NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Water resources: The outlook for the most important river in the southwestern U.S. remains grim after April storms failed to produce much snow to feed the waterway, forecasters said Monday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the Colorado River is expected to carry only 43 percent of the average amount of water into Lake Powell, one of two huge reservoirs that store and distribute the river. It’s the fifth-lowest forecast in 54 years. But officials have said that Powell and its companion, Lake Mead, will be high enough to avoid cutbacks for water users this year.
2 Restaurant shooting: A man accused of killing four people at a Waffle House in Nashville will undergo a mental health evaluation before going to court. A judge on Monday granted a request by the defendant’s lawyer that he receive an outpatient evaluation before moving forward with proceedings. Travis Reinking faces multiple charges in the April 22 shooting, including four counts of homicide. Police said the 29-yearold was wearing only a green jacket when he opened fire outside the Waffle House and then stormed the restaurant with an AR-15 rifle.
3 RV chase: A paroled sex offender arrested two days after he led police on a wild RV chase with his young children was charged Monday with kidnapping and assault. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Stephen Houk also faces charges including child abuse, injuring a spouse, fleeing police, and assault with a firearm. Houk, 46, was arrested Thursday after being on the run for two days. He escaped into a Bakersfield orchard after leading police on a 100-mile chase in his motor home that began in Hollywood. His 11-month-old and 3-year-old children were inside the RV. They weren’t hurt.
4 New mayor: The first woman to hold the job of New Orleans’ mayor since the city was founded 300 years ago was sworn in Monday. “We broke every kind of glass ceiling,” LaToya Cantrell told a jubilant crowd in the city’s Mahalia Jackson Theater. “After 300 years, don’t you think it’s about time a woman was in charge?” Cantrell, originally from Los Angeles, came to New Orleans to attend historically black Xavier University. History also was made at the ceremony when City Council members were sworn in. One, Cindy Nguyen, is the first Vietnamese council member. Cantrell succeeds term-limited fellow Democrat Mitch Landrieu.
5 Carjacking: A-3year-old girl who was inside her family’s vehicle when it was stolen Monday near San Antonio was later found safe. Bexar County sheriff ’s officials said the child’s mother was unloading groceries in the driveway of their home when the car was stolen around 3 a.m. The girl was in a car seat in the vehicle at the time. The girl was found about 20 minutes later in front of a house about 4 miles away. She’d been removed from the car seat and was crying when the homeowner found her. The child was uninjured. Authorities were looking for the vehicle and robber.