A6 The Southern Illinoisan Sunday, January 28, 2024 BY KIM CHANDLER ASSOCIATED PRESS ATMORE, Ala. As witnesses including five news repor ters watched through a win- dow, Kenneth Eugene Smith, who was convict- ed and sentenced to die in the 1988 murder-for hire slaying of Eliza- beth Sennett, convulsed on a gurney as Alabama carried out the first execution using nitrogen gas. Critics who had wor- ried the new execution method would be cruel and experimental said final moments Thursday night proved they were right. Ala- bama Attorney General Steve Marshall, howev- er, characterized it on Friday as a execution. Her is an eyewit- ness account of how it unfolded.
Times, unless other wise noted, are wall at the William C. according to a clock on Holman Cor rectional the execution chamber Facility. MASK CHECK The curtains between the viewing room and the execu- tion chamber opened at 7:53 p.m. Smith, wearing a tan prison unifor was already strapped to the gurney and draped in a white sheet. A blue-rimmed res- pirator mask covered his face from forehead to chin.
It had a clear face shield and plastic tubing that appeared to connect through an opening to the adjoin- ing control room. FINAL WORDS The prison war den entered the chamber, read the death warrant setting his execution date and held a micro- phone for Smith to speak any final words. To i A a a a causes humanity to take a step back- Smith began. He moved his fingers to form an love sign to family members who wer also pr es- ent. leaving with love, peace and light.
Love all of The Sennett family watched from a view- ing room that was separate from the one where members of the media and attorney were seated. THE EXECUTION IS GREENLIGHTED Marshall, the attor- ney general, gave pris- on of ficials the OK to begin the execution at 7:56 p.m. That was the final confirmation from his of fice that there were no cour orders preventing it from going for ward. A cor ections of fi- cer in the chamber approached Smith and checked the side of the mask. What happened at the first nitrogen gas execution AP Kim Chandler Anti-death penalty signs placed by activists stand along the road heading to Hol- man Correctional Facility in Atmore, ahead of the scheduled execution of Ken- neth Eugene Smith on Thursday.
BY MEG KINNARD AND ZEKE MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS COLUMBIA, S.C. Joe Biden need to worry about his pros- pects in South Democratic primar next week. got that locked up. He also knows not likely to win the solidly red state come Novem- ber. It voted for a Democrat since 1976.
spending this weekend in the state nonetheless, intent on driving home two mes- sages: loyal to the state that saved his cam- paign in 2020 and determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round. Biden will be the key- note speaker Saturday night at the state fundraising dinner ahead of its first ever Democratic primary on Feb. 3. stick around to attend a political event at St. John Baptist Church on Sun- day, in a state where pol- itics and faith are inter- twined.
Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said of the primary that team was work- ing to this out of the by unning up the score against longshot challengers. The Biden campaign also wants to learn les- sons about activating Black voters the backbone of the par ty ahead of an expected 2024 rematch with GOP front-r unner Donald Trump. It was the first time Biden was to share a stage with Rep. Dean Phillips, a longshot challenger for the Dem- ocratic nomination, who was slated to speak at the dinner before the president. Ahead of the dinner, Biden stopped into Regal Lounge Barber Spa in Colum- bia, greeting, owners, employees and custom- ers mid-haircut at the barbershop.
The pr esident has been getting mixed reviews from some Black voters in the state that came through for him in 2020, including discontent over his fail- ure to deliver on voting rights legislation and other issues. Last year, at the out- set of reelection bid, conflicting views among the same South Car olina Democratic voters whose suppor had been so crucial to his nomination provid- ed an early war ning sign of the challenges he faces as he tries to revive his diverse win- ning coalition from 2020. Overall, just of Black adults said they approved of Biden in a December poll by the Associated Press- NORC Center for Pub- lic Affairs. That is com- pared with in July 2021, a shift that is gen- erating concer about the reelec- tion prospects. A Vo a a extensive national sur- vey of the electorate, also found that sup- por for Republican candidates ticked up slightly among Black voters during the 2022 midterm elections, although Black voters over whelmingly sup- ported Democrats.
