Germanwings: Investigators say the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings airliner had recently been on the Internet researching suicide and the security of cockpit doors. A statement from investigators says, “During this time the user was searching for medical treatments, as well as informing himself about ways and possibilities of killing himself.” It continues to say, “On at least one day the person concerned also spent several minutes looking up search terms about cockpit doors and their safety measures.”

Water, Water: California Gov. Jerry Brown for the first time in state history has ordered statewide water restrictions aimed at cutting use by 25 percent in a deepening drought.

Making the announcement in a mountain meadow Brown said, “We’re standing on dry grass and we should be standing in five feet of snow.”

This year’s winter snowpack, which supplies a third of the state’s water, is only 6 percent of normal. Californians will likely have to cut back on watering their lovely green lawns and hosing down the driveway may become a thing of the past.

Religious Freedom: Looking to avoid the controversy sparked by Indiana, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has asked his legislature to change their religious freedom bill passed this week to be certain it protects civil as well as religious rights. He wants it to mirror the language of the federal religious freedom bill passed in 1993.

Hutchinson said he wants to be sure that “we’re not going to be a state that fails to recognize the diversity of our workplace, our economy and our future.”

The Republican governor was convinced by some major employers like Walmart, and partly by his politically wayward son Seth, that the law as written would only hurt the state. The younger Hutchinson is an organizer for the Texas State Employees Union.

Congre$$: New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted on bribery charges yesterday, accused of trading political favors for vacations, golf outings, campaign donations and pricey air flights. The charges involve a Florida doctor who is one of the country’s biggest billers of Medicaid. In his defense Menendez said, “Prosecutors don’t know the difference between friendship and corruption.”

Fail: Eleven Atlanta teachers and school system administrators were convicted yesterday of racketeering in a cheating scheme to raise student test scores that was exposed five years ago. Investigators found that the cheating occurred at 44 schools and involved 180 employees, including 38 principals. Some of them actually changed answers on tests.

Ten of the convicted were handcuffed and led away.

Much of the blame fell on Superintendent Beverly L. Hall, who was accused of intimidating underlings into cooperating. She died a month ago before going to trial.

Econ 101: The McDonalds burger chain announced that it is giving a raise and improved benefits to 90,000 employees at 1500 company-owned restaurants. McDonalds says it will give workers a $1 raise, bringing the average to $9.90 by July 1 and over $10 by next year. With companies like Walmart, Ikea, and now McDonalds raising wages, competition for minimum wage workers is heating up.

World: Gunmen from the Muslim extremist group al-Shabab attacked a college in northeast Kenya today, targeting Christians. They killed 15 people and wounded 60. Authorities say it’s now a hostage situation.

>At least 54 people are dead after a Russian commercial fishing ship sank in cold water off the Kamchatka Peninsula. Sixty survivors were pulled from the sea.

The Obit Page: Televangelist Robert, who broadcast his “Hour of Power” from the glass Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Ca., has died at age 88. Schuller was once one of the booming voices of God on television. With his beatific smile he used to say, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

The ministry founded in a drive-in theater became enormously wealthy, but reckless spending on such things as holiday productions with live animals eventually drove it to bankruptcy. His family dissolved into infighting and the cathedral was sold.

>Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of Beatle John Lennon, has died at home in Spain at age 75. She and Lennon married in 1962 when she was still a student and the Beatles had yet to release their first big hit. She once told a British newspaper, “I didn’t marry a Beatle, I married a broke student who played the guitar and ponced all my grant money off me.”

Dept. of Empty Threats: Amidst the controversy over the state’s new Religious Freedom law, the Christian owners of a South Bend, Ind. pizza shop say they would never serve their pizza to a gay wedding. As if there’s ever a chance that a gay couple would order pizza for their reception.