--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, May 23rd. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, states make a water conservation deal for the Colorado River, how a murder investigation is wrecking a small town's finances, and the loyal group of people who won't let go of their beepers. But first, we want to start with a story from the Washington Post about a baby named Milo.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a heartbreaking story about pregnancy complications and loss, but it's important to hear because it shows how difficult it can be for families to deal with the legal ambiguity around Florida's new abortion restrictions.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Milo had a short life, just 99 minutes. His mother, Deborah Dorbert, told The Post about the moment that Milo entered the world on March 3rd.
--:-- Deborah Dorbert: When he came out, you could hear him gasping for air like he was really trying to breathe. He was a little bit over four pounds, so he was still a tiny, a tiny little guy. But he didn't cry when he was born and he didn't open his eyes at all. But, I mean, he struggled.
--:-- Shamita Basu: During her pregnancy, Deborah and her husband learned that Milo had Potter syndrome, which is a rare and life-threatening condition.
--:-- Deborah Dorbert: At the time, the state banned abortion after 15 weeks. There were severe penalties, including prison time, for doctors who violate the law. There's an exception for fatal fetal abnormalities. But the doorboards say doctors refused their request to end the pregnancy because Milo's heart was still beating.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The hospital system wouldn't explain that decision to the post. Deborah was forced to carry Milo, knowing that he would live for a few hours at most.
--:-- Deborah Dorbert: He was born with no kidneys and underdeveloped lungs. The baby just went to my chest and just cuddled with him. Dad read him a book called I Love You Forever so he cuddled with him. And my parents held him for a little bit, and we just kind of just gave him all the loving until he passed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Deborah now struggles with anxiety and depression. Alongside the intense grief, she says she's angry that her choice to end her pregnancy was blocked by politicians.
--:-- Deborah Dorbert: Just weeks after Milo's death, Florida's governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, signed a law to restrict abortion in the state even further. It would ban the procedure after six weeks, when many people don't even know they're pregnant.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Milo's grandfather tells the Post Florida's policies are what he calls pure torture for families like theirs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Apart from the emotional trauma, the family also faces thousands of dollars in additional medical bills.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Debra's family says that typically she's very shy, but she says she decided to tell Milo's story publicly in the hopes that it comforts other families struggling with similar issues. Plus, she says she's got a four-year-old who needs her.
--:-- Shamita Basu: California, Arizona, and Nevada now have a deal with the federal government to conserve water and protect the Colorado River from dropping to critically low levels.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The river has been shrinking at an alarming rate in recent decades due to climate change and drought. So this conservation agreement is a huge deal.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tens of millions of people rely on the river for water, irrigation, and electricity. Seven states, Mexico, and dozens of tribal nations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Dramatic images of unusually low water levels in the Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs have underscored the urgency of the problem.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In exchange for $1.2 billion in federal money, the three states in the agreement will cut their water use by around 13 percent.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The money will compensate farmers, Native American tribes, and cities who agree to conserve water.
--:-- Conrad Swanson: Ahead of the deal, Denver Post environment and politics reporter Conrad Swanson told CBS about potential impacts of the cuts.
--:-- Conrad Swanson: Chances are it going to mean a major hit to the agricultural industry depending on where you are that uses give or take 80 percent of the Colorado River water. It's the lion's share. So if we make cuts, that's going to mean different vegetables or fewer vegetables. That's across the country. That's global.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Department of the Interior is expected to sign off on the agreement. But this isn't a permanent solution.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The current rules on water shortages only go through 2026.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last fall appeared in court yesterday for his arraignment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Brian Koberger stood silent, so the judge entered a not guilty plea for him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His trial is set for October.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Prosecutors have 60 days to say whether they'll seek the death penalty.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This case is taking a toll on the small community of Moscow, Idaho.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One of the repercussions is something you might not even think about, the price tag.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The expenses of police overtime, evidence analysis, security, data storage, and other costs are straining the town's finances.
--:-- Art Betke: The financial impact just meant that there was going to be less money going off into capital projects at the end of the year.
--:-- Art Betke: Cities typically have emergency funds for things like floods and fires, but no one in Moscow, Idaho could anticipate this tragedy or the costs that would come with it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The mayor says the ongoing investigation burned through funds that could have been used to improve infrastructure.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One local business owner says businesses are hurting too.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Customers are staying home, mourning or just scared.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some help is coming.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The governor's office is providing additional funds, and the county is also taking on more of the financial burden, just to give Moscow some relief.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This next story is sort of an age check.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you under a certain age you might not know what a pager is.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Cartoon super spy Kim Possible has a beeper.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But if you're looking for other pop culture references, you have to wind the clock way back.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I'm talking 1989, Sir Mix-a-Lot.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal looks into how some people today, in 2023, just will not let go of their pagers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many of them work in medicine.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the days when cell phones were big and bulky, doctors carried little pagers so they could be reached in an emergency.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Nowadays, there are smartphone apps that doctors can use instead, but some of them still hang on to their beepers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A trauma surgeon in Texas said getting a pager felt like a rite of passage.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She says having one makes her feel like the doctors in movies she watched growing up.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And she's rare, but she's not alone.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A leading paging company tells the journal it has 800,000 pagers still in use in America, though that is down from 6.6 million in 2004.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One orthopedic surgeon tells the journal that he kind of misses the pager he gave up when he switched over to smartphone apps.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now his work life is all mixed up with his personal life in one device.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He used to make fun of the 80s technology, but in a world of constant messages and interruptions and multitasking, there's something to be said for a tiny plastic device that does one thing and just one thing perfectly.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app, including coverage of the NBA playoffs, where the Denver Nuggets swept the L.A. Lakers to earn a spot in the finals.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the news app right now, stick around.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We have a narrated article coming up next from Bloomberg Businessweek.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It looks at a possible big change for something that might be your lunch later on today, the sweet green salad.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The company is experimenting with robotics to see if it can speed up the assembly process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
