Houston begins cleanup from flooding
HOUSTON – Homeowners dragged soggy carpet to the curb and mopped up coffee-colored muck Wednesday after a barrage of storms and floods in Texas and Oklahoma left at least 19 people dead and a dozen others missing.
More rain fell on the hard-hit Houston area, threatening to complicate the cleanup a day after a downpour of nearly a foot triggered some of the worst flooding the nation’s fourth-largest city has ever seen. Hundreds of homes were damaged.
Nebraska abolishes death penalty
LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska abolished the death penalty Wednesday over the governor’s objections in a move pushed through the Legislature with unusual backing from conservatives who oppose capital punishment.
Senators in the one-house Legislature voted 30-19 to override Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican who supports the death penalty.
The vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally conservative state to eliminate the punishment since North Dakota in 1973.
Associated Press
