Editor’s Picks From Around the Web

OK: Wrong drug used for Oklahoma execution

newsok.com

Oklahoma corrections officials used bottles labeled potassium acetate, instead of potassium chloride, as the final drug during the lethal injection of Charles Frederick Warner in January. The same wrong drug was delivered to corrections officials Sept. 30 for the scheduled execution of another murderer.

CA: California pension funds to divest from coal-mining companies

latimes.com

Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation forcing California’s pension systems, the two largest public funds in the country, to divest from companies that derive at least half of their revenue from mining coal used to generate electricity.

CO: Raids target illegal marijuana rings proliferating in Colorado

denverpost.com

Colorado and federal agents have raided illegal operations across a state where recreational and medical marijuana is legal in a concerted effort to take out syndicates that market marijuana to different parts of the country.

WY: Wyoming prepares to cut spending as energy revenue lags

wyomingnews.com

Republican Gov. Matt Mead is preparing to cut millions of dollars from the state’s budget as revenue from oil, gas and coal taxes lag behind expectations and could leave Wyoming with a budget shortfall of $100 million to $200 million.

NJ: Feds should set rules for fantasy sports, two of New Jersey’s US lawmakers say

nj.com

Two of New Jersey’s U.S. congressmen asked the Federal Trade Commission if it could regulate daily fantasy sports games, and if so, to begin establishing rules for the online operations. Fantasy sports were exempted when Congress in 2006 voted to ban online gambling. But the Justice Department in 2011 ruled that states could offer Internet gambling to their residents.

KY: University of Kentucky training pharmacists on heroin overdose drug

kentucky.com

A group from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy will train pharmacists across the state to distribute naloxone, a medication used to prevent overdoses from heroin and other opioids, without an individual prescription.

CT: Connecticut Supreme Court won’t reconsider eliminating death penalty

courant.com

The court stood by its decision to eliminate the state’s death penalty, but the fate of capital punishment in Connecticut technically remains unsettled. Motions in separate cases could bring the issue up again.

AR: Arkansas legislators advised to keep ‘private-option’ Medicaid plan

arkansasonline.com

Arkansas should continue its private-option Medicaid program while adding requirements to encourage healthy behavior and spur unemployed recipients to find jobs, a consulting firm hired by the state advises. Arkansas uses Medicaid funds to buy coverage for more than 200,000 low-income residents on the state’s federally operated health insurance exchange.

MT: Montana parole board adopts policy for new clemency law

billingsgazette.com

The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole has adopted a policy that allows the governor to grant clemency to prisoners even if the board recommends against it in keeping with a new law.

MA: Massachusetts governor proposes more charter schools

bostonglobe.com

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker announced legislation that would permit 12 new or expanded charter schools a year across Massachusetts, a key step in what is shaping up to be one of the most divisive issues facing lawmakers.

GA: Feds say Georgia failed again to comply with landmark mental health settlement

ajc.com

Georgia still hasn’t lived up to its part of an agreement with the federal government to shift severely mentally ill residents from state mental hospitals to community settings, the Justice Department said in a letter that demanded a corrective action plan by November.