NEWS OF THE DAY
Opioid execution: Nebraska carried out its first execution in more than two decades on Tuesday with a drug combination never tried before, including the first use of the powerful opioid fentanyl in a lethal injection. Carey Dean Moore, 60, was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. Moore had been sentenced to death for killing two cab drivers in Omaha in 1979. He was the first inmate to be lethally injected in Nebraska, which last carried out an execution in 1997. Witnesses said that there appeared to be no complications in the execution process, which also was the first time a state used four drugs in combination. Moore’s execution comes a little more than three years after Nebraska lawmakers abolished the death penalty, only to have it reinstated the following year through a citizen ballot drive.
Court scandal: A scandal involving lavish office renovations and other financial abuses by the highest court in one of the poorest states in America has triggered an extraordinary move by one branch of government to essentially fire another. The West Virginia House of Delegates this week impeached four justices of the state Supreme Court on charges of extravagant spending and other misconduct, setting the stage for a Senate trial that could lead to their removal. Some Democrats have decried the impeachment drive as a power grab by the Republicancontrolled House and Senate, timed to allow GOP Gov. Jim Justice to name their temporary replacements.
Trump warning: President Trump dared New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to challenge him in 2020, warning the Democrat that “anybody that runs against Trump suffers.” The challenge came as Trump raised money for the re-election of Republican congresswoman Claudia Tenney. Trump’s visit to Utica, N.Y., marked his first as president to an area he won in 2016. Trump spent much of the event attacking Cuomo and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is also thought to have White House ambitions. Cop indicted: A Baltimore police officer has been indicted after being recorded repeatedly punching a man in a street confrontation. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Tuesday that Arthur Williams has been charged with first- and second-degree assault, as well as misconduct in office. Williams resigned Sunday after video emerged a day earlier of him repeatedly punching Dashawn McGrier. Both Williams and McGrier are black. No more “Dixie”: A rural Alabama high school is ending its tradition of playing “Dixie” at football games. School bands throughout the South used to play “Dixie,” but the practice ended as the region got further away from legalized racial segregation. The Arab High School Band has played “Dixie” after touchdowns for decades. Census statistics show the town of about 8,200 people, located in northeastern Alabama, is more than 96 percent white.