GA Inmate Executed:  A Georgia man convicted of raping and murdering a woman he met at a night club over two decades ago was executed Thursday evening after losing a last-minute round of appeals.  The AP reports that a Butts County Superior Court judge, the Georgia Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles all denied 50-year-old Marcus Ray Johnson's challenges and appeals of his conviction for the rape and murder of Angela Sizemore in 1994.  After meeting at an Albany nightclub, Johnson and Sizemore were seen drinking heavily and leaving together.  Sizemore's body was discovered in her SUV the next morning with 41 stab wounds made by a small, dull knife, and she had also been sexually assaulted with a pecan branch.  Johnson's attorney unsuccessfully argued that his life should be spared because doubts remain about his guilt, though prosecutors said that there was no doubt that Johnson is Sizemore's killer.  His execution was the last scheduled execution this year.

Parole Denied for 3^rd Chowchilla Bus Kidnapper:  The third man involved in the hijacking of a school bus full of California children almost four decades ago has been denied parole for the 16^th time.  The AP reports that 64-year-old Frederick Woods, the last of the three kidnappers still behind bars, was denied parole due to disciplinary infractions, including possession of pornography and contraband cellphones, as well as the testimony of several victims.  The other two convicted kidnappers, brothers James and Richard Schoenfeld, were released from prison in recent years; Richard was ordered released in 2012 by an appeals court and Gov. Jerry Brown paroled James in August.  In July 1976, the three men, who had plotted for over a year to get $5 million ransom from the state Board of Education, kidnapped 26 schoolchildren, aged 5 to 14, and their bus driver near Chowchilla, driving them miles away and burying them in a ventilated underground bunker.  The victims managed to dig themselves out more than a day later.  Woods will be able to apply for parole again in three years.

Obama Action Shields Most Illegals from Deportation:  President Obama's executive actions announced exactly one year ago, including protecting more than 80 percent of illegal immigrants from deportation, are moving forward.  Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times reports that the actions include changes to the legal immigration system, such as making it easier for spouses of guest workers to also find jobs; allowing foreigners who study science and technology at U.S. universities to remain and work in the country longer; pushing legal immigrants to apply for citizenship; and waiving the penalty on illegal immigrant spouses or children of legal permanent residents so they no longer have to go to their home countries to await legal status.  These policies, if adhered to strictly, will effectively shield 9.6 million of the approximately 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the country from any danger of deportation.  Regarding enforcement, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, at Obama's direction, said that most "rank-and-file" illegal immigrants would be safe from deportation while energies are focused on serious criminals, gang members and other security threats.  Johnson said, however, that even some illegals with serious criminal offenses on their records could be allowed to stay in the U.S. if mitigating factors exist, such as "deep" family or community ties.  The Obama administration has "truly dismembered the immigration system, from the Border Patrol to the immigration courts," says Center for Immigration Studies policy director Jessica Vaughan.