Beneath California Crops, Groundwater Crisis Grows

USTIN, Texas — Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL draft on Wednesday, ending a Longhorns career in which he led the program to a Big 12 championship and twice to the College Football Playoff but was not always embraced by a fan base eagerly waiting for Arch Manning to take over. Ewers passed for 9,128 yards and 68 touchdowns in a career that few Texas quarterbacks can match.

Colorado is set to see a freezing weekend as snow and a bitterly cold arctic blast of air moves into the state on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Wednesday and Thursday will be the last semi-warm days before temperatures begin to drop, NWS forecasters said. Snow arrives Friday Light snowfall will begin in Colorado’s mountains at about 11 a.m.

By NAJIB JOBAIN, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEF FEDERMAN DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, multiple officials announced Wednesday, raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies. The deal, coming after weeks of painstaking negotiations in the Qatari capital, promises the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and would allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes.

The surge in immigrants arriving in Colorado last year softened the enrollment decline in the state’s public schools, which for years have been losing students — and funding — as birth rates fall across the nation. The arrival of thousands of migrant students didn’t fully offset falling enrollment, which dwindled to an 11-year-low in the fall.

By JONEL ALECCIA, Associated Press Health Writer U. S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk. Food and Drug Administration officials granted a 2022 petition filed by two dozen food safety and health advocates, who urged the agency to revoke authorization for the substance that gives some candies, snack cakes and maraschino cherries a bright red hue. The agency said it was taking the action as a “matter of law” because some studies have found that the dye caused cancer in lab rats.

By MATTHEW PERRONE WASHINGTON — Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes less addictive by capping their nicotine content, a goal long sought by antismoking advocates that is unlikely to go into effect anytime soon. The proposed rule from the Food and Drug Administration comes in the final days of President Joe Biden’s term, greatly reducing the likelihood that it will actually be enacted.