NEWS OF THE DAY
1 Threat reported: U.S. Rep. Joe Barton told a woman that he would complain to U.S. Capitol Police if sexually explicit photographs of him and other material from their relationship were to be exposed publicly, the Washington Post reported. A nude photo of the Republican from Texas appeared on an anonymous Twitter account recently. Barton apologized for not using “better judgment’’ in having sexual relations with women after being separated from his second wife, from whom he is now divorced. However, a woman whom the Post did not identify told the newspaper of Barton’s threat over the sexually explicit material he had sent to her. The woman described sexual encounters and contact extending over five years, beginning with her posting of a message on Barton’s Facebook page in 2011. She also shared with the Post a secretly recorded telephone conversation with Barton in 2015 in which he warned her against using the material “in a way that would negatively affect my career.”
2 Army misbehavior: The Pentagon says it is investigating allegations of misbehavior by three service members during President Trump’s trip to Asia earlier this month. The Washington Post reports that the Army personnel are under investigations for claims they broke curfew and had improper contact with foreign women during Trump’s stop in Vietnam. The three service members have been reassigned and could face disciplinary action.
3 Flint water: Flint City Council approved a 30-year agreement to get drinking water from a regional agency, bringing to end one battle among many in the Michigan city still recovering from a lead-tainted water crisis. The deal was approved Tuesday night by a 5-4 vote after hours of debate and comments from dozens of residents, following months of court-ordered negotiations. The pact means the Great Lakes Water Authority will continue to serve Flint. It has been providing water for Flint in short-term deals since fall 2015, when Gov. Rick Snyder acknowledged the crisis related to use of inadequately treated water from the Flint River. The city stopped using Detroit’s water system and instead tapped the Flint River during an 18-month period in 2014 and 2015, as a way to save money while the city’s finances were under state control. But the river water wasn’t properly treated, which caused lead from pipes in older homes and buildings to leach into drinking water.
4 Abortion ruling: A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a new Texas law seeking to ban a commonly used abortion method, the latest in a string of court defeats to the Legislature’s attempts to make getting an abortion as difficult as possible in America’s second mostpopulous state. Austinbased U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel extended indefinitely a temporary ban he’d previously issued before the law was set to take effect Sept. 1. That overturns — at least for now — a law that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed in June banning a second-trimester abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation.
5 Inmate pardoned: A 70-year-old California man convicted nearly four decades ago of killing his ex-girlfriend and her 4-year-old son was pardoned Wednesday after DNA tests showed he was wrongfully convicted. Gov. Jerry Brown ordered the immediate release of Craig Richard Coley from a state prison in Lancaster, Los Angeles County. Coley has maintained his innocence since he was arrested on the same day the victims were found dead in 1978.