NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_1 ER visits: A push by the Indianapolis-based insurer Anthem to limit emergency room visits to major problems like heart attacks or strokes worries doctors and patients who question whether they will make the right call or get stuck with a bill. The nation’s secondlargest insurer has told customers in a few U.S. states it may not pay for their care that doesn’t involve a real emergency. It’s the latest attempt by the insurance industry to crack down on unnecessary and pricey hospital trips.
_2 Mar-a-Lago workers: President Trump’s upscale Mar-a-Lago club received permission from the federal government to temporarily hire 70 foreign housekeepers, waiters and cooks to fill out its staff during its upcoming busy season, with its managers attesting there aren’t enough Americans qualified, willing and available to do the work. The president’s hiring of foreign workers at his West Palm Beach Florida resort over several years was criticized by his opponents during the 2016 campaign after he slammed companies for moving jobs out of the U.S. and others for hiring immigrants in the country illegally.
_3 Rand Paul attacker: The neighbor charged with attacking U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and breaking several of his ribs pleaded not guilty during a short court hearing Thursday morning. Rene Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist, remained free on bond after his arraignment in Warren District Court in Bowling Green, Ky. He is charged with a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail but the charges could be upgraded after investigations by the FBI and Kentucky police. Boucher’s lawyer, Matt Baker, suggested the attack was motivated by a dispute over property rights. Jim Skaggs, who developed the community where the men live, suggested the dispute might have grown from Paul allegedly blowing lawn clippings into Boucher’s yard.
_4 Teen killed: A sheriff ’s deputy fatally shot a 14-year-old boy on a Lake Superior Chippewa reservation in northern Wisconsin, its tribal chairman said Thursday. Bad River Band Chairman Robert Blanchard said eighth-grader Jason Pero was killed Wednesday in Odanah by an Ashland County sheriff ’s deputy. Blanchard said he has not heard directly from sheriff ’s officials about why Pero was shot and he questioned why the deputy had to take the teen’s life. The Ashland County Sheriff ’s Office said in a statement that its dispatchers received a call about a male subject walking down the street armed with a knife. A responding deputy fired shots, striking the suspect.
_5 Fox News
hire: Fox News has hired President Trump’s former aide Sebastian Gorka as a contributor. Gorka will serve as a national security strategist for the network. The British-American Gorka worked as a national security aide to Trump from January to August. He is a former Breitbart News editor whose hard-line view on immigration and terrorism led to discord inside and outside the White House.