In the news

Nicholas Mark Oliver, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, faces domestic-abuse charges after his child’s mother accused him of trying to strangle her, police in Canadian County, Okla., said.

Daniel Arturo Contreras was charged with criminal solicitation after, police said, a man reported Contreras wanted a child he was accused of molesting “in a coma or dead,” The Dallas Morning News reported.

Lauren Messina Conrad, spokesman for Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, said two female elephants, 36-year-old Surapa and 37-year-old Jothi, have been moved to the zoo from one in Buffalo, N.Y., joining two older females.

Jonathan LaRock, 65, of Moreau, N.Y., was sentenced to six months in jail and six years of probation after pleading guilty to 26 counts of forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment over sexual-harassment complaints by employees of his restaurant, the PostStar of Glens Falls reported.

Randy Garrison, mayor of Hartselle, Ala., told the Decatur Daily he fired Public Works Director Tommy Halbrooks for the second time since July after the city’s personnel board overruled the first firing and recommended Halbrooks be immediately rehired.

Herman C. Soong and his wife Connie Soong pledged a combined $10 million to the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, the school announced, to care for injured, homeless animals, pay for scholarships, support oncology research and fund forensic training.

Kim Krebs, media relations manager for UPS, citing the company’s strict policies against harassment and discrimination, said an employee in Ohio was fired for wearing blackface as part of her Halloween costume, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.