Boy Scouts change name of flagship program

NEW YORK — For 108 years, the Boy Scouts of America’s flagship program has been known simply as the Boy Scouts. With girls soon entering the ranks, the group says that iconic name will change.

The organization on Wednesday announced a new name for its Boy Scouts program: Scouts BSA. The change will take effect in February.

Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said many possibilities were considered during lengthy and “incredibly fun” deliberations before the new name was chosen.

“We wanted to land on something that evokes the past but also conveys the inclusive nature of the program going forward,” he said. “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women.”

The parent organization will remain the Boy Scouts of America, and the Cub Scouts — its program serving children from kindergarten through fifth grade — will keep its title, as well.

But the Boy Scouts — the program for 11- to 17-yearolds — will now be Scouts BSA.

The organization has already started admitting girls into the Cub Scouts, and Scouts BSA begins accepting girls next year.

Mr. Surbaugh predicted that both boys and girls in Scouts BSA would refer to themselves simply as scouts, rather than adding “boy” or “girl.”

Girl Scout leaders said they were blindsided by the move, and are gearing up an aggressive campaign to recruit and retain girls as members.

49 caravan members granted entry into U.S.

TIJUANA, Mexico — Several dozen more Central American immigrants were called into the United States on Wednesday morning, putting them one step closer to their goal of receiving asylum.

A total of 49 people have now been admitted to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. With an estimated total of about 150 caravan participants who have traveled from Central America to Tijuana, it appears that about a third of the total have been accepted into the system.

The chosen were given five minutes to gather their belongings and head into the U.S. Port of Entry for processing. All of them planned to claim asylum.

Southwest plane forced to land after window breaks

A Southwest Airlines flight was forced to divert and land before reaching its intended destination Wednesday after a pane in one of the cabin windows was damaged in flight.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating what had caused the window, which was on an exit row, to break.

The plane, which was traveling from Chicago to Newark, N.J., landed in Cleveland at 11:45 a.m., although the damage did not affect the pressure inside the plane, Southwest said.

The airline said the Boeing 737 was taken out of service so that maintenance teams could investigate.

The 76 passengers aboard the flight were flown to Newark on another plane.

There were no reports of injuries after Flight 957 landed safely Wednesday.