Arizona is one of the country’s seven worst states in emergency health preparedness, a new report says, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Whereas Arizona scored an overall 5 out of 10 in the report (least prepared), New Mexico logged a 7 along with a dozen or so other states, including Colorado, Utah and Oklahoma.

The Christian Science Monitor has a short profile of Sen. Joseph Lieberman this morning. The writer starts by pointing out the irony of Lieberman’s stalwart opposition to any form of a healthcare public option: The state he represents, Connecticut, approved a statewide public health insurance system with a public option this year.

State Farm has cut a deal with Florida regulators, reversing its plan to pull entirely out of the state’s hurricane-prone property insurance market, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Instead, the state’s largest private homeowners insurer will drop 15 percent of that business, about 125,000 policies, and raise rates for the rest by 14.8 percent.

Internationally, the Associated Press is reporting that reputed Mexican drug cartel chief, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed this morning in a two-hour shootout with 200 government troops. If verified, Beltran Leyva’s death would represent one of the biggest victories yet in President Felipe Calderon’s drug war, the news wire said.

In the media world, New York magazine is reporting that layoffs began Tuesday at the New York Times. The Times is looking to trim the newsroom by 26 people. It’s a sad day in journalism. So far this year, more than 15,000 people in the newspaper industry have lost jobs this year, according to News Cycle.