In the news
Lawson Bittick, a sheriff’s sergeant in Monroe County, Ga., said deputies have gotten “smiles and thank yous” from the first 20 of 74 people presented with $100 bills courtesy of two anonymous donors who wanted to help people “down on their luck” this holiday season.
Terry Millender, 53, a former pastor in Alexandria, Va., and his wife, Brenda, 57, were convicted of defrauding church members and other investors of $2 million in a Nigerian loan and oil scheme, using the money for a new home, golf trips and a birthday party.
Cicely Hansen, 68, owner of a vintage clothing store in San Francisco, was fined $3,600 and sentenced to probation and community service after pleading no contest to selling coats and other items made with the skins of cheetahs, leopards and other protected species, prosecutors said.
The Rev. Gregory Greiten, a Roman Catholic priest in Milwaukee, was greeted with a standing ovation from his parishioners when he told them he was gay, saying that he’s breaking the silence of gay men in the clergy so he could reclaim his own voice.
Candido Ortiz, a former prison chef confined for more than 26 years before being released along with other inmates serving lengthy drug sentences through an executive order by President Barack Obama, is opening his own restaurant in Jersey City, N.J.
John Parker, 25, out delivering pizzas in Fort Pierce, Fla., shot and wounded a man holding what turned out to be an air pistol who flagged him down and demanded that he hand over everything he had, police said.
Monlisa Perez, 20, of Halstad, Minn., pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally shooting her boyfriend, 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz III, with a .50-caliber pistol from about a foot away as he held a hardcover encyclopedia to his chest for a video stunt they planned to post on YouTube.
Tracy Mitchell, 54, of Reading, Pa., arrested on aggravated-assault and other counts, got into an argument with her roommate over some candy and stabbed her in the leg after the two grappled and fell to the floor, police said.
Jennifer Olawski, a teacher inspired by a student who told her she wasn’t expecting anything for Christmas, raised $4,500 to give coloring books, slime kits, winter hats and gloves to each of the 500 students at a K-4 charter school in Paterson, N.J.