Texas Double-Murderer Put to Death:  A Texas man who stabbed an elderly mother and her daughter to death in 2003 was executed Wednesday.  Frank Miles of Fox News reports that Jack Crutsinger died 13 minutes after receiving a lethal injection as observes counted 29 snoring sounds before he stopped moving.  Crutsinger had been hired by the two victims to do some repairs on their Forth Worth home, when he stabbed them both to death, then stole the daughter's car and credit card.  DNA evidence and his confession, among other evidence, convinced a jury of his guilt.  In appeals to overturn his death sentence, he claimed that his heavy drinking diminished his responsibility for the murders, and that his appellate attorney was incompetent. 

Three Homeless Die Each Day in LA:  A column by Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times discusses the fact that roughly 1000 homeless people will die this year on the streets of Los Angeles, up from 407 in 2012.  Homicide, illness, drug overdoses, heart conditions, suicide and exposure are the primary causes of death.  Bodies are being found in virtually every corner of the county.  While it has been suggested that enough shelter space be created to house all of the county's homeless, "these are big, expensive difficult challenges."   This piece by Edward Ring published last May in the California Globe exposes the waste and ineffectiveness of most government-subsidized homeless programs, which have done nothing to reduce homeless population. A  rational approach to homelessness is discussed in a piece by Craig Powell, published in Eye on Sacramento, focused upon the Haven for Hope program in San Antonio, Texas, which operates a come-as-you-are transformational campus which consolidates services and provides housing to thousands of homeless every year. The goal there is to help them to rejoin society and stay off the streets.