OSHP hot line

OSHP hot line

COLUMBUS

The State Highway Patrol hopes to boost public use of its hot line through a burst of marketing encouraging Ohioans to use its easier-to-dial four-key combination to report crime tips and crashes.

The #677 combination replaced the old 1-877-7-PATROL number in 2012, but since then the number of calls has decreased and plateaued at fewer than 2,500 calls per month last year, said Lt. Craig Cvetan, a patrol spokesman. In addition to using the number to request help, travelers can use #677 to report circumstances that might endanger others, such as broken-down vehicles, impaired drivers or suspected drug activity or human trafficking.

US missile-defense system in Europe

WARSAW, Poland

A U.S. missile-defense system aimed at protecting Europe from ballistic-missile threats is moving into higher gear this week, with a site in Romania becoming operational today and officials breaking ground at another site in Poland a day later.

The system has been under development for years and is, NATO and U.S. officials say, aimed against potential long-range threats from the Middle East, mainly with Iran in mind. Yet Russia is adamantly opposed to having the advanced military system on its doorstep and the development is certain to further exacerbate tensions between Russia and the West that are more strained than at any time since the Cold War.

Slain man’s family praises cop’s charges

CHARLESTON, S.C.

As federal charges were filed against a white former South Carolina police officer who already faced a state murder charge in the shooting death of unarmed black motorist Walter Scott, Scott’s lawyer and family praised the federal prosecutors for pressing the case.

“I think the Justice Department is tired of sitting on the sidelines, and they think this is one they can definitely win and send a message to police departments around the country,” attorney Chris Stewart told The Associated Press.

A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday charges Michael Slager, 34, with depriving Scott of his civil rights.

Planned Parenthood sues over Ohio law

COLUMBUS

Planned Parenthood sued Ohio’s health department Wednesday, saying thousands of patients could be denied access to HIV tests, cancer screenings and other services under a law designed to strip public money away from the organization’s affiliates in the state.

The law targets the roughly $1.3 million in funding that Planned Parenthood gets through Ohio’s health department. That money, which is mostly federal, supports certain health-education and prevention programs. The state’s law would bar such funds from going to entities that perform or promote abortions.

Miss. toddler dies after being left in car

GLUCKSTADT, Miss.

A 2-year-old girl has been found dead inside her mother’s car at a Mississippi day care.

According to multiple media reports, Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker says the mother thought she had taken her child to Little Footprints Learning Center in Gluckstadt, about 18 miles north of Jackson, before going to work Wednesday. When she returned to pick her up, day-care workers told her she hadn’t dropped her off.

Tucker says the mother immediately became distraught, ran to her car and realized the child was still in her car seat.

Associated Press