News of the day from across the nation, Jan. 12

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped the Department of Veterans Affairs’ top health official to lead a beleaguered agency struggling to meet the health needs of millions of veterans.

During the presidential campaign, Trump described the VA as “the most corrupt agency” and “probably the most incompetently run agency.”

Police reform: A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh says the city and the U.S. Justice Department have reached an agreement on a consent decree that will require the city to reform its Police Department.

Six police officers were charged in his arrest and death, but there were no convictions.

3 Islamic State contact: A Minnesota man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for lying to the FBI about his social media exchanges with Islamic State group recruiters.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the downward trend in traffic deaths shows his Vision Zero traffic-safety campaign is working.

Wilkins had explained to jurors at his capital murder trial in 2008 how and why he killed his friends in Fort Worth three years earlier, saying he didn’t care if they sentenced him to death.