Oklahoma

Hitchhikers you can't pick up

Four circus elephants were briefly stuck along a road near Eufaula waiting for a ride Wednesday. A truck carrying the Carson & Barnes mammals to Iowa broke down, officials said. The floor of the trailer had started to give way and was dragging on the road, sparking grass fires along the way, Trooper Dwight Durant said Thursday. The elephants disembarked after someone traveling behind the truck noticed the problem. They eventually got on a new trailer. A Carson & Barnes spokeswoman said Thursday a veterinarian examined the elephants and they appeared to be fine. She declined to answer other questions. Carson & Barnes also had an elephant, named Kelly, escape the Circus World Museum and roam a Wisconsin neighborhood in June, federal records show. The USDA said the elephant could have been injured or hurt people. Kelly instead munched on marigolds during her couple hours of freedom.

New Hampshire

Firefighters rescue cat frozen in ice

Firefighters came to the aid of a cat that was frozen to a pond. Sean Kane, a firefighter and EMT in Newton, told the Boston Globe the cat's back paws and tail were frozen Thursday morning. It also had a chunk of ice on its back. Wind chills were in the single digits. Firefighters think the brown and gray long-haired cat had sat down and ended up freezing. They poured warm water on the feline and wrapped it in towels and a heating pad. There was no ID, and the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is caring for the cat.

Nation

Trump plan offers citizenship path to 1.8 million immigrants

President Donald Trump is proposing a plan that provides a path to citizenship for 1.8 million of the so-called Dreamer immigrants, tighter restrictions on legal immigration and $25 billion in border security, the White House said, putting forward an outline likely to find resistance from some of Trump's conservative allies. Senior White House officials offered a preview of the immigration framework Thursday. The proposal represents a reversal for Trump, who once promised to eliminate an Obama-era program protecting immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, currently covers roughly 690,000 of those younger immigrants — about half the number who qualified for the program, according to independent estimates. Trump's plan would expand this further by adjusting some requirements, officials said, but they would not offer specifics. Eventual citizenship would require still-unspecified work and education requirements — and a finding that the immigrants are of "good moral character." It would not allow parents of those immigrants to seek lawful status, the officials said.

EPA ends clean air policy opposed by fossil fuel interests

The Trump administration is doing away with a decades-old air emissions policy opposed by fossil fuel companies, a move that environmental groups say will result in more pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency issued notice Thursday it is withdrawing the "once-in always-in" policy under the Clean Air Act, which dictated how major sources of hazardous air pollutants are regulated. Under the EPA's new interpretation, such "major sources" can be reclassified as "area sources" when their emissions fall below mandated limits, subjecting them to differing standards. EPA assistant administrator Bill Wehrum, who as a lawyer represented oil, gas and coal companies, said the change will "reduce regulatory burden for industries and the states." Environmentalists said the move will dramatically weaken standards for smokestack emissions of arsenic, lead and mercury.

Nassar's sex abuse scandal far from over; Congress urges action

Sports doctor Larry Nassar is on his way to prison for the rest of his life for molesting scores of young female athletes, but the scandal is far from over at Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee as victims, lawmakers and Judge Rosemarie Aquilina demand to know why he wasn't stopped years ago. Some are likening Michigan State to Penn State University, where three senior officials were sentenced to jail last year for failing to tell authorities about a sexual abuse allegation involving coach Jerry Sandusky. Nassar, a 54-year-old former member of Michigan State's sports medicine staff, has admitted penetrating elite gymnasts and other athletes with his fingers while he was supposedly treating them for injuries for over 25 years. Some of the more than 150 women and girls who have accused him said they complained to the university as far back as the late 1990s. In Michigan, it is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine for certain professionals to fail to report a suspected case of child abuse. Meanwhile, U.S. senators from both parties — including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa — are calling for a creation of a select committee to investigate the USOC and USA Gymnastics. The senators' request comes as House leaders, including Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., prepare to take up Senate-passed legislation intended to prevent predators from abusing young athletes. The bill, set for a vote Monday, includes a requirement for amateur sports groups recognized by the USOC to promptly report claims of sexual abuse to police. — tbt* wires