Let's make it a good Wednesday, NWA.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 84 and a low of 54.

Situational awareness: Former state representative and presumed incoming Benton County Judge Austin McCollum was released yesterday from jail on bond after being detained for a week, according to the Benton County Sheriff's Office.

• McCollum had been held on a $150,000 cash-only bond following his Sept. 29 arrest on suspicion of violating a protection order and stalking, along with a new $75,000 bond in the case stemming from his Aug. 1 arrest on domestic violence allegations.

Today’s newsletter is 1,074 words — a 4-minute read.

Lethal injections are under scrutiny after Christa Pike survived two rounds of drugs during Tennessee's failed attempt to execute her.

Why it matters: Lethal injection has been the dominant U.S. execution method for decades, accounting for roughly 89% of the 1,683 executions carried out since 1976, per the Death Penalty Information Center.

Driving the news: Pike, convicted of killing a classmate three decades ago, survived two rounds of lethal injection drugs last week in what would have been the state's first execution of a woman in 200 years.

• In response, Gov. Bill Lee halted executions and ordered a "comprehensive, third-party review" of the failed attempt. Tennessee's top prison official resigned.
• Pike's execution attempt followed hours of legal whiplash in which courts first stayed the execution before reversing course.

Zoom in: Arkansas is one of 27 states that have the death penalty and use lethal injection. The state last executed someone in 2017.

The latest: Pike was awake and speaking as she continued to receive medical care yesterday afternoon, the AP reported.

• Pike had been unconscious and on a ventilator, Axios Nashville's Adam Tamburin reported.

The big picture: Execution protocols vary by state, but lethal injections generally follow the same basic process.

Pike's case is not the first lethal injection gone wrong. The DPIC says 75 of 1,054 lethal injections (about 7%) were botched from 1890 to 2010 — the most of any method.

What they're saying: Witnesses to some executions have described prisoners gasping for air and struggling to breathe.

• Some prisoners survive the initial attempt but later die from complications or other medical causes, sometimes linked to the execution attempt. Others are executed at a later date.
• Autopsies have found evidence of prisoners suffering from pulmonary edema, which is a buildup of fluid in the lungs that can create the same sensation as drowning, per NPR.

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Siloam Springs voters will decide in November whether they want a 0.625% sales tax to pay for $55 million in wastewater improvements.

Why it matters: The city needs to upgrade and repair its wastewater treatment plant and replace some pipes with larger ones. Some of the work is needed to meet updated environmental requirements, Siloam Springs finance director Christina Petriches and public works director Josh Napier told Axios.

How it works: The city has a 0.625% sales tax paying for a different bond that's set to be paid off this year. Approving this issue would replace that tax with a new one in the same amount, meaning shoppers see no change in how much they're paying, Petriches said.

State of play: Despite the city's growth, the Siloam Springs wastewater treatment plant isn't facing capacity problems, Petriches said. Some of the need for bigger pipes can be attributed to growth, though.

• The city's population grew from 17,400 people in 2020 to an estimated 21,300 in 2025, according to the Census — a more than 22% increase.

Zoom in: The plant hasn't been upgraded since 2009, and the bond issue is needed to replace aging equipment, Napier said. The city is also in the process of obtaining a new permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality that will increase its water treatment requirements.

Threat level: "We have to do this," Petriches said of the wastewater work. If the bond issue fails, the city will have to look to another funding source.

• The city would potentially have to consider raising wastewater bills, Napier said.

What's next: Early voting starts Oct. 19. Election Day is Nov. 3. Check your voter registration and polling places.

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👀 Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones is running against Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill to represent central Arkansas' House district.

• The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added the district to its list of GOP seats it aims to flip and this week added the race to its "Red to Blue" program, a fundraising effort for races deemed competitive. (Arkansas Advocate)

🍕 Longtime restaurant Tiny Tim's Pizza is staying in its space on the downtown Fayetteville square after an eviction scare. (Fayetteville Flyer)

📺 Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she stands by a TV ad that drew criticism from conservative commentators. The ad in support of stricter work requirements for people on Medicaid portrayed a white man playing video games. (AP)

Finance-focused organization BlackRock is giving $1 million to Bentonville-based nonprofit Heartland Forward and $850,000 to Goodwill Arkansas to support the trades.

Why it matters: The goal is to help people who want to pursue skilled labor and improve local economies as businesses need to hire tradespeople, Arielle Gurman, executive director of the BlackRock Future Builders initiative, told Axios.

• "We recognize there is such a need for the people who are going to build, maintain and power the very infrastructure that keeps our communities healthy and safe and competitive and growing," she said.

Zoom in: Goodwill's grant will support and expand the organization's efforts to train people in fields such as welding, fabrication, construction and HVAC. Over two years, the money will cover tuition for 220 people at Goodwill's training centers in Springdale and Little Rock, train more instructors and expand its HVAC program.

• "They're building pathways into the state's most in-demand skilled trades careers while reaching people who might otherwise be excluded from those opportunities," Gurman said.

What's inside: Heartland Forward is headquartered in NWA but focuses on economic and quality-of-life improvement for the broader American heartland.

• The $1 million from BlackRock will support developing partnerships with employers and the next generation of talent, Gurman said. The money will pay for a director within Heartland Forward.

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Thanks to Chloe Gonzales for editing this newsletter.

🩺 Alex is ready for tonight's Axios Live event. Register.

🍕 Worth is on sabbatical. Maybe he's at Tiny Tim's Pizza.