In brief: California communities in danger of running out of water
San Jose, Calif. – As California’s drought deepens, 17 communities across the state are in danger of running out of water within 60 to 120 days, state officials said this week.
In some communities, wells are running dry. In others, reservoirs are nearly empty. Some have long-running problems that predate the drought.
The water systems, all in rural areas, serve from 39 to 11,000 residents. They range from the tiny Lompico County Water District in Santa Cruz County to districts that serve the cities of Healdsburg and Cloverdale in Sonoma County.
Missouri carries out another execution
Bonne Terre, Mo. – A Missouri man who killed a jeweler during a 1991 robbery was executed for the crime late Wednesday, marking the state’s third lethal injection in as many months.
Herbert Smulls, 56, was executed by a lethal injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
Smulls did not have any final words. The process was brief, Smulls mouthed a few words to the two witnesses there for him, who were not identified, then breathed heavily twice and shut his eyes for good. He showed no outward signs of distress. He was pronounced dead at 10:20 p.m., nine minutes after the process began.
Smulls’ execution was the state’s third since it began using pentobarbital as its lethal injection drug.
Missouri and other states had used a three-drug execution method for decades, but pharmaceutical companies stopped selling the drugs in recent years for use in executions. Missouri eventually switched to pentobarbital, which was used to execute serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin in November and Allen Nicklasson in December. Neither inmate showed outward signs of distress.
Reporter won’t pursue charges
Washington – A reporter who was physically threatened by a member of Congress while conducting an interview after Tuesday night’s State of the Union address said he has no plans to press charges.
Michael Scotto, a reporter for the NY1 channel, was interviewing Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican who represents Staten Island and other parts of New York City. After asking about Grimm’s reactions to President Barack Obama’s speech, he tried to ask the second-term congressman about allegations of campaign-finance violations involving his election in 2010.
Grimm refused to answer, walked away, and then, as the camera continued to record the scene, returned to confront the reporter.
House easily approves farm bill
Washington – The House of Representatives easily approved a new five-year farm bill Wednesday, ending nearly two years of contentious debate over how to cut agriculture subsidies and nutrition programs.
The final vote was 251-166. The Senate is expected to begin considering the compromise bill, which was unveiled Monday by House and Senate negotiators, early next week.
Biden still deciding on presidential run
Washington – Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is “confident that I could make a good president,” but added that he had yet to decide whether he will seek the Democratic nomination in 2016.
Biden, during a round of morning TV interviews in which he sought to reinforce President Barack Obama’s State of the Union message, said he will make his decision without regard to whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or anyone else joins the race.