The United Auto Workers had worked for years to get a foot in the door of Volkswagen’s factory in Tennessee. But now workers at the plant turned down the proposal for some union representation by a vote of 712 to 626. There are questions about what’s next for a union that is now only a quarter the size it was 35 years ago. The union says it’s evaluating what it sees as outside interference in the vote and may challenge the result.

Meanwhile, There’s news that despite aggressive efforts to pump money into the Japanese economy, the effort isn’t going that well. The Japanese government today reported the economy there October to December grew at an annualized rate of just 1 percent, much lower than forecast.

And, snow’s the word in much of the country. But so’s the word drought. In Texas and the far West the rain has been sparse for almost two years. Marketplace’s Adriene Hill looks at how we value the water we have.