with the federal law for years. But a new Missouri law that took effect in August will give residents the option to get compliant driver's licenses or other ID cards.

Department of Revenue spokeswoman Anne Marie Moy says the agency asked for an extension through March 2019 as the state works to make those compliant licenses available.

-- From wire reports