NEWS OF THE DAY
1 VA secretary: Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is President Trump’s pick to permanently lead the beleaguered department. Wilkie is a former Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness. He’s led the agency for two months, ever since Trump fired David Shulkin amid an internal revolt and questions about his compliance with ethics rules. Veterans groups expressed support for Wilkie’s nomination.
2 Hurricane recovery: The Army Corps of Engineers is ending its work to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electric grid, despite residents’ fears that the island’s government won’t be able to restore power on its own to more than 16,000 people who remain blacked out eight months after Hurricane Maria. The federal agency will keep operating more than 700 generators on the island, including three “mega generators” supplementing Puerto Rico’s aging and stormdamaged power plants. But on Friday the restoration of thousands of miles of downed power lines will be handed back to the U. S. territory’s bankrupt public utility, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
3 Runaway ammo box:
Authorities are trying to determine how a box of ammunition fell from a military helicopter and crashed through the roof of an elementary school in Texas. The Ysleta Independent School District says no one was injured when the ammo box hit Parkland Elementary School in El Paso on Thursday afternoon. The ammo box left a hole in the roof and caused a power outage in part of the building. Officials at nearby Fort Bliss say they’ll reassess flight patterns as part of their investigation.
4 Angry barber: Police say a stylist at a Brooklyn barbershop threw a client through the front window after he complained about his haircut. According to the New York Daily News, the 33year- old victim was at the Levels Barbershop in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Thursday afternoon. Police say he threatened to withhold payment for the cut because he didn’t like it. Police said the barber was enraged and shoved him through the storefront window. The victim’s face was ripped open and his clothing was covered in blood. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital and expected to recover. The stylist ran off. Other barbers said they didn’t know the stylist’s name or how to reach him. Police are investigating.
5 Kangaroo Houdini: South Carolina’s most talented escape artist may be a kangaroo. News outlets report the McCormick County Sheriff’s Office announced this week that a mischievous marsupial was roaming the county for the second time in three days. Maj. Robert Christie says authorities have yet to discern how it escaped, but it’s likely the kangaroo found a weak spot in the fence or a gate left open. Sheriff Clark Sterns says its owner was notified and was able to corral the animal. The sheriff’s office says the unidentified owners are properly licensed to keep the kangaroo in South Carolina.