NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Trump on Poland: President Trump said Wednesday that he will send 1,000 more U.S. service members to Poland as part of his broadening security and economic alliance. Trump made the announcement during a White House news conference with Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda. Trump said the Polish government will pay for the infrastructure to support the additional troops, and he praised Poland for increased defense spending to meeting its NATO commitments. Trump said he probably would move a “certain number” of U.S. troops from Germany to Poland, “if we agree to do it.” Trump also said Poland is buying more than 30 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets from the U.S.
2 Ford recall: Ford is recalling over 1.3 million vehicles mainly in North America to fix rear suspension and transmission control software problems. The largest recall covers over 1.2 million Explorer SUVs from 2011 through 2017. Ford, headquarted in Dearborn, Mich., says a rear suspension toe link can break if the suspension moves a lot. That can limit steering control. One customer reported running into a curb when a link broke, but Ford says it’s not aware of any injuries. Ford also is recalling 123,000 2013 F-150 pickups for a second time to stop transmissions from unintentionally downshifting into first gear. The recall covers pickups with 5-liter and 6.2liter gas engines. A previous software update didn’t work.
3 Baby dumped: A teenager accused of abandoning her newborn baby in a building’s dumpster in Stockton in scorching heat was cited for child abuse and will be released to her parents after she leaves the hospital, police said Wednesday. Two people found the boy wrapped in a blanket inside a plastic bag Tuesday afternoon. Officers later found his 15-year-old mother while canvassing the apartment complex. The boy, who still had his umbilical cord, was taken to a hospital, where he was doing well Wednesday.
4 Church fires: The son of a Louisiana sheriff ’s deputy faces federal hate crime charges in connection with three fires that destroyed black churches this year. Holden Matthews, 21, who is white, is charged with “intentional damage to religious property,” a hate crime under the Church Arson Prevention Act. 5 Environmental law: The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday announced plans to narrow the scope of a major environmental law, allowing the agency to fast-track activity throughout the national forest system without undergoing environmental review. The proposed changes could potentially make it easier for logging, road building and other construction projects to gain approval than under current rules — and more quickly. One of the revisions, for example, would eliminate the need to conduct an environmental study before allowing mining on land parcels up to one square mile in size. To speed the pace of these activities, the agency has proposed exempting many of them from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970. Environmentalists said they plan a court challenge.