Wounded lawmaker returning to full duty

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- State Rep. Jason Brown, who was shot in the lung while serving in Iraq, is returning to full duty -- a change from his earlier plans to perform light duty. Brown, R-Platte City, will leave for Baghdad today. He had spent more than six weeks at home recovering from his wound. He was hit by small-arms fire, and the bullet remains in his left lung because doctors told him surgery to remove it would cause unnecessary trauma. "I'm healed up," the Army Reserve staff sergeant said Wednesday. He expects to complete his one-year tour in Iraq as a civil affairs specialist in March. He runs a gun turret for the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion of Utica, N.Y. On the political side, Brown was re-elected earlier this month after defeating Jared Welch, who is an attorney in Platte City and a Missouri Air National Guard member, in Missouri's 30th District.

Father, son killed in traffic accident

SHELL KNOB, Mo. -- A father and his son died Wednesday in a traffic accident in southwest Missouri, the Mis¿souri State Highway Patrol said. Dennis F. Parker, 45, and his son, also named Dennis F. Parker, were killed when the car they were in crossed the center line of a Barry County road and hit a dump truck head-on, the patrol said. The Parkers were from Shell Knob. The age of the younger Parker was not known, the patrol said.

-- From wire reports