Remains of 3 in militia sent home
CHICAGO — The remains of at least two Americans who died in Syria after joining a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia to fight the Islamic State group were expected to be repatriated Wednesday, members of their families said.
The bodies of Levi Shirley, 24, and William Savage, 27, were to arrive on a flight to O’Hare International Airport, before traveling to their respective home states, said Mr. Shirley’s mother, Susan, and Mr. Savage’s sister, Brenna.
Kurdish groups transported the remains by ground from Syria to Iraq earlier this month, weeks after they were killed in combat against IS while serving as members of the People’s Protection Units, a ground force aligned with the U.S. military.
The body of Jordan MacTaggart, a third American killed while serving in the unit, also left Iraq in the last few days, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Woman to head library
WASHINGTON — Carla Hayden officially made history Wednesday, becoming the first woman and first African-American librarian of Congress.
Ms. Hayden, 64, was sworn in as the 14th head of the 200year-old institution at a time when the library is transitioning into the digital age. In recent years its technology and modernization efforts has come under criticism from Congress and the Government Accountability office.
Ms. Hayden succeeds Acting Librarian David S. Mao, who had served since the Sept. 30, 2015, retirement of former Librarian James H. Billington. She will be the first Librarian of Congress to have a term limited to 10 years. In the past the post has been a lifetime appointment, though Ms. Hayden can be re-nominated for the position.
Arrest in mosque arson
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Florida man has been arrested and is facing a charge of arson and hate crime in a fire that heavily damaged a mosque that Orlando nightclub gunman Omar Mateen attended, authorities announced Wednesday.
Joseph M. Schreiber, 32, was arrested without incident and was being interrogated by investigators looking into the fire set late Sunday at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce, said Maj. David Thompson of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
Maj. Thompson told a news conference that Mr. Schreiber was taken into custody on a street in Fort Pierce by authorities acting on tips from members of the community and aided by surveillance video taken from the mosque and elsewhere.
The fire was set late Sunday on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. The blaze also coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.
Also in the nation ...
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled Legislature approved a measure aimed at retroactively shielding paint makers from liability after a billionaire owner of a lead producer contributed $750,000 to a political group that provided crucial support to Mr. Walker and Republicans in recall elections, according to a report released Wednesday . ... Eleven SWAT officers were exposed to fentanyl and heroin after raw drug powder became airborne during a bust Tuesday in Hartford, Conn., in which police seized 50,000 bags of processed heroin . ... Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature took the first step Wednesday toward overriding a veto of a voter photo ID requirement . ... Officials in Newton County, Ga., 35 miles east of Atlanta, were set to approve the county’s first mosque until an armed militia group threatened this week to protest.