The Biden cam- paign is unning TV ads in South Carolina highlighting Biden ini- tiatives that it hopes will boost enthusiasm among Black voters. President Joe Biden shows Today in History: Jan 27, his determination to win back Black voters in 2024 during test of the Apollo BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Today in History Today is Saturday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2024. There are 339 days left in the year. Today in History: On Jan.
27, 1967, astro- nauts Virgil I. Gris- som, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaf fee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft. On this date: In 1756, composer Wo a A a Mozart was born in Salz- burg, Austria.
In 1880, Thomas Edi- son received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp. In 1888, the National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washing- ton, D.C. In 1944, during World War II, the Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly Ger- man siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years. In 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops lib- erated the Nazi concen- tration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
In 1981, President Ron- ald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, greeted at the White House the 52 for- mer American hostages released by Iran. In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suf- fered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotech- nics set his hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commer- cial at the Shrine Audito- rium in Los Angeles. I 2 0 0 6 We Union delivered its last telegram. In 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet during a pre- sentation in San Fran- cisco. and J.D.
Salinger, the reclusive author of Catcher in the died in Cornish, New Hampshire, at age 91. In 2013, Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil, killing 242 peo- ple. In 2017, President Donald Trump barred all refugees from enter- ing the United States for four months, declaring the ban necessar to prevent Islamic from enter- ing the nation. In 2018, comic strip ar tist Mor Walker, a World War II veteran who satirized the Army with the antics of the lazy private Bai- died in Connecticut at age 94. In 2020, China con- firmed more than 2,700 cases of the new corona- virus with more than 80 deaths in that country.
U.S. health officials said they believed the risk to Americans remained low and that they had no evi- dence that the new virus was spreading in the Unit- ed States. In 2021, Cloris Leach- man, who won an Oscar for the Last Picture and Emmys for her comic work on Mary Tyler Moore and other TV series, died at 94. In 2022, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer confirmed that he would step down from the court later in the year. bir thdays: A a m- well is 84.
Rock musi- cian Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 80. sing- er Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 78. Ballet star Mikhail Bar ysh- nikov is 76. Latin sing- er-songwriter Djavan is 75. U.S.
Chief Justice John Rober ts is 69. 3 astronauts die in fire BY CLAIRE RUSH ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM, Ore. Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping new bill that would undo a key par of the first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid ram- pant public dr ug use during the fentanyl cri- sis. The bill would recrim- inalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as a low-level misde- meanor, enabling police to confiscate them and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks, its authors said. It also aims to make it easier to prosecute deal- ers, to access addiction treatment medication, and to obtain and keep housing without facing discrimination for using that medication.
the compromise path, but also the best policy that we can come up with to make sure that we are continuing to keep communities safe and save state Sen. Kate Lieber, a Portland Democrat, told The Asso- ciated Press. Voters passed the pio- neering decriminalization law, Measure 110, with support in 2020. But Democratic legislators who championed it as a way to treat addiction as a public health matter, not a crime, are now con- tending with one of the largest spikes in overdose deaths, along with intensifying pres- sure from Republicans and growing calls from a well-funded campaign group to overhaul it. Researchers say too soon to determine wheth- er the law has contribut- ed to the deadly overdose surge, and sup- porters of the measure say the decadeslong approach of ar resting people for possessing and using drugs work.
The bill, unveiled by Lieber and other Demo- crats serving on a recent- ly created committee on addiction, is set to be introduced during the legislative session that starts in Februar y. The Legislature adjour ned over the summer, but con- cern over the drug crisis led Democrats to launch the committee in between sessions. Since September, the commit- tee has held multiple hearings and heard testi- mony from law enforce- ment and substance use disorder experts on the accomplishments and shortcomings. Measure 110 directed the cannabis tax revenue toward dr ug addiction treatment while decriminalizing amounts of illicit drugs. Posses- sion of under a gram of heroin, for example, is only subject to a ticket and a maximum fine of $100.
Those caught with small amounts can have the citation dismissed by calling a 24-hour hotline to complete an addic- tion screening within 45 days, but those who do a screening are not penalized for failing to pay the fine. With Oregon facing rampant drug use, lawmakers backpedal law AP Dave Killen A person holds drug paraphernalia near the Washing- ton Center building on SW Washington Street, April 4, 2023, in downtown Portland, Ore..
