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JEFFERSON CITY — Twenty years after Margaret Kelly became the first woman to hold statewide office in Missouri, female candidates were elected to two of Missouri’s top offices Tuesday.

Voters filled three of the state’s executive positions with new officers and re-elected their head prosecutor to a fourth term.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A state constitutional amendment to direct all vehicle sales taxes and some gas taxes to improving roads and bridges was overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by Missouri voters.

With 52 percent of the vote counted, the amendment won 79 percent to 21 percent, according to unofficial results.

Democrat Chuck Graham was the winner Tuesday night in the fight for 19th District state Senator, but not before Republican Mike Ditmore made him sweat.

Both candidates were wary of declaring triumph early, but by midnight, with 70 percent of the Boone and Randolph county precincts reporting, Graham had more than 53 percent of the vote to Ditmore’s 46.8 percent.

Republican Ed Robb wrestled from Democrats the 24th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives on Tuesday, winning the election over Democratic opponent Travis Ballenger.

“It starts early tomorrow morning,” Robb said as he gathered with other party faithful at the Holiday Inn Executive Center to monitor election returns. “We have to be in Jefferson City at 11.”

Incumbent state representatives in Boone County swept their bids for re-election Tuesday, while political newcomer Judy Baker, a Democrat, dominated her late-arriving Republican opponent, Bob Northup, to win the 25th District seat in the Missouri House.

Baker defeated Northup with 68 percent of the vote with 78 percent of the precincts reporting. She will replace state Rep. Vicky Riback Wilson, also a Democrat, who was prevented by term limits from seeking the office again.

Ted Boehm’s 20-year career as Boone County sheriff will come to an end in January with the swearing in of his preferred successor, Dwayne Carey.

With more than half of the votes counted by press time, Carey, the Democrat, had nearly 62 percent of the vote. Republican candidate Mick Covington had about 38 percent.

Boone County Commissioners Skip Elkin and Karen Miller, both Democrats, will serve four more years after defeating their Republican opponents in Tuesday’s election.

Elkin, the Northern District commissioner, cruised to victory.

Two seasoned politicians beat out two political newcomers to retain their positions as Boone County treasurer and public administrator.

Democratic incumbent Kay Murray beat Republican challenger Fred Evermon in the treasurer’s race by a margin of nearly 2 to 1.

With the passage of two marijuana-related initiatives Tuesday, Columbia voters have placed the city on the progressive edge of drug-law reform in the United States.

With more than half the ballots tallied, voters were approving Proposition 1 69 percent to 31 percent as of press time. The measure makes it legal for chronically ill patients to possess and use marijuana with a doctor’s consent. Physicians who prescribe marijuana to patients will no longer face arrest and prosecution.

Columbians conveyed their support for limiting the city’s dependence on fossil fuels, joining a growing number of cities across the nation including Chicago; Fort Collins, Colo.; and Austin, Texas — by passing a renewable energy standard for the local power supply.

The measure, with well more than half the ballots counted by press time, was passing with an impressive 78 percent of the vote.

David MacDonald was surprised by how smoothly the election process ran its course at the Boone County polling places he visited Tuesday.

MacDonald, a Canadian election expert, and Norman Du Plessis of South Africa came to Columbia as international election observers representing Global Exchange, a human rights organization based in San Francisco. The organization also observed polling places in St. Louis, Ohio and Florida.

No matter how the election swings, life in Columbia, and thousands of other small towns across America, will go on.

Over the past year, the election, branded with “choose or lose” or “vote or die” sucked the energy from our souls. We drank morning cups of news, speculation and suggestion. But the polls are closed now and we should take a breather from relentless partisanship.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush won a second term from a divided and anxious nation, his promise of steady, strong wartime leadership trumping John Kerry's fresh-start approach to Iraq and joblessness. After a long, tense night of vote counting, the Democrat called Bush Wednesday to concede Ohio and the presidency, The Associated Press learned.

Kerry ended his quest, concluding one of the most expensive and bitterly contested races on record, with a call to the president shortly after 11 a.m. EST, according to two officials familiar with the conversation.

The victory gave Bush four more years to pursue the war on terror and a conservative, tax-cutting agenda - and probably the opportunity to name one or more justices to an aging Supreme Court.

He also will preside over expanded Republican majorities in Congress.

"Congratulations, Mr. President," Kerry said in the conversation described by sources as lasting less than five minutes. One of the sources was Republican, the other a Democrat.

The Democratic source said Bush called Kerry a worthy, tough and honorable opponent. Kerry told Bush the country was too divided, the source said, and Bush agreed. "We really have to do something about it," Kerry said according to the Democratic official.

Kerry placed his call after weighing unattractive options overnight. With Bush holding fast to a six-figure lead in make-or-break Ohio, Kerry could give up or trigger a struggle that would have stirred memories of the bitter recount in Florida that propelled Bush to the White House in 2000.

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

One season after ranking sixth in the NCAA with 237.46 rushing yards per game, the Missouri football team’s rushing attack went flat with only 51 yards on 35 carries against Nebraska on Saturday.

That lack of production came after the suspension of the Tigers’ leading rusher, junior Damien Nash for disciplinary reasons following an Oct. 23 loss against Oklahoma State. Freshman Tony Temple played in his first collegiate game against Nebraksa, gaining only 13 yards on six carries. He left the contest in the fourth quarter with an injured left Achilles.

The high-pitched squeak of basketball shoes pivoting and shuffling filled the Hickman gym Monday night.

It didn’t feel like the first practice of the 2004-05 season for the Hickman girls’ basketball team.

In their three years as a couple, Columbia’s Erica Ainge and Alvin Banks have gone through the same experience each fall.

To Banks, the annual August release of the best-selling “Madden” NFL videogame is like a national holiday.

Adrian Peterson does not act or play like a freshman.

Perhaps that is why he is being mentioned as a possible Heisman Trophy winner with three games left in the regular season for No. 2 Oklahoma.

The Columbia College women’s basketball team opened its season Monday night by beating Purdue-Calumet 74-51 in Hammond, Ind. Columbia College led the defending Chicagoland Conference champions by 13 at halftime and held on for an easy victory in the second half.

It was the seniors who led the No. 13 Cougars. Forward Mindy Mitchem led Columbia College on defense. She recorded 12 rebounds and six blocks. Four other seniors scored in double figures for the Cougars. Guard Tiffany Foote led the team with 18 points, and forward Charliss Ridley scored 15, followed by guard Lisa Kowalewski with 13 and forward Tilly Payne with 12.

Backstage at Jesse Auditorium on Saturday, dancers for MU’s “India Nite” fussed with their costumes, preparing for a diversity of dance performances.

A troupe of children started the entertainment by singing the national anthems of India and the United States.

Political science students at MU got a rare first-hand account of the end of the Cold War when the last American ambassador to the Soviet Union, Jack Matlock, visited their class Friday.

Matlock wrote “Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended”, in which he gives a detailed first-person account of the final days of the Cold War